Freezing

[imported_alp]

Ok. In my house, there are 3 computers

1) The good computer (built by me)
A64 3000+
Jetway S755max
2x512mb generic pc3200
club3d radeon 9600 pro
wd 160gb hard drive
maxtor 80gb hard drive
artec cd-rw
artec dvd-rom
one of the 'zorro' cases with generic (450w) psu
floppy drive
sb live! 5.1
usb adsl modem
blah blah blah
XP Pro

2) The old computer (OEM - Fujitsu Siemens)
P4 1.7ghz
Some DFI Mobo (Socket 423)
256mb pc133
gf2 mx400
60gb hard drive
cdrw/dvd combo drive
case, and 300w psu i assume
floppy drive
onboard sound
pci 56k modem
blah blah blah
XP Home

3) The really old computer (OEM - Tiny)
P3 600mhz
Some MSI mobo
133mb SDRAM (pc100 or 133)
onboard gfx
20gb hard drive
cd rw
dvd rom
case, and some psu
floppy drive
onboard sound
pci 56k modem
blah blah blah
Windows 98

So what happens is, on the good computer AND the old computer (but NOT the really old computer) the computers freeze, seemingly randomly. If a sound is playing (on the good computer at least, I don't use the others as much obviously) then it will continuously beep until you restart. This can not happen for days, but then once it starts, it seemingly can't stay stable for more than 5 minutes for a while at least. It never recovers from this without restart, and I get no other errors (bluescreens etc.). I am not so certain about this behaviour on the old computer (the other one that crashes) but I presume it is the same problem from what I have seen at least. Oh, and the good computer was built in February and started crashing June/July. The old computer is about 2-3 years old, and started in March/April this year.

Possible issues it COULD be?:

Power Supply:
Reasons why: Seems to do it a lot more at start up, seemed to crash more after I added more fans and the maxtor drive to the good computer, none of the psu's are great quality I think.
Reasons why not: Odd coincidence for two to go, my voltages on the good computer are fine, it does not crash more in demanding apps like games than it does in general windows

Memory:
Reasons why: Generic ram, haven't thoroughly memtested
Reasons why not: Have done a quick memtest on the good computer, where it passed. No blue screens or other symptoms of bad RAM

Motherboard problems (grounding etc.):
Reasons why: I am not the best of system builders, and my wires are all over the place.
Reasons why not: It happens on another computer too, and I didn't build that.

Conflicts (hardware):
Reasons why: None, really that I can think of.
Reasons why not: The crashing didn't start after I added anything on either.

Viruses/Trojans/Worms etc.
Reasons why: Both computers have it, they have both been on the internet. The old computer has been run unfirewalled (but the new one has almost always been behind McAfee firewall). I have transferred files between them. The older comp runs an older OS which could be why it has been unaffected, also it has always been an 'office' pc so has not been on the internet quite so much.
Reasons why not: McAfee antivirus & firewall, Norton - later AVG and ZoneAlarm on the old computer: All didn't stop it. Are there actually any viruses that cause this problem?

Bad mains power:
Reasons why: Power-failure esque problems affect two computers, in an old house with questionable wiring.
Reasons why not: The third computer is not affected, and it shares a socket with the old computer (they are not on both at once).

Can anyone help?

 

[oldman420]

The only two things the good and the middle box have in common is XP, I would check for running processes in both boxes and see if there is a trojan or other bug in there.

 

[jackschmittusa]

It is quite possible that it is due to power sags in the mains. Summertime generally means people use more power (air-conditioning, refridgerators run more often, etc.) leading to less stability in the grid. Assumming that you live in the northern hemisphere, this is when your problems began. Both newer hardware and oses seem to be more suseptable to power fluctions than older gear. See if you could borrow a good UPS from a friend for a weekend (when he/she might be away and not using it themselves) and see if the problem goes away.

 

[oldman420]

Good point Jack

 

[imported_alp]

i am (england)

i don't know ANYONE with a UPS, or even a decent PSU i can borrow, though I guess I could get a decent surge protector (which I don't have atm). What doesn't make sense is the fact that the third computer doesn't do that.

 

[imported_alp]

oh the other possibility i forgot to mention is a corrupt windows install which again would make sense for the good computer, as it seemed to start around the time i reinstalled windows (not format, just installing windows over itself) but I never did that on the other one with the problem.