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Here we go again

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pjr44114

Junior Member
After 18 months of relative bliss with my 1.9 GHz machine, I'm experiencing, strangely enough, a similar problem I have had in the past with other computers.

The config:
DVD Drive
16XCD-RW Drive
60 GB HD
GeForce 3 500
SB Live 5.1
Windows XP Home
USB Devices: Scanner, Printer, Wacom Tablet, game pad

The problem started about five days ago, I would leave my computer for a few hours (I always leave it on) and come back to find it frozen on the desktop with the cursor locked up. Through either resetting or shutting it off and cold booting, the machine came back the first few days. Then it would not come back at all; no startup screen at all. I left it off for about 1-2 hours, came back and it booted up fine. The machine at this point did not lock up during an application only when it was sitting there just idling.

It's been about a week, the machine has continued to freeze after a few hours of idling and has blacked out completely as above three times, once while using a browser another time inside a game. Same thing, after about an hour it comes back.

Tech support seems to think it's a software issue, and until a hardware device fails, it's hard to argue. I've updated my video, soundcard drivers since this started happening and they work fine but that hasn't prevented the lockups. Since I review games, I also needed to upgrade to DirectX 9 to review a particular game. This was also after the start of the lockups.

I've taken to shutting off my computer and only have it on when I need to use it. But can anyone hazard a guess with the specific symptom of the lockups followed by a near-fatal lockup with the computer coming back after being shut down for an hour or so. Hardware? Overheating somewhere?



 
An overheating processor could cause these symptoms. Open your case, and check if the Cpu heatsink is clogged with dust. If so, blow it out with a can of compressed air.
 
Total heat issue, don't ever let tech support fool you into thinking there's a software problem when letting your computer stay off for a "few hours" actually helps.

If you can't pin point the hardware problem yourself, just be forcefull with the people you got the computer from and tell them something is wrong on a hardware level.
 
My uncle had this exact problem until I looked at it last week. In his case it was absolutely heat. My thoughts were:
1. The problems started when summer came around in full force
2. The case hadn't been opened for a year and his appartement is a dust magnet (even though he does clean once a week)
3. After turning the PC off for about an hour it would work again

So I opened up the case and husaaaah: dust bunnies galore, clogging up the CPU HSF and the Graphics card HSF. After a thorough clean the machine works fine now.
 
Welcome to the Forums, pjr44114 🙂

Your computer isn't cooped up in one of those evil computer hutches with near-zero airflow, is it? If so, that would certainly contribute to the heat idea. The 1.9GHz Pentium4 was not a lightweight in the heat category, either. What brand/model of computer is this, by the way?

Just to throw out a few more ideas: download and run AdAware 6 (link) to get rid of spyware, and if you don't have antivirus software, you can get permanently-free AV software from Grisoft and should set it up for aggressive scanning and deletion.
 
Many thanks for all the responses so far. They seem to be on the same track and in line with what I was thinking.

I did clean it with compressed air but I'll give it another shot, may have missed some dust near the CPU. Sorry for my not understandings the abbreviations but what is HSF? Is that where the graphics card and CPU are seated.

Someone asked the brand: it's an Alienware.

Also another was right on about it not being opened in a while and it does sit in a hutch.

Will try all the suggestions and post on Saturday. Thanks again.

 
I had cleaned it with compressed air, but obviously didn't do a great job. So last night after work, I gave it a thorough cleaning inside. A lot more black dust balls kicked up. I also took the CPU case out of the hutch. The room it's in is pretty cool. air conditioned, title floor, refinished basement with a vornado fan on this side of the room creating good air flow. So I left the machine on all night to see what would happen.


It locked up on the desktop. I'm preplexed. Any more suggestions.

 
it could be memory that is going bad as well. or A video card that may be over heating.
 
Check and see if the fan on the power supply is running and for the volume of air comeing out. It may be plugged up also. Take the side off of the case and leave it off, if this helps you will know absolutly that it is a heat problem.

Bleep
 
The latest on this situation:

Last night before I left for work the computer was freezing much more frequently. So I shut it down. Came back late last night tried to boot it up with no luck. One thing that happened convinced me at the time that it was my graphics card. When the computer was booting up it froze at the Windows XP screen (black background, green horizontal filling bar) and parts of the screen froze with lines of weird color just like when a graphics card finally goes and leaves frozen colored lines on your monitor. I pulled it out and was ready to replace with a GeForce 2 I have that works.

I decided to pop the GeForce 3 back in one more time before switching cards. The computer came up and ran fine. I had the case open at this point and since it would not boot with the case closed and was running fine with it open I started to think it is a heating problem inside the case.

So, I left it on all night with the case open. This morning I came down to find it had frozen on the desktop again.

I shut it off. I now just popped in an extra exhaust fan I had laying around, closed the case and it's running.

Could it be something partially failing on the video card? Any other thought? Still at somewhat of a loss.
 
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