Random Reboot PC Issue - please help!

[hockey2112]

Random Reboot PC Issue - please help!


I recently built a new computer, and posted about some power issues about a month back. That issue has been resolved, and it was an extremely stupid mistake on my part (had the power supply switched to 220 instead of 110... I live in the US... wrong voltage was listed in the guide I was using... duh...).

Anyway, I have built my computer, and I am having an issue that is driving me insane. On a completely random basis, my computer freezes momentarily (2 or 3 seconds), and then reboots itself. I receive no error message at the time of reboot, nor do I receive one when Windows pulls back up. My device manager shows all hardware as working correctly, and the computer is virus-free, according to Norton Systemworks with the latest virus definitions.

I was having these issues a week or so ago, and decided to reinstall windows completely. I took all components out of my case, put them back in, and built the PC component by component. I pretty much did the longest install ever, to make sure that all drivers were loaded properly. Evertything was working fine, until last night when I plugged my external hard drive into my firewire PCI card. I plugged it in, very closely following the manufacturer's instructions, and it seemed to be installing fne. All of a sudden, the PC rebooted, without freezing first. I cussed and fussed, and waited for Windows to pull back up. It did, and the hard drive appeared in MY Computer, and I was able to access it quite easily.

A little later that night, I plugged a MS Pro Duo into my case's card reader, and accessed several folders on the card. I hit the "back" button so that I would eventually return to My Computer, and my PC froze and rebooted when I reached the PSP root folder on the stick. (Side note: when I was having these issues a week ago, this same thing would happen to me when I accessed a PSP memory card via the Mobo's built-in USB ports). A little later still, I was using IE to browse DCEmu, and the PC froze and rebooted while I was using the mouse's scroll wheel (basic PC mouse, corded, ball). I let it reboot, went back to DCEmu, and it froze and rebooted while I was idley reading a page. It did this several more times before I gave up. This morning, I had the same thing happen while I was reading a page on CNN using FireFox, so it is not a browser-specific issue.

Any ideas on why this would be happening? Did plugging in my external HD overload the power supply or the capabilities of the Mobo or something? Is another piece of hardware (like my card reader, for instance) a piece of crap, and should I trash it completely?

I am using Windows XP, SP1, by the way. I installed from an older Windows disk, and updated to SP1.

Computer specs are listed below this next brief issue...



Another issue I have been having: When I use Firefox to browse the internet, everything runs smoothly (as long as I do not reboot). However, when I use IE, I experience huge delays in page loads. For instance, I will come to DCEmu, the top banner and blue background color load up, and the status bar on the IE browser says that it is done loading. A good ten or 15 seconds later, the page content finally displays in my browser. The funny thing is that the content loaded basically loads up like it had loaded when I first got to the page.

Sounds confusing, I know. For example, let's say that I had the topmost post on the page I was trying to load. As you can see, I have an animated GIF as a signature image. When the page finally loads, my signature is on the last frame or two of its animation. So it is like the content is loaded up that whole time, only I am experiencing the 10-15 second delay before I can actually view the content. Any ideas on this one?



Finally, my computer's parts:




Main parts:

Motherboard/CPU combo: ECS nForce4A-939 & Athlon x2 4600+
http://www.portatech.com/catalog/vie...D=13568&O=4336

eVGA 256-P2-N615-TX Geforce 7600GT 256MB 128-bit GDDR3 PCI Express x16 Video Card
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...rdware_vga_sky

CORSAIR XMS 1GB (2 x 512MB) 184-Pin DDR SDRAM DDR 400 (PC 3200) Dual Channel Kit Desktop Memory Model TWINX1024-3200C2 - Retail
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16820145449

Ultra (2 x 512MB) PC3200 DDR 400MHz CL3 Memory - I HAVE NOT ADDED THIS TO MY COMPUTER YET
http://www.tigerdirect.com/applicati...p?EdpNo=586829

Broadway Com Corp Okia-black-650 ATX 650W Power Supply 115/230 V cUL , UL , CSA
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16817162014

Seagate Barracuda 7200.10 (Perpendicular Recording) ST3250620AS 250GB 7200 RPM SATA 3.0Gb/s Hard Drive - OEM
This is my main drive, on which my Windows OS is installed. Please see the IDE settings on the two drives below this one-- would this be a potential problem?
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16822148144

Western Digital 120 GB hard drive from old computer (was the Slave in old computer, is now the master on the IDE chain)
WDC WD1200JB-00FUA0

Western Digital 60 GB hard drive from old computer (was the Master in old computer, is now the slave on the IDE chain)
WDC WD600BB-75CAA0

