XP - random reboot

[Jamal Salim]

I use a pentium III with Windows XP O/S. For the last
copule of weeks, I have been having a terrible time with
the computer. It reboots itself randomly without any
prior notice. No errors are displayed. I don't see
anything worth noting in the event log or Dr. Watson log.
There is no pattern to reboots. There are times when it
will not reboot for hurs and thre have been times when it
reboots every 5 to 10 minutes. The behaviour doesn't seem
to indicate that it has anything to do with chips getting
over heated. I have re-installed XP a few times. I
haven't re-installed any of the programs, not even MS
office.

In the event log, I see the error - failed to load
i8042prt driver. I am not sure if I was getting this
error when the machine waas running fine. I copied the
i8042prt.sys from my other machine, but didn't fix the
problem. I cheked the computer fan and the temperature
and it looks fine.

I AM HOPING TO GETTING SOME GOOD ADVISE ON THIS NEWS
GROUP. pLEASE HELP

[news.tn.comcast.giganews.com]

I've had this happen a number of times..

I even reformatted and changed a lot of software to eliminate it..
Changed out some cards, considered it a HDD failure and changed
that, but all in vain. I took it in for repairs after doing that several
times myself. They didn't find it either.

The eventual and final solution for me was upgrading to SP1 and all
other updates thru MS Update ASAP, after initializing the system.
So there was a bug in XP itself causing that in my case. But one
eliminated by adding all the updates and service packs.

Hope this helps..


"Jamal Salim" > wrote in message
...
> I use a pentium III with Windows XP O/S. For the last
> copule of weeks, I have been having a terrible time with
> the computer. It reboots itself randomly without any
> prior notice. No errors are displayed. I don't see
> anything worth noting in the event log or Dr. Watson log.
> There is no pattern to reboots. There are times when it
> will not reboot for hurs and thre have been times when it
> reboots every 5 to 10 minutes. The behaviour doesn't seem
> to indicate that it has anything to do with chips getting
> over heated. I have re-installed XP a few times. I
> haven't re-installed any of the programs, not even MS
> office.
>
> In the event log, I see the error - failed to load
> i8042prt driver. I am not sure if I was getting this
> error when the machine waas running fine. I copied the
> i8042prt.sys from my other machine, but didn't fix the
> problem. I cheked the computer fan and the temperature
> and it looks fine.
>
> I AM HOPING TO GETTING SOME GOOD ADVISE ON THIS NEWS
> GROUP. pLEASE HELP

[CWatters]

Not sure if this will help but...

A brief web search suggests i8042prt driver is associated with the keyboard.
Perhaps it might be worth reinstalling any keyboard drivers and/or mouse
drivers you have. Better still go the the web site of the company that makes
your keyboard/mouse and download the latest version?

"Jamal Salim" > wrote in message
...
> I use a pentium III with Windows XP O/S. For the last
> copule of weeks, I have been having a terrible time with
> the computer. It reboots itself randomly without any
> prior notice. No errors are displayed. I don't see
> anything worth noting in the event log or Dr. Watson log.
> There is no pattern to reboots. There are times when it
> will not reboot for hurs and thre have been times when it
> reboots every 5 to 10 minutes. The behaviour doesn't seem
> to indicate that it has anything to do with chips getting
> over heated. I have re-installed XP a few times. I
> haven't re-installed any of the programs, not even MS
> office.
>
> In the event log, I see the error - failed to load
> i8042prt driver. I am not sure if I was getting this
> error when the machine waas running fine. I copied the
> i8042prt.sys from my other machine, but didn't fix the
> problem. I cheked the computer fan and the temperature
> and it looks fine.
>
> I AM HOPING TO GETTING SOME GOOD ADVISE ON THIS NEWS
> GROUP. pLEASE HELP

[Ron Martell]

"Jamal Salim" > wrote:

>I use a pentium III with Windows XP O/S. For the last
>copule of weeks, I have been having a terrible time with
>the computer. It reboots itself randomly without any
>prior notice. No errors are displayed. I don't see
>anything worth noting in the event log or Dr. Watson log.
>There is no pattern to reboots. There are times when it
>will not reboot for hurs and thre have been times when it
>reboots every 5 to 10 minutes. The behaviour doesn't seem
>to indicate that it has anything to do with chips getting
>over heated. I have re-installed XP a few times. I
>haven't re-installed any of the programs, not even MS
>office.
>
>In the event log, I see the error - failed to load
>i8042prt driver. I am not sure if I was getting this
>error when the machine waas running fine. I copied the
>i8042prt.sys from my other machine, but didn't fix the
>problem. I cheked the computer fan and the temperature
>and it looks fine.
>
>I AM HOPING TO GETTING SOME GOOD ADVISE ON THIS NEWS
>GROUP. pLEASE HELP

Open Control Panel - System - Advanced and click on the Settings
button in the Startup and Recovery (bottom) section.

In the Startup and Recovery window click on the checkbox for
"automatically restart" to clear it. Click on Apply and OK as needed
to exit.

Now the restarts will probably be replaced by "Blue Screen Of Death"
STOP errors. If so then the contents of the STOP message will be
direct clue as to the underlying cause. Post the STOP error message
back here if you need further advice or assistance.

Good luck


Ron Martell Duncan B.C. Canada
--
Microsoft MVP
On-Line Help Computer Service
http://onlinehelp.bc.ca

"The reason computer chips are so small is computers don't eat much."