I bought my computer on stock from a generic store. I have had the computer for about a month. At first it was little things like not being able to run games that it met all the req for, but now it constantly reboots.

I push power it runs all the way up to where I would normally get the Windows screen that says Welcome, but then it shuts down and reboots it does this continually until I turn it off. On the rare occasion that I get it finish booting up the computer seems to lose its IP address. That doesn't concern me as much as when I go to check in CMD prompt it tells me that it is either a bad cmd or file name, or gives me an error that requires online assistance.

I have already replaced all of the wires and am running out of options. This is not the first time this has happened in fact it is the third with each computer being from a different manufacturer each time. I am tired of returning computers all the time and having to redo all of my work every two or three months.

Could be a power issue. With the 3 pcs, were they all connected to the same outlet? If so try a different outlet.

Keith

I'll give it another go, but if anyone has any other imput please... please... throw it out here.

Dear Darshe,

If you only had the computer for a month then I would take it back to the store you bought it from. If that is out of the question, then would you answer some more questions?

Was the computer up and running?

Were you able to connect to the Internet?

If you were, did you have an active firewall?

What are the exact spec's of your computer?

What games were you trying to play?

I know this seems like a lot of questions but at this point you could have several different issues.

Please let us know,

junkdk

Darshe: Welcome to BC.

Three different new computers giving you the same grief shortly after purchase certainly would make me think first about two general areas:

1) The power source (as mentioned above) especially including the surge/transient protection device you inserted between the wall outlet and your computer + peripherals (you are using one, aren't you?).

2) Malware installed from a website you visited with each unit, especially if your protection (anti-virus software) is not updated (or even activated) or if you are connecting "naked" without a firewall. Such protection is very important and should be up and running before first connecting to the web.

A great BC Tutorial about protecting yourself from malware can be found here.

A BC Tutorial about protective steps to take before connecting a new computer to the internet can be found here

Suggest you post back with more information about your computer(s), the operating system, etc.; how you provide power to it. And especially tell us about what anti-virus and firewall protections you have in place.

If you can download these to cd from another computer and run them it may help.
1) Ad-Aware SE 1.05. 2)Spybot S&D 1.3. 3)AVG Free Edition AntiVirus.
If you can download them on the computer you are working on great. It does not sound like a HW problem to me, because the issue is repeated in three seprate computers. It maybe but these pograms won't hurt.
Also if you are running XP try MicroSoft Antispyware Beta.
If this does not work try the HJT fourm and submit a log. The experts here are awsome. Can't hurt.

acklan

Alright thanks very much. If I get up on my computer at home I will get all of the exact specs for you guys, but as for the power situation I have the computer run through a single surge protector with only the monitor and cable modem running through off the same one. Everything else in the room near, around, and/or attatched to the computer run through separate outlets.

I will try to get the info that you guys wanted as soon as possible.

Well after work I spent 5 hours working on my computer restoring and restarting my computer back dating all the way back to the date of purchase, and I now back at work telling you all that I have nothing to report as a change of status on my computer.

It sounds like a serious power issue to me, too. A surge protector has what's called an MOV (metal oxide varistor, I think) that can take one hit and then you might as well throw it away. I'd recommend a real, honest-to-goodness Uninterruptible Power Supply of reasonable quality (under $100). I've been using them for years and wouldn't trust anything less.

You might invest in a new power supply for the computer and see if things improve. If it doesn't make any difference, at least you've got the start for your next computer.

The malware thing is intriguing, too. If you aren't well-enough protected, enough running processes in the background can overwhelm your memory and pagefile and there just isn't enough left to allow the computer to start. I've seen gigabytes of cookies filling a hard drive and preventing XP from starting, too. They were a result of constant pop-up ads that added cookies continuously.

Edited to add: Of course, since you've reloaded, it's unlikely that it's anything but power.