*** Computer Reboots For No Reason ***

[Bill Lane]

Hi All:

I was having this computer rebooting for no reason for a long time, but it didn't happen every day, but it started getting worse, so I decided to do a clean install.

I booted up with the Win XP Ugrade disk and the installation went really smooth, no errors.

It looked like the problem was solved with this clean install, but in a couple of days of windows downloading the updates, it started again, so I'm at a lose as to what's causing it

Hope you can help me.

I get the same error message every time " Error Signiture"

BCCode: le BCPI: 00000002 BCP2: 82253980 BCP3: 82130458

BCP4: 8204AC98 OSV: 5_1_2600 SP: 3_0 Product: 256_1

This message don't mean anything to me, maybe someone else knows what it means.

I downloaded a Scan and Repair program and ran it, it found a bunch of errors and corrected them, but I still have the sam problem. ( Program AWCSetup )

Let me know if you have any ideas as to what I need to do.

[glc]

Control panel, system, advanced, startup and recovery. Uncheck restart on error. It should bluescreen instead of rebooting, and the bluescreen will give you much better clues than that message.

[Bill Lane]

Hi glc:

My system is a little different, Control Panel, Preformance and Maintenance, System, Advanced Tab, Settings Button, In the System Failure Box I unchecked Automatic Restart.

This time whem the problem occured it didn't give me a blue screen, it gave me a black screen, I waited a while and hit the restart button, no error message just restarted as normal.

I hope I unchecked the right box, I didn't see any ( Uncheck restart on error ) box.

What now ?

Bill Lane

[Bill Lane]

Hi Again:

I forgot to tell you, if I let the system reboot and don't touch anything, it will reboot every 14 min's.

I let it do this for a long time just to see what was going on.

See you tomarrow

[mikeL]

I would run memtest86 found at: www.memtest86.com or download and burn the .iso image of UBCD found here: www.ultimatebootcd.com

UBCD also contains memtest86

[glc]

In the System Failure Box I unchecked Automatic Restart.

That's correct.

This almost sounds like viral behavior.

[Bill Lane]

Okay, I rsn the Memtest_86 V3.4 from a floppy, it said " Pass complete, no errors "

On rebooting I set my bios to boot back to boot from hard drive 0 and got out, during startup I got the blue screen, it said " A problem has been detected and windows has been shut down to prevent damage to your computer ( BUGCODE_USB_DRIVER )

Technical Information: Stop: 0x0000000fe ( 0x00000005, ox821310e0, ox10330025, ox821b9050 )

I went in in Safe Mode and in Device Manager I found a USB device with a yellow question mark.
I disabled it.

Computer started up normal, so far it hasn't rebooted on it's own.

I think I have too mant USB devices installed, USB for the DSL, Printer, 3 external hard drives, Kodak camera, Quick Cam, Scanner, Film Scanner, PC to PC Link, and maybe something else.

If this is a problem, I'll get a couple of USB switches and turn on whatever I need to use as I need them.

[glc]

I'd recommend you use Ethernet instead of USB for your DSL. I would also use Ethernet for PC to PC link (that won't even be necessary if you use a router and set up a simple network) and use a card reader for your Kodak camera instead of connecting the whole camera. Kodak Easy Share is a terrible application that takes over your computer and is excessively bloated.

[Bill Lane]

Hi glc:

I don't know how to set up an Ethernet or a router.

As for the Kodak camera, I didn't install the software, I just let windows detect the USB and windows reads the pictures and downloads them to my picture folder, it also erases the pictures in the camera if I select that operation.

Anyway, the computer hasn't rebooted since I disabled that USB device.

I'm going to keep an eye on this for a few days, and if no problems, I'll get back to my post on making a backup hard drive.

Thanks for all the input !!, I'll look into an Ethernet and router. I guess they are PCI cards, right?

[glc]

No. They are external devices. What brand and model is your DSL modem? Does your computer have a network adapter?

You need a modem with an Ethernet output, you connect it to a router (unless the modem is also a router) and then connect your computers to it with Ethernet cable.

