PC Freezes every few hours

[Gameface]

For some reason my PC freezes every few hours when its in use, my machine
will start to 'stutter' and any sound or audio playing will become slow and
'choppy'.

I cannot use Ctrl-Alt-Del or shutdown, the only option I have to turn it off
using the reset switch on the pc itself.
I cannot understand why it is doing this although I'm thinking it maybe an
overheating problem (we have reached our summer after all , Its only been
doing this for a few days now... the only recent major changes that I can
think are :

1 - Upgraded to a DVD-R burner (NEC 2510)
2 - Reinstalled Windows XP Pro from scratch (clean-install - dual boot with
windows 2000)

My Full Spec is:
Duron 1.1Ghz, 640Mb PC-100 SD Ram (1x512, 1x128), Jetway V266B M/Board Rev
A, Tsunami 300Watt PSU, Geforce2mx-400 Graphics card, SoundBlaster 128 PCI,
Artec 48x40x12x CD-RW, 10/100Mb Network Card, 56k modem, USB Alcatel
Speedtouch 330 Modem, FloppyDrive, 80GB Maxtor HDD, 40Gb IBM HDD

There is only one fan on the CPU itself - there are no other slots for fans
in the case.
Running Windows 2000 / Windows XP Pro SP1 (Dual Boot)

Heat seems to max at around 60 degrees on the CPU.

Does anyone have any ideas why it is doing this? Or perhaps any suggestions
or links that may help ?

Many thanks

 

[Mike Walker]

To me this sounds of a heat problem, like you think,
try running with the side off the PC and a small table fan
blowing in it.
If you don't get the problem, then heat is the answer,
if you have no extra holes for a case fan, then buy a new case
there is one in Maplin for £39.99 with has a fan in the side
and you can add a extra fan on the back panel.

Hope that helps

Mike.

 

[Bob Day]

For some reason my PC freezes every few hours when its in use, my machine
will start to 'stutter' and any sound or audio playing will become slow and
'choppy'.

I cannot use Ctrl-Alt-Del or shutdown, the only option I have to turn it off
using the reset switch on the pc itself.
I cannot understand why it is doing this although I'm thinking it maybe an
overheating problem (we have reached our summer after all , Its only been
doing this for a few days now... the only recent major changes that I can
think are :

1 - Upgraded to a DVD-R burner (NEC 2510)
2 - Reinstalled Windows XP Pro from scratch (clean-install - dual boot with
windows 2000)

My Full Spec is:
Duron 1.1Ghz, 640Mb PC-100 SD Ram (1x512, 1x128), Jetway V266B M/Board Rev
A, Tsunami 300Watt PSU, Geforce2mx-400 Graphics card, SoundBlaster 128 PCI,
Artec 48x40x12x CD-RW, 10/100Mb Network Card, 56k modem, USB Alcatel
Speedtouch 330 Modem, FloppyDrive, 80GB Maxtor HDD, 40Gb IBM HDD

There is only one fan on the CPU itself - there are no other slots for fans
in the case.
Running Windows 2000 / Windows XP Pro SP1 (Dual Boot)

Heat seems to max at around 60 degrees on the CPU.

Does anyone have any ideas why it is doing this? Or perhaps any suggestions
or links that may help ?

60 degrees is a little high for a CPU temp. Make sure all the
fans inside the case are working, and spray out the inside of
your computer, especially the CPU heatsink, with some dust
remover spray (available at RadioShack and BestBuy, among
other places).

-- Bob Day
http://bobday.vze.com

 

[Unknown]

60 degrees is a little too high for your processor. Why don't you have a fan
for the power supply to expel the heat from the case?

 

[Gameface]

Sorry - there is a fan on the Power Supply - i forget to mention that

Also.. i've realised my graphics card fan isnt running at its normal speed -
its actually stops every now and then

whats the optimimum heat I should be looking to achieve for my spec?

 

[Unknown]

Approximately 50 degrees C should be maximum for the processor.
Most cases have a fiber air deflector to deflect the air across the processor.
Do you have such a deflector. If so is it in place?

 

[Gameface]

I'm not sure.... it has the heatsink & fan - it has been like this for
approx 2yrs when it was built - although the freezing has only recently
started.

I'll keep trying to see if I can find a way to stop this freezing.. if not i
may just have to fork out some money and upgrade a few components

 

[half_pint]

Sounds like normal windows operation to me.

 

[Gameface]

Windows ain't that bad

Has been working fine for 2yrs.. never had this constant freezing problem
before.

 

[CK]

Sorry - there is a fan on the Power Supply - i forget to mention that

Also.. i've realised my graphics card fan isnt running at its normal speed -
its actually stops every now and then

On overheated graphics card can easily cause a Windows crash. Probably worth
looking at that as a strong candidate.

HTH.

CK

 

[Gameface]

Cheers for the info guys - you've been a great help

Hopefully, I'll be able to borrow a spare AGP graphics card as I can't
afford one just yet

Thanks again

 

[NoMoreMrNiceGuy]

I'm not sure.... it has the heatsink & fan - it has been like this for
approx 2yrs when it was built - although the freezing has only recently
started.

