64 bit stabiity

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Guest

Talked myself into a new 64 bit system, gigabyte board, 1 gig memory, Athlon
64 3000 processor. When it runs, it runs fast and beautiful. But when I
load programs, or update programs, It crashes. The blue screen errors come,
reboots and tends to get worse as I try and fix it. Repair efforts are
mostly system restore, and un installing hardware and software. Just gets
progressively worse until it is time to start from scratch again. I have re
loaded windows xp pro, thorugh sp2, 5 times in the last 6 weeks. The problem
seems to be random. Sometimes it is a game update, other times fresh install
of dvd burner software and everything in between. Even office xp pro gave me
fits once.

Anyone else having this problem or have suggestions?

Thanks in advance!

Stanley
 
Stanley said:
Talked myself into a new 64 bit system, gigabyte board, 1 gig memory,
Athlon
64 3000 processor. When it runs, it runs fast and beautiful. But
when I
load programs, or update programs, It crashes. The blue screen errors
come,
reboots and tends to get worse as I try and fix it. Repair efforts
are
mostly system restore, and un installing hardware and software. Just
gets
progressively worse until it is time to start from scratch again. I
have re
loaded windows xp pro, thorugh sp2, 5 times in the last 6 weeks. The
problem
seems to be random. Sometimes it is a game update, other times fresh
install
of dvd burner software and everything in between. Even office xp pro
gave me fits once.
Click to expand...

I assume you are running the 32-bit version of Windows and not the
experimental 64-bit one. If this is true, then it sounds like you have
hardware failure. The fact that the machine is new doesn't matter; in
fact, hardware tends to fail pretty quickly or go for years. Here are
general hardware troubleshooting steps. I'd start with testing the RAM
and the possibility that the machine is overheating.

1) Open the computer and run it open, cleaning out all dust bunnies and
observing all fans (overheating will cause system freezing). Obviously
you can't do this with a laptop, but you can hear if the fan is running
and feel if the laptop is getting too hot.

2) Test the RAM - I like Memtest86+ from www.memtest.org - let the test
run for an extended (like overnight) period of time - unless errors are
seen immediately.

3) Test the hard drive with a diagnostic utility from the mftr.

4) The power supply may be going bad or be inadequate for the devices
you have in the system - this isn't applicable to a laptop, of course.

5) Test the motherboard with something like TuffTest from
www.tufftest.com.

Testing hardware failures often involves swapping out suspected parts
with known-good parts. If you can't do the testing yourself and/or are
uncomfortable opening your computer, take the machine to a good local
computer repair shop (not a CompUSA or Best Buy type of store).

Malke
 
Thanks! The memory tester was the right answer. Second stick in line
appears bad. Over two hundred errors in the first 2-4 minutes of the test.
Switched out sticks, tested individually and different slots, and same one
had same results every time.

Stanley.
 
Stanley said:
Thanks! The memory tester was the right answer. Second stick in line
appears bad. Over two hundred errors in the first 2-4 minutes of the
test.
Switched out sticks, tested individually and different slots, and
same one had same results every time.

Stanley.
Click to expand...

Glad to hear you've got it sorted. Thanks for taking the time to let me
know.

Malke
 
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