WinXP Reboots

[James E]

my windows xp version reboots after about an hour and
displays an error message (in the blue background)

i have recently replaced the video card. and reinstalled
XP from scratch.
the computer is a P3-733Mhz, the mainboard is a Pc Partner
(i have to get the chipset, i think its from Via)
it has an on-board sound card. i will get the model info
later.
there is a CD-RW and DVD-Rom. it also includes a FDD
60Gb seagate Barracuda and LAN card.
the power supply is at 200 watt Pwr Supply Wich is
probibly no enogh.

[R. C. White]

Hi, James.

The obvious question: What does it say "in the blue background"? Even if
it looks like garbage to you, it is very meaningful to those who might be
able to help you. But they can't see your BSOD (Blue Screen of Death); you
will have to read it to them - and every character might be important, so be
sure to include the whole message exactly as it is on your screen.

A reboot after an hour sounds like it might be a heat buildup problem. I
agree that a 200W power supply might not be enough for your system. Are
there any cooling heat sinks/fans on your CPU or elsewhere in your case?
Are you in a desert or in Antarctica? ;^}

A Microsoft newsgroup is probably not the best forum for this kind of issue.
Have you tried PC Partner's web site (do they have one?)? How about one of
the several Usenet newsgroups where computer home-brewers hang out?
alt.comp.pc.hardware.homebuilt might be a good starting point, although I've
not been there.

RC
--
R. C. White, CPA
San Marcos, TX

Microsoft Windows MVP

"James E" > wrote in message
...
> my windows xp version reboots after about an hour and
> displays an error message (in the blue background)
>
> i have recently replaced the video card. and reinstalled
> XP from scratch.
> the computer is a P3-733Mhz, the mainboard is a Pc Partner
> (i have to get the chipset, i think its from Via)
> it has an on-board sound card. i will get the model info
> later.
> there is a CD-RW and DVD-Rom. it also includes a FDD
> 60Gb seagate Barracuda and LAN card.
> the power supply is at 200 watt Pwr Supply Wich is
> probibly no enogh.

[Ron Martell]

"James E" > wrote:

>my windows xp version reboots after about an hour and
>displays an error message (in the blue background)
>
>i have recently replaced the video card. and reinstalled
>XP from scratch.
>the computer is a P3-733Mhz, the mainboard is a Pc Partner
>(i have to get the chipset, i think its from Via)
>it has an on-board sound card. i will get the model info
>later.
>there is a CD-RW and DVD-Rom. it also includes a FDD
>60Gb seagate Barracuda and LAN card.
>the power supply is at 200 watt Pwr Supply Wich is
>probibly no enogh.

Windows XP has a default setting to "Restart on failure" and that is
probably what you are seeing.

Right click on My Computer and select Manage. Expand the Event Viewer
category and look through each of the three sub-categories for the red
flagged error records. The date and time of these should correspond
to your restarts. Double click on an error record to see the details
of the error.

You can change this restart behaviour if you want.

Open Control Panel - System - Advanced

In the Startup and Recovery section (bottom) click on the Settings
button to open the Startup and Recovery window.

In the System Failure (middle) section of that window there are 3
checkboxes, the bottom one labelled Automatically restart. Click on
that checkbox to clear it.

Click on OK and Apply as needed to exit.

After that change the computer will no longer restart when a system
failure occurs. Instead it will probably throw up a "Blue Screen Of
Death" with a STOP error message and then halt completely, requiring a
manual power off and restart (or reset if it has a hardware reset
switch).

But the contents of the STOP error message will give a specific clue
as to the underlying cause of the problem. Post the STOP message
information back here if you need advice or assistance with that.

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."

[Rich Barry]

If you are using a Nvidia Graphics Card try a different Driver.
http://www.3dchipset.com/drivers/index.php
"James E" > wrote in message
...
> my windows xp version reboots after about an hour and
> displays an error message (in the blue background)
>
> i have recently replaced the video card. and reinstalled
> XP from scratch.
> the computer is a P3-733Mhz, the mainboard is a Pc Partner
> (i have to get the chipset, i think its from Via)
> it has an on-board sound card. i will get the model info
> later.
> there is a CD-RW and DVD-Rom. it also includes a FDD
> 60Gb seagate Barracuda and LAN card.
> the power supply is at 200 watt Pwr Supply Wich is
> probibly no enogh.