[Bill Lane]

My modem is a Sprint DSL 645M plus ADSL Modem Bridge.

Discription: SP660ME 61 ADSL 2 Plus Modem T1 Chip

Part Number: SP 660ME 61

Item Code: 0000120597

Premier Telecom Products Inc.

In the box I still have an Ethernet cable that I didn't use, I used a USB adaptor wiith a cable, and a floppy disk titled " USB Series USB to 10/100M Fast Ethernet Adapter Driver Disk ".

I looked at an ethermet card at the Computer Geeks ...

http://www.geeks.com/details.asp?invtid=POWER200-DT&cat=NET

Will this one work?

And do I still need a router?

[glc]

What do you have for a computer? Every motherboard I've seen in the past several years has a builtin Ethernet adapter. Converting Ethernet to USB is a very poor way of doing it.

If you want to connect more than one computer to the Internet, and network the computers for file and print sharing, all you need is a router and an Ethernet jack on each computer.

[Bill Lane]

Your right, My Chaintec S845PE mobo has an RJ-45 Standard Ethernet Jack on it.

Looking in Device Manager I see a Realtek RTL8139 Family PCI Fast Ethernet NIC that I have disabled.

I guess you'll tell me to get that cable out of the box and hook it up from the Ethernet jack to the modem and remove the USB adaptor, Right?

[Bill Lane]

Hi glc:

As I posted above, I do have an Ethernet jack, but I haven't switched over yet because I need to order a switch box and another cable to be able to get on line with both computers. I am going to make the change.

I rearranged my USB cabling. I removed a 4 port hub and hooked the cables to a 4 position USB switch, which means that at any giving time, three of the devices that were hooked up need to be selected before using them.

Right now I have, and use all of the following devices ... Quick Cam, Film Scanner, Artek Scanner, Laser printer, Kodak Camera ( only the drivers installed ), PC Link USB, Three USB Exturnal Hard Drives, and of course the the USB Fast Ethernet adapter till I make the switch.

I have a lot of pictures, movies and animations, and I still want to install a video editing card and software.

I thought that I could hook up 127 devices using USB Hubs, not that I would ever need that many. What is wrong with USB? I was still getting the BLUE SCREEN = CODEBUG USB ERROR till I reset the error reporting.

[Bill Lane]

I Ordered a Ethernet RJ-45 Switch Box and a 5' Cable today ( 08/31/2008 ) should be here in a few days.

Haven't figured out yet how I'm going to use all my USB devices without screwing up the computer.

Maybe I can find a switch box that will give me one input to the computer with maybe 10 selectable ports.

[glc]

You need a router, not a switch box. The Sprint modem can only issue one IP address at a time.

[Bill Lane]

Hi glc:

Right now I have a USB switch box that is connected to computer A Win98, and Computer B WinXP with output to the DSL Modem, it works just fine, I can switch back and forth with no problem.

Both computers connect to my Embarq Home Page when I switch from one to the other. I guess the IP Address is the same for both of them.

That's why I thought an Ethernet Switch would work as well.

How does a router work?

[glc]

The router allows both computers to access the Internet simultaneously AND allows you to set up file and print sharing between the machines. It internally assigns unique local IP addresses to all connected machines and translates them.

You need to get with the times - no offense. Using any kind of switchbox for anything is a thing of the past.

When you get the router working, you can get rid of ALL that USB networking, PC Link, etc. PLEASE get rid of it, it's causing you more problems than you think it's solving. Just because in the past you used parallel port switchboxes does not mean it's a wise thing to do with USB.

If your computer does not have enough USB ports for all your devices, you need an AC-powered USB hub or *LESS* USB devices - *NOT* a switchbox.

[Bill Lane]

Hi glc:

Will this router do the job? http://www.l-com.com/item.aspx?id=8220&cmp=ALSOS

Will this cable work with the above router ( Category 5E Patch Cable, RJ45 ) ?

Or if you know of a better or cheaper one, give me the URL

Also my Win98 computer don't have an ethernet port, do I need to get an ethernet card for it? PCI Card.

