[DanielCox]

It's a BSOD - the default behaviour is to immediately reboot, it's quick so you won't often see the blue screen.
What OS? If it's XP then it could be any number of problems. If it's Vista or 7 then it's more likely to be a hardware problem since not a lot of software should be causing BSODs.

 

[beerguy0]

Quote:

Originally Posted by ziplock /img/forum/go_quote.gif As stated by some.. P.S. Make sure your case and CPU Heatsink is clean of all dust particles. These nasty little things can cause all sorts of problems. Overheating, short circuits, etc...

I had exactly the same problem with my PC a while back - crashing from Windows, slow, etc. Turned out to be a heatsink completely clogged with dust, getting essentially zero airflow. Cleaned the heatsink and fan, and it ran like new. Definitely something to look at on an older machine.

 

[chesebert]

is your PSU still going strong? PSUs age and loose their efficiency over time. If you live in an area with crappy power, your PSU may wear out faster. Also, what's the total power draw of your system? (you can use killawatt while benchmarking) your PSU rating? is your PSU rating at least 30% greater than your total power draw?

What's the quality of your mobo? did you get a name brand mobo or something cheap?

I would second the heatsink advice; not for your CPU (your temp seems fine), but for heatsinkson your south and north bridges.

 

[Jubei]

Again, thanks for all the suggestions - which have given me some ideas into what I should look at (and some of my own suspicions).

But first, need to BACKUP!

 

[MisterMoJo]

Jubei- Confused yet??

 

[Zorander]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Jubei /img/forum/go_quote.gif But first, need to BACKUP!

Pray it does not keep crashing while you back-up.

 

[Jubei]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Zorander /img/forum/go_quote.gif Pray it does not keep crashing while you back-up.

Yes- - it is one of my fears.

Part of the problem is that this crashing doesn't happen all the time - seems quite random as like yesterday morning when it crashed almost immediately after I turned on my PC and launched my browser.

 

[MisterMoJo]

Does it always happen when you are surfing the web w/ firefox or chrome??

 

[Jubei]

Not always triggered within the browser. But nearly always when I trigger an action ... like for example clicking on a link in TweetDeck that launches a tab in either FF or Chrome. Initially I thought there was a conflict with Foobar because I nearly always have Foobar playing in the background, but since it has also happened when I didn't have Foobar running at all, that is obviously not the case.

But as I mentioned earlier, it happens maybe one or twice per week, so I still can use the PC most of the time. After backing up stuff, shall look inside to see if anything is loose first, as I have had that happen to me in the past; since the building I'm living in is under renovation, there is alot of drilling on the building walls and the vibrations might have loosened something.

Then I shall probably go for updating my video drivers (the ones I am using were installed when I built the PC 2 years ago, so that might also be a good bet).

Then probably the stress and memory tests ...

 

[Jubei]

Crap! Just crashed again!

Not scientific ... but think most of the crashes caused when browser (both FF and Chrome) launch or try to launch a new tab.

Hmmm ... thinking it might be a Chrome problem (memory might not be serving me well here ... perhaps no crashes with FF?) : http://www.google.com/support/forum/...2d27574f&hl=en

 

[Gbak]

Do you use Windows? Then theres the problem.

You either have to have a Windows fresh install with the expectation that it will happen again after some time (and you will have to redo the process) nor install a Gnu/Linux distro and get over all this crap.

 

[Solid Snake]

 

[chesebert]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Gbak /img/forum/go_quote.gif Do you use Windows? Then theres the problem. You either have to have a Windows fresh install with the expectation that it will happen again after some time (and you will have to redo the process) nor install a Gnu/Linux distro and get over all this crap.

really? I have had winxp in one of my machines for almost 6 years without reinstall and with no problem. If OP is having that much trouble with windows it's probably user error.

 

[Jubei]

Quote:

Originally Posted by chesebert /img/forum/go_quote.gif really? I have had winxp in one of my machines for almost 6 years without reinstall and with no problem. If OP is having that much trouble with windows it's probably user error.

I have no problems with Win XP, and I'm not sure it is user error either. According to the google support link I posted, it seems that it is some sort of bug with Chrome when opening tabs can cause BSODs. Maybe these are caused by extensions (and I only have a few) ... anyway, have switched back to FF to see if problem persists.

 

[Solid Snake]

Use firefox instead.