Unstable PC

[A121]

Is my PC nearing its death? It's an old P3 system.

I haven't found a virus (even when scanning in safe mode) but it still keeps on restarting while running Windows 2k. My virus definition files are up to date. It also stops while its running on Ubuntu Linux.

Could this be hardware problems already?

Thanks!

[number001]

Try checking if the fans on the video card, cpu, and power supply are still functioning normally.

If you did not add or modify any hardware and settings recently, then constant rebooting means your PC is encountering errors and it could be hardware failure.

[madzie71]

Try checking if the fans on the video card, cpu, and power supply are still functioning normally.

baka kailangan din ng konting linis.... in time dust accumulates inside the pc which can lead to loss in contacts among peripherals.

[A121]

checked those, cleaned the fans a lil bit, and i discovered that one of the ram sticks isn't placed firmly on the slot.

i tried to run my anti-virus again and it seems that i have csrs.exe and windows-anti.exe... san ba nanggaling tong mga ito? grr. it looks like i need to reinstall..

[jasprit]

mukang kaialngan nga re-install pag software problem ksi =format madalas. Basta pag nag restart pa rin yan ng pa ulit uilit memory lng ang sira nyan ganyan din pc ko dati.

[number001]

checked those, cleaned the fans a lil bit, and i discovered that one of the ram sticks isn't placed firmly on the slot.

i tried to run my anti-virus again and it seems that i have csrs.exe and windows-anti.exe... san ba nanggaling tong mga ito? grr. it looks like i need to reinstall..

If you have several sticks of ram and did not install at least a stick properly, the system cannot use it and will not register in windows (right-click, "My Computer", see "General" tab). If you only have a stick of ram and it was not installed properly, the PC will not boot and will start beeping.


Re: virus.

To permanently get rid of them, the Hard disk need to be reformated and the OS re-installed. If you have other hard disk volumes (whether physical or different partitions within the same hard disk), make sure there are no viruses there also before reinstalling the OS.

[BoEinG_747]

May P3 din ako ginagamit ..halos walang patayan na ito ..
brownout lang kung turn off namin ito.
pero wala naman problema na ganyan ..

save mo na lang muna mga important files mo at reformat mo na ..
madali na lang naman iyan pag format

[Jun aka Pekto]

Is my PC nearing its death? It's an old P3 system.

I haven't found a virus (even when scanning in safe mode) but it still keeps on restarting while running Windows 2k. My virus definition files are up to date. It also stops while its running on Ubuntu Linux.

Could this be hardware problems already?

Thanks!

Everyone seems to have made good suggestions. I was going to suggest taking the thing apart and re-assembling it again and then see if the problem shows itself.

[A121]

wow daming replies... thanks a lot!

i tried hijackthis.exe to see if there are programs that shouldn't be running. well it seems that there are no viruses in my pc. it somewhat stable right now, although I haven't tested it overnight.

[A121]

bumping this thread up...

hello again... thanks for the advice and i was able to have some free time this week to check my pc.

i cleaned every heatsink but still it was unstable. i still get restarts and errors.

i did run memtest yesterday and boy, i got 193++ errors. i shut it down because i was getting sleepy.

so what i did this morning is to identify what ram stick has errors. so i pulled out one stick and tried to reboot. i got a blank screen. i checked the connections, it was ok. i replaced the monitor, and still i get the blank screen. i pulled out the video card and reinserted it, still the blank screen. i left it open to see if linux would load, deng.. the hdd light wasn't blinking at all. i pressed the num lock, caps lock and scroll lock buttons, they weren't lighting up.. it didn't make any error beeping sounds...

i will try later this afternoon kung ano mangyayari, baka sinusumpong lang...

[Jun aka Pekto]

bumping this thread up...

hello again... thanks for the advice and i was able to have some free time this week to check my pc.

i cleaned every heatsink but still it was unstable. i still get restarts and errors.

i did run memtest yesterday and boy, i got 193++ errors. i shut it down because i was getting sleepy.

so what i did this morning is to identify what ram stick has errors. so i pulled out one stick and tried to reboot. i got a blank screen. i checked the connections, it was ok. i replaced the monitor, and still i get the blank screen. i pulled out the video card and reinserted it, still the blank screen. i left it open to see if linux would load, deng.. the hdd light wasn't blinking at all. i pressed the num lock, caps lock and scroll lock buttons, they weren't lighting up.. it didn't make any error beeping sounds...

i will try later this afternoon kung ano mangyayari, baka sinusumpong lang...

I had a similar problem with two Via KT-266A motherboards (a Soyo and an Abit). I'd suspect either the PSU or video card assuming the cpu/cpu fan are getting power. To really know, you need to have a spare PSU and video card or a spare pc to test those components.

You can try re-setting the bios although I'm not sure if it'll help. I hope you have your motherboard manual still. You can also try disconnecting everything, including power cables and even removing the motherboard from the case to eliminate the possibility of the board in contact with the metal case surface.

I'm not too optimistic though. Both of my KT-266A mobos had the same problem and were really DOA. Haven't bought a Via mobo since.

[A121]

sir Jun,

Thanks for the reply. I have traced the problem and it seems that one stick of RAM is bad (128MB). I am currently running only on 64MB of RAM. I am going to confirm it using memtest again tomorrow because the plug for my keyboard snapped in the process.

Anyway, Merry Christmas!