I'll keep trying to see if I can find a way to stop this freezing.. if not i
may just have to fork out some money and upgrade a few components
have that

You could have any of several problems. Heat is easy enuf to test. Take
the case off and run like that for a while. Put a fan on it if necessary.
Does it still freeze? What is the cpu temp like that? AMDs run a little
hot. My P4 runs about 42C normally; but I have 8 fans in my case

If it ain't heat it could be a component gone bad (memory, capacitor, etc),
or a software problem. It looks like you have plenty memory unless you are
running a lot of graphics intensive applications. Not enough memory can
really slow things down.

 

[kony]

Cheers for the info guys - you've been a great help

Hopefully, I'll be able to borrow a spare AGP graphics card as I can't
afford one just yet

Just swap the fan, or if you don't have a spare, remove fan,
label, put a drop of heavyweight oil in the bearing.

 

[Dave Hitt]

Cheers for the info guys - you've been a great help

Hopefully, I'll be able to borrow a spare AGP graphics card as I can't
afford one just yet

Here's another posiblity I just remembered:

Dirty power.

I used to run a multi-line BBS, and every week there were two or three
funky things I had to fix - corrupt indexes, hosed databases, message
bases that had to be reparied, etc. I figured it was just part of the
job.

Then I put on an UPS, and it's regular beeping and booping let me know
just how often my power diped dramaticaly for a second or two. It
wasen't unitl a few months later that I relized the three a week
problems had become once or twice a month problems.

While power spikes can damage your equipment, dips in the power can
cause funky glitches of all sorts. UPSs are pretty cheap these days,
and are a good investment, even if they don't solve your problems.



Dave Hitt
----
If it kills so many people, why can't they name three of them?
http://www.davehitt.com/2004/name_three.html

Quick Hitts - Rapid Rants From the Hittman
http://www.davehitt.com/blog/index.html

 

[Trent©]

Sorry - there is a fan on the Power Supply - i forget to mention that

Also.. i've realised my graphics card fan isnt running at its normal speed -
its actually stops every now and then

1. Try a new video card.

2. When you reinstalled XP, did you reformat? If so, did you
remember to reload the mainboard stuff?

3. Since the only other thing you did was install the dvd, uninstall
it to see what happens.


Have a nice week...

Trent©

Follow Joan Rivers' example --- get pre-embalmed!

 

[Trent©]

Cheers for the info guys - you've been a great help

Hopefully, I'll be able to borrow a spare AGP graphics card as I can't
afford one just yet

Many places, you can get a 1 meg PCI video card for under $5.


Have a nice week...

Trent©

Follow Joan Rivers' example --- get pre-embalmed!

 

[J. S. Pack]

For some reason my PC freezes every few hours when its in use, my machine
will start to 'stutter' and any sound or audio playing will become slow and
'choppy'.

I cannot use Ctrl-Alt-Del or shutdown, the only option I have to turn it off
using the reset switch on the pc itself.
I cannot understand why it is doing this although I'm thinking it maybe an
overheating problem (we have reached our summer after all , Its only been
doing this for a few days now... the only recent major changes that I can
think are :

1 - Upgraded to a DVD-R burner (NEC 2510)
2 - Reinstalled Windows XP Pro from scratch (clean-install - dual boot with
windows 2000)

My Full Spec is:
Duron 1.1Ghz, 640Mb PC-100 SD Ram (1x512, 1x128), Jetway V266B M/Board Rev
A, Tsunami 300Watt PSU, Geforce2mx-400 Graphics card, SoundBlaster 128 PCI,
Artec 48x40x12x CD-RW, 10/100Mb Network Card, 56k modem, USB Alcatel
Speedtouch 330 Modem, FloppyDrive, 80GB Maxtor HDD, 40Gb IBM HDD

There is only one fan on the CPU itself - there are no other slots for fans
in the case.
Running Windows 2000 / Windows XP Pro SP1 (Dual Boot)

Heat seems to max at around 60 degrees on the CPU.

Does anyone have any ideas why it is doing this? Or perhaps any suggestions
or links that may help ?

Many thanks

This seems to be an old system. Could be a number of things, but I would
first try a good cleaning. Take out all the cards and memory and clean the
contacts w/ a pencil eraser ("rubber") and reseat. Take off the heatsink
and fan and clean them up good, too, and remount (careful not to chip the
corners on that Duron; a slight chip will destroy it, believe it or not).
That could be where the slight overheating is coming from. Clean the case
fans while you're in there.

If that doesn't work, you'll have to go thru the usual dance, switching out
or removing components and testing until you narrow it down to . . . ah,
probably the video card or PSU . . . .

By the way, check out all the capacitors on the MB and see that their tops
are flat. If any are bulging out, that could be the problem. You're out of
warranty, but an electronics guy should be able to switch out any defective
caps for you if you want to repair.

 

[Gameface]

Thanks a lot guys - I have to say you guys have a been a huge help

I'm sure i'll have this fixed with the all the advice I have got from you
guys. I'll get a new AGP card first and see if that remedies anything

 

[half_pint]

I would recommed getting "hijackthis" and only keeping the essentail stuff,
remove all added bars etc.
Seemed to improve my computer no end.