I just got a new computer and it resets itself when Im in the middel of working on projects. I can't figure out what is causeing the computer to reboot or why the computer does not recognise that Im working and ask me if I want to reboot? If anyone has had this problem please tell how to TURN OFF whatever it is that is causeing the comuter to reboot. It does not matter what programs I use the computer suddnly reboots without warning and I lose everything I was working on.

I have XP Pro & have never had that problem..hmmmmmmmmmm....My only bitch with XP was the that damn MSN thing with pop-ups sprouting up all the time, but that has been cured LOL

Check to make sure your processor fan is working. I had the same problem before and found out that I had accidently unplugged the power cord to the fan. The only other thing I can think of that would cause this to happen is a bad power supply.

I had the same problem with my system when I first built it. It turned out to be the processor overheating: my BIOS would automatically reset the pc when a certain temperature (around 55c) was reached. A little better cooling in a better designed case sorted my problem out. I now have Motherboard Monitor running full time, as I am paranoid about high temeratures, and this prog keeps me up-to-date with my system temperatures. Dunno if this is the same as your problem, but maybe it`s worth checking out, if only to prolong the life of your CPU

Are you getting a pop-up at all, regaring remote procedure call? If so, sounds like the Lovsan virus. Removal instruction at the link. Lovsan virus and constant restarting (link wouldn't fit in box!)

Hope it's NOT a virus. My computer would overheat and cut off too. I now have the case open and a regular large fan blowing through a filter.

In my case, it was a bad stick of OEM RAM. Win 98 had no problems with it, but Win XP didn't like it, so I had to replace it. I did, and it's been fine ever since.

That's a virus for sure, blaster, as mentioned. Patch your system with the latest service packs and invest in virus protection.

O'that blaster Virus what a pig...I had that and it was a real pain to get rid off. If you have trouble let me know as I have the patche's and killers to get rid of it. Cheers SX200

The last time I had a similar problem was when my power supply was on the way out. This could be the case with yours; new computers are not immune to component failure.

"That's a virus for sure, blaster, as mentioned." Not at all for sure. Blaster gives a countdown and a warning, and only ever happens when connected to the internet. A sudden shutdown can happen for a number of reasons.

Have that happen when Virtual Memory is very low, like after The Sims sessions or a heated Poser night.

I had that happen because my son had overclocked my computer and is was overheating. Fixed that and it's been working like a dream ever since.

I agree that it's most likely an "overheating" problem. Another cause other then the wire to the fan on the "heatsink" being unplugged is that the heatsink is not properly set in place. Some of the intel chipsets come with poorly designed heatsinks. more precisely the "plastic" locking system that weakens due to excess heat & warps enough to loosen the tight grip on the cpu chip. I had that problem & bought a replacement heatsink with metal locking mechanism(15$). That solved my problems. Marco

there is one thing you can do to make sure its not a hardware problem, there is an option that is checked by default called automatic restart. This happens on system failure. You can uncheck this option by right clicking on my computer click properties, click advanced select settings under system recovery uncheck automatic restart. This will most likely not fix your problem but it could help you figure out what is happening, IE a blue screen of death.

yeh...i was just gonna say it could be a virus..... what you been doing with that comp the past few days or weeks? think about that....maybe itll give you some clues... i play it safe n got 2 AV programs runing in the background....ye...thats right 2 AV programs!! n i update em like crazy!

oh ye....how is this post related to Poser? dunt want yer Poser people tha get a virus? its going around you know.......

If this is a brand new computer, the first thing I would do is call who ever I purchased it from :) It should certainly be covered by warranty. Sounds like a fan or power supply issue. The newer processors require proper cooling and adequate power supplies. If there's a mis-match.....you have problems. XP Pro is a wonder....it really is. The rebooting as you described is what XP does instead of the blue screen thing. I've only experienced it twice in three years.....defraged and the problem went away. On a brand new 'puter however, defragging should not be an issue.

Sometimes Blaster's warning pops up so fast it's not readable. I'd suggest you check for a virus first. Blaster can have other slightly less predictable effects as well, if you're on a network. It makes the network traffic go haywire, for starters, it can overload the internet connection until everything starts timing out, and it can also cause all the XP machines on a network to shut down simultaneously. There are at least two online antivirus scans available for free, if your machine will stay running for long enough. www.sarc.com and click on the 'check for security risks' graphic part-way down the page. The same site also has free virus removal tools for specific viruses. There's also http://www.pcpitstop.com/antivirus/default.asp. (PCPitstop also have a scan for spyware and a bunch of other useful stuff).

I don't want to add to your confusion but... Another cause of this is, believe it or not, your graphics card and its driver. I had a driver problem which caused my nVidia card to get "overwhelmed", and it would cause the computer to reboot without warning. A quick installation of a new driver solved the problem. -jjsemp

Most likly cause is CPU over heating, other posible causes; bad RAM, bad Power Suply Unit, bad power from mains grid, bad CPU.

I've also had this problem caused by a firewall.

try search in yahoo , www.pchell.com , great and a lot information about virus

Attached Link: http://www.pchell.com/virus/msblast.shtml

I am having a similar problem with my computer. Originally, what seemed to occur was that while running a program that accesses the hard disk to a great extent, (e.g. defrag, DeDupe, P5 render) the computer will go into what appears to be a sleep mode. However, in order to get the computer to come back on I have to unplug and replug the tower. When XP reboots sometimes I get a message about a serious error occurring and I have to reboot. On this reboot everything starts up fine. Lately, however, I have had it go to permanent sleep while being idle. I realize there could be many causes. However, I am fairly certain this problem is not virus related (I have done a hard disk wipe and complete reinstall with original disks and I have an updated NAV). I can fairly regularly cause the problem to occur with a program called DeDupe that looks for duplicate files on my hard drive. With the many most likelys written above where should I start to address this problem? By the time a try to replace the CPU, replace RAM, replace the power supply, and replace the motherboard I might as well get a new computer.

Why not just quit using DeDupe? And check to see what Power management options are checked. I have all of mine set to "never".

All power management settings are at "never". DeDupe is just a repeatable example. Other permanent sleep examples seem to be consistent but random. The permanent sleep happens in many other programs (defrag, P5 during render) and even sometimes when the computer is idle.

Ok.....when I first got XP Pro and my computer was new, I had something very similar happen when trying to do the check disk and defrag. I would click on these functions from "my computer" and the machine would seem to just freeze up. Cntrl/alt/delete would shut down the process, so I never had to reboot. I eventually got defrag to run successfully from the programs/accessories/system tools menu. Once I defraged the drive (after installing a lot of software), the problem ceased. I also installed all the updates for XP, so it's hard to say exactly what eventually solved the problem. You could also visit the Microsoft forums. I know this issue was discussed there. It's just been so long ago, that I can't recall all the tips that were offered by their sysops.

Thanks. I'll try your suggestions.

jeremym is right. Turn off automatic restart and you will get the blue screen which will give you a clue as to what the problem is. I have had this happen twice with XP Pro, and both times I found the solution by turning off automatic restart. I can not imagine why Micro$oft would default the system to automatically restart on an error! For me, the first time I had the problem it was my video driver for an ATI All-In-Wonder Raedon card. I downloaded the new driver and the problem was solved. On my second system the problem was caused by a DLL file for ON Track virus protection. I looked on their site for a fix but never found one. Now I use Norton instead. On both occasions, the blue screen told me what file was causing the problem. Hope this helps.