Computer newbies forum: My moms pc keeps rebooting over and over

The heat sink and fan are clean.
That was the very first thing I did.
The ps is also clean, and is working properly. Now it does not allow me to even install windows, the rebooting sequence keeps occurring.
I am not able to to complete anything, that is the reason why I have posted the problem.

Is there anything else I can do?
Remove drive and load xp on a different pc?
Reformat drive on a different pc?

1.Step: Control whether processor fan is turning. If fan blades are not turning within few seconds of pressing start button, replace fan (Sold with aluminum fins as a set, buy a copper based cooler fin for better cooling).
Try entering BIOS setup to check fan speed and proceessor temp and if there is a set degree to reboot. Press "Delete" or displayed button to enter BIOS during boot. Fan should not be below 2600 revolutions/min.
You did not mention any "Heat transfer compound" application between the processor and aluminum base. The aluminum fins should be unlocked and removed, the rotating fan should be removed from the aluminum. Wipe both sides of fan blades with a wet cloth (Caution ! Pull the cable from motherboard beforehand), wash aluminum finned cooler with sponge, dishwasher detergent and tap water, let dry or dry with hair dryer. Wipe any remnants of dried heat transfer compound on aluminum base and processor with cotton and alcohol. When dried, cut a plastic or carton to apply new " Heat transfer compound" on processor and aluminum base, spread the compound in perpendicular directions so the to fill bases micro surface holes.
Place processor paying attention to alignment(One corner is cut to show proper orientation).
Put aluminum fin with fans on the processor and lock the mechanism. Move fan slightly to control both surfaces are touching 100 %.
2. step: Some motherboards have an additional 4 pin socket to feed the processor, probably you connected the main 20 pin socket to the board and 4 pin socket is not plugged, insufficient voltage may be causing the reboot. Just plug the 4 pin socket.
3. step: There is smaller aluminum cooler near the processor (Called North Bridge), clean outer fins with alcohol. Youc can also renew heat dissipating compound, but not essential.
4. Step: Control the graphics card- the card your monitor cable is connected to- for. 1) Full contact 2) That graphic card fan is clean and turning 3) That Graphic card feeder cable is attached (if any)
5. Step: Control keyboard and mouse connection is PS2 (Round one, ge
enerally one green, other violet)and NOT USB connected keyboard or mouse.(The first booting of BIOS controls presence of PS2 (round socket) keyboard and mouse. USB keyboard or mouse enabling should be later done at BIOS setup.
6. Step: Control that there is no diskette in floppy and its ribbon cable and power cable is connected.
7. Step: Enter BIOS setup during booting by pressing DELETE or button displayed. Choose "Default values" and save the changes.
Restart the computer. If rebooting continues:
8. Step: Change the power connection of the hard disk to another harness coming from Power Supply Unit.
Restart the computer. If rebooting continues:
9. Step: Probably your power supply is partially damaged and can not supply sufficient current. Newer Power Supplies are all electronic (Called "Switching mode"). 400 W type is enough for your moms comp. Buy a new PSU. Should be a known brand with standards compliance labels.
Restart the computer. If rebooting continues:
10. Step: Buy a new hard disk; You probably damaged MBR (Master Boot Record) of the hard disk during numerous XP loading which is not correctable as a single disk. Hard disks life is generally about 3 years. You can buy a 80 GB or 160 GB one with 7200 revs and 8 MB of cache which you should have done for your moms comfort anyway. Buy a new 80 wire HD cable with the new hard disk. You can make the old disk "Slave disk" and probably repair with "Testdisk". Install and reload XP to the new hard disk.
Restart the computer. If rebooting continues:
11. Step: Control the capasitors on the motherboard. They are small cylinders with two legs. If top of any capacitor is rounded (with inner pressure) or leaking, you can solder new capasitors - or buy a new 478 pin motherboard.
End of guide.
Turkpointer

Not only is it against forum policies to refer others to other competing sites, but the suggestions provided by members helps others that have an interest in this topic..

Most importantly, if you're having problems similar to those of the original poster, have you tried the suggestions in this thread? How did they work?

Hope this helps.

Grif

Its your memory modules, make sure your memory chips are good,ECS mobo's are horrible in that department, i would suggest a motherboard upgrade.

Ps. could it had been chip creep? Memory cards tend to get lose sometimes.

Switch your pc on with the case off, check the fans, it seems the most obvious problem. If this is not fixing the issue then I think, as mentioned above, a replacement power supply is the way to go!

http://www.myveganplanet.com

Try removing the heat sink from the cpu clean it up and also clean up the cpu, get some artic silver and apply a thin coat to the cpu , reinstall the heat sink Hope this helps

If you are running Windows XP Media Center OS, with a AMD prosessor and you have installed SP3 their is a problem with the pc of continuous reboot. Microsoft has an upgrade utility to install before you download SP3.