computer crashing problems

[erniemorton]

Why does my computer keep closing down and restarting again? It doesnt appear to matter whether I'm on the internet or using word/excel or whatever. I recently installed Norton 2006 antivirus and it seems to have got worse. Its driving me potty - sometimes happens 3/4 times a session.

[vehelpfulguy]

It could be getting too hot.

If it is a few years old the fans or heat sinks may be clogged with dust and not keeping the PC cold enough.

If you are happy to open your PC case, gently clean them out with a hair dryer or vacuum cleaner.

DO NOT USE METAL.

[Mouse0_0]

Do you get a blue screen just before the computer restarts? This can comtain some vital information. You may not be able to see it, so to stop the computer from restarting, click on Start, and then right-click on My Computer and click Properties. Go to the Advanced tab, and then click Settings under the Startup and Recovery section. Clear the tick from the box from the item 'Automatically Restart', and you should then have chance to read the blue screen. If you do get to see it, you may have a driver problem. Can you let us know what you see on the blue screen?

Have you updated/reinstalled any drivers lately? Make sure you've applied all windows updates and also make sure you have all the latest drivers for all of your hardware by downloading them from the manufacturers' websites and installing them. That might solve your problem, but that blue screen info will help.

[erniemorton]

Thanks all.

Info from blue screen is:-

'A problem has been detected and windows has been shut down to prevent damage to your computer'.

BAD_POOL_CALLER

'Check to make sure any new hardware/software is properly installed. If a new installation.....more text......'

Tech info: ***STOP: 0x000000C2 (0x00000007, 0x00000CD4, 0x81DFE840, 0x821E0270)

Does this shed any more light Mouse 0_0?

Thanks

[vehelpfulguy]

Search in Google for Bad Pool Caller

Quite a few people have got it, and it seems it can be caused by many things. Have you changed or added anything lately - new hardware, new software driver, new USB device ?

A quick glance at the various hits gives the impression it could be a bad driver, or a bad USB cable or device, but it could also be something else.

Try undoing anything you have changed recently.

[Mouse0_0]

I suspect your system memory may have become damaged.

If you have more than one DIMM for your memory, try removing all but one of them and running the computer for a while. If it bluescreens again, try leaving a different one in place, and so on.

If it still bluescreens with every memory DIMM, the memory is probably fine and you're looking at another device for the problem. If it only bluescreens while one DIMM is in place, that's your faulty one, and you need to replace it.