[imnotdriving82]

Okay it is in desperation that i come you you fine folks because i have tried everything. Computer specs are in signature. Heres the deal: Computer starts normally most of the time (every once in a while the screen will stay black, but not off, after the xp boot screen instead of loading the logon screen... usually after a softboot).

The computer will do one of three things if i load up any type of file sharing software or if there is any type of heavy downloading going on from IE:
1 - computer freezes but stays on.
2 - computer restarts... i then encounter the softboot problem mentioned earlier.
3 - blue screen appears saying:

****Hardware Malfunction
Contact System Vendor
****The System Has Halted

this at least tipped me off that it was possibly hardware related. Now heres what I've done so far so you know what it isn't to save you some time

OS: Windows XP Home SP2
-Ran Norton 2004 w/ latest Definitions (no viruses)
-Ran HiJackThis and AdAware Pro (no spyware)
-Updated all drivers for all hardware on computer (mobo bios, video card, network card, wintv card, cable modem, router, etc... XP is also updated fully
-Changed BIOS settings so that each peice of hardware has exculsive access to its own IRQ channel, and also disabled the onboard LAN controller in case there was a conflict with the wirless card. I also disabled items i dont use at the moment such as the onboard serialATA controller.
I am running Norton Internet Security 2004 with Norton AntiVirus 2004

Any help anyone could provide would be greatly appreciated... im at my wits end with this issue... i have yet to find a case where this blue hardware malfunction screen pops up anywhere besides startup... thanks to anyone who replies!

Edited by imnotdriving82, 31 May 2005 - 09:51 AM.

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Hi and welcome to Geeks to Go. Random crash/reboots are usually caused by heat, memory, driver issues or the power supply. You have updated drivers, good. This could rule those out. What kind of video card do you have? When you updated the video driver, did you clean the old driver out first, with Driver Cleaner for example (there may be other ways to do it but I use Driver Cleaner). Have you checked the fans in your system? It is running hot? Post the system specs, including the power supply make and model and the voltage/amps per each rail. This is detailed on the side of the power supply. This will help folks trying to help you.

[austin_o]

Hi and welcome to Geeks to Go. Random crash/reboots are usually caused by heat, memory, driver issues or the power supply. You have updated drivers, good. This could rule those out. What kind of video card do you have? When you updated the video driver, did you clean the old driver out first, with Driver Cleaner for example (there may be other ways to do it but I use Driver Cleaner). Have you checked the fans in your system? It is running hot? Post the system specs, including the power supply make and model and the voltage/amps per each rail. This is detailed on the side of the power supply. This will help folks trying to help you.