[Bill Lane]

Hi glc:

Will this 16 Port USB Hub work for me? http://usb.brando.com.hk/prod_detail.php?prod_id=00560

[glc]

1 Yes, but this is a better router:

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16833124190

2. Overkill. Not only that, but sharing a USB hub between 2 computers leads to a problem. You can share printers through the network.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817165029 (4 port AC powered)
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817182057 (7 port AC powered)

3. Network card compatible with Win98:

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16833130107

[Bill Lane]

Hi glc:

I ordered the router, 7 Port USB Hub, and the PCI Network Card from Newegg.

Should be here in a few days.

Thanks

[Bill Lane]

Hi glc:

I know I'm getting old and don't grasp these new gizmos, but why does this router that I ordered have two antennas?

Is it transmitting from one antenna to the other? Or are they for transmitting to and from another router?

The WAN Port is to connect the RJ-45 cable to the Modem, right?

The LAN Ports are to connect the RJ-45 cables from the computers to the Router, right?

Just want to understand and get it set up right.

[shadowpr]

The two antennas are for wireless connections. They can be removed if not going to be used.

The modem would connect to the wan port, and the computers would connect to the lan ports. That is correct.

[Bill Lane]

Thanks shadowpr

[Bill Lane]

glc:

Question,

My Chaintec Motherboard has two USB Ports ( 2.0 ), it also has two USB headers on the board that I have hooked up, that gives me four USB Ports that come from the motherboard.

I also have a Belkin Hi-Speed USB PCI card ( 2.0 ) with five ports installed.

My question is, do you want me to remove the Belkin card? And can I leave the two ports that I hooked up to the motherboard USB headers?

[Bill Lane]

Hi glc:

My Newegg order arrived, but I would like an answer to my above question before hooking up these items.

My desk is hard to move out from the wall to get to the rear to make the hook up, it takes two people to move it, so I'll wait till I hear from you. I hope I'll only need to go back there once :-)

[Alaron]

I'd remove the USB card. Your new hub can hook up to one of the USB ports on the motherboard, and then you should have plenty of USB connections to work with. That card is just one more unnecessary peice of the puzzle. :)

[Bill Lane]

Hi Alaron:

Thanks, but can I leave the USB Ports that connect to the USB Headers on the motherboard?

[Alaron]

Sure if you still need them.

You must have a big collection of USB devices. :)

[Bill Lane]

I do !!!

I'll get these units installed in the morning and let you know how it turns out.

Thanks again Alaron !!!

[glc]

Connect your powered USB hub to one of the rear ports. I only recommend using the front ports for occasional devices - such as a USB flash memory key or connecting a MP3 player to sync it.

[Bill Lane]

Hi glc:

Just finished the Router setup and registered it.

Now I'm going to set up the Win98 computer.

Belkin Card removed.

7 Port USB device installed and working.

Ethernet card installed in Win98 computer.

I'll let you know how it works out.

[Bill Lane]

Hi glc:

Well I set up the router on the Win98 computer, and it works fine, but I have a problem with the Network.

In Win98 I click the Entire Network and I get an error message ...

Explorer Network
"Unable to browse network.
The network is not accessable.
Look in the help index at topic Network Troubleshooter.

In WinXP, I don't have anything in the right pane when I click on Network.

I looked in Control Panel, Network and Internet Connections, but I don't know what to do there.

Hope you can guide me through this.

[glc]

1. Do both computers have Internet access? If so, then:

2. Run the home networking wizard on the XP machine, telling it that internet access is through a residential gateway. Use the create floppy disk option to make a floppy to run on the 98 machine.

Note - any 3rd party firewalls must be disabled. The wizard will configure the XP firewall to allow file and print sharing.

If both machines do NOT have Internet access, make sure the Ethernet adapters are working and drivers are installed.

[Bill Lane]

Hi glc:

Both computers have internet access, and work great.

I disabled my AVG AntiVirus, and thought I was following your instructions, but I'm not having any luck.

