System stops responding for unknown reason.

[DKGandBH]

Hi peoples,

I have:
an athlon 2000+
256 SD DDR RAM
Windows XP SP2

(That is about the limit of my system knowlege)

My problem is that the complete system hangs for some reason.
It seems to be random...?

It used to be only when I was dialed up surfing and using my USB
scanner, but now it is ever more frequent.

Backing up to disk last night before attempting to fix the problem
created more issues. It froze during the burning process many times
(trashing the disk in the process).

I have never opened the box from new (about 18 months ago).

I was thinking of doing (when backing up all things that need to be)

1) opening the box and seeing how dusty it is / cleaning it
2) removing all un-necessary cards and seeing if I can get a stable
system
3) reseating all other cards / drives
3) re-seating memory

Is there anything else I could do before taking it to the "shop"

Thanks David.

 

[Rich Barry]

Get Motherboard Monitor. http://www.majorgeeks.com/download.php?det=311
You can get a good idea what Temps
your CPU is running at and what the main voltage outputs are from the
Power Supply. 3v, 5v and 12v. When you open
your box and are working in it be careful of Static Electricity.
Otherwise good plan. Check all fans.

 

[dkgandbh]

Thanks...I will look there...

The CPU is running at 70 degrees C (from boot details during one of my
many last night shoe store)
Is that too hot?

How do you "be careful of Static Electricity" ? (Serious question !)
David.
I will also learn to count past 3...

 

[Rich Barry]

70 degrees is on the high side of warm for a CPU. You may want to
remove the HSF ( HeatSinkFan) from the Cpu
and apply a dab of Artic Silver thermal paste on the cpu but make
sure the fans are all working first. But AthlonXP's
can run at 70. Also, if your floor is covered by a rug don't be
doing any feet sliding or shuffling AND touch the metal
part of the Case before opening.

 

[dkgandbh]

On the Power side of things, what should I be looking for ?

Also, is there somehow I can test if the memory / hard drive is faulty
?

Thanks David.

 

[Rock]

On the Power side of things, what should I be looking for ?

Also, is there somehow I can test if the memory / hard drive is faulty
?

Thanks David.

Use memtest86 to test the memory: www.memtest86.com. For the hard
drive download a diagnostic utility from the drive manufacturer's web
site. This will create a bootable floppy disk. Run the diagnostics
from that.

 

[DKGandBH]

Hi guys, thanks for the help.

I downloaded the 3 sets of software

1) MotherBoard Moniter shows no issues (Temp between 66 and 68, Fan
running OK, Power OK)
2) memtest86 tested OK
3) disk Diagnosis tool (maxtor) showed no errors for the quick /
standard tests (I am as yet to run the 3rd test)

I did however find a file that could not be opened, and when I tried
to, it froze the system consistantly.
I copied all the other files from that directory out and deleted the
directory (this was before the disk test mind you)

Is is possible that this was my problem ? and it is now fixed ?
I thought I might find a damaged sector on the disk...

Cheers David.

 

[Rock]

Hi guys, thanks for the help.

I downloaded the 3 sets of software

1) MotherBoard Moniter shows no issues (Temp between 66 and 68, Fan
running OK, Power OK)
2) memtest86 tested OK
3) disk Diagnosis tool (maxtor) showed no errors for the quick /
standard tests (I am as yet to run the 3rd test)

I did however find a file that could not be opened, and when I tried
to, it froze the system consistantly.
I copied all the other files from that directory out and deleted the
directory (this was before the disk test mind you)

Is is possible that this was my problem ? and it is now fixed ?
I thought I might find a damaged sector on the disk...

Cheers David.

Could be. And if the problem is now gone then that's a good indication
it was.

 

[DKGandBH]

It was only for a few hours, and it didn't freeze...
I'll give it a bit of time before I announce that it has been "fixed"
as I don't understand why there was no errors found.

The file in question was only a jpg, so not particularly commonly
accessed???

D.

 

[DKGandBH]

The main disk check revealed zero problems with the hard drive...

Now you think that that would make me happy ...

I was, untill it froze on me again :-(

I guess I'll have to pull it apart anyway, unless anyone can think of
something else that I should check ?

David.

 

[Rock]

The main disk check revealed zero problems with the hard drive...

Now you think that that would make me happy ...

I was, untill it froze on me again :-(

I guess I'll have to pull it apart anyway, unless anyone can think of
something else that I should check ?

David.

Sorry to hear it froze again. Good luck.