[Hotrod1955]

Hello everyone, thanks for a great forum !

My computer suddenly started rebooting randomly, there are no scheduled tasks opening when it does this.

I am using an AMD 2600+
Windows XP Pro Enterprise Edition
1 Gig RAM

I replaced the power supply with a BFG 650 watts, it made no difference.

Swapped out each RAM stick one at a time, it made no difference.

Changed the BIOS to the default settings, it made no difference.

Replaced the AGP card, and it went from rebooting every 15 or 20 minutes to rebooting once about every 12 or 14 hours.

I did a complete Windows reinstall over the existing one, and installed Service Pack 2 along with all the updates.

I updated all the Drivers with the latest versions.

It makes no difference if the computer is sitting idle or I am working with it, it still reboots, so it seems that there is nothing particular that is triggering it.


According to Core Center these are the Temps and Voltages:

CPU Temp... 48
Sys Temp... 32
IGP..............NA
CPU Fan.......4326
SYS Fan.......NA


Vcore ..1.68
3.3 ......3.34
+5 .......4.95
+12 .....12.06

I disabled the Automatic Restart and got this error code when the BSOD came up the last time.

STOP: 0x0000008E (0xC0000005, 0x8057BA86, 0xB94D9BBC, 0x00000000)
Begining dump of Physical Memory
Physical Memory Dump Complete

I Googled this error code and the Windows Help and support says the fix is to install the latest Service Pack, but I already have Service Pack 2 installed.

Any ideas would be greatly appreciated and Thanks in advance for any help.

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Items in blue which are underlined are clickable to give more information about the process

Click start then run, type prefetch then press enter, click edit then select all, right click any file then click delete, confirm delete

Click start, all programmes, accessories, system tools to run disc clean up, then from system tools, run disc defragmenter.

Click start then run, type sfc /scannow then press enter, you need the XP CD

Windows File Protection will show a blue onscreen progress bar, when the bar goes, reboot

If you do not have an XP CD you can borrow a same version as was originally installed XP CD, if you downloaded SP2 then you need an SP1 XP CD

If you do not have an XP CD and are unable to borrow one, run the scan, click skip if it asks for the CD, if it keeps asking, click cancel.

If it kept asking for the XP CD then system files are missing

Click start then run, type chkdsk /r then press enter, type Y to confirm for next boot, press enter then reboot.

Windows will appear to load normally then either the monitor will show progress or the screen will go blank, do not disturb this.

This will take an hour or so before it gets to the desktop.

Download and install Tune Up 2007 Trial

Run Tune Up Disc Clean Up

Run Tune Up Registry Clean Up

Click Optimize and Improve to run Reg Defrag, which will take a few minutes and need a reboot. You should disable the antivirus programme to run this and check it is running after the reboot

After the reboot, click optimize then system optimizer to optimize the computer, select computer with an internet connection from the drop down menu, this also requires a reboot

After the reboot, click optimize then system optimizer to accelerate downloads, select the speed just above your actual connection speed, this requires a reboot

After the reboot, click optimize then system optimizer to run system advisor


If you haven't tested the memory


Click this for a guide to using Memtest


Click this to download Memtest


Run it overnight if possible

[Retired Tech]

Items in blue which are underlined are clickable to give more information about the process

Click start then run, type prefetch then press enter, click edit then select all, right click any file then click delete, confirm delete

Click start, all programmes, accessories, system tools to run disc clean up, then from system tools, run disc defragmenter.

Click start then run, type sfc /scannow then press enter, you need the XP CD

Windows File Protection will show a blue onscreen progress bar, when the bar goes, reboot

If you do not have an XP CD you can borrow a same version as was originally installed XP CD, if you downloaded SP2 then you need an SP1 XP CD

If you do not have an XP CD and are unable to borrow one, run the scan, click skip if it asks for the CD, if it keeps asking, click cancel.

If it kept asking for the XP CD then system files are missing

Click start then run, type chkdsk /r then press enter, type Y to confirm for next boot, press enter then reboot.

Windows will appear to load normally then either the monitor will show progress or the screen will go blank, do not disturb this.

This will take an hour or so before it gets to the desktop.

