can someone please tell me what's going on here?

[J. FO]

i think i have trapped a poltergeist inside my beloved pc. i moved about 2 months ago, and ever since the move, my PC hasn't been the same. i've made no changes to her, no new software or hardware, no tweaks, etc. here's what's been happening, randomly, it will just shut off. i'll have to flip the i/o on the PS, sometimes unplug it from the wall, plug it back in, and then it will power up like nothing happened. it can be on for days at a time with no problem, then out of nowhere turn off 2 or 3 times in a row. I've reinstalled windows, i've done several checkdisks, defragged, checked for viruses, worms, trojans.... My roommate swears a "friendly" ghost frequents my room. but past that, what is it? time for a new power supply? hard drive become corrupt? i'm living in NYC now which means i have no money and am getting thinner by the hour. i hope it's something cheap. here's my specs:

Windows XP Pro
Digi001 6.something or other
AMD XP 1800
MSI Mobo with Via 266a
512MB Ram

I've used LE for close to 3 years now and have never, ever had any problems like this. Not even minor glitches, and that included my days on ME. thanks for the help.

[shynomi]

I had a friend whose cpu was just cutting off and on like that and it ended up being the power supply. I guess sometimes they just go out. You can get a 350watt ps these days for cheap check newegg.com they have great deals. hope that helps!

[J. FO]

hey thanks. i'm hoping it's just the PS. currently i have a 300w powering the system [with a thermaltake volcano 9] and 2 case fans. keep the thoughts rolling. long live my pc.

[lemix]

Hello J. FO ,

You've mentioned nothing was changed or installed since your relocation.
I can only think of two possibilities;
1)AC power in the new home is dirty/off tolerance. That is highly unlikely, but should check
with your local utilities co.
2)this may sound odd, but give it a try> open the PC case, remove, then reseat all cards/memory modules. Seen it happening after moving computers around.

good luck,
cheers,

[J. FO]

hey, good idea. i hadn't thought of reseating all the cards. will do that soon. fingers crossed.

[cruisemates]

HEAT... can cause serious problems inside a PC. By any chance, after the move did you relocate it inside a small space where heat can build up around (and hence inside) the case? The internals need a good air exchange with the outside. Heat can affect your motherboard, CPU and can make your hard-drives fail.

Re-seating cards is a good idea, also check your cables for proper seating.

You power source may also be the problem. If a PC reboots or dies it could be because it lost power momentarily.

[bassist]

Try getting a UPS battery back-up power supply. Mine has saved my ***** twice when the power goes out unexpectedly. I always plug in my PC as well as my powered monitors tothe battery side of the UPS. I have never lost info because of a power outage (knock on wood).

Bassist

[J. FO]

thanks again everybody. i've reseated all cards, memory modules, etc. i don't think it's a heat issue. i monitor that and upgraded my heatsink/fan and added the 2 case fans for that reason. temps are the same now as before the move [definitely in the comfortable range for Athlon systems]. guess i'll see how it goes for a while, then try the PS. thanks a lot, back to making music.

[drmandel]

You should do a google search on PACE software causing spontaneous reboot in XP. I had this happen for a long long time on my 98se system. You might try updating your PACE drivers on the PACE website. Sounds weird, but I've read that this is a known bug.