Computer Freezes - possibly power supply? Help Needed

[timisbrill]

Hello,

My computer has been freezing and it is steadily getting more and more
frequent i.e it rarely manages to complete a boot any more before just
freezing. A lot of people say that this could be due to the power
supply but there are also many other possible causes. Is there any way
I can check that it definately is the power supply without having to
buy a new one and risk wasting money on something I don't need? Some
possible causes:


- I have a Dell 5000 which is about 1 and a half years old.
- Recently I completely reinstalled windows and repartitioned my only
drive (C into 5 smaller ones.
- I opened up the side and brushed out all the dust I could get to
without taking anything apart.
- Installed the new Windows Vista Beta 2 version and so have 2
operating systems installed - the other being XP.
- I think I must have pushed the Power button in too hard some time
because i discovered it jammed in. I have since managed (with a
screwdriver) to lever it out back into its original position. Maybe
this has something to do with it.

Despite all this my computer has been running very smoothly for about
2-3 weeks until now with these freezes.

This is what should happen when I turn it on:

I press the ON button and the little light shines orange for about 1/2
a second then changes to a yellowy green. From there everything boots
up and is fine.

This is what actually happens:

I press the ON button and the little light turns orange but stays
orange. The fan (I think the main CPU one) speeds up and gets
increasingly faster and louder. nothing else happens - screen is
completely blank. I have opened the side again since and felt the heat
sinks after several attempts at booting and they are very hot - maybe
overheating.

Sometimes if I am lucky I can get the computer to load up properly and
I get a choice of operating system but it often crashes before reaching
the desktop and doesn't last long if it gets that far.

When I say my computer is crashing I mean that it just completely stops
in its tracks, you cannot move the mouse and the screen is still -
nothing happens and you have to reboot. Then it has problems with that
as I wrote above.

I think its either going to be down to the power supply, overheating or
a virus - I have an out of date version of McAfee which I've been
meaning to upgrade but haven't got round to it.

If anyone can give any help what so ever it would be much appreciated.
Also I'm not that familiar with techie language so any responses need
to be simple to read and understand. - As many responses as possible
please!

Here are some specs which might help.

- Windows XP Home Edition Service Pack 2
- Dell Dimension 5000, Pentium 4 processor with HT technology (3.00GHz,
800fsb, 1MB cache)
- Serial ATA 160GB hard drive (7200rpm)
- 1024MB DDR400 Dual channel memory (2x512)
- 128MB ATI Radeon X300SE video card.

I don't know much about what all this means but would the hard drive,
memory and CPU cope with 5 partitions?

Partition sizes:
10GB: Windows XP OS
10GB: Internet downloads - in order to protect against viruses.
15GB: Program files
40GB: Other (currently with Windows Vista OS on it)
75GB: My Documents - i.e. work, music, video...

Thanks very much,
Tim Hancock

 

[Rod Speed]

My computer has been freezing and it is steadily getting more and more
frequent i.e it rarely manages to complete a boot any more before just
freezing. A lot of people say that this could be due to the power
supply but there are also many other possible causes. Is there any way
I can check that it definately is the power supply without having to
buy a new one and risk wasting money on something I don't need?

Its really the only very viable way for someone like you to test that possibility.

You dont necessarily waste any money if you buy
it from an operation that will accept returns without
any surcharge if it doesnt fix the problem.

Some possible causes:

- I have a Dell 5000 which is about 1 and a half years old.

That would tend to make a bad motherboard a bit less likely.

- Recently I completely reinstalled windows and
repartitioned my only drive (C into 5 smaller ones.

It wont be that.

- I opened up the side and brushed out all the
dust I could get to without taking anything apart.

Did you check the cpu fan ? They can get clogged up
with fur quite quickly in some environments and that
would produce the effect you are getting, particularly now
that its presumably quite warm where you are currently.

- Installed the new Windows Vista Beta 2 version and so
have 2 operating systems installed - the other being XP.

Wont be that.

- I think I must have pushed the Power button in too hard
some time because i discovered it jammed in. I have since
managed (with a screwdriver) to lever it out back into its
original position. Maybe this has something to do with it.

Nope, it wont be that either.

Despite all this my computer has been running very
smoothly for about 2-3 weeks until now with these freezes.

Did that coincide with warmer weather ?

This is what should happen when I turn it on:

I press the ON button and the little light shines orange
for about 1/2 a second then changes to a yellowy green.
From there everything boots up and is fine.

This is what actually happens:

I press the ON button and the little light turns orange but stays
orange. The fan (I think the main CPU one) speeds up and gets
increasingly faster and louder. nothing else happens - screen is
completely blank. I have opened the side again since and felt
the heat sinks after several attempts at booting and they are
very hot - maybe overheating.

Sometimes if I am lucky I can get the computer to load up properly
and I get a choice of operating system but it often crashes before
reaching the desktop and doesn't last long if it gets that far.

When I say my computer is crashing I mean that it just
completely stops in its tracks, you cannot move the mouse
and the screen is still - nothing happens and you have to
reboot. Then it has problems with that as I wrote above.

That does make the power supply quite likely.