Download and install Tune Up 2007 Trial

Run Tune Up Disc Clean Up

Run Tune Up Registry Clean Up

Click Optimize and Improve to run Reg Defrag, which will take a few minutes and need a reboot. You should disable the antivirus programme to run this and check it is running after the reboot

After the reboot, click optimize then system optimizer to optimize the computer, select computer with an internet connection from the drop down menu, this also requires a reboot

After the reboot, click optimize then system optimizer to accelerate downloads, select the speed just above your actual connection speed, this requires a reboot

After the reboot, click optimize then system optimizer to run system advisor


If you haven't tested the memory


Click this for a guide to using Memtest


Click this to download Memtest


Run it overnight if possible

[Hotrod1955]

Hello Keith,

Thanks for the speedy reply !!!

I'll get started on this and give you a report when I get it all done.

Thanks again,

Hotrod

[Retired Tech]

You can run memtest with all the memory in place, then check them individually if it shows errors

[Hotrod1955]

When I try and run the sfc /scannow it tells me:

The CD you provided is the wrong CD.
Please insert the Windows XP Professional CD ROM into your CD ROM drive.

I am using the original CD that I installed Windows with, it is a legit disk not a bootleg.

[Retired Tech]

You will need to get your XP CD and locate the folder called:

I386

copy this onto your hard drive into the system root. For most, that is going to be C:\ so you will create a C:\I386 folder

When you have created the folder:

Click start then run, type regedit then press enter, locate the following key

HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Setup

You will see various entries here on the right hand side. The one you need is called SourcePath there may be two similar keys, it is the 2nd of the two, source path

It probably has an entry pointing to your CD-ROM drive, you need to change it to C:\

Simply double click the SourcePatch setting and a new box will pop up allowing you to make the change.

Reboot the PC and run sfc /scannow

[Hotrod1955]

That worked Keith, Thanks,

I'm running sfc /scannow now.

[Hotrod1955]

OK Keith, I got all that done, except for the memory tests.

Everything seemed to work fine, the Tune Up 2007 found some errors and repaired them.

I have a couple of online classes this afternoon so I'm going to wait until after that to do the mem tests.

I'll post back with the results.

Thanks so much for taking the time to help me.

Hotrod

[Retired Tech]

Memtest is best suited to overnight running because you won't be able to use the PC while it is running

Hope it goes well

[Hotrod1955]

OK I'll let it run all night and post back in the morning.

Thanks Again

[Hotrod1955]

Good Morning Keith,

After letting the memory test run for 14 hours it is on it's 17th pass and showing 0 errors.

Should I go ahead and stop the mem test and run the computer normally now and see what happens ?

I'm not sure if the mem test running would have any affect on the reboot situation since it appears to be running in a DOS environment, but it has went longer than it ever has without rebooting since this problem started.

Edited by Hotrod1955, 06 June 2007 - 09:43 AM.

[Hotrod1955]

I just stopped the mem test and rebooted and as it was booting I got this error.

The problem seems to be caused bythe following file: ntfs.sys

PAGE_FAULT_IN_NONPAGED_AREA

Techinal information:

0x00000050 (0xBA3D3BE5, 0X00000001, 0XF76C15C7, 0X00000000)

ntfs.sys - address F76C15C7 base at F769C000, Datestamp 45cc56a7

Beginning dump of physical memory
Physical memory dump complete.


I rebooted again and it booted up normally and seems to be fine now.

Edited by Hotrod1955, 06 June 2007 - 10:59 AM.

[Retired Tech]

If you can keep automatic restart off so you get a blue screen, then post that if / when it happens

Microsoft acknowledge ntdsa.sys but not ntfsa.sys

http://support.micro...l...mp;x=7&y=12

They have ntfs.sys

http://support.microsoft.com/kb/555531

Is visual studio on the PC

Temperatures are a consideration, the ones you posted are fine, CPU Temp of 60 is where most PC's start to protect themselves, though more likely by shutting down and not restarting until they are cool enough

[Hotrod1955]

ntfs.sys was the file name. I'll read thriough what Microsoft has to say about it.

Yes Microsoft Visual Studio is installed, I didn't even realise it was there.

It always runs around 50c CPU temp.

[Retired Tech]

It mentions it here, with Windows 2000 but it is an ntfs.sys error, though it uses chkdsk /r to fix it

http://blogs.msdn.co...ntfsissues.aspx

Was the version you have one of the Tech Preview, Beta, or CTP

If you have a free version, re-installing could be worth looking at

http://msdn.microsof...ll/default.aspx

http://msdn.microsof...ds/default.aspx

Do you have .net framework 2.0

http://www.microsoft...;displaylang=en