Computer restarts while playing Sims--HELP!
blubug:
Mine used to do that, but later I discovered it could also restart during a normal windows task, and I had some trouble installing windows the last time; so I reinstalled windows *again* after formatting, but still had the random restarts. It was giving a driver error even after a fresh format with no drivers installed.
The problem turned out to be: I have 3x512MB Ram sticks. And one was slower, so I put that one on the last slot (or was it the first? can'ty remember, did a lot of research back then) and that was messing it up. I tried all combinations possible, and turns out, the slow one works best in the middle slot, the latest fast one I got in the last, and the one I bought in-between (also fast) works in the first slot. That's pretty stupid I guess, but I swear it's the truth and I haven't had ANY problems since then. No errors either.
But if you don't know anything about it, I suggest you send it to the shop. I couldn't because the only shop here ripped me off big-time and had my PC in for a motherboard change for 3 months!
J. M. Pescado:
Mismatched RAM would *DEFINITELY* cause this kind of error. If you have a mismatched RAM problem, as in you bought your RAMs at seperate times, insert your RAMs seperately and check your BIOS for what it detects as timings for each RAM. One of your RAMs may detect as being slower than the others, but if both RAMs are installed, your BIOS may autodetect the faster RAM. In this case, you must manually set your RAM timings back the speed of the slower RAMs. More information about a prior case of this has been documented here.
wes_h:
Quote from: blubug on 2006 December 14, 15:59:58
the slow one works best in the middle slot, the latest fast one I got in the last, and the one I bought in-between (also fast) works in the first slot.
Makes sense to me. I just did a memory upgrade on my PC, and it had 4 memory slots, two blue and two grey, laid out like BGBG. The original RAM was two 256 Meg sticks, each in one blue slot (0 and 2). I placed a 1 GB stick in slot zero (first blue one), and put the two matched 256's in slots 1 and 3 (the grey ones).
KatEnigma:
http://www.memtest86.com/
Burn it to a disk, make your computer boot from CD, and then let it run overnight. If you get back lots of things highlighted in red, it's a memory problem.
You also do not NEED to have catalyst installed, you can install just the drivers (just not the latest one, apparently *sigh*). Uninstall your ATI drivers/catalyst through add/remove programs. Then go to http://ati.amd.com/support/drivers/xp/previous/radeon/radeonxip-cat65-xp.htmll and install just the display driver.
It could also be a heat problem. Make sure all your fans are working and that there's nothing blocking the air vents to your tower. If you have a desk with a cubby for the the tower, pull it out of there, into the open, where air can circulate around it away from any heat sources. I've also been known to pop a side off and point a room fan at it.
Or it could be a power supply problem. *shrug* But the only way to test THAT is to buy a new one, so make it your last resort.
bluecatvon:
Thanks guys!!
I'm gonna try taking out my ram. I'm guessing I can check the "latency timing" or "latency frequency" to determine the speed of the 512MB ram, then test run it. If nothing goes wrong, I will insert the 1GB ram in and set both the same latency timing/frequency. And pray hard.
And I'm gonna try switching the rams too, blubug.
katennigma, i've downloaded the memtest86. i'll use a floppy disk. gonna check it tonight and hopefully can find a solution to it. For now I have the basic driver that came with the motherboard in the cd. not planning to update it as it's such a hassle...i think i can rule out heat problems. i tried pointing a fan at the open cased cpu but it restarted again.
and once again thank you all!
Navigation
[0] Message Index
[#] Next page
[*] Previous page