why does my computer do this?

handyman · 11-10-2006, 20:24

I have a packard bell pc with a P4 2.8 , 512mb ram, 120gb HD and an
Ati Radeon 9200 AGP graphics card.

I have recently swapped the DVD burner but it had this fault beore and after in the same way so that rules it out.

Every 24 - 48 hours my pc locks up, the screen is perfectly frozen and it requires a reboot to restore it. I have also recently restored it back to factory os settings and this has not improved the situation. I have checked the fan and had a clean up inside to make sure its not heat related and I ran everest last month and temps seemed fine. Air vents are open and unrestricted.

What can I do to start to diagnose the fault?

(awaits zingle)

monkey2468 · 11-10-2006, 20:34

Try turning off all power save features in Windows and in your bios and see what happens.

Ramrod · 11-10-2006, 20:37

Anything in the event viewer?

11-10-2006, 20:39

Could be ram possibly deep and not in access range maybe,
Memtest full tests overnight and prime95 the cpu for 2 hours just to rule them out

Gareth · 11-10-2006, 21:46

Quote:

Originally Posted by Ramrod

Anything in the event viewer?

What Rammy said... Event Viewer would be the best place to start diagnosing things. Anything in there or not?

handyman · 11-10-2006, 22:14

I'll have to look in there next time it goes, had a browse and nothing seems obvious. fortunatly since the screen freezes it records the exact time it happens.

11-10-2006, 22:17

this kinda thing could be anything from faulty ram faulty cpu or a glitch with power ie an unstable psu that maybe drops cvore to some software that kicks in and crashes but if it was software app hang would show up in event viewer application

handyman · 11-10-2006, 22:18

Quote:

Originally Posted by zinglebarb

Could be ram possibly deep and not in access range maybe,
Memtest full tests overnight and prime95 the cpu for 2 hours just to rule them out

Have mem test ready to go, does it require a command to set it off and what would you reccommend?

EDIT - power just gone off and its booted from floppy and running the mem test, i'll leave it be.

AntiSilence · 11-10-2006, 22:44

Quote:

Originally Posted by handyman

I have a packard bell pc

There's ya problem right there!

11-10-2006, 22:45

there is a full tests option under configuration runs an extra test or 2. Im kinda edging towards a possible power problem what psu you got?

handyman · 11-10-2006, 22:49

Quote:

Originally Posted by AntiSilence

There's ya problem right there!

Its done 2 years 24/7 use with gaming and a lot of video encoding it's due an upgrade and I want to change MB,ram and cpu, graphics card will be fine (unless thats whats causing the problem) just awaiting funds to do it.

Only got it because pc world had a buy now pay next year deal on.

nffc · 11-10-2006, 23:16

Quote:

Originally Posted by AntiSilence

There's ya problem right there!

PMSL!

Usual stuff. Clean fans, test RAM and HDD, get yourself a prog like speedfan and check the PSU amps.

11-10-2006, 23:16

Quote:

Originally Posted by handyman

Its done 2 years 24/7 use with gaming and a lot of video encoding it's due an upgrade and I want to change MB,ram and cpu, graphics card will be fine (unless thats whats causing the problem) just awaiting funds to do it.

Only got it because pc world had a buy now pay next year deal on.

it wont be fine cuz a good cpu board upgrade will leave you with a pci-e board unless you have seen bops and fancy one of them lol lol

bopdude · 12-10-2006, 13:01

Quote:

Originally Posted by zinglebarb

it wont be fine cuz a good cpu board upgrade will leave you with a pci-e board unless you have seen bops and fancy one of them lol lol

highly recommended

the house call's worth it for the curry and mellow banter lol

I'll take ya down HM, even if it's just to window shop, due another visit to return some ram as it is

handyman · 12-10-2006, 13:30

My problem is I don't have several spares like I used to. With a great big pile of cpus, ram and graphics cards it's very easy to swap about to find the problem.

I ran that memory test by accident after apower cut and it ran for a couple of hours perfectly fine. Needed to get something done on the pc so had to stop it but will give it a shot for a day later and also check the event viewer to see if anything seems iffy when it goes.