Here's a couple of things I ran into ...

http://www.fotothing.com/photos/57c/57c6d7451c12d62f3c385932c7a8bac9.jpg?ts=1220642343

http://www.fotothing.com/photos/ee5/ee5bfd181321a4589bcdedca6a5837fe.jpg?ts=1220642537

I'm sure I'm doing something wrong.

[Bill Lane]

I just checked the win98 computer and this is what I found, the network seems to be working on this computer, but not on the WinXp computer.

http://www.fotothing.com/photos/02f/02f7fb3e2461cccb0b87d4935fefe3dd.jpg?ts=1220647152

I also see that this is now showing in WinXP ...

http://www.fotothing.com/photos/cfe/cfebf40c96e3c84cce7a65aa1800b271.jpg?ts=1220648581

[mikeL]

have you tried enabling NETBeui on your 98 machine, and enable NetBIOS on the XP machine

[glc]

You did something wrong when running the wizard - it's trying to enable ICS. You are NOT trying to connect to the Internet through another computer. Run the wizard again, this time tell it that the computer connects directly to the Internet. When you try to enable file and print sharing, it will throw up a security warning. IGNORE it and do it anyway.

Make SURE the 2 computers do not have the same name. They have to be in the same workgroup, but have different names. The 98 computer must have its primary logon as Client for Microsoft Networks - whether you use a password or not. You will have a logon box on it every time you restart it, and you have to log on, you cannot cancel.

NetBEUI may help. It's easy to install on 98 - add protocol - but to install it on XP, you need a XP CD:

http://support.microsoft.com/kb/301041

[Bill Lane]

Hi glc & MikrL:

I'm going to give up on this Network connectiom. Win98 didn't work today, but when it was working all I was able to see in WinXP was the Printer, a folder that said Shared Documents, and in that folder it had a Picture folder, Music folder and a Video folder, and for me to move a picture from WinXP to Win98 I had to put the picture in the Picture folder and go back to Win98 to move it, If I'm not going to be able to see all of the contents in WinXP from the Win98 compuetr and be able to drag and drop or Copy and Paste, it's no good to me.

With my USB PC-Link I was able to see every file in both computers from either computer without a password.

If you tell me that I'll be able to do that when an if I get the Network set up, I'll go ahead and try some more to get it working, but if not, I'm going back to the PC-Link whick worked GREAT !

And thanks again for all the help, I really appreciate it !!!

The Router and the 7 Port USB Hub are working great. I have my Printer and Scanner plugged in to the main USB Ports and the 7 Port USB Hub and Kodak Camera plugged in to the Added USB Ports that come from motherboard headers. The Kodak camera does not have any of the Kodak software installed, it is detected and uploads my pictures when I push the button on the camera dock.

I'll wait for your response before hooking up my PC-Link.

[glc]

Yes you can. You have to share the drive. The only share that the wizard sets up is that one folder.

[Bill Lane]

Okay,

I'll go back to my PC-Link, it works great, and now with the 7 Port USB Hub I guess it will work even better :-)

Now I can get back to the *** Win XP Pro Back Up *** Thread

Thanks again !!!

[glc]

All you have to do to get the network going is share the drive..............right click on the drive, select Sharing...........

Microsoft networking is not rocket science.

[Bill Lane]

Hi glc:

Okay, I set my C:\ drive to share. I ran the Network Wizard again and made a floppy to use in the win98 computer and ran it. Still don't work, it shows in the right pane a globe on a stand icon, but when I click on it, it says "Not Able To Browse The Network". On the WinXP computer when I click Network it has nothing in the right pane.

I ran the Linksys router setup again, that didn't help. Somewhere I screwed something up, now I have WinXP asking for a password on startup, I entered my password, but it still don't work.

I was up till 2:00 AM trying to get it to work, redoing everything, nothing I do works.

I don't know what else to do. I'm sure the problem is with WinXP, but what it is, I don't have a clue.

I reinstalled the PC-Link, it works great, I'm happy with it !!!

I would like to know how to get rid of it asking for a password on startup, please tell me how to do it.

[glc]

Start it in safe mode, log in as Administrator, and you can change anyone's password.

[Bill Lane]

Got it, thanks !!