dr15

Looks like I'm having this problem also. I'm not positive, but I'm guessing it has something to do with this. And this. Apparently M$ cannot distribute the M$ VM any more. And as of February 4, 2003 they are no longer including it in the SP1 service pack. They are, however, allowed to put updates out for it until January 2, 2004. So here is my guess. If you are having this problem you probably installed Windows XP and SP1 after February 4, 2003. M$ puts out this latest patch which includes an update for M$ VM. Windows update downloads the patch and when you try to install it you get an error because you can't update the M$ VM if its not already installed on your computer. Since the install fails, the next day windows update goes and downloads the patch again. I'm not positive this is whats going on. The above post from Doggie certainly refutes it. But it seems to make sense to me and fits in with my situation (a machine I built recently is having this problem yet an older one is just fine). In any event, since M$ can no longer distribute the M$ VM, your gonna be forced to snag the file from someplace else (thanks Tinker). Personally, I'm not real comfortable with doing that. So for now, I'm just turning off the automatic updates. I'll just have to manually run the windows update and pick and choose until M$ figures out a bunch of folks are having this problem. [edit] just removed a certain word and replaced it with what seems to be the common lingo...

I should say: Aopen AK75 + NetGear FA311 = BIG HEADACHE Other models might work fine together. Who knows...

Finally!!!! One fully functional machine. I ended up trading network cards with my brother. I plopped my NetGear network card into his machine to TRIPLE check that it was not a defective card. As before, it worked fine. I asked him if I could borrow his Intel network card to see if it would work with the Aopen board. It did, so he told me to go ahead and keep it. So, in conclusion.. Aopen + NetGear = BIG HEADACHE (not compatible) Not sure which is at fault, but I'll probably never buy either brand again. Thanks again for all the help gang.

Ok, I went thru the suggestions above and narrowed it down to the NetGear network card. With just the minimum components installed the system booted fine. I was able to install Windows XP and everything. I started adding stuff back in one at a time. Everything still fine.. up until I added the network card. Then BANG... same old problem again. I removed the card and took it to a friends house and tried it in his computer. The card worked fine. It also worked fine in the old system I had before I tried to rebuild it. So again, I am at a loss. Though I admit all my suspicions were originally wrong... blaming it on the IDE interface and all. Any other thoughts? Right now I'm trying to decide if I should look to see if AOpen has an updated BIOS I can try. I'm nervous about that though.. cuz if it doesn't work.. I'm not sure if having upgraded the BIOS will negate my ability to return the board for a refund/exchange. Again, any help is appreciated. And thanks for all the help so far. It's been very useful.

Thanks MSNwar. This looks like some really good info. I'll give it all a try as soon as I get back home today. On the disk boot order, the CDROM was set to boot first in the BIOS by default. Followed by the floppy disk and then the primary hard disk. I never changed that except only one time trying the floppy first and cdrom second. That gave the same results. The DVDROM worked fine in the old computer that was self restarting all the time. I did think that it might be broken or something... so I did try other cdrom drives. Was the same result. Also, on the old computer the two hard disks were set as master and slave on IDE 1 and the DVDROM was set to master of IDE 2. When installing them into the new motherboard I did not change any jumper settings I just put them into the exact same positions. So I'm pretty sure the DVDROM was manufactured to work on IDE 2 as master just fine. I did not try changing the APCI setting in the BIOS and I couldn't tell you now what it was set to. I am not even really sure I know what it is. But I will try this and will try removing all the extra goodies. Network card, sound card, and the 2gb hard disk. I'll reset the cmos once more and restore the BIOS defaults again. Also I responded to the AOpen forum post with what I'm thinking I'll do if I don't figure this out. It didn't show when following the link I posted above.. turns out there was duplicate posts (almost identical) from the same user on that problem. The post I responded to was here.

