hmm werd :/

[TdC]

My mum's poota, an old amd1400 that I built for her from le spare stuffe, has gone and done a funny. Since a day or three ago it reboots itself at random intervals. Not just a reboot though, more of an 'instant power-cycle', as windows goes from running to nothing when it happens, no bsod or anything.
I was watching it, and I saw in the process list that something called MSinstall runs and then the pc reboots instantly. I've checked the whole thing, it has a current firewall and virus scanner, and just to be sure I ran some worm-removal stuff which told me that nothing evil was running.

Can anyone advise?

Some details:
w2k, sp2
amd1400/512Mb/40gb maxtor

one more thing, while I was watching it I got the dreaded IRQ_NOT_LESS_OR_EQUAL bsod from a certain .sys file. what do you think? hardware? I've scheduled a reinstall for saturday.

 

[Ardrias]

I got them IRQ errors when I had an out of date BIOS on my mobo. Also got them sudden reboots etc. Was in XP tho, but could apply to W2k as well I reckon. Took them 2 months to release new BIOS so I could install XP, but in your case it shouldnt be any problems getting new BIOS I suppose.

Unless you've already checked that, that is.

 

[TdC]

well, it's an older mobo, and tbh I have no idea what the BIOS version is. good point. I could flash it, but I actually think that the problem is something different. I'm quite pissed that the pc has functioned perfectly up to three days ago. My mum can't have done anything dire, for she doesn't have administrator rights on the box, just a normal user. As a unix user I'm inclined to write it off as typical windows shiteness and reinstall. ah well :/

 

[Xavier]

first thing you should do buddy is upgrade to SP4 - the install replaces a huge armount of core windows files and could easily remedy your problems...

If that doesn't work there's also the system file checker, which should cover all the mission-critical stuff.

 

[TdC]

aye Xav, I was trying to install sp4 but sadly the pc reboots itself about once a minute. no time cap'in!!

 

[Moriath]

really sounds like blaster tho don't it .. rebooting every minute etc .. but u say u got a firewall up so i guess its not ..

it reboot in safe mode ?

 

[TdC]

hmm, to clarify: when it reboots it's instantly gone. gone as in pulled-the-power-plug. I hear a click from the pc, from the PSU I suspect, and the screen goes black. this is followed by another click from the hdd as it spins down and then up again. the screen then shows BIOS and windows starting up.

tbh I have not tried to get it into safe mode. I'll give that a shot on saturday before I reinstall.

 

[Xavier]

Ok, rule out PSU death by monitoring voltages/etc
mbm.livewiredev.com

get it to record results to a file and go let it crash

once crash0r3d open the csv or whatever it is these days and you'll be able to see if there were any screwy fluctuations prior to the reset...

If that no worky let me know

Xav

 

[Xavier]

It's unlikely to be viral from what TdC says, Blaster for one works by killing a critical system service (by hammering the RPC port) and thus it's the OS which initiates a timed reboot, none of which he's seeing.


Xav

 

[TdC]

Ok, rule out PSU death by monitoring voltages/etc
mbm.livewiredev.com

get it to record results to a file and go let it crash

once crash0r3d open the csv or whatever it is these days and you'll be able to see if there were any screwy fluctuations prior to the reset...

If that no worky let me know

Xav

that's a good one, I'll give it a whirl before I do anything rash. I'm not keen on re-installing only to find out it's a hardware error. nice one.

 

[Dr_Weasel]

that's a good one, I'll give it a whirl before I do anything rash. I'm not keen on re-installing only to find out it's a hardware error. nice one.

To double check if its hardware or OS related, lay your hands on a Knoppix CD. Its a Linux distro on a bootable CD, ie, no installing anything. It runs straight off the CD. Boot that up, give it a play. If it doesnt reboot, then its Windows messing you about.

 

[TdC]

To double check if its hardware or OS related, lay your hands on a Knoppix CD. Its a Linux distro on a bootable CD, ie, no installing anything. It runs straight off the CD. Boot that up, give it a play. If it doesnt reboot, then its Windows messing you about.

that's a good idea too. I was planning on booting it off a freebsd live filesystem cdrom that I have to see, and your idea is the same thing. I'm kinda hoping it's "just" windows, but it could be the PSU all the same, as it came with the case which was...shall we say very very budget :/

 

[Tom]

Kick it. Kick it HARD.

 

[TdC]

heh, the case is so cheap I'd prolly go right through it

 

[Ardrias]

Flash the BIOS! Fast, cheap and easy fun! Oh and it might help.

 

[inactionman]

Flash the BIOS! Fast, cheap and easy fun! Oh and it might help.

I wouldn't! If it's rebooting that frequently, it's likely to do so while in the middle of flashing the bios.....

 

[TdC]

indeed. well, I'm just about off to go get it. we'll see what happens after that.

 

[Xavier]

Unlikely if it worked before but not now. In fact that's almost the only thing it's definately not.

Xav

 

[Xavier]

indeed. well, I'm just about off to go get it. we'll see what happens after that.

Heh, ok - so make sure you set up some kind of webcam / helix RM stream so we can all watch teh mastaah at work the added bonus being when you've finished with Wij we can see you fix the 'puter too

 

[TdC]

hehe I'm actually bringing it home to fiddle with, where there's plenty of internet and stuff to help me out . in the mean time mumsy gets an old pII350 that I had stashed away against a rainy day. at least she can type letters on that heh