PC Freezes very often for no apparent reason

[Zincq]

Hi all,

I've been getting some strange computer behavior lately. My computer has been working fine without a hitch up until about 2 months ago when my mobo fried. I had to replace it with a Shuttle AN35/N Ultra. All my other computer parts are the same: Albatron Ti4600, Sound blaster Live, Lite-On CD-R/RW, and I think a WD harddrive and a Quantum harddrive. In anycase, I would just be using my computer and it would all of the sudden freeze up on me. If I am playing music, there will be a loud whine out of the speakers until I press reset. Ctrl-Alt-Del won't work because I think the keyboard loses functionality as well. Nothing works until I restart the computer. Sometimes it will work fine hours on end, and other times it'll freeze up every 5 minutes. I don't know what the deal is, does anyone have any suggestions? I have all the current drivers for everything already.

 

[Xsorovan]

Ok here are my thoughts:
Thought 1: The CPU got some backlash when the mobo died.
Thought 2: The RAM got some backlash when the mobo died.

How on earth do you know? (You ask) Well there are 2 ways:
Way 1: Replace them if you have things handy
Way 2: Sandra. (http://www.sisoftware.net/index.html?dir=dload&location=sware_dl_x86&langx=en&a=) head there, DL the program and enjoy. The real beauty here is that they have a feature called "burn in" which will put the RAM or the CPU or whatever under a heavy load and you can see if it gives out under those conditions. (You can set how long it runs and how much of the ram/cpu is used) I suggest you get it and give it a try on the CPU and RAM and see if they give out. If so they will probably need replacing.

 

[Zincq]

I tried SANDRA, and used the burn-in utility. Seems like every time I do the processor burn-in, the computer will freeze. There has not been a single instance where I was able to complete 10, or even 2 tests of the process burn-in test.

So it's been a week now, and I've just been restarting my computer over and over. I also noticed that when I open up any big programs, such as photoshop - my computer will also freeze. When I check mail with outlook and press the send/receive button, I get the same problem. So is it in fact that my processor is running on it's last leg? I recently reseated the memory and stuck it in a different slot. My computer was working well for a while, but then froze up after a few hours.

 

[oldman420]

i think you have a bad ram or cpu problem. the squeeling speakers are another bad sign. might try to rum mem test or try the ram /cpu in another board i agree with xsorovan about the backlash.

 

[Zincq]

I'm wondering... would a format do anything? I'm wondering if windows is corrupted.

 

[jackschmittusa]

If it's hardware, I would suspect the ram. It may be a driver problem also. A clean install should cure that.

install:
os
md drivers
DX9
vid drivers
sound drivers
other drivers

re-boot after installing each set of drivers

 

[Zincq]

haha, okay n00b question. But I can't figure out what you mean by md drivers.

 

[Zincq]

I just took off the heatsink and reseated the CPU. Applied some more thermal paste and stuck the HS back on. Cleared out some dust and fired my computer back up.

Worked for about 15 minutes, I went and took a shower - and when I got back, it froze up again. But this time, the computer lagged for a few seconds, then completely froze. There was also a long beep from the PC speaker buzzed until I hit the reset. What's going on?

 

[Zincq]

and am I overheating something?

 

[mechBgon]

Hit the Symantec online security scan linked in my signature and see if your computer is "visible" to computers on the Internet (yes = :Q), then use the Panda online antivirus scanner (John particularly recommended Panda's scanner) to establish whether your system's free of viruses.

On the hardware side, what brand, model and wattage is your power supply? How old is it? Is it the one that was hooked up to the previous motherboard? What speed is your memory rated for, what voltage is it set for, and what are the rest of the specs on your computer (in detail)?

 

[Zincq]

My power supply is made my Antec, 300W and it's about 4 years old. Yes, it is the one that was previously hooked up to my old motherboard.

AMD XP2200+ running at 1.8ghz
Shuttle AN35/N Ultra
512 megs Kingston PC2700 DDR 333 mhz RAM
Albatron GeForce4 Ti4200 128MB
Lite-On 40x/12x/48x CD-ROM/Burner
SBLive! Value

 

[Zincq]

I'm starting to notice a trend. I'll power on my computer and watch a divx clip for about 20 minutes with Windows Media Player. After the movie is over, I shutdown WMP and about 5 seconds later, my computer will freeze. It has happened every single time and has been pretty consistent with the freezes.

I just fired up winamp five times, each time it displayed a message saying that WinXP wants to send a error report to Microsfot. Each time I start it up, it crashes.

This is starting to sound a lot like a virus now. But the scans that I have done haven't been able to find any viruses. I did the Symantec online and Panda online scans, didn't find anything.

 

[mechBgon]

Your old Antec does at least have the ATX12V cable that the Shuttle is made to use, right?

 

[Zincq]

No, actually, the Antec doesn't have that 12V cable. I didn't think it was such a big deal since my computer turned on, lol.

Well crap.

So is that what is causing the problem? Why didn't the problem come up immediately rather than showing up after 3 months of use?

 

[Zincq]

And what does that 12V cable do?

