Curious case of system restart

B

Baalzamon

New Member
Okay. I hope you guys can help me.

I have 2 problems that it seems I can’t solve.

Let me start with writing my computer configuration:
Biostar TA790GX A3+
AMD Phenom QuadCore 3.2GHz
2x2GB DDR3
GeForce GTX260 896MB
1x 320GB Hard Disk (with operating systems on it)
1x 640GB Hard Disk (with data)

First problem:
I bought this configuration about 6 months ago. First I installed Windows XP x64. And the system started restarting on its own. It was kind of strange because there was no pattern to it – it didn’t matter if I was listening to the music, browsing internet, playing games, if I just turned it ON or if it was ON for 8 hours.
First I turned off automatic system restart on failure, that didn’t help.
Then I looked at temperatures, they were all good.
Then I tested memory, processor and hard drives – it seemed they were all good.
I didn’t suspect Windows because it was a fresh install, and I didn’t overload it that much, but still I decided to do a system reinstall before I take my PC back to the store. And that worked great. I reinstalled the system and restarts never happened again.

But after some time I got interested in Windows 7. A installed it as second operating system. And then it started all over again. Random restarts.
After a while I reinstalled Windows 7 and replaced it with some newer beta version – no change.
When Windows 7 was up for sale I got a free copy via university. I was hoping that would make a difference…but still, random restarts are happening. Few days ago I reinstalled it for like 5th time, but no change.


Second problem:
When I first installed Windows 7 installation went smoothly. After that when I wanted to reinstall it, I put the disc in, setup started, I deleted partition where old Windows 7 was on, formatted it and selected it to install new Windows 7 on it.
Setup started, now Im not sure how many steps are there in Windows 7 installation, but there r maybe 5. After first 4 there is a regular computer restart that setup announces. When computer restarts it gets to Phase 5 (the last stage), it works there a bit and then it restarts suddenly. When it comes back to setup I get a message that setup was restarted and that I have to run it again.
The only way to pass this was to make at least 2 new partitions off the old one(the one where windows 7 was on) and install Windows 7 on one of it, or to merge the old one with some other.

Not really sure what is happening here.
 
heat

You reinstalled XP, no problems for awhile. Then now you install Win 7. Restarts start again.

When was the last time you cleaned the inside of your computer? How hot are the internals getting? You can use this to check the temps and voltages:

I use CPUID HWMonitor to monitor temperatures: http://www.cpuid.com/hwmonitor.php

Have you undervolted the ram?
Are you overclocking?
When was the last time you changed the CMOS battery?

But I'm going to side with Linkin93 and bet that the problem stems from a bad power supply. To test it you can use either a multimeter or a power supply tester. I'd recommend the second choice, less chance of accidentally causing damage. They dont cost much, usually between $10 and $40, just buy a good brand.

Testers from Google
http://lmgtfy.com/?q=computer+power+supply+tester
 
Inside is clean, and I do clean my coolers regularly.
Its not overclocked.
Never changed CMOS battery, because my PC is less then 6 months old.

I wasnt configuring RAM so how to check if its undervolted?

But restarts are happening only on Win7 now. Not on windows XP.
 
could be a driver issue then. run windows update in 7 or download the most up to date drivers.
 
So have you looked at the "Event log" under Admin Tools to see if there are any errors highlighted?
 
Okay. Today I tried to install only Windows 7.
I have removed Windows XP and old version of Win7(they were on separate partitions on the same hard disc so I merged those partitions and formatted them).
Then I tried to install Win 7. I had in mind to see if the restarts would repeat, and if they were to repeat I would take my PC someone with proper tools to see what the frack is wrong.

But there was no chance to complete the setup.
The same thing...It goes thru 4 steps, then restarts(that is the restart that is supposed to happen), returns to 5th step works on it for like 5-10 sec and restarts. When it comes back to setup I get a message that setup has restarted unexpectedly and that I need to start setup again. I tried to install it like 4-5 times. Disconnected all not necessary hardware but still nothing.

I looked around a bit and I have seen that some other ppl had the same problem with vista and windows 7. I think all of them had an AMD platform.

So, I only 2 possible problems come to my mind.

1. That this is just a 1 in a billion hardware combination that somehow just wont work with win7.

2. Hmm....I guess u haven't seen as much Win7 restarts as I have, but when setup restarts the first time and returns to 5th phase there is a short blink on the screen, like its doing something with graphic card, and after that setup is complete (at least it was like that when I actually managed to install Win 7 those two times before). So...it could be something with graphic card...but I don't know what.

Is there any way to remove graphic card and connect monitor to motherboard. I have the ports on motherboard for monitor and HDMI. But I dont understand how that works.
 
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