Member Avatar for Chuwak88

Okay this is my problem:

Whenever my computer is booting up, or whenever I'm playing a game it restarts. But sometimes it doesn't. Sometimes I can play for say an hour and nothing happens, but at other times when the computer is booting up it will restarts or whenever I start playing a game.

The thing that makes mine unique is that whenever the restart happens I know it because I hear a "power down" sound. This sound is followed by my screen turning black or many different colors (random). Also sometimes the noise happens but I can still do some stuff on the computer for about 2-6 seconds before the actual restart or anything happens, but at other times it's instant.

I have Windows Xp, and this is a computer my friend built for me it has a 160 GB hard drive, 1 GB ram, Radeon 9800 pro, Creative Audio GS 2 (?) soundcard, 450 watt power supply, ASUS mother board, and a random cd rom drive. (No floppy drive)

I have tried reformating, instaling / unistalling drivers, and asking 100 different people none of whom really have experience so it didn't help.

Please help, any info will be very very very appreciated!

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  • Latest Post Latest Post by caperjack

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Short summary and likely causes: the fact that you still get sudden restarts with display corruption after replacing the hard drive points away from the HDD and toward power or video/motherboard hardware. The "Windows shutdown" sound and the 2–6 second window before the reset usually mean the OS is being told to shut down (or crashes and auto-restarts). Given the recent power outages, the most likely suspects are the PSU, the video card (or its cooling/VRMs), or damaged motherboard components (bad capacitors or VRM circuitry). Back up important files before doing more tests.

Practical, prioritized troubleshooting (cheap tests first):

  • Turn off automatic restart so you can capture a stop code/BSOD: Control Panel -> System -> Advanced -> Startup and Recovery -> uncheck "Automatically restart". Reproduce the failure and note any error code.
  • Inspect Event Viewer (System log) for critical errors at the time of each shutdown — that often gives a direct hint.
  • Try a minimal hardware boot: remove nonessential cards (sound, extra drives), boot with one RAM stick at a time in different slots, and reseat the GPU. If the card has a fan, verify it spins and the heatsink is seated.
  • Swap the PSU with a known-good unit (or use a PSU tester/multimeter). Measured voltages out of spec under load strongly point to PSU failure. Swapping the PSU is one of the fastest, lowest-cost definitive tests.
  • Visually inspect the motherboard around the CPU and AGP/PCI areas for bulging or leaking capacitors. Bad caps = replace board or have a tech re-cap it.
  • Only after hardware looks stable: update BIOS and video drivers.

Notes and safety: as noted, temperature still matters — check the GPU fan and VRM cooling even if the case feels cool. As advised, rule out RAM by single-stick testing if boot-time testers are inconvenient. Since outages have occurred, try using a good surge protector or UPS once stable. Work with power unplugged and ground yourself; if swapping PSUs or cards is uncomfortable, take the rig to a shop — swapping in a known-good PSU or GPU for a quick test will usually identify the failing component.

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Member Avatar for 'Stein

Have you considered the fact that your rig is overheating? I would consider opening up the case and letting a fan blow air into it while you play.

If the problem still occurs after doing this, I would think its a part failure.

If this solves it, then I would try messing around with your fans/heatsink.

Thanks.

Member Avatar for Chuwak88

I know for sure that it's not over heating. I have done put fans pointing towards it and it's realtively cool and always has been. I'm pretty sure it's some kind of hardware malfunction as we have been getting lots of power outtages which could have caused this. But how do I find out which part is not working? Is it the RAM? the hard drive?

Edit-- I narrowed the "sound" down to a "clicking" like sound comming from the hard drive every time there is a restart.

Thanks

Member Avatar for 'Stein

That's a very good question. I'll move this to the hardware forum.

Member Avatar for kenjutsuka

Clicking sound huh? Still got the warranty on the Hard Drive?

Member Avatar for Chuwak88

Clicking sound huh? Still got the warranty on the Hard Drive?

Yes I do have the warrenty but it expired a while ago. I bought a new Seagate 320 GB hard drive and the restarting problem is still there, just no clicking sounds now. The sound is different now so basically I paid 104 dollars to change the sound of the noise. :sad:

Please help, someone I talked to said it was my video card, but someone else said its my RAM. I have no idea. Any help would be appreciated.

Member Avatar for Chuwak88

Hey I'm having some trouble with that Memtest program. If anyone can help me please message me on AIM, Chuwak88, I can't seem to get it to start before Windows does.

Member Avatar for caperjack

Hey I'm having some trouble with that Memtest program. If anyone can help me please message me on AIM, Chuwak88, I can't seem to get it to start before Windows does.

assuming you copyed it to a cdrom then maybe you didn't create a bootable cdrom ,you will need to use nero of what every software you have to create a bootable cdrom ..
http://www.tacktech.com/display.cfm?ttid=297
Also make sure your computer is set to boot to the cdrom first

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