My computer has this weird glitch - I’m hoping it doesn’t happen during this post.
It restarts on its own while I’m using it.
Here are some system specs and history:
AMD k-6 450 processor
196 meg of ram
The power supply says: HP235
I just wiped the hard drive and installed Windows XP.
I just installed a webcam and it runs off power from the computer. I think it may be over-powering the power supply but am not sure if that would cause this problem.
Anyone have any suggestions or ideas?
Tibs.
Home built? I had the same ‘reboot’ situation with my AMD K6-2 450. I tried everything to fix it, but could never quite pin it down on anything. Every computer is different, but I’ll try to share what I know…
I think you have a 235W power supply, which should be more than enough, unless you have around six SCSI hard drives plus CD-ROMs going. You could put a volt meter on one of the cables to see if it’s putting out clean power. I suspect the power supply is not the cause if it was running fine with your old OS.
Make sure you’re not overclocking your board, and check that the CPU voltage is set properly.
I would almost rule out your webcam as being the problem, but this is easy to test - simply unplug the camera, boot up, and wait to see if it reboots.
My two most likely suspects in the end were:
1> Over heating. WAG, but I think WinXP uses more of the CPU resources at any given time than 98 did. If your board doesn’t have its own temp monitoring hardware, you can purchase a CPU thermometer for $10~$15 to see how hot it gets. A larger heat-sink is always worth the money, too.
2> Old hardware/bad drivers. Do a Windows Update and get all the drivers it has available. If you know all the components in your PC, get new XP drivers from the manufacturer instead. You should definately go to your motherboard manufacturer’s web-site and look for your board to see if there are any known issues/specific drivers to download. Oh yeah, XP service pack 1 couldn’t hurt either.
Sorry I couldn’t be more help, but I ended up buying a new mobo/CPU and it solved all my XP problems. My K6-2 is now happily running Linux without any problems at all.
good luck!
Yup, Marky, home built.
I haven’t unplugged the computer but I haven’t started the software and so far, it’s going well. Before, I was lucky to get 10 minutes out of it and it’s been about 90 minutes so far.
I wonder if this is something common with the AMDK6.
The fans on the computer are in working order - I will ask my father about the temp monitoring hardware.
I just did the xp update - you think I might still need to do the Windows update? I will try that.
Thank you so much for taking time to respond. That gives me something to work with. Any and all other suggestions appreciated. 
Tibs.
I had a similar problem - Running XP, AMD K6-2 350, had just installed a webcam. It only happened once or twice though, and then mysteriously stopped.
That is really, really bizarre. Thank you for the info, BlackKnight - this is getting interesting!
Tibs.
Oh, one last suggestion:
Go to: Start->Control Panel->System->Advanced->Settings.
Under “System Failure”, ensure “Automatic Restart” is unchecked. It didn’t help me, but it’s worth a look…
You can go to the mobo manufacturer’s website and DL a manual to see if it has any built in temp hardware - or just poke around in BIOS as well.
Marky,
I just unchecked that box - thank you for the tip.
I spoke with my father and he reminded me that I need to download a patch for my CD rom drive. I use Easy CD creator basic 5. I’m downloading the new version of the software now.
I haven’t been brave enough to try starting the webcam again.
I’ll get the rest of the updates and will report back. Thank you again.
Tibs.
Overheating does it for me. I’ve added too many disks to an older unit. So I have a desk fan aimed at the open side of the computer, and plugged into the same power strip so I can start them together.
Not elegant, but it’s easy to try and may prove permanent for you like it did for me.
I have a standard HP Pavilion with XP. Mine shuts off immediately when I’m using Windows Explorer to look at digital images as thumbnails. I have four or five hundred images from my digital camera in this folder. If I use the scroll bar to go to the bottom of the listing, it will just shut off and then restart. However, if I use the Page Down key, it works without a problem.
I have a standard HP Pavilion with XP. Mine shuts off immediately when I’m using Windows Explorer to look at digital images as thumbnails. I have four or five hundred images from my digital camera in this folder. If I use the scroll bar to go to the bottom of the listing, it will just shut off and then restart. However, if I use the Page Down key, it works without a problem.
Mauvaise just posted a thread asking the same sorts of things, and got lots of answers, just a day or so ago. But I can’t make Search work right now as slow as the Board is - perhaps you could try in an hour or so…
I’m itching to know… How’s it running now?