Sigh...Help Please

[Spawndemon]

So I was just browsing the net today when my computer randomly decided to restart itself. No blue screen that I saw, just a simple reboot out of no where. Wasn't doing anything special. This also happened yesterday when I was playing a game (Age of Mythology, not a graphic heavy game or anything) and it also restarted. Since the restart today when I was on the internet, my Firefox is now messed up. I saw a thread with a similar problem, where it will let me log into the sites, but once I close the browser and open it up again, everything is once again logged out. I've already cleared my cookies and temp files. So two questions:

1. How do I fix my Firefox?
2. What causes your computer to just randomly restart for no reason? Bad ram or power supply? My ram has always been kind of sketchy so if that causes this, I should finally get some better stuff I guess.

Thanks.

[Busby, Paul (Bicci)]

Re: Sigh...Help Please

As an initial call of thought i would run a few stress tests (prime 95/orthos for CPU and 3Dmark/Furmark for GPU) and give us some rough temps so we can rule out overheating failure. Try a few other games (something more demanding) see if the same thign happens then it could be a driver issue?

Could easily be PSU but its a hard thing to test without a spare.

Firefox glitches and restarts are often quite different problems with different solutions though...

If its software/drivers then reinstall.. if its hardware then trail and error.

[imported_Will]

Re: Sigh...Help Please

I saw a thread with a similar problem,

Ah that was my thread. i accidentally kicked my computer(i keep it on the floor and it hit a wall.... i got exicited b/c i got an A in math class lol)

This is what i have in my tools>options>privacy (which i tinkered around)

DONT
Remember Downloaded,
Remember History
Remember what was in forms and serch bar

DO
Accept cookies, third party cookies, till they expire
Clear only downloaded and browsing history, and Authenticated sessions when firefox closes

If you wanna, fix the registry errors... I have the "WinASO Registry Optomizer" tool, which fixes errors in my Registry. That sometimes works.

Hopefully that helps with firefox


As for the PC (possibilities)
-Overheating?
-too much overclocking?
-Not enough ram?
-Too many background things going off?
-Power supply?

[CaptainKirk]

Re: Sigh...Help Please

SP1 Vista + HP Print Drivers had a known bug for a while that did this (the restart thing). HP Updated and it doesn't do it it with SP2.

Run Malwarebytes. Could be a rootkit or something :S

[Spawndemon]

Re: Sigh...Help Please

SP1 Vista + HP Print Drivers had a known bug for a while that did this (the restart thing). HP Updated and it doesn't do it it with SP2.

Run Malwarebytes. Could be a rootkit or something :S

I don't run Vista! :rawr

I don't believe it's my CPU overclock doing it because when I initially bumped it a little bit, I worked with Alex to get it to a nice level. Ran some tests and it only got up to like 55C or around there. I shall continue to mess around with it and hopefully can figure it out.

[AvalancheDiode]

Re: Sigh...Help Please

memtest86 first to see if it's RAM.

[Spawndemon]

Re: Sigh...Help Please

memtest86 first to see if it's RAM.

Indeed.

I have got Firefox working again...deleted some cookie file hidden in the firefox folder. Now I will slap my computer to keep it in check from crashing again.

[=98=]

Re: Sigh...Help Please

The instant restart doesn't mean it's not a BSOD. By default, Vista and XP have "automatic restart" on in the the error settings. Turning it off will display the BSOD codes without restarting the computer.

As for the cause, I don't think it's your OC. We made sure that was stable and in the unlikely event that one does occur, it wouldn't happen twice in one day. The actual cause could be a range of things from memory, PSU, overheating, bad motherboard.

If it's still occurring, you need to track down the problem using various stress tests.

[Hendrix]

Re: Sigh...Help Please

My first step in trouble shooting this would be to run it up with one stick of RAM, if all is ok, try the other stick on its own. This is the best way of finiding issues with your RAM.

I would also say that probably 85% of the time unexpected reboots are caused by hardware failure.

[megawhompertoo]

Re: Sigh...Help Please

not to beat the obvious horse to death, but check your cables and then check them again. i had a cheap power cord going into my psu a while back that developed the wiggles, and if i happened to *bump* the cord, !BAM! restart, no BSOD, no nuffin'.

so, check the connections. anything wiggling or loose should be tightened up or replaced before you go pulling your hair out over stress tests, imho.

not that they may not be the problem, but first Master the Obvious :P