I think its either going to be down to the power supply, overheating

It shouldnt overheat that quickly if a fan hasnt failed
and the cpu fan hasnt got all clogged up with fur. Unlikely
even with a clogged cpu fan to stop that quickly too.

Does it get further on the first boot from being
off overnight than it does on reboots after that ?

or a virus - I have an out of date version of McAfee which
I've been meaning to upgrade but haven't got round to it.

Its unlikely to be that, on the different result with the led alone.

If anyone can give any help what so ever it would be much
appreciated. Also I'm not that familiar with techie language
so any responses need to be simple to read and understand.
- As many responses as possible please!

It isnt the number that matters, its what the best of them say.

Here are some specs which might help.

- Windows XP Home Edition Service Pack 2
- Dell Dimension 5000, Pentium 4 processor with HT technology
(3.00GHz, 800fsb, 1MB cache)

Those do need decent cpu fan cooling but again,
that doesnt explain the led effect you are getting.

- Serial ATA 160GB hard drive (7200rpm)
- 1024MB DDR400 Dual channel memory (2x512)
- 128MB ATI Radeon X300SE video card.

I don't know much about what all this means but would
the hard drive, memory and CPU cope with 5 partitions?

Yep, and a lot more than that too.

 

[timisbrill]

Thanks very much Rod, probably the most helpful reply yet.

I think the freezing did coincide with some very hot weather, that was
when it first happened. I probably would have been using the computer
for a while before it froze.

I can't anymore get it to boot succesfully to the desktop before
freezing even with the side opened up and a regular table fan blowing
at it and when its not too hot. I'm going to leave it alone for fear of
it getting worse. Do you think I might have damaged the computer by
letting it overheat too many times - causing irreversible damage? It
seems that the more times I try to turn it on the less far it reaches
in succesfully booting.

Please reply
Tim

 

[Rod Speed]

Thanks very much Rod, probably the most helpful reply yet.

I think the freezing did coincide with some very hot weather,
that was when it first happened. I probably would have been
using the computer for a while before it froze.

I can't anymore get it to boot succesfully to the desktop
before freezing even with the side opened up and a
regular table fan blowing at it and when its not too hot.

OK, clearly the problem has got worse.

I'm going to leave it alone for fear of it getting worse.

Do you think I might have damaged the computer by letting
it overheat too many times - causing irreversible damage?

No, that shouldnt have been a problem.

It seems that the more times I try to turn it
on the less far it reaches in succesfully booting.

That's probably just because its warmed
up considerably since you first turned it on.

 

[timisbrill]

Any ideas of what I should do?

OK, clearly the problem has got worse.



No, that shouldnt have been a problem.


That's probably just because its warmed
up considerably since you first turned it on.

 

[C.]

Any ideas of what I should do?

Reseat all cables,cards,memory,cpu and heat sink w\new thermal compound and
power connections after cleaning the case,fan,etc with canned air and memory
w\ pencil eraser.Use only 1 stick. Try starting in safemode.(F8 @ boot).Note
last line if it freezes here.

They sell curcuit chillers\freezers in spray cans at electronic shops, ie:
radioshack, if you suspect overheating issue.

Other than that,as Rod said,purchase a PSU or check with known good one.Some
shops have the equipment to check it for you.

C.

 

[Rod Speed]

(e-mail address removed) wrote

Any ideas of what I should do?

Firstly check if it does stay up for a bit longer
when you boot after its been off overnight than
when you reboot after its been on for a while.

If you get that effect, its clearly a temperature sensitive problem.

Thats most likely a bad joint or cracked trace
with a system thats relatively new like that one.

Unfortunately for you, a temperature sensitive problem
can be in a number of areas, particularly the power
supply or motherboard. Its obviously cheaper to try
another power supply than the motherboard.

Worth trying with nothing plugged in except the cpu,
not even any ram, just to see if it still behave the same
way on power up. It might be a problem with something
thats plugged in, tho not very likely. Just easy to test that.

If swapping the power supply doesnt help, try running
the motherboard loose on the desktop before replacing
it because it might be an intermittent short to case. Not
very likely, but worth trying if you have to remove the
motherboard from the case anyway.

 

[robwri35]

Well I thought i'd give you my own feedback on my experience.

The problem i was having is that the Retention bracket for my Pentium 4
Motherboard snapped and so i had to lay my Tower on the floor.

A Couple weeks later it started doing what your describing, however,

Windows would boot-up fine and it was only until i loaded a more CPU
demanding program that the monitor went into Energy Saving mode and the
CPU Fan would speed Faster than normal. The HDD Light would also turn
a Solid Red (which is the HDD LED)


It is in this case and similarity that I can tell you that you should
check

a) Ram
b) Motherboard

a) Ram: Remove one of the Ram sticks and boot up your computer. If the
computer Continuously beeps you've found a faulty ram stick, replace
with a new one or the other one and power up.

b) the Motherboard would appear to have died and you should seek a
replacement. I can acknowledge this because I had two computers running
mPGA478B processors. When mine died, I had the computer downstairs to
test all the equipment on. Because of this I learned that I had both
Faulty Ram and a Broken Motherboard. (Processor from the Motherboard
worked in the other computer).

Rob.