Why does it keep restarting?

**PROFESSORPAUL** · May 25, 2006, 12:29 AM

Just anytime while I'm playing any game, my computer would restart. Sometimes it does this, and sometimes it doesnt, but it usually does it. And everytime my computer restarts and windows starts up, it shows an error about Microsoft Windows and how it's recovered from a major error. Anyone know what might be causing this? It only restarts while I'm playing something.

**Locky** · May 25, 2006, 02:15 AM

Maybe it's a heating issue. Or your drivers are corrupted. Could also be damaged hardware, like a CPU, or Ram or smething.

**Leonidas The Lion** · May 25, 2006, 03:52 AM

It's a corruption in Windows.
Backup all your files then reinstall windows on your comp and post the results here.

**Drunken** · May 25, 2006, 04:32 AM

Does it happen on any particular game ?

I used to get this whilst playing Oblivion. It would crash and then upon restarting windows would say it had recovered from a critical error (or words to that effect).

Ive never had it whilst doing anything other than playing oblivion, and I assumed it would be due to my PC just not being up to the job of playing oblivion.

**Kaweh** · May 25, 2006, 08:20 AM

Originally Posted by Leonidas the Lion

It's a corruption in Windows.
Backup all your files then reinstall windows on your comp and post the results here.

I had this problem too and the above solution is the only one that works in the long ru, believe me.

K.K

**Ahlerich** · May 25, 2006, 08:23 AM

Originally Posted by Kaweh K.

I had this problem too and the above solution is the only one that works in the long ru, believe me.

K.K

ya but i had the same problem too and one time it was my psu that was about to die and one time it was a heat issue. but if you dont lose data or have options to back up..well then try the reinstall first..doesnt take long..and if it doesnt fix it continue on the list

**Halie Satanus** · May 25, 2006, 10:52 AM

Originally Posted by Kaweh K.

I had this problem too and the above solution is the only one that works in the long ru, believe me.

K.K

I agree, after many weeks of sudden restarts i reinstalled windows, someone told me it was a virus that opens the background apps on you computor multipule times until your system overloads and crashes.

**Aristocrat** · May 25, 2006, 05:08 AM

Before you go reinstalling windows...
Check the temperatures on your video card, cpu, and motherboard at idle (not running anything but windows) and at load (just alt tab out of game and check the temp), you can download some free programs for this like motherboard monitor (google that).
Then tell us what the temps are, and also what hardware your computer has, and if you have overclocked and so on.
Atm I would say your computer is overheating.
You haven't recently changed video cards have you?

**OTZ** · May 25, 2006, 06:52 AM

Could be anything at this point....psu/vid card/RAM...more details!

**Ahlerich** · May 25, 2006, 08:17 AM

Originally Posted by OTZ

Could be anything at this point....psu/vid card/RAM...more details!

ya exactly.

1.psu
2.dirty power
3.ram
4.videocard/drivers (delete all videocard related drivers and install the newest ones and then restart)
5.heat (dustcovered heatsink on cpu)
6.corrupted windows (not likely but always a possibility)

now what you have to do to approach the problem professionally is you have to isolate the possible error source.

do you have an old videocard that works or maybe an unused onboard videochip? if yes try playing with one of those instead. if it works you found the problem, if not:

download a memory tester like memtest (google) and let the test run 3 rounds. no errors? then:

check if your cpu heatsink is covered with a layer of dust between heatsink and fan. dust is an isolater..if yes remove it.

try a different psu if you have one.

reinstall windows (most likely wont fix it) so do that only if you have no ideas left.

for dirty power/psu you really cant do much then buying another quality psu for 50 bucks and get a powerbar that filters voltage peaks. both togerther will cost you 60-80 bucks (if you live in north america a powerbar that filters voltage peaks is highly recommended..especially if you live in a building with old wires or an appartment block)

you can also disable fast write in your bios and on your videocard software (if it is an ati that often causes problems)

now when you go through all those tries make sure you do one change at a time and then test thoroughly if it restarts or not. that way you slowly can narrow down the possible source of an error.

**OTZ** · May 25, 2006, 02:09 PM

Each situation can be completely different and needs to be treated that way. One person's solution to a similar problem may not be the answer for another's issues. We need to diagnose the problem before offering a fix.

