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General discussion

XP PRO runs good, then blue screens, then auto restart, back to running good, blue screen, auto restart, etc.

Mar 8, 2004 3:07AM PST

My grandson (15 yrs old, very computer literate) is running XP Pro, iWill K753 motherboard, AMD 2100, 512 DDR. TrendMicro PC Cillin 2003 w/firewall.

His puter was running very well until about two weeks ago. It then started giving him a blue screen, followed by an automatic restart, followed by Windows running well, then for no reason does a repeat(s) of the same thing again -- blue screen, auto restart, back to Windows. The time between these repeats differ, there is no time pattern as to when he will expect the next blue screen, auto restart, etc.

Your help will be most welcomed and greatly appreciated.

Vic Wiedenfeld (Grandpa)

Discussion is locked

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Re:XP PRO runs good, then blue screens, then auto restart, back to running good, blue screen, auto restart, etc.
Mar 8, 2004 3:13AM PST

I'd test for a heat issue first.

Remove the case cover and point a fan at the internals. See if the problem vanishes or is reduced.

Bob

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Re:XP PRO runs good, then blue screens, then auto restart, back to running good, blue screen, auto restart, etc.
Mar 8, 2004 1:40PM PST
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Re:XP PRO runs good, then blue screens, then auto restart, back to running good, blue screen, auto restart, etc.
Mar 8, 2004 10:54PM PST

You mentioned that there is no fixed time pattern between the 'good' and the 'bad'. Anyway,can you still give an example of the times, e.g. 30 minutes ? 1 hour ? 2 hours ? 1 day ? Is there a difference if the kid is doing something different ? At the blue screns, what are the error messages, if any ?

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Re:XP PRO runs good, then blue screens, then auto restart, back to running good, blue screen, auto restart, etc.
Mar 9, 2004 4:36AM PST

It sounds like it could be a w32 type virus like the Blaster (especially) or Welchia worm or another variant. Run a full anti-virus system scan. If that does produce results, or you can't run it because it is caught in the restart loop, you may have to take it to the shop for anti-virus scanning. If you want to solve it yourself, go to symantec.com (possibly on another computer) and read about the blaster worm and it's variants and how to remove them. Symantec explains how to check for the processes, editing the registery to remove the virus, and turning off system restore until you are rid of it.

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Re:Re:XP PRO runs good, then blue screens, then auto restart, back to running good, blue screen, auto restart, etc.
Mar 9, 2004 4:46AM PST

Had the same exact problem with my AMD 2100 cpu, I believe it was a Heat related problem, I returned it back to AMD(still under warranty) they sent me a 2200+ chip(Athalon core) up updated my Bios, and have had more shutdown, just a thougt.