Random freeze and crashes

[sam8813b]

I get random freezes and crashes (stop screens) while just using Windows XP regularly. It was doing this a month ago, and then i formatted and its stilld oing this. Ill get a freeze about every 30minutes. I did a memtest, and 0 ERRORS. What is the culprit here? Failing HD? Failing PS? I also ran virus scan, no viruses.

 

[mechBgon]

System info? Include the brand and model of the parts where you can. If you feel like giving lots of detail, you can hit Quote and then modify this one:

• CORE HARDWARE
  
  • Power supply Antec TruePower 430
  • Motherboard Asus K8N-E Deluxe
    • Revision 1.03
    • BIOS 1005
  • CPU Athlon64 3000+
    • Core 130nm Clawhammer
  • Memory (2) 512MB Corsair XMS 3200C2 modules
    • Voltage Manually set to 2.7 volts
    • Timings AUTO, results in 2-3-2-6 @ 200MHz
• CARDS
  • Primary video card ATI Radeon 9800Pro AGP 8x
  • PCI slot #1 (top) empty
  • PCI slot #2 empty
  • PCI slot #3 LeadTek Winfast TV/FM tuner card
  • PCI slot #4 Creative Audigy 2 ZS
  • PCI slot #5 LSI Logic Ultra160 SCSI
  • PCI slot #6 (board only has five PCI slots)
• DRIVES
  • Boot drive 160GB Seagate 7200.7
    • Interface Serial ATA
    • Controller hosting this drive nForce3 SATA controller
    • Jumper setting not applicable (SATA)
  • Additional hard drive 40GB Seagate 7200.7
    • Interface Parallel ATA
    • Controller hosting this drive nForce3 standard ATA controller, primary channel
    • Jumper setting Master
  • Additional hard drive 18GB Seagate Cheetah 15k.3
    • Interface SCSI
    • Controller hosting this drive LSI Logic U160 card
    • Jumper setting SCSI ID 01
  • Optical drive #1 NEC 3500A DVD burner
    • Interface Parallel ATA
    • Controller hosting this drive nForce3 standard ATA controller, secondary channel
    • Jumper setting Master
  • Optical drive #2 Lite-On combo DVD-ROM/CD-RW
    • Interface Parallel ATA
    • Controller hosting this drive nForce3 standard ATA controller, secondary channel
    • Jumper setting Slave
• OS AND SECURITY
  • Operating System WindowsXP Professional
    
  • Service Pack SP2
    
  • Internet connection Cable
    
  • Hardware firewall Netgear RP614 router
    
  • Software firewall WindowsXP firewall
    
  • Antivirus Norton Antivirus 2004

 

[fishmonger12]

record the stop codes + errors and put them here.

 

[sam8813b]

CORE HARDWARE
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------



Power supply "EVER" 300W (came with case, I didnt know better 2 years ago )

Motherboard Asus A7N266-VM

Revision ????

BIOS ????


CPU Athlon XP 1900+


Memory (2) 256MB Kingston Valuram 2100 modules

Voltage ?????????????????

Timings ???????????????????




CARDS
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------


Primary video card Elsa Gladiac Geforce 2 GTS 32mb

Secondary video card Yeah right.

PCI slot #1 Linksys Ethernet Card

PCI slot #2 empty

PCI slot #3 empty


DRIVES
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------


Boot drive 20GB WD 7200 Drive

Interface IDE?

Jumper Setting Master


Additional hard drive 12GB WD 5400 Drive

Interface IDE?

Jumper setting Slave


Optical drive #1 TDK 24x CD burner

Interface IDE?

Jumper setting Master


Optical drive #2 40x Mitsumi CD-ROM

Interface IDE

Jumper setting Slave





OS AND SECURITY
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------


Operating System WindowsXP HOME

Service Pack SP2

Internet connection Cable

Software firewall WindowsXP firewall

Antivirus Norton Antivirus 2004

 

[sam8813b]

Its rev 1003. Also, My BIOS thought I had 64mb of video memory for some reason, so I switched it to 32mb and it seems to be running peppier, could just be placebo. I dont see how that could effect my usual problem.

 

[mechBgon]

You might want to update to BIOS revision 1007, which improved the memory compatibility (or one of the BIOSes between 1003 and 1007 did, anyway). Expect it to re-detect some hardware on the next boot-up, might be good to use a PS/2 mouse just to get through that first re-boot if you have one.

But I would bail the old power supply too, and get a good-quality one with plenty of wattage. If you're looking for something that would handle a serious video-card upgrade in the future, there's a 460W Enermax Whisper2 for about $75 at Newegg that was getting praised over in General Hardware.

Also, you might check your HDD and see if it has a Single Drive jumper setting. Western Digitals that are on their own data cable usually prefer that instead of Master. And you can run WD DataLifeguard diagnostics on it to see if it's healthy.

 

[sam8813b]

Well I think Ive found whats wrong. It seems that when SPEEDFAN shows the CPU fan going 0rpm (I can see it moving as we speak.) The temperatures rise very fast, but sometimes it will show the CPU fan going 4000rpm+. And in that case, the comp runs fine, 46C temps. What the hell is going on

 

[sam8813b]

Eventually the CPU fan slows out to 2000rpm, and then the CPU overheats and it freezes.