Vista reboots itself but not in safemode

[Twylla]

Hi guys

Hoping someone can figure out my issue with my computer.  My Vista keeps rebooting itself.  I can do everything I want from safemode and its fine.
I doubt its a overheating issue because from a fresh start up after being off all night and in a very cool room it rebooted itself once it loaded the desktop screen.

[Twylla]

Its a Windows Vista Service pack 2
Dell Dimension DM061
Intel Pentium D CPU 3.00 GHz 2.99 GHz
Ram 5GB
32 bit OS

[DaveLembke]

Is your bios latest version... I see here there is a bios fix http://www.dell.com/support/home/us/en/04/Drivers/DriversDetails?driverId=R157196.

NOTE: This is very dangerous if you have a failing power supply. For the fact that you stated its stable in safe mode I will assume the power supply is healthy. I'd verify your bios is the latest version and flash if your on an older version. This might fix your issue.

Additionally you claim to have 5GB RAM... is this really 3GB and a typo for 32-bit Vista?

[Allan]

1) Go to System Properties - Advanced - Startup & Recovery Options and UNcheck "Automatically Restart"

2) Reboot

3) Download BlueScreenView:
http://www.nirsoft.net/utils/blue_screen_view.html
unzip downloaded file and double click on BlueScreenView.exe to run the program.
when scanning is done, go to EDIT - Select All
Go to FILE - SAVE Selected Items, and save the report as BSOD.txt
Open BSOD.txt in Notepad, copy all of the content, and paste it into your next reply

[Twylla]

Thank you everyone for your speedy replies

I did upgrade the RAM a couple of years ago from 3 to 5gb

I will check what you told me to do and will come back as soon as its done

[Twylla]

Dave Im not sure about the BIOS update, it doesnt include Vista in the enviroments list even though it mentions my model number
 

[Twylla]

Allan
I followed your instructions but  no scanned occured.  The bluescreenview window is totally blank in both upper and lower box.

[Allan]

Okay, just wanted to be sure the reboots weren't caused by blue screen errors.

If there is a bios upgrade available, go ahead and flash the bios as Dave suggested. Also, let's check the ram: download memtest (http://memtest.org/). Burn it to a cd using a dedicated .iso burning utility (http://www.petri.co.il/how_to_write_iso_files_to_cd.htm), make sure the cd drive is at the top of the boot order in bios, then boot to the newly created cd and run the utility.[/font]

If the results are good we'll move on to a selective startup and see if anything loading with Windows is the cause.

[Twylla]

Ok I will reply back when its done 

[patio]

If it doesn't do it in safemode i'd suspect corrupt/improper drivers...

[DaveLembke]

Info online suggests that going beyond 4GB while it might work is not really supported by Dells specs for this build. Here is info suggesting it might support up to 8GB.

memtest86 should really be run on this as Allan stated.

http://en.community.dell.com/what-do-i-buy/for_enterprise/f/4516/t/19034789


Additionally you stated:

Its a Windows Vista Service pack 2
Dell Dimension DM061
Intel Pentium D CPU 3.00 GHz 2.99 GHz
Ram 5GB
32 bit OS

So you aren't using all the RAM that might be addressed by system boards BIOS with a 32 bit OS.

[Twylla]

Ok I tried doing the BIOS update and making the reboot cd and it wont let me do it.  It just reboots.  Im going to try to make one on a friends laptop and try that unless you have any other suggestions to help me

[patio]

Check Device Manager...any Yellow ??'s ? ?

[Twylla]

Yes there is under the Network Adapters
Microsoft 6to4 Adapter #30
Microsoft 6to4 Adapter #32
Microsoft 6to4 Adapter #39
Microsoft 6to4 Adapter #54
Microsoft 6to4 Adapter #88
Microsoft ISATAP Adapter #57
Microsoft ISATAP Adapter #59
Microsoft ISATAP Adapter #81

[patio]

If it's a laptop get the drivers from the laptop manuf. site...you need the Chipset drivers BTW...