My computer is nothing if not old and decrepit, and one of the THINGS it's picked up in it's old age is a particular bad habit. Said habit caused my computer to suddenly restart every time something is connected or disconnected from it. This even extends to things like my scanner and my DSL box, which don't plug directly into the computer itself. Which gets annoying, especially when one of the steps NECESSARY to updating the firmware for my DSL involved unplugging and then plugging it back in, in the midst of the update.

Is this just a preference setting or something like that I don't know about or a flaw in Windows that has been burned into this poor old machine's increasingly addled brain? And, more importantly, how the *censored* do I fix this? Any help would be greatly appreciated, becasue this is far and away beyond my comprehension.

Thanks millions ^_^

Note: If it helps anyone, I'm running the basic Windows 98Nice to know your operating system but what about any specifics on the computer?Well...What would you like to know? I'm not really sure what else might pertain to the problem or I would've added it ^_^Processor and make/model or motherboard can be helpful. "Old and decrepit" does not give any idea of the vintage components. What is the history of the problem? When did it start? Are these just USB things that cause this? That kind of stuff.In order:

1: Intel Pentium II
2: The first time I remember this happening was last July, and since no one in the family knew anytihng about the problem, it's been ignored entirely up to this point.
3: No, anything connected to the computer in any way being connected or disconnected causes the problem. This includes USB connections, the mouse, the scanner (which is connected to the computer through the surge protector we have), etc.

Again, thanks for still trying to help ^_^Oh_Knats.......   When you use the term plugging in or unplugging ...... are you refering to the main power ( the chords that are plugged into the surge protector ? ) If this is the CASE , it sounds like the circuit that the surge protector is using is overloaded , or has a bad connection in it .....  As a test , connect the computer to a differant wall recepticle ( use a extension chord )and try a differant surge protector ........ I believe that its either a failing part in the surge protector ...or the circuit feeding it is overloaded to the point of ...whenever you plug something into it , there is a voltage drop and the built in voltage sensitive protection in the computer sees it and shuts down ......

BTW , is there anything else plugged into the surge protector other than the computer ?


dl65  Yeah, that's when it seems to happen, but the same thing happens when I connect or disconnect from a USB. Regardless, you may be on to something; there are a crapload of things plugged into the surge protector, including some that aren't even related to the computer. Of course, I have no idea which cords belong to the computer itself, so this is going to take awhile to try lol.

Thanks ^_^Scratch that...No dice.I connected to a NEW, perfectly functioning surge-protector we had elsewhere and it had the same problem. And, it seems the only time it actually restarts is when something is plugged into it (again, whether by USB or any other method), disconnecting things doesn't seem to have an effect. It's still a problem, however, because several updates I NEED to make require disconnecting and reconnecting things.

Any ideas, anyone?Do you shut down the USB devices down before unplugging or just pull the plug?Pull the plug, but that shouldn't cause a restart, especially with the DSL box, which actually instructs you to do so.