Random restarts and freezing

Ok, for the past 4 weeks or so, my computer has been freezing an awful lot and randomly restarting. Ive never had a problem with this since ive had the computer except once a few months ago when my cpu fan started to get loud and stop functioning properly. After that was replaced with a new fan with a larger heatsink, the problem stopped. A lot of times, my computer will freeze up on startup, right as windows is about to start. Once, I got a windows error saying that there is a windows display driver error. Now, if this was the case, would reformatting help or is there a way i can solve this without reformatting? However, i have noticed that whenever i run the computer in safe mode, it functions fine and never freezes or restarts. could this be a video card problem? Power supply issue? my power supply is rated at 450 watts. I'm running a gigabyte board GA-7VAXP Ultra, a nvidea TI 4200 video card, Athlon 2000+ processor, 512mb of Kingston DDR PC3200 ram, and windows XP pro.

First .. make sure your video card is seatted properly. Then double check your fans.. all of them.. make sure theres no problem. You've got enough power (on paper). However, it may be on its way out. Cant stress enough to check that fan. If that fan goes.. your power supply is next.. and soon.

Hi there,

Do all advised in the previous post…but from a software angle just to fix any errors…..please do the following:

Do a Disk Check
Go to properties of your C: (ALT + Click / Right-click)
Go to the "tools" tab.
At the first section, the "Error-checking" section, Click "Check Now"
Check both boxes and click start.
Click Yes at the prompt.
Reboot your computer.

Let it run through the scan, log into your account then do the following:

Start > Run > copy and paste in:
sfc /scannow
Click 'OK'
You will need your XP/2000/ME disk. If you don't have it and instead only have a recovery CD, there is a work around. View the following link for a tutorial:

http://www.updatexp.com/scannow-sfc.html

sfc - system file checker, retrieves the correct version of the file from %Systemroot%\System32\Dllcache or the Windows installation source files, and then replaces the incorrect file.

If you want to see what was replaced, right click My Computer > manage, expand event viewer > system.


That should fix the issue if it's a software one….if not and the problem persists then Please:

Please go Start->Control Panel. In the control Panel, be sure you are on Classic View and then choose System. In the System window, go to Advanced tab. There, under the headline of Startup and Recovery, please click the Settings button. Under the headline of System failure, please UNcheck the box that says Automatically restart. Now, instead of just rebooting, your pc will show a blue screen including information I will need in order to help you. Please, when it happens, either take a picture of it and upload it here or write down the message that it gives on your next reply.

Big Smiles

HS

Thanks guys… I'm at work right now but will do all of this once i get home. I can do all of this in safe mode right? cause right now, my system will only run in safe mode. It crashed before it loads up if i try to start it regular but in safe mode, itll run all day. this is what leads me to think its a video card issue. maybe even a mother board issue? ive never had issues with a motherboard before though and as such, im not exactly sure what to look for if that were the case. swelled capacitors? burnt spots on the circuit board? thanks for all your help. ill report back after i perform the recommended fixes Phill

Hi there, Yes…you can do it in Safe Mode..let us know how you get on Big Smiles HS