COOLER MASTER Centurion 5 CAC-T05-UW Black Aluminum Bezel, SECC ATX Mid Tower Computer Case
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16811119068



Extraneous items:

MyHD TV Tuner Card: - I HAVE NOT ADDED THIS TO MY COMPUTER YET
http://www.digitalconnection.com/Pro...deo/mdp130.asp

Zonet ZFN2600 IEEE1394 3+1-Port Firewire PCI Host Card
http://www.amazon.com/Plus-Port-Fire...116110-2756845

USB card - I HAVE NOT ADDED THIS TO MY COMPUTER YET
http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg...X0DER&v=glance

LINKSKEY LKA-CR15BW 52-in-1 USB 2.0 Internal 3.5" USB Card Reader
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16820309001


(NOTE: some of these links may now be dead)

You can also see below for a JPG of my device manager screen... Maybe someone will see something in there that is amiss.

THANK YOU for any help you can provide!!!!!

[Tomlo]

I can already say that your problem is the ecs motherboard. Simply put they are junk, and have tendencys to fry cpu's and ram. I personally went threw three cpu's on one of their boards before I realized that.

I recomend you try flashing its bios first but if that doesnt stop your problems ditch it for a good brand like ASUS or DFI before something blows...

I first suspected the PSU since it isnt a major name, but after I saw ecs I knew that was your problem, but just to be sure check your voltage ratings to see if they are steady during operation using sensor probe software.

Im not the only person to have problems with ecs also it seems that they are always having their products pulled from store shelves from retailers not willing to deal with the returns...

[dvdhl89]

I think that maybe some part of your PC is overheating, it can be the motherboard or your processor, after the system reboots check the temperature of your motherboard and cpu on the bios.

Or take out the cpu and put it back, dont know why but it worked for me, when I built my pc it just restarted every 5 seconds after turned on.

[DPyro]

Yep it`s the motherboard. ECS boards are junk, and I highly recommend you replace it. Get an ASUS, DFI or Gigabyte mobo and you should be fine.

[Malksta]

Yep it`s the motherboard. ECS boards are junk, and I highly recommend you replace it. Get an ASUS, DFI or Gigabyte mobo and you should be fine.

I built my computer about 2 years ago and i'm using a ECS board, No problems yet

[DPyro]

I built my computer about 2 years ago and i'm using a ECS board, No problems yet

Your one of the lucky few. If you do a Google search you'll see all kinds of problems with ECS boards.

[semicolo]

You can maybe increase the cpu voltage, I've got a motherboard very unstable at standard rating, but since I saw on the Internet to increase vcore by 7 to 10 % it's ok.

[hockey2112]

I can already say that your problem is the ecs motherboard. Simply put they are junk, and have tendencys to fry cpu's and ram. I personally went threw three cpu's on one of their boards before I realized that.

I recomend you try flashing its bios first but if that doesnt stop your problems ditch it for a good brand like ASUS or DFI before something blows...

I first suspected the PSU since it isnt a major name, but after I saw ecs I knew that was your problem, but just to be sure check your voltage ratings to see if they are steady during operation using sensor probe software.

Im not the only person to have problems with ecs also it seems that they are always having their products pulled from store shelves from retailers not willing to deal with the returns...

Thanks for the input. I really hope it is not the mobo. How does one go about installing a new mobo? Do you just need to hook everything up and install the new board's drivers, or do you need to reinstall windows as well to get a nice clean install?

I should be heading to Radio Shack one night this week to get a voltage meter, so I will see if that is the problem.

I think that maybe some part of your PC is overheating, it can be the motherboard or your processor, after the system reboots check the temperature of your motherboard and cpu on the bios.

Or take out the cpu and put it back, dont know why but it worked for me, when I built my pc it just restarted every 5 seconds after turned on.

The temp is usually around 35 degrees Celsius, which seems like a pretty good temp, huh?

Have not tried removing and reseating the CPU. I may try that

Yep it`s the motherboard. ECS boards are junk, and I highly recommend you replace it. Get an ASUS, DFI or Gigabyte mobo and you should be fine.

Can you recommend a specific model that would be someone equitable to the cost of the ECS that I have, and will work with my current components?

You can maybe increase the cpu voltage, I've got a motherboard very unstable at standard rating, but since I saw on the Internet to increase vcore by 7 to 10 % it's ok.

How would I go about increasing the voltage?



Thanks to everyone for their replies!

[steve-b]

wait...you ran it at the wrong voltage? It's all the same components? You're lucky it didn't blow up. I'd be surprised if all the hardware made thru unscathed.

[DPyro]

On that page you linked to here it also lists the ASrock and Gigabyte boards. Either one of those would be fine and would work with the components you have now.