ME restarts itself

Hi there,

I've had an exhausting look through the posts but can't
find anything similar to the following problem.

A friend asked me to look at his machine as it is
continually failing after only a few seconds of opperation.
The machine boots up normally and enters windows ME however
within a short space of time it will simply stop and
restart just as if the reset switch had been hit (it isn't
I disconneccted it to prove the point).

My imeadiate thought was that there was some virus causing
this. So I used the taskmanager type program to kill off
any suspicious looking programs as they were starting. This
got the machine to stay up longer and enabled me to get
startup control panel installed and check the programs
listed there (I got rid of all the ones I had stopped
manually). However the damn thing reboots before you can
download anything from the net such as spysweeper.

He has a virus checked that is pretty up to date.

I have checked each memory module by removing them in turn
and there is no unusual hardisc activity. So I think I can
rule out a hardware problem.

Any ideas?

Kenny

Rick
Wed May 05 12:59:47 CDT 2004

How's it act in SafeMode... or in DOS.


Rick


Kenny wrote:
> Hi there,
>
> I've had an exhausting look through the posts but can't
> find anything similar to the following problem.
>
> A friend asked me to look at his machine as it is
> continually failing after only a few seconds of opperation.
> The machine boots up normally and enters windows ME however
> within a short space of time it will simply stop and
> restart just as if the reset switch had been hit (it isn't
> I disconneccted it to prove the point).
>
> My imeadiate thought was that there was some virus causing
> this. So I used the taskmanager type program to kill off
> any suspicious looking programs as they were starting. This
> got the machine to stay up longer and enabled me to get
> startup control panel installed and check the programs
> listed there (I got rid of all the ones I had stopped
> manually). However the damn thing reboots before you can
> download anything from the net such as spysweeper.
>
> He has a virus checked that is pretty up to date.
>
> I have checked each memory module by removing them in turn
> and there is no unusual hardisc activity. So I think I can
> rule out a hardware problem.
>
> Any ideas?
>
> Kenny

Mart
Wed May 05 12:59:47 CDT 2004

Try booting from the WinMe Startup (floppy) Disk. This will completely
eliminate WinMe (and anything on your hard drive, for that matter) as being
the cause of the problem. Post back with the results and someone will be
able to help you with any further advice.

Mart


"Kenny" <kennyth_harris@yahoo.co.uk> wrote in message
news:0d3e01c432be$befea130$3a01280a@phx.gbl...
> Hi there,
>
> I've had an exhausting look through the posts but can't
> find anything similar to the following problem.
>
> A friend asked me to look at his machine as it is
> continually failing after only a few seconds of opperation.
> The machine boots up normally and enters windows ME however
> within a short space of time it will simply stop and
> restart just as if the reset switch had been hit (it isn't
> I disconneccted it to prove the point).
>
> My imeadiate thought was that there was some virus causing
> this. So I used the taskmanager type program to kill off
> any suspicious looking programs as they were starting. This
> got the machine to stay up longer and enabled me to get
> startup control panel installed and check the programs
> listed there (I got rid of all the ones I had stopped
> manually). However the damn thing reboots before you can
> download anything from the net such as spysweeper.
>
> He has a virus checked that is pretty up to date.
>
> I have checked each memory module by removing them in turn
> and there is no unusual hardisc activity. So I think I can
> rule out a hardware problem.
>
> Any ideas?
>
> Kenny

kennyth_harris
Thu May 06 06:21:05 CDT 2004

Sorry should have included in the original post . WinME acts the same in safe mode, ie. it loads up completely but restarts itself before you have time to do much with it. Similar to what I've heard that Sasser does but this, I believe, doesn't affect ME.

Sorry if this is dumb question, I'm more of a linux fan to be honest but how do you get it to start in dos mode. holding F8 gives me a menu including Normal, safe mode, logged and step by step but no command line option as there is in other versions of windows.

Tis largely academic now as he has taken it back to manufacturer who sold him a new motherboard and processor and there is no more problems. However I would be interested to know if this was actually the problem.

Thanks for your help

Kenny

Mart
Thu May 06 12:31:49 CDT 2004

You should have followed the exact wording of my previous post : - "Try
booting from the WinMe Startup (floppy) Disk."

That will put you into Real Mode DOS *ONLY*!!! - Not Windows!!

Hence, will isolate (eliminate) WinMe from the fault list. Your problem
*may* well have been heat or hardware related. But as you say, "Tis largely
academic now"

Mart


"Kenny" <kennyth_harris@yahoo.co.uk> wrote in message
news:FE748862-3D99-409D-A2C9-73EB523AEE05@microsoft.com...
> Sorry should have included in the original post . WinME acts the same in
safe mode, ie. it loads up completely but restarts itself before you have
time to do much with it. Similar to what I've heard that Sasser does but
this, I believe, doesn't affect ME.
>
> Sorry if this is dumb question, I'm more of a linux fan to be honest but
how do you get it to start in dos mode. holding F8 gives me a menu including
Normal, safe mode, logged and step by step but no command line option as
there is in other versions of windows.
>
> Tis largely academic now as he has taken it back to manufacturer who sold
him a new motherboard and processor and there is no more problems. However I
would be interested to know if this was actually the problem.
>
> Thanks for your help
>
> Kenny

Rick
Thu May 06 15:14:32 CDT 2004

Probably just needed to reinstall one of the drivers. But, hey, as long
as he's happy.

Rick


Kenny wrote:
> Sorry should have included in the original post . WinME acts the same
> in safe mode, ie. it loads up completely but restarts itself before
> you have time to do much with it. Similar to what I've heard that
> Sasser does but this, I believe, doesn't affect ME.
>
> Sorry if this is dumb question, I'm more of a linux fan to be honest
> but how do you get it to start in dos mode. holding F8 gives me a
> menu including Normal, safe mode, logged and step by step but no
> command line option as there is in other versions of windows.
>
> Tis largely academic now as he has taken it back to manufacturer who
> sold him a new motherboard and processor and there is no more
> problems. However I would be interested to know if this was actually
> the problem.
>
> Thanks for your help
>
> Kenny