Need come Windoze advice

Hey guys, I have a problem with my dads (Windows) computer.

Hard Drive "A" is failing. I am in process of copying everything on Hard Drive "A" off Hard Drive "B." Hard Drive "A" is not being accessed other than for the copy (I changed the drive letter so it shouldn't be accessed anyway).

Here's the problem, I can only go about 5 minutes at a time before Windows just reboots itself. Most recently I got an error about ntoskrnl.exe but most the time it just blacks out and reboots.

Could it be something else? I know it's not the memory (Took out each of the 2 sticks one at a time) and the Power Supply doesn't seem to be running warm or anything, so I'm not pegging it on that either.

While I'm waiting for responses from you guys maybe I'll try the drives in my sisters computer again.

The power supply comes to my mind first. What's the rating on it and how many of the molex connectors are being used off it? Also, how many drives are you trying to run all at the same time. Even though it's not getting really warm doesn't necessarily mean it's not being overwhemled.

I think that ntoskrnl.exe controls the processor during certain activities. If possible, you could try extracting and re-installing it or seeing if there is an update to it.

Mike

1. caps

2. memory ( as in bad stick )

Maybe it is the Power Supply. I think 4 Molex connectors are in use? It's a nice PC Power and Cooling supply but it's a desktop rated supply used in a machine that's on practically 24/7

Anyway the drives are running off my sisters machine now. Same Motherboard, Similar CPU, very similar setups overall--everything seems to be running fine in there.

Mebbe this will help us narrow it down--when it reboots there's a click or crack type of noise from the PSU, like it's switching off and back on quickly or something, does this mean it probably is the PSU or could a software problem cause the PSU to make noise like that? (IE Software sends reboot signal, PSU makes clicking noise...)

That sound like hardware problems, not software. Try unplugging devices that are not necessary and see how things work. What really messes things up are when hard drives spin up at the same time. It takes more power to start them spinning, like any motor.

If your using multiple hard drives, floppy and cd drives all at the same time you could be over taxing the power supply. I mean, everything takes power ....people add memory but forget it takes power too. Faster processor needs more power, same for more powerful video cards, usb devices that don't have their own power block take their power from the power supply, case fans and peripheral device fans (video, cpu). Everything takes power and it adds up quickly if they all need it from the power supply.


Mike

Yeah mebbe we'll get a new PSU and an UPS, I understand (From dealing with the computers at school) that the power is REALLY DIRTY out here. At time of the chronic reboots the system in question had:

ATI All in Wonder 128
WD 120 Gig HD and HD Cooler (Basically 2 40mm fans). 7200 RPM
Maxtor 40 gig HD (This is the one that's failing). 5400 maybe? Old drive
2 80 mm case fans
1 Thermal Take Volcano 6cu+ (7000 RPM--sounds like a vacuum)
512 Mb RAM
USB Keyboard, Mouse
AMD Athlon XP 1800

At first it doesn't seem like much but I guess that's actually quite a bit of stuff. This is an a PC Power and Cooling Turbocool 300 Watt PSU.

Yeah, sounds like you have quite a bit of stuff running. Dan over at Dan's Data did a pretty nice article on power supplies and how their wattage ratings are not equal. In other words, brand "X" 300 watt power supply is not necessarily equal to a brand "Y" 300 watt power supply. It can be the brand "X" is actually, in practice only a 200-250 watt power supply.

Mike

Ryan, the PC Power and Cooling power supplies are generally considered among the best around for PC's. The power rating should be pretty true. That said, there is some major power-sucking cooling devices installed in that setup. Dust in fan bearings or failing fan motors draw even more power. I can't recommend turning off the CPU fan, but you could easily disconnect the hard drive fans and just leave the case open to test operation. Maybe disconnect some other case fans. If some of the case fans are plugged straight into the mainboard, they could be drawing down the power to the CPU, chipset, or RAM. I wouldn't worry too much about frying things due to heat if it can't stay on for more than 10 minutes as is. Once you locate the cause, you can decide how to fix afterwards.

Pretty sure it's the PSU. Anybody know how PC Power's warranty works?

Thanks guys!

No idea ..... sorry about that. /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/frown.gif

Mike

unplug your harddrive that with your data and plug into another PC as a slave drive, then copy all the data out or a full backup.

plug your harddrive back to the original PC and do a fresh installation of the OS....software, utility....everythings. (if you're using MS-Windows system.)

Be sure the screensaver is turned off, if it's active.
If it engages and the program is corrupted, it could cause a reboot by causing the processor to jump out of program and hit a bad NMI (non-maskable interrupt) address or similar. This might cause the processor to reset, taking the rest of the computer along for the ride.

What version of Windows?

"Microsoft-Who do you want to crash today?"

ntoskrnl.exe with that file probably xpp or nt

Right click the "my computer" icon. Select properties. Go to the advanced tab. Go to "Start Up, and Recovery". Make sure that Automatic Reboot on Errors does not have a check mark.

This is for windows XP. 2000 should be something close.

It would appear it is in fact the PSU.

Using a host machine, but the "corrupt" installation of windows, I successfully copied all the data off the failing drive. Put everything back in the original computer and..wouldn't turn on. Unplugged all the Molex connectors and..wouldn't turn on. Power to the motherboard (Green LED on Mobo) but not enough to start up apparently. Looking at the PSU I can see (inside) a little piece of porcelain or plastic with a hole melted through it /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/blush.gif