Grrrrrr!!!!!! Not sure if I should be starting a new thread.. but I thought since its a whole new problem... Anyway, I recieved the following new parts in the mail on Thursday: AMD Athlon Thunderbird 1.1GHz 200MHz Bus Socket A PGA Processor AOPEN AK75 Motherboard SiS 745 ATX Speeze CPU Fan Model 5F263B1M3 for AMD/Intel Socket A/370 CRUCIAL MICRON 256MB 32x64 PC 2100 DDR RAM Heroichi Electronic corp. Power Supply I assembled these in my old ATX chassis along with my old Diamond Viper AGP video card, Soundblaster Live PCI sound card, and NetGear PCI network card. I also reconnected my old disk drives. One 60gb and one 2gb hard disk (yeah, I know.. i should toss that one.. hehehe), both Western Digital. A Soundblaster Encore DVD ROM drive. And my old 3 1/2 floppy. I am fairly certain I connected everything correctly. I've read the motherboard manual cover to cover several times. The problem: When I boot, I get all the normal boot screen messages and a single beep. Both hard disks are properly detected. The DVD ROM drive, however, is not detected. I have no OS installed on either hard disk, but I had a Windows XP istall CD in the DVD ROM drive. After the boot screen messages scroll, the DVD ROM drive's led starts flashing, and you can hear the disk spinning inside. But its not reading or anything.. it just keeps lighting and spinning.. but nothing. If I hit reset, I don't get any of the normal boot screen messages and no beep. It goes straight to the DVD ROM drive led flashing and disk spinning. But no boot. To get the boot messages and beep back, I have to turn the power off, and then restart the computer. I tried replacing the DVD ROM with 2 other CD ROM drives I had laying around the house. The exact same thing happens regardless of the drive I use. I also tried with SEVERAL IDE cable ribbons. Still same problem. The two hard disks are connected to the IDE 1 ribbon, master and slave. The DVD ROM is connected to the IDE 2 ribbon as master. Since the BIOS showed both disks on IDE 1 as detected, I tried connecting the DVD ROM as the slave on IDE 1 along with one hard disk as master. Nothing connected to IDE 2. Powered down and then back on. The DVD ROM was detected this time just fine and the computer booted from the Windows XP install disk. So then I'm thinking the motherboard IDE 2 is defective. Unfortunately (as if having a defective IDE 2 is not unfortunate), after running through the install (format of hard disk, copying over of Windows XP files) when it got to the part where Windows XP restarts, it falls right back into the problem I was having where there are no boot screen messages or beep. Black screen (monitor actually powers down cuz i guess it doesnt detect anything being sent to it), flashing DVD ROM led and disk spinning. So I power down and then back on, since doing this before would at least get me back my boot screen messages and beep (even though it would still freeze up with the DVD ROM drive after). Doing this did cause a proper boot with the DVD ROM detected as slave and the hard disk detected as master, BUT, I get the "no OS detected" message. So I guess after powering down and back on the Windows XP install is aborted or something. I tried doing this several times too. Thinking I could live with a defective IDE 2. DVD ROM as slave on IDE 1 just to install the OS. Then swap back in the second hard disk. For what I'm using the computer for, I don't need the DVD ROM. But, since I get the same problem when resetting the computer even when only using IDE 1, there has got to be something more to this. I also tried resetting the CMOS. Playing with various options in the Bios (and resetting them back to factory default as well). I double and triple verified all the motherboard jumper settings. Also I found this post at Aopen's web site. It's a very recent post from someone with a very similar problem, but no solution posted yet. It's not exactly the same, because when I boot from power off I do get boot messages and a beep.. but then everythign locks up while the DVD ROM starts flashing and spinning. But when I reboot (press reset button or hit control alt del) I get no boot messages and no beep. Black screen. Fans spinning. DVD ROM flashing and spinning. Just like the person who posted explains. Unfortunately there is no solution yet posted. Anyway, I'm posting here because the feedback here seems so much more promising. I'm desparate, tired, frustrated, and at a complete loss. Any thoughts at all are appreciated. And sorry for not having joined the forums here until AFTER I started banging my head against the walls. There is lots of good stuff here.