 

[mechBgon]

Originally posted by: Zincq
And what does that 12V cable do?

The 12V cable provides two additional 12V and two additional ground lines and is typically for powering the (ahem) CPU voltage-regulation circuitry. Without it, all of your board's 12V drain has to be carried by the single 12V wire in the 20-wire main ATX cable. Making one wire do the work of three is not advisable, in my opinion!

The most recent Antec to not feature an ATX12V cable was the PP303-X, which is also a bit limp on its 3.3V + 5V combined rating... 150 watts peak, if I recall correctly. It's done its tour of duty... time to grab a new unit, maybe a nice Antec SL350 or higher

I'm not trying to say that's what's causing your error, by the way. I was about to suggest downloading and installing Spybot Search & Destroy 1.3, updating it, and having it check out your system for spyware. Some tracking cookies are par for the course, but if you have something nastier, it may help you get it removed. If necessary, disable System Restore and get rid of your SR files and then restart in Safe Mode by pressing F8 after your last POST screen, then run Spybot S&D in Safe Mode. If the spyware is really tough to get rid of, advance on to Schadenfroh's spyware-removal thread at the top of the Software forum for more help.

On top of all that, how did your Symantec Security Scan come out? You got your firewall up well enough that it comes out like this?

 

[Zincq]

Hi, yeah my Symantec Scan came out exactly like what you had just posted.

 

[Zincq]

I'm running my computer is safe mode right now - and it seems to be running okay. No freezes yet. *knock on wood*

 

[Zincq]

Okay, so my computer seems to be running perfectly fine in safe mode. So then I think it's not necessarily a hardware problem. What does safe mode do in terms of drivers, options and whatnot? How can I fix this problem so that I don't need to keep running my computer in safe mode? Reinstall windows and all drivers?

 

[dclive]

Originally posted by: Zincq
Okay, so my computer seems to be running perfectly fine in safe mode. So then I think it's not necessarily a hardware problem. What does safe mode do in terms of drivers, options and whatnot? How can I fix this problem so that I don't need to keep running my computer in safe mode? Reinstall windows and all drivers?

No, just figure out what runs in normal mode that doesn't run in safe mode, as that's your culprit. Easier said than done; you can use MSCONFIG to turn off *everything* (all non-MS services and startup objects) then one by one or two by two turn things back on and reboot and retest.

 

[PingSpike]

I have almost the exact same setup as you, I think the only difference is my ti4600 is a visiontek model, and I'm using a forton 350watt PSU.

Run memtest-86...if the ram is fvcked that should find it.

You reapplied the thermal paste, good that was going to be a suggestion. Also make sure the core isn't cracked or anything, that can cause super high temps. Check the temps.

Powersupply sounds like a likely culprit from whats been said so far, replace that with a model with 12v connector. When you run a stress test on the CPU, it freezes...that goes along with poor voltage.

What are the beeps? There are beep codes that will tell you what the error is. I'm suspecting a voltage error, which would also indicate the PSU being a problem.

Safe mode runs the computer in retard mode, I wouldn't neccessarily say that rules out hardware. But the fact that you didn't have this problem for the first 2 months does lend some credence to it being a software issue. Have you tried a clean install? Thats the quickly, albeit most overkill way to rule out software.

 

[mechBgon]

If your car was designed to use six quarts of motor oil, would you try to run it on two quarts just because it manages to go 25mph that way? Look at this melted ATX cable. This guy wasn't using his ATX12V cable.

You can lead a horse to water, but... yeah. It's your call.

 

[Zincq]

This may sound like a very trivial question, but how can I find out what loads in safe mode and what doesn't?

I know that sound isn't loaded in safe mode, as I can't play any music or get audio from video files. And my computer works okay in safe mode - so is the culprit my soundcard/sound drivers?

 

[dclive]

Originally posted by: Zincq
This may sound like a very trivial question, but how can I find out what loads in safe mode and what doesn't?

I know that sound isn't loaded in safe mode, as I can't play any music or get audio from video files. And my computer works okay in safe mode - so is the culprit my soundcard/sound drivers?

Go into REGEDT32. Open up HKLM/SYSTEM/CurrentControlSet/Control/Safeboot. The next two entries are the two safeboot modes. Open that up, and then you can see exactly what starts in safe mode.

The culprit could be your sound card / drivers, so to test that, pop your sound card out of the machine, boot in normal mode, and re-test. If it's sound card drivers, you'll need to get new sound card drivers and re-test, or get a new sound card (with new/different drivers) and re-test.

 

[Zincq]

This just doesn't seem to end.

I got fed up with all this crashing and tried to reinstall windows. Popped in the XP cd and tried to boot from it. I was able to boot off the CD, but the setup won't work. I must have done it at least ten times, and each time the setup itself hangs when it gets to the point "Starting windows setup." I tried a Win98 setup too, and my computer also froze up during the installation - actually, it never even got to the setup part.

My computer has froze up twice while in Safe Mode with Networking.

I am really out of ideas now. I was hoping that a format and clean instal would help, but now I can't even get through to that. Please! I need some more suggestions! I kinda don't want to go out and buy new parts... but, yeah...