Computer keeps locking up.

[Andrew Wilson]

Running Win XP Pro with SP3 with IE8 and have not installed/uninstalled
anything for ages except Windows Updates.
I have had a trouble free run for a good time but today after using it for a
while the computer suddenly turns the screen purple and then locks up .
I have to manually switch off and then reboot until it happens again. On one
instance when it rebooted it did an automatic CHKDSK which completed
successfully with no errors found. I have also checked the hardware and
there is no exclamation beside any device.
Could someone please give me any further things to check?
Many thanks
Andrew

 

[Mike Hall - MVP]

Running Win XP Pro with SP3 with IE8 and have not installed/uninstalled
anything for ages except Windows Updates.
I have had a trouble free run for a good time but today after using it for
a while the computer suddenly turns the screen purple and then locks up .
I have to manually switch off and then reboot until it happens again. On
one instance when it rebooted it did an automatic CHKDSK which completed
successfully with no errors found. I have also checked the hardware and
there is no exclamation beside any device.
Could someone please give me any further things to check?
Many thanks
Andrew

Check that it is not overheating. Look for dust in the CPU fan and heatsink
assembly, power supply etc..

 

[Andrew Wilson]

Check that it is not overheating. Look for dust in the CPU fan and
heatsink assembly, power supply etc..

Mike
Many thanks I will do this. I also now suspect the video card because
sometimes when I reboot there are small purple stripes on the POST page and
small white dots on the WINDOW logo screen when Windows is loading. If this
happens Windows doesn't actually load but goes into reboot and the same
thing happens. If I manually switch off by holding the ON button in for 5
seconds and then waiting 10 minutes or so Windows boots without the purple
stripes and boots normally.
Am I correct that this could be a video card problem?
Thanks
Andrew

 

[Mike Hall - MVP]

Mike
Many thanks I will do this. I also now suspect the video card because
sometimes when I reboot there are small purple stripes on the POST page
and small white dots on the WINDOW logo screen when Windows is loading. If
this happens Windows doesn't actually load but goes into reboot and the
same thing happens. If I manually switch off by holding the ON button in
for 5 seconds and then waiting 10 minutes or so Windows boots without the
purple stripes and boots normally.
Am I correct that this could be a video card problem?
Thanks
Andrew

Could be, I guess. Is the video card integrated or is it a separate card.
Maybe it too has a fan which is not working efficiently. It might also mark
that the video card is failing

 

[Jim]

Mike
Many thanks I will do this. I also now suspect the video card because
sometimes when I reboot there are small purple stripes on the POST page and
small white dots on the WINDOW logo screen when Windows is loading. If this
happens Windows doesn't actually load but goes into reboot and the same
thing happens. If I manually switch off by holding the ON button in for 5
seconds and then waiting 10 minutes or so Windows boots without the purple
stripes and boots normally.
Am I correct that this could be a video card problem?
Thanks
Andrew

Could be the monitor .

 

[Andrew Wilson]

Could be the monitor .

Many thanks everyone for your suggestions and wisdom. I opened up the box
and cleaned all the fans and then got all the dirt from the inside of the
box (There wasn't much). I then removed the video card and removed all the
dirt from this and replaced it. Switched on and the computer has now been
running for ten hours without problem so I guess the problem is solved.
Thanks again
Andrew

 

[Mike Hall - MVP]

Many thanks everyone for your suggestions and wisdom. I opened up the box
and cleaned all the fans and then got all the dirt from the inside of the
box (There wasn't much). I then removed the video card and removed all the
dirt from this and replaced it. Switched on and the computer has now been
running for ten hours without problem so I guess the problem is solved.
Thanks again
Andrew

Glad it worked for you..

 

[Andrew Wilson]

Glad it worked for you..

Unfortunately I switched on today and the same thing occured. I tried
booting 5 times and got the purple stripes on the POST and the dots on the
WINDOWS boot up page. It gets to where Windows is loading, beeps once and
hangs without my desktop showing (just a black screen). It then flashes a
blue screen of death for about half a second (far too quick to read) and
then restarts itself and the same thing occours.
I have no problem in starting and running in Safe Mode with networking
therefore I assume that this is not a software problem.
I have switched off for 10 minutes or so and Windows has booted normally
without the stripes and dots but would this happen if the video card was
faulty i.e it boots normally every now and again?
Your answers would be welcome.
Many thanks
Andrew

 

[SC Tom]

Unfortunately I switched on today and the same thing occured. I tried
booting 5 times and got the purple stripes on the POST and the dots on the
WINDOWS boot up page. It gets to where Windows is loading, beeps once and
hangs without my desktop showing (just a black screen). It then flashes a
blue screen of death for about half a second (far too quick to read) and
then restarts itself and the same thing occours.
I have no problem in starting and running in Safe Mode with networking
therefore I assume that this is not a software problem.
I have switched off for 10 minutes or so and Windows has booted normally
without the stripes and dots but would this happen if the video card was
faulty i.e it boots normally every now and again?
Your answers would be welcome.
Many thanks
Andrew

It may be a software problem (although I'd bet it IS hardware); that's what
Safe Mode is- bare load. Once in Safe Mode, go to Control Panel, System. On
the Advanced tab, open the Startup and Recovery Settings. Make sure the
Automatically Restart box is unchecked. That way, if you get another BSOD,
it will stay on the screen so you can see what file is giving you trouble.
If you have another video card around, you could try putting it in to see if
that fixes the problem. Also, check all your cards and cables, including
your RAM, and make sure nothing has come loose. Wouldn't hurt to reseat
everything just to be sure. Take a good look at the motherboard and see if
any of the capacitors are swelled or leaking (there will be a waxy ooze on
them if they are). Leave the side off the box for a while and see if the
problem re-occurs. If it locks up, look inside and see if the CPU and video
card fans are running.