Ok, I give up. I tried switching the jumpers on the motherboard so the bus would run 66mhz instead of 100mhz. Still restarts. I tried opening the chassis and pointing a large room fan directly at the motherboard and cpu. Still restarts. I'm out of ideas. I'm using whatever firewall that came installed on my linksys router (should have nothing to do with the computer I think) and Norton Antivirus 2003, FthrJack. I've not tried removing the motherboard yet.. but I will, cuz I think i'm gonna just go ahead and trash it. I went to newegg.com to look at power supplies and cpu fans (still assuming either of those was at fault). After about 4 hours (yikes), I've decided to go ahead and replace the motherboard and cpu also. I read pretty much all the customer reviews for the low end stuff I was considering. This is what I came away with: AMD Athlon Thunderbird 1.1GHz 200MHz Bus Socket A PGA Processor $35 Specifications: CPU: 1.1 GHz Type: Thunderbird Cache: 256K BUS: 200MHz Socket A (PGA) OEM (Processor Only) AOPEN AK75 Motherboard SiS 745 ATX RETAIL $60 Specifications: Supported CPU:AMD Athlon / XP (Socket A)Duron Chipset:SiS 745 AGPset FSB:Spec: 266(EV6) Max: 400(EV6) RAM:3x PC2700/ PC2100/ PC1600 Max. 2GB IDE:2x Ultra DMA 33/66/100 E-IDE Mode 4 Slots:1 CNR slot + 6 PCI slots +1 AGP slot Ports:2xCOM,1xLPT, 2xIDE, 2xUSB,1xFDD, 2xPS2 Onboard Audio: Realtek AC’97 CRUCIAL MICRON 256MB 32x64 PC 2100 DDR RAM - OEM $36 184-Pin, CL=2.5-Unbuffered 2.5V, 6-Layers CT3264Z265 Requires DDR supported Motherboard - Lifetime Warranty. Heroichi Electronic corp. Power Supply $44 350watt, Dual Fan, HEC-350LD UL Approved. World Famous Power Brand, AMD(Athlon)/Intel Approved Speeze CPU Fan Model 5F263B1M3 for AMD/Intel Socket A/370 $13 Specifications: Supported Socket type: 370/Socket A Dimensions Heat sink :12VDC Fan : 74×74×47 mm (l × w × h) 80×80×25mm Bearing Ball bearing Rated speed 2500 RPM +/-10%Rated power 1.56 W Noise level 26.5 dBA Air flow 31.70 CFM at 2500 RPM Features Aluminum fan frame CPU: Intel Pentium III ~ 1,4 GHz (FC-PGA2) Pentium III ~ 1,13 GHz (FC-PGA) Celeron ~ 1,8 GHz (PPGA) AMD : Athlon XP ~ 2200+ (Thoroughbred) Athlon XP ~ 2100+ (Palomino) Athlon ~ 1,4 GHz (T-Bird)Duron 1.3 I plan to place an order with Newegg for this stuff on Monday morning. I thought I'd post the items here to see what everyone thought. If any see any glaring mistakes, PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE let me know. The things people had to say about each item in the customer reviews were excellent. And I think all the items are compatible with each other. One item that does concern me, but I think is ok, is the motherboard/chip. The specs read "FSB:Spec: 266(EV6) Max: 400(EV6)" for the board and "BUS: 200MHz" for the chip. I was hoping the motherboard specs would say 266/200 FSB. I think i'm ok though, because in the many customer comments several folks make mention of not forgetting to change the board jumper from its default 100mhz setting to 133mhz to take full advantage of your 266mhz FSB. Now, I'm not sure why the board jumper settings are for 100 or 133... but if 133 corresponds a 266 FSB, then I assume that the 100 default would correspond to a 200 FSB.. which corresponds to the chip I selected (did that make sense?). I will be recycling the ATX chassis, AGP video card, PCI sound card, PCI network card, IDE hard disks, floppy and dvdrom from the current system that is giving me the problems. I'd like to recycle the memory as well, but I'm not sure how to tell what kind of memory I currently have. It doesn't say on the chip. The manual for my current motherboard says that it takes DRAM memory. Supports 8/16/32/64 MB DIMM module socket. Synchronous DRAM (3.3V). I have 2 chips in there, for 128mb total. I'm guessing that doesn't match up with the new motherboard. Anyway, let me know what you all think. Any comments at all will be appreciated. And thank you!

I'm not 100 percent positive I have a hardware issue, but I've posted already in the Windows XP forum and have tried just about everything software related. Including the common "untick the Automatically Restart from the Start Up and Recovery settings" solution and reinstalling Windows XP. No dice. Still self restarts. I'm running Windows XP 2600 on a low end machine. Pentium II 300mhz, 128mb of ram, 8gb hard drive. The computer restarts without logging ANY errors in the event log. It will do so while its idle, whether there are applications running or not. One thing I've noticed is that if I leave the computer off for a while, when I turn it on it will run for about 8-10 hours before resetting. After it resets, if I leave it on, it will start resetting every 1-2 hours or so. Xperties suggested that it might be the power supply or temperatures on the CPU. He recommended using motherboard monitor. I've installed it, but unfortunately it doesnt seem to detect any of the temperatures. I'm guessing I have an incompatible motherboard. I have an M6TBC Pentium II BX system board (I just dug up the manual). I just now noticed that it supports CPU bus frequencies of 66mhz and 100mhz. I'm not sure what the jumpers are set for at the moment but the next thing I will try is setting the jumpers for 66mhz. Not sure if that will buy me anything (would that potentially bring the temperatures down?). For the power supply, I've already tried checking all the psu connectors with a voltmeter and they all tested +5 volts which is fine. I've also tried disconnecting any unnecessary devices and pci cards to reduce the power requirments (I assume), leaving only 2 hard drives and the video and network cards connected. I've also tested both the power strip and electrical outlets. Both are fine. Relavent computer specs (I think the relevant ones): M6TBC Pentium II BX system board Pentium II-MMX 300mhz Intel chip Generic Heatsink/Cooling fan Generic 250W power supply (actually, it has just a sticker on it that says "250W tested ok") Generic ATX chassis Award Modular Bios v4.51PG 3/27/1998-i440BX-SMC60X-2A69-KB0BC-00 What I'm looking for are any suggestions on what more I can do to resolve the issue. And/or, assuming I need to purchase a new PSU or heatsink/cooling fan, any recommendations on what I could purchase that would be compatible with the specifications I listed above. Hardware is most definately NOT my thing. And if I pick something out myself it will most likely not work. Also, I'm not looking to purchase a new machine. Yes, its an old one. But it is fine for what I use it for. It is a secondary machine that just sits there running file sharing software. I rarely sit at the computer. And its worked just fine for years. Thanks for taking the time to read this post. I didn't expect that it'd be this long when I started typing.

