REALLY SERIOUS PCG-K215B SUDDEN RESTART PROBLEM!

[Kei]

Ok this is a really bad problem. I have a Vaio PCG-K215B, I bought it on the 14th July 2004.
Specs are as follows:
Intel Celeron 2.8ghz
HDD: 40GB
512MB DDR RAM
ATi Radeon IGP 345M

Everythin is updated, Windows all updated (SP1), Norton Internet Security 2004 updated, all drivers up to date. Ad-aware 6 SE installed.

Everything is clean, it's virus free, no worms. I've checked everything on the PC, I've scanned for spy-ware ad-ware, viruses, worms. I've used multiple methods: Norton, Ad-aware, Stinger, Symantec tools.

I randomly get sudden restarts on my PC. It does so without any notification, there's no Blue Screen of Death, even though I've unchecked the Automatically Restart option in the Startup/Recovery settings.
I operate the PC behind a router via wireless PCMCIA card. Drivers for the network card are certified by Microsoft.

I've put up 3 firewalls, 1 hardware from router, 1from Norton Internet, and 1 one from Windows built-in.
I get no error reports after the restart is done, no error dialogs, nothing.

I've carried a system reformat, on my C: drive, leaving the 😧 drive intact.

The problem is nothing to do with overclocking, I run even little programs at once (like Winamp and IE) and it still reboots suddenly. It's nothing do to with the power outlet, I've switched the VAIO plug to another socket and it still reboots.

At first, the problem happened like every 72 hrs or so, but now it's very unpredictable. However, it doesn't restart in loops, i.e. it doesn't restart after seconds or after minutes. It's quite random.

Could it be that some virus/worm is hidden in my 😧 partition in my system volume folders?

I have 2 others PCs, 1 desktop and 1 laptop, and they don't the problem, so I'm not sure whether it's anything to do with a worm, because it'll spread over the network.

Do you think it's all because that the VAIO is defective? Or is it a software issue?

Please anyone help me out here, this is seriously urgent.

[kee-lo_]

This is a hard one to diagnose really. Could be many things; check the event viewer in Adminastritive Tools.

[Kei]

I check it everytime it happens. There's nothing suspicious in the events. Although everynow and then, my wireless connection does break off and go on again (with a delay of like 15 seconds).
All I have as probably suspicious is the Failure Audit event. Event ID 615.
User: NT AUTHORITY\NETWORK SERVICE
IPSec Services failed to get the complete list of network interfaces on the machine. This can be a potential security hazard to the machine since some of the network interfaces may not get the protection as desired by the applied IPSec filters. Please run IPSec monitor snap-in to further diagnose the problem.

I've also put a thread on another forum asking people for advice: http://www.animenation.net/forums/showthread.php?goto=newpost&t=153920

Please help.

[TygerTyger]

If you're confident doing it, track down a program that checks the registry for errors. Could be that there's a crossed wire in there somewhere. Make sure you create a system restore point before you start.

[kee-lo_]

Either that or do a Norton Ghost of the drive.

[Kei]

I've already ran Registry Mechanic many times. And the errors and unwanted registry entries etc. have been fix or deleted. That didn't help at all with the restart problem.

[robpaxton]

If you can, try booting from a CD or DVD created using the technique at http://www.nu2.nu/pebuilder/

If the computer still randomly reboots after this then the problem is almost certainly with your hardware. If the system is stable then it is probably a software issue.

[kee-lo_]

I feel it's a hardware conflict too Rob.

[robpaxton]

The BartPE boot should help to diagnose the problem as it will allow the system to boot using a 'clean' registry on a read only disk. The BartPE disk is a handy thing to have in your toolkit anyway for troubleshooting purposes.

[kee-lo_]

Yeah I'll add it to my list :smileygrin: Thanks