Rig freezes constantly

[Coherence]

Here's my rig's internals:
P4 2.4C
1024 Corsair XMS (512x2)
A-bit IC7-G 875P mobo
160 GB Maxtor IDE-133 connected to mobo via SATA A-bit Serillel adapter (2 partitions, 60GB for Windows and system, and 100GB for programs).
Gigabyte Radeon 9800 Pro 128
DVD/CDRW combo drive
WinXP Pro

A while back, it started to occasionally freeze up when left on for a long enough period that the monitor and drives would turn themselves off. Not every time, just occasionally, and usually only when left on overnight.

When this freeze happens, the hard drive activity light is always on solidly. Pressing the reset button on the case will reboot the machine, but it never gets past POST as it then locks up trying to detect my hard drive. I then have to power it down and turn it back on again.

At first, I thought it was being caused by the SETI@Home software I had installed around the time it started (I thought maybe the screensaver being left running overnight was doing something to cause the freeze). However, it still happens even after uninstalling SETI.

I've checked my Power settings, and I don't particularly see anything wrong with them (screen saver kicks in after 15 minutes, monitor and hard drives turn off after 30 minutes of inactivity).

Is this a XP issue causing the lockup? Perhaps the hard drive?

The only other thing I've noticed is that one of the devices (I think a fan) is making a ton of noise when I first turn on the PC after a long period of it being powered down. After a minute or so for whatever it is to rev up, the system is fairly quiet. This may not be related to the system freezing, however.

Any ideas?

 

[Markfw]

Sounds like your hard drive is going out. After long periods, it heats up, and then has problems. Also, you should open the case, find the fan(s) with problems, and replace them.

 

[mrgoblin]

Try running some kind of benchmark on ure memory and hd. If it locks up when doing something strenuous, its either your cooling or something is failing on ure hd/memory. There are things like memtest to check ure memory. If that works then its likely cooling. Try to measure the temps near ure hd and cpu

 

[jar5tyle]

Yeah, sounds like the HD

Same problems occured when my old WD went out

 

[Coherence]

This HD is only about 6 months old. This rig was built with entirely new parts. There's no reason it should be going out so soon.

I'll try to track down the noise, and also run checks on my memory and HD.

 

[Luhny]

what about changing the HD shutdown to something else than off? Just and idea. its probably not waking up after the sleep

 

[Coherence]

Good point, Luhny.

I'll change my power settings to "never" for turning off the HD, and see if that makes a difference.

In all my Windows days, I've never known "stand-by" or "sleep" to modes work properly, as it is, so perhaps the HD power down is just as buggy.

 

[Coherence]

Well, I figured out which fan is causing the noise. (I'm just glad it IS a fan, and not the HD.)

It's the chipset fan on my mobo. With a light shining on it, I can even see how the speed of the fan changes while it's making the noise until it finally settles down to a speed that doesn't grind.

I'll contact A-bit for a new chipset fan.

I don't think the fan is what was causing my system to lock up, however. I have my HD set to never power down, and so far it's ok. I used to leave my rig powered up all the time, but I think I'll shut it down when I leave for work each morning, since I don't want the HD to run for hours on end without any actual use.