Some interesting stuff I dug up in the knowledge base at Intel's web site. * Verify that the power supply has the capacity to power all the devices used in your system. It is recommended to use at least a 200 W power supply, but may require a power supply with a higher capacity depending on the number of devices and the type of devices connected to your computer. * Use a voltmeter to verify that each output from the power supply is correct. If any output is very low (especially the +5 volt output, replace the power supply). * Use a voltmeter to verify the PowerGood signal is +5 volts. If the signal is below 1.0 volts, there may be a short or overload causing a constant reset. Consider replacing the power supply. * Check for shorts and overloads inside computer by removing nonessential items such as extra controller cards and IDE/ATAPI devices and turning the computer on to see if it starts to boot. Leave the motherboard, power supply, RAM or processor. If the problem goes away, there was a short or overload with one of the components that you just removed or one of those components is faulty. Replace each of those one at a time until you isolate which is causing the problem. If the problem still occurs after removing the nonessential components, the problem has to be with the motherboard, power supply, RAM or processor. I already tried checking all the psu connectors with a voltmeter as suggested and they all tested +5 volts which is fine. The psu is a generic I believe, and only 250 W, so I suppose could be the issue. As of now, I've disconnected EVERYTHING from the power supply except the 2 hard drives. And I've removed all of the PCI cards except the video and network cards. Anyway, I guess you can tell I'm thinking its a hardware thing now. And not Windows XP at all. As such, I guess I'll try to dig up a good hardware forum somewhere for some folks to bug. Though, I'd still appreciate any additional thoughts if you have any. Thanks again.

Overheating sounds interesting. I'm not exactly sure what to do to overclock a machine. Or, what exactly it will tell you. If its something simple, could you give me a brief description so I can give it a try? If its complicated, maybe just point me in the right direction so I can do some homework on it. Actually, another thought I was having that is maybe similar is that it is the power supply, the power strip, or the electrical outlet. A brief loss of power is the only way I can really explain a machine crashing with no error codes in the event log. I didn't follow up with this because it doesn't explain why the machine starts up again. I tried turning the power off and on real fast from the power strip, and the machine shuts down (crashes), but does not restart. Also, I have my primary machine in the same room on a different power strip. The primary machine never resets. I've already unticked "Automatically Restart" from the Start Up and Recovery settings. No dice. Still self restarts. Thanks for all the responses so far. I am amazed at how fast folks have been getting back to me.

Thank you for the welcome. The copy of XP is a separate copy with a unique serial. What exactly in the BIOS should I look for? Or are you suggesting I update the flashbios. Whats aggravating me most is that it was working just fine for about 5 weeks or so. Thanks again.

I installed Windows XP about a little over a month ago on a second machine used only for doing downloads. I'd leave it on all the time and it worked fine NEVER having to reboot or anything. Last Friday, all of a sudden, it just started rebooting all by itself. Sometimes as much as every 2 hours. Sometimes up to every 8 or 10 hours or so. I tried all the resolutions posted in previous notes in this forum. I disabled the "automatically restart on errors" option. I tried turning off the system restore. I've tried with APC power management both on and off. Even with the "automatically restart on errors" disabled the machine still restarts. The event log shows NO errors, only all the normal processes starting, as if I reset the computer myself. Also, I've left it on with absolutely NO programs running. Nothing. And it still self restarts. I have Windows XP 2600 installed with SP1 and all subsequent patches. It's a low end machine. Pentium II 300, 128mb ram, and 8gb harddisk. Just meeting the minimum XP requirements. If someone has ANY thougths, please respond. Before I rip all my hair out. Thank you.