SC Tom

 

[Elmo]

Unfortunately I switched on today and the same thing occurred. I tried
booting 5 times and got the purple stripes on the POST and the dots on the
WINDOWS boot up page. It gets to where Windows is loading, beeps once and
hangs without my desktop showing (just a black screen). It then flashes a
blue screen of death for about half a second (far too quick to read) and
then restarts itself and the same thing occurs.

After booting, press F5 or F8 to get the Boot menu and turn off "reboot
after error" (or whatever the terminology). Then you can see and post
the BSOD error.

I have no problem in starting and running in Safe Mode with networking,
therefore I assume that this is not a software problem.

Since no extras are running in Safe Mode, that would suggest the problem
IS with software. You might use MSCONFIG to disable startup items to
see if you can narrow down what software is the cause.

I have switched off for 10 minutes or so and Windows has booted normally
without the stripes and dots but would this happen if the video card was
faulty i.e it boots normally every now and again?

If leaving off for awhile cures the problem, that would suggest that a
component is over-heating. I would suspect the graphics card first,
then the power supply, or motherboard.

 

[Andrew Wilson]

After booting, press F5 or F8 to get the Boot menu and turn off "reboot
after error" (or whatever the terminology). Then you can see and post
the BSOD error.


Since no extras are running in Safe Mode, that would suggest the problem
IS with software. You might use MSCONFIG to disable startup items to
see if you can narrow down what software is the cause.


If leaving off for awhile cures the problem, that would suggest that a
component is over-heating. I would suspect the graphics card first,
then the power supply, or motherboard.

Many thanks everyone.

I don't think that it is an overheating problem because I turned it on this
morning cold after been shut down all night and the problem occurred
immediately.

I have since managed to see the BSOD which said that I had a hardware
problem (nv4_disp) which I will now google.

I removed the graphics card but didn't have an old one so I left it out and
connected another monitor to the VGA input on the motherboard socket itself
(I normally use the DVI input on the graphics card).

This booted three times with no problems encountered. As the normal monitor
works perfectly well in Safe Mode I suspect that it is the graphics card but
can't understand why nine times out of ten it doesn't boot but on the odd
occasion it does, surely if it was faulty it wouldn't boot at all?

By the way there has never been a fan on the graphics card (Geforce 8400 GS)
but this computer was built for me and it has run for about two years
without incident.

Should I buy a new graphics card and is a fan necessary?

Thanks again
Andrew

 

[SC Tom]

Many thanks everyone.

I don't think that it is an overheating problem because I turned it on
this morning cold after been shut down all night and the problem occurred
immediately.

I have since managed to see the BSOD which said that I had a hardware
problem (nv4_disp) which I will now google.

I removed the graphics card but didn't have an old one so I left it out
and connected another monitor to the VGA input on the motherboard socket
itself (I normally use the DVI input on the graphics card).

This booted three times with no problems encountered. As the normal
monitor works perfectly well in Safe Mode I suspect that it is the
graphics card but can't understand why nine times out of ten it doesn't
boot but on the odd occasion it does, surely if it was faulty it wouldn't
boot at all?

By the way there has never been a fan on the graphics card (Geforce 8400
GS) but this computer was built for me and it has run for about two years
without incident.

Should I buy a new graphics card and is a fan necessary?

Thanks again
Andrew

I looked at a number of 8400GS cards online, and they all had fans on the
heatsink. I have an 8500GT on the shelf and it has a fan also. I'm surprised
yours doesn't.
nv4_disp is the Nvidia driver for your card. You can try installing an
updated driver for it from here:
http://www.nvidia.com/object/winxp_190.38_whql.html
and see if that helps. When the 8400 is installed is the on-board video
disabled in BIOS? It should be, but it's probably automatic with a PCI-E
card installed (it is on my Asus motherboard).

SC Tom

 

[Andrew Wilson]

I looked at a number of 8400GS cards online, and they all had fans on the
heatsink. I have an 8500GT on the shelf and it has a fan also. I'm
surprised yours doesn't.
nv4_disp is the Nvidia driver for your card. You can try installing an
updated driver for it from here:
http://www.nvidia.com/object/winxp_190.38_whql.html
and see if that helps. When the 8400 is installed is the on-board video
disabled in BIOS? It should be, but it's probably automatic with a PCI-E
card installed (it is on my Asus motherboard).

SC Tom

SC Tom
I have tried updated video drivers and the same thing happens.
Many thanks
Andrew

 

[SC Tom]

SC Tom
I have tried updated video drivers and the same thing happens.
Many thanks
Andrew

Certainly sounds like the card itself, then. If you wanted the same card
again, they can be had for cheap. I saw one from Dell, I believe, for
$10+shipping. Newer cards can be had from just about everywhere that sells
PC accessories.

SC Tom

 

[Andrew Wilson]

Certainly sounds like the card itself, then. If you wanted the same card
again, they can be had for cheap. I saw one from Dell, I believe, for
$10+shipping. Newer cards can be had from just about everywhere that sells
PC accessories.

SC Tom

Just to say that I bought a new graphics card and am having no problems with
it. So it was the card!
Many thanks to all who responded.
Andrew Wilson

 

[SC Tom]

Glad it's working fine for you!

Just to say that I bought a new graphics card and am having no problems
with it. So it was the card!
Many thanks to all who responded.
Andrew Wilson