Problem for our Hardware Gurus

I've got an interesting problem with my current system. It's a franken-system built from random parts, but it's been a great little machine until now. Here are the specs:

Windows 2000 Professional on a FAT32 filesystem
250W Power Supply
Chaintech mainboard with an AMD Duron 766MHZ processor
256MB RAM
GeForce 2 MX
On-board AudioExcel Channel 6 sound
30GB HD
48x CD-ROM
Philips 40-10-12 CD-Burner

A few days ago, the system experienced a random reboot. It came right back up without problems, and we wrote it off as a one time event. Then we got another reboot...and another. They were coming a bit more frequently. Then we got a "kernel_trap" blue screen on one of the random reboots. Very strange. I immediately thought it might be a heat issue, but my father-in-law insisted that it was a Windows error. So I bought a new harddrive (not wanting to lose data on the old one) and hooked it up. During the setup, I got another random reboot. Ug. When it came back up, I got another blue screen. Then I suspected heat. The CPU fan appeared to be operating correctly, but the power-supply fan looked like it was getting a bit dusty. I thought that if the dust was causing any problems, the CPU fan might not be spinning at full power -- thus the heat problem. So I replaced the power supply with a brand new 250W power supply, and started up again. No problems during the install. (Cool!) I even got all the service packs installed without problems. Then I got a sudden freeze. It was a solid lockup -- it wouldn't accept keyboard commands or anything. I had to hard-boot. It came back up without problem, and I continued for a while. I was able to hook up the old harddrive and start transferring files. Things looked like they were working again. Then my wife tried to play a game of hers and we got another reboot. ARGGGHHH!!! It looked like the game was trying to access the CD-ROM, and I have had suspicions that the CD-ROM was going bad for awhile. Just now, I tried to disconnect the CD-ROM and try again, and Windows won't finish loading. Does anyone out there have any ideas why my system is driving me insane? Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated! I simply cannot stand hardware issues!

roswell1329,

If you already checked "heat" problems, then i could only think of a virus, your AGP port get broken and it's making your video card overheating and hang the system or the battery (i don't know how to say it in english) of your motherboard is not working properly. Check them!!!

Edit: You memory modules could be broken or maybe your processor too!!! You never know.

Bye.

It is rare but I have had strange problems like this in the past and it has been caused by memory going bad.

JAT

Definetly sounds like a virus to me. . if you can get online before a reboot, go to trendmicro.com and check out the free online scan.

it's always up to date, and you never know if your virus checker has been damaged. If it indeed is a virus. . .Best of luck to you!

Just a thought...try removing and re-seating your RAM....I had a similar issue with XP and that straightened it out.

usually when there's a problem with RAM & VGA the system will gives a peep
but u should first try to uninstall all accessories such as CD-ROM, sound card, LAN card, Voodoo card.
just keep the system runing with standarsd ( RAM, HDD, VGA )
now u can start testing these part first by removing and installing them part by part.
r u sure nothing wrong with the BIOS.
or motherboard ( check jumpers if exists )

The ram is the first you should check as everyone said but also take a look at Event viewer. Right Click My Computer go to magange click event viewer and system take a look at the times right before the random reboots see if windows is reading any problems. and if so what?

Take every thing out, then just put in the RAM, vid card, CPU, and a floopy drive. Boot to a boot disk and see if it works okay. If it does, add the hard drive and boot to the OS. Keep Adding one piece at a time until you figure out what it is. You can also get a POST card to test the bios and motherboard. This is the best way to figure out hardware problems.

Good luck

Thanks for the suggestions, everyone! I'll give them a try.