Question:

SUMMARY:  For two nights in a row, my Win XP SP3 computer has rebooted between 10:30 and 12:00 midnight … and, on power up, has given weird (to me) MAC DHCP error messages (which I should have copied down, and didn’t).

DETAILS:  Because of a graphics card problem, I log off my computer, rather than shut it down.  I work in a home office environment, and am accustomed to logging off at 10:30 p.m. or so and then seeing the log on prompt again in the morning when I return to work.

The night before last, at almost midnight, I happened to notice that the mouse light wasn’t lit.  I turned on the monitor and, surprise surprise, the computer had rebooted.  I was looking at the computer’s power-on password prompt, rather than the Win XP log on prompt … even though the computer gets power through an APC UPS.

“That’s odd,” I thought, and entered the power-on password … and then scratched my head as weird (to me) messages related to “MAC address” and “DHCP client” filled the screen.

I soft rebooted; same thing.  My computer wasn’t loading Win XP.  It was delivering these messages related to MAC address and DHCP client.

I turned the computer physically off, then restarted … and this time the computer loaded Win XP normally.

“What a weird glitch,” I thought, and resolved to forget about it.

Last night, AT APPROXIMATELY THE SAME TIME, the same thing happened.  No mouse light, I turn on the monitor, and there’s the prompt for the power-on password: the computer has once again rebooted, despite the UPS.  *And*, when I entered the power-on password, the screen once again filled with messages related to MAC address and DHCP client … and I had to turn the power off and on to get it to boot normally.

I have checked the event logs, but am not knowledgeable enough to interpret them.  I can look for specific messages, if anyone thinks I should.

I have some reasons to have security concerns about this computer, and my work environment.  I don’t regard myself as a prime target, but it’s not impossible or especially unlikely that someone would go to special trouble to try to break in to the box.   Still, I would look for other causes first:  like a motherboard problem, if anyone thinks I have one.

I unplug the net cable connecting the cable modem to the Internet at night, so — other than the power cable to the UPS — there is no other physical link between my computer and the outside world.  I don’t have a WIFI card.  The cable modem — when plugged in — is connected to the computer via a Linksys hardware router.  (But, the cable to the NET was unplugged both times these mysterious reboots occurred).

I am careful about spyware and anti-viruses, but not zealous.  I run Kaspersky AV.

That’s all I can think of posting!  Help will be much appreciated.

Solution:

you can alsways test your disk with the diag you need from  : http://www.tacktech.com/display.cfm?ttid=287
just to be sure…