Freeze ups

[Travis King]

How come my computer likes to freeze up constantly?
(completely freeze up) I have reinstalled XP and now
change. It is no program in particular that causes my
computer to freeze up. If I try to burn a CD, it
sometimes freezes up. If I go play a game, it sometimes
freezes up. This computer has a 2GHz AMD Athlon XP 2400+
processor, 256MB of DDR PC-3000 memory, a 128MB video
card, and 200GB of hard disk space. I heard rumors that
it is possible that it could be the memory. Is this
true? If not, what could it be? Thanks.

 

[Bert Kinney]

Hi Travis

Here are some possible causes for system Freeze/Lockups
Overheating do to: Dirty of faulty cooling fans. Check the
fan(s) to make sure they are clean and operating.
Faulty or mis-matched memory modules (RAM).
Have the RAM tested on a memory tester. In my experience I have
found software testers to be inaccurate.
Computer virus. Perform a virus scan with up to date virus software

Search and destroy any installed SpyWare:
Ad-aware and SpyBot are free multi spyware removal utility that scans
your memory, registry and hard drives for known spyware
components and lets you remove them safely.
http://www.lavasoftusa.com/

The most accurate way of testing memory modules is to have them
tested on a memory tester.

Try switching RAM sticks if there is more than one
Use one stick, then another. Only one at a time, of course.
If both sticks work alone but will not work when combined, that almost
certainly indicates an incompatibility between the two sticks.
If one stick works but the other does not, then that would indicate the one
that doesn't work is either faulty, will not get along with the other stick,
or is not the correct type for your system.

Other less common causes:
A faulty power supply.
A Faulty or un-grounded household outlet.
Athlon based computer with less than a 300W power supply
Outdated video drive. Download the latest driver from the
manufactures web sit, and install it as per manufactures instructions
Over clocking of the CPU
Incorrect voltage setting on the motherboard
Improperly configured BIOS setting
Loose power connectors or cables

 

[Guest]

-----Original Message-----
How come my computer likes to freeze up constantly?
(completely freeze up) I have reinstalled XP and now
change. It is no program in particular that causes my
computer to freeze up. If I try to burn a CD, it
sometimes freezes up. If I go play a game, it sometimes
freezes up. This computer has a 2GHz AMD Athlon XP 2400+
processor, 256MB of DDR PC-3000 memory, a 128MB video
card, and 200GB of hard disk space. I heard rumors that
it is possible that it could be the memory. Is this
true? If not, what could it be? Thanks.
.

This was happening to me. I replaced memory, reformatted
hard drive and reinstalled XP. Nothing worked until I
decided to remove ALL the XP hotpatches that I had
downloaded. I am now re-downloading them one by one until
I can figure out which one caused the problem.