[Ed2008]

I feel this is a hardware problem but redirect me if not.

I have a 3 year old eMachines T2862. Recently it began intermittent, random reboots maybe 4-5x a day. It happens whether I'm actively using a program or not. If I uncheck the auto-reboot, I get a BSOD STOP c000021 error.

I have tried (didn't fix problem): running a couple of anti-spyware programs (such as AVP), removing each of the two 256Meg DDR sticks, ensuring fans are running and CPU isn't too dusty. Is some other component going bad? I can try replacing power supply and motherboard (gulp!) if you think that's the best bet, but obviously I don't want to get too close to the replacement cost if possible! Thanks for any advice!

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Hello, and welcome to Geeks To Go.
This can be a hard problem to diagnose. could you please give me more information?
Have you installed any new hardware or software lately?
How long does the machine run before this starts to happen?
Does this happen at the same time or when you are doing the same thing (as in if you have a flash drive, camera, ect. pluged in) Please
click here
Are you trying to log on to a server?

[hfcg]

Hello, and welcome to Geeks To Go.
This can be a hard problem to diagnose. could you please give me more information?
Have you installed any new hardware or software lately?
How long does the machine run before this starts to happen?
Does this happen at the same time or when you are doing the same thing (as in if you have a flash drive, camera, ect. pluged in) Please
click here
Are you trying to log on to a server?

[Ed2008]

Hi No new hardware or software installs that correspond to start of this problem.

This is home computer so no server involved. The problem can take 1-2 hours of on-time before it occurs.
It happens randomly, whether using a game, IE, or just idling.

I will try the Dr. Watson link from home tonight. Thanks!

[Neil Jones]

Replace the power supply.
eMachines use Bestec branded power supply units which tend only to last three years. If not replaced they will kill the main board because they have no built-in surge protection so eventually they cook the motherboard they're powering. Sounds like yours is on the way out. If you replace the PSU and the problems still occur, this may require a main board and/or a hard drive replacement.

Faults in eMachines are virtually guaranteed to be the power supply, it is the number 1 cause of any issues with an eMachines failure. Coupled with a decent power supply, an eMachines computer should last as long as any other branded computer all other things being equal. The build quality of these machines is poor, the default PSUs are dire and apparently technical support is awful as well. The sad thing is, Acer know about the poor quality of these machines as well. (eMachines started as a company in its own right, they were taken over by Gateway in 2004 and Acer took over Gateway and all its assets in October 2007. They're now on about taking over Packard Bell.).

Edited by Neil Jones, 04 January 2008 - 04:29 PM.

[Ed2008]

I replaced the eMachines 250Watt original power supply with a new 350 Watt supply. It took 4 hours but it still failed once(an improvement?-it was worth a try).

I tried booting in Safe mode. It didn't have a fatal error within the 6 hours I had it on.

I've also downloaded the Userdump.exe program to see if that helps.

[happyrock]

go here and get everest home...install and launch it...click the + by computer...click on sensor...get a screenshot and post it so I can check your temps and voltages...
should look like mine...

[Ed2008]

Here is my Everest data.

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[Doby]

Thats somewhat inconclusive because it don't list the +12V, enter bios and list the temps and voltages from there.

Give us a link to the new psu.

Are you sure thats the exact error message?

[Ed2008]

Link to PSU: http://www.antec.com...hp?ProdID=23350

My BIOS doesn't have temp/voltage listed. How about SpeedFan?

The message was the STOP: C0000021. I will capture more next time it happens if that helps.

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[Doby]

Decent psu for that rig you should be ok there. Just wanted to check and make sure you wern't using some $9.99 psu
Speed fan is reporting your voltages within spec so I don't think its a power issue unless you have a high power video card in the machine.

Do you have a video card or are you using onboard?, If video card what is it?

49C for a computer at 12.5 cpu usage as reported by speed fan is a bit high but I don't think thats it, we'll look into that a bit more later.

I am going to look into that error message and get back to you

[Doby]

Is there a chance that this computer is infected with malware, if so visit the security section of the forum before we continue

[happyrock]

I tried booting in Safe mode. It didn't have a fatal error within the 6 hours I had it on.

if this is true then its probably a driver issue...you can try installing the latest STABLE drivers...start with your chipset drivers.....then the video card drivers...
you never did say what Video card you have because some of them require more power on the 12 V rail...
please list all of your system spec's...including including drives..sound cards ect...

[Ed2008]

I'm in the process of searching for newer drivers. (through Everest). I will list system specs tonight.

Meanwhile, I left the computer on in SAFE mode overnight (9 hours) and it was fine. Then 2 hours later, there was a black screen with a white message floating around.The message said "Could Not find any compatible Direct3D Devices" When I moved the mouse, the computer was still not dead. So this msg may be unrelated (?).

[Ed2008]

Just for closure, I think my problem was a virus. I went to security section and downloaded AVAST. (Plus AntiVir later just for luck).
Ran it under Delete All; it removed a LOT of my .exe files (Outlook among them) infected with the win32:polip virus
(plus an occasional Trojan). Other, less vigorous anti-virus programs I ran early on did not catch this.
So, I'm still testing and reinstalling today but so far so good with no shutdowns.

Thanks to everyone for their help!! Tough problem to diagnose.

[Doby]

Thanks for letting us know I had a suspicion it was something like that