total computer freeze

[Guest]

I have windows xp and my computer keeps freezing on me totally. I have to hit
the shut off button and reboot in order to get it working again. It happens
almost constantly when I am in pogo playing games, but also happened when I
was using a cd user manual. Can someone PLEASE help me?

 

[Rich Barry]

Could be overheating the CPU or possibly a Flaky Power Supply. Go here
and download and install Motherboard Monitor. It's free and will give you a
readout of your temps and voltages. The 3.3, 5 and 12v lines should not drop
more
than 5% of their value. The Cpu temp should be no hotter than the 60's
Centigrade.
http://www.majorgeeks.com/download.php?det=311

If you know what CPU you have in your System then you can do a google
search for the Max Temp Values.

 

[Malke]

I have windows xp and my computer keeps freezing on me totally. I have
to hit
the shut off button and reboot in order to get it working again. It
happens almost constantly when I am in pogo playing games, but also
happened when I
was using a cd user manual. Can someone PLEASE help me?

Since you're apparently having problems with Outlook, post your question
in an Outlook newsgroup like microsoft.public.outlook.general. You
might get someone reading this group with the answer, but you'll have a
better chance of getting an expert answer in the Outlook newsgroup.

Malke

 

[Malke]

Since you're apparently having problems with Outlook, post your
question in an Outlook newsgroup like
microsoft.public.outlook.general. You might get someone reading this
group with the answer, but you'll have a better chance of getting an
expert answer in the Outlook newsgroup.

Sorry, posted the above to the wrong thread. My apologies. As Mr. Barry
said, there is a good possibility that your problems are
hardware-related. Here are some general hardware troubleshooting steps:

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. Obviously, you
have to get the program from a working machine. You will either
download the precompiled Windows binary to make a bootable floppy or
the .iso to make a bootable cd. If you want to use the latter, you'll
need to have third-party burning software on the machine where you
download the file - XP's built-in burning capability won't do the job.
In either case, boot with the media you made. The test will run
immediately. Let the test run for an hour or two - unless errors are
seen immediately. If you get any errors, replace the RAM.

3) Test the hard drive with a diagnostic utility from the mftr. Download
the file and make a bootable floppy or cd with it. Boot with the media
and do a thorough test. If the drive has physical errors, replace it.

4) The power supply may be going bad or be inadequate for the devices
you have in the system. The adequacy issue doesn't really apply to a
laptop, although of course the power supply can be faulty.

5) Test the motherboard with something like TuffTest from
www.tufftest.com. Sometimes this is useful, and sometimes it isn't.

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 professional
computer repair shop (not your local equivalent of BigStoreUSA).

Malke