Sure, he can try re-installing Windows, and it may work, but it would be easier to rule everything else out beforehand...I had random reboots for weeks and it turned out to be my RAM. Reinstalling Windows would not have done me any good.

In PP's case, it seems that this only occurs while gaming, so I doubt it's a virus. In all likelihood it as a hardware issue, and that's where I'll be placing my bets. But until we get more info from him, we won't know for sure.

**Incinerate_IV** · May 25, 2006, 02:42 PM

It might be Windows or it also might be overheating. The only way to find out is to download Prime95, run torture test, and see if your computer crashes. Since he said it only restarts when hes playing a game, which is a very CPU intensive task, I'm leaning more toward overheating. I had a problem like this on my old Dell. It turns out the cheap thermal paste Dell used on the CPU heatsink dried up and the CPU isn't getting any cooling at all! A little Artic Silver solved the problem nicely.

**Ahlerich** · May 25, 2006, 04:57 PM

Originally Posted by Incinerate_IV

It might be Windows or it also might be overheating. The only way to find out is to download Prime95, run torture test, and see if your computer crashes. Since he said it only restarts when hes playing a game, which is a very CPU intensive task, I'm leaning more toward overheating. I had a problem like this on my old Dell. It turns out the cheap thermal paste Dell used on the CPU heatsink dried up and the CPU isn't getting any cooling at all! A little Artic Silver solved the problem nicely.

well then the dude can run the torture test and if it crashes se if his heatsink is warm at all, eh?

lol well its all about eliminating possible error sources and narrowing it down

**PROFESSORPAUL** · May 25, 2006, 05:04 PM

Well at idle, my CPU is about 96 degrees and motherboard like 91 degrees, so it couldnt be overheating. Besides, my video card is meant to get hot.

I have the latest drivers for my video card, and I'm sure I don't have any viruses or adware. Here are my comp specs:

ATI Radeon 1900XTX
AMD Athlon 64 X2 4400+ 2.2 GHZ
2 GB Ram
ASUS A8N-32 SLI Deluxe
Creative Labs Audigy 2 EAX
Windows XP Service Pack 2

It's a recent computer that I just set up like 4 weeks ago. It's using my old hard drives from my other computer since I wanted to keep all my stuff, so I dunno if that might be the case. Sometimes I do get an error in my task bar saying something about the data not being able to be saved in a certain hard drive or something like that and to back it all up, and when I go to that drive I open a folder but nothing is in it, and it only shows up again when I restart the computer.

**Emperor Dimitricus** · May 25, 2006, 05:08 PM

yeh this sort of issue could be anything. its possible, although unlikely, that its a virus. it could be a corrupt windows. it could be overheating. it could be hardware. pretty much anything.
although longwinded, my way around this is to do a windows repair, then a windows reinstall, then check out hardware one by one. although its a lot easier for me as i have 2 spare computers to help.

**Aristocrat** · May 25, 2006, 06:50 PM

Wait was windows already installed on that hard drive(s) you carried over from your old computer?
If so your drivers are all out of whack, and you need to reinstall windows (or at the very least repair it) and then install all the new drivers for your computer.

**Incinerate_IV** · May 25, 2006, 07:07 PM

Can you find out how hot the CPU get when its under load?

Another possibility could be the ram, you should try to run with 1 stick and see what happens.

**fallingstar** · May 26, 2006, 05:23 AM

Originally Posted by Incinerate_IV

Can you find out how hot the CPU get when its under load?

Another possibility could be the ram, you should try to run with 1 stick and see what happens.

As in RAM error?

**PROFESSORPAUL** · May 26, 2006, 03:27 PM

Here is the error I usually get in the task bar when the game restarts or crashes:

Windows - Delayed Write Failed
Windows was unable to save all the data for the file H:\$Mft.
The data has been lost. This error may be caused by a failure of your
computer hardware or network connection. Please try to save this file elsewhere.

And when I go to the drive, all of the folders are just empty. I just now activated Windows after I had 5 days left, and it doesnt seem to have a restarting problem anymore, at least I dont think so. What does the above error mean anyway?