Help Needed with XP Pro Hanging & Rebooting

[byanoseau]

Hi Everyone,

Would someone please help me with the following problems.

1. The computer intermittently hangs/freezes when the computer is being used or even if it is idle with all programs closed.

2. The computer intermittently reboots when the computer is being used, either connected to the internet or not or even if it is idle with all programs closed.

I have Windows XP Pro, AMD Athlon 1600, 512MB (2 x 256) DDR Ram.

I hope someone can shed some light on this problem. Thanks for your help.

Regards,

John

 

[tnik]

john, it almost sounds like the blaster virus... try going to http://housecall.trendmicro.com and running an online scan.. you might have to do this in safemode w/ networking.. if its not a virus, another alternative is maybe your box is getting too hot... check to make sure that all the casefans and processor fans are working correctly..

 

[HumAnomaly]

I would say this is probably a hardware problem. I would bring your ram to a local computer store that has a ram burn in tester I know that computer renasance has them. As much as I hate computer renasance usually they will test your memory for free however the will tell you that if it fails the test that you must buy any replacement memory from them. You could try a Best Buy or something else I just know that computer renasanse has them for sure. If your ram is good then I would assume that it is your processor. Good Luck!

-Ben

 

[byanoseau]

Hi tnik & HumAnomaly,

Thanks for the replies. Although I use Norton Antivirus, and keep it updated, I went to the Trend Micro site and tested the computer. No viruses were found on the C: drive and the computer froze while testing the D: drive. )) It didn't get to test E: drive. I'm assuming if there was a virus on any of the drives Norton would have found it.
What I neglected to tell you before is that sometimes when the computer reboots it fails find the E: drive or the CD-ROM/CD-RW drive, which is the secondary master and slave respectively. When I reboot again the drives appear as normal after scanning the files for errors.

With regard to heat, I've had this system for some time now and it hasn't had, to my knowledge, any heating problems. If it did, how would I be able to confirm this?

Thanks for you input, it's much appreciated.

Regards,

John

 

[tnik]

well, if your not to computer savy, at least with hardware, I would suggest taking your box to a local computer shop and asking them politely to check the fans and powersupply. I can't see them charging too much for that.. Or just check to make sure that the fan on the powersupply works, that the case fan works, and that the processor fan works.

as far as a ram tester, there are plenty of programs out there that test ram, just google for them.. http://hcidesign.com/memtest/ is one that I found.. make sure you read the directions.. or, you can do what HumAnomaly said and take the ram out to someone to test it..

 

[MINz]

Have you tried to do a system restore to a point you know your system was problem free?

MINz

 

[dai]

turn off the auto reboot so you get the bsod error message and post it

 

[byanoseau]

Hi Everyone,

Thanks for the advice. Firstly, the CPU & case fans are working ok and are not blocked. The case has no sides so there shouldn't be any heat build up inside the case.

I've noticed that the freeze/reboot problem mostly occurs if I have numerous windows open or if I'm using a program like Photoshop. This is my pagefile set up. As stated, I have 512MB DDR Ram. 3 physical HDD. C: Program files Pagefile(s) D: 256/1536 E: 256/1536

As suggested, I'll turn off the auto reboot and let you know what the message is next time it occurs. I've also downloaded the memory tester and will post the results of that test also. With regard to the restore point, I'm not sure which will be a good one.

Thanks again for your help everyone, it's much appreciated.

John

 

[MINz]

It sounds like it may be a RAM issue. If you run a memory test and it doesn't come back with any errors there still could be timing issues. Depending on what motherboard you're using, you could change the memory timings to a more conservative setting.

What motherboard are you using?

MINz

 

[byanoseau]

Hi MINz,

I have a MSI K7T266 Pro 2 Motherboard. I did a RAM test and it returned no errors. A couple of other observations, if I try using Photoshop, it slows to a crawl. Also, everytime the I start the computer it does a file check on the E: drive. This is a 40GB Maxtor drive. I don't know whether this makes a difference or not, but the E: drive is a NTFS and the other two drives are FAT32.

Thanks for your help MINz.

John

 

[MINz]

Have you done thorough check of your E drive? Sounds like there may be bad sectors.

What drive is your page file (swap file) located?

MINz

 

[byanoseau]

Hi MINz,

The pagefile is split across two drives. D: & E: Each has 256 min and 1536 max. Each time the computer boots it does a file check on E: drive. Is there a more thorough check I can do? This drive is relatively new, not that means much I suppose. Sometimes when the computer boots it can't see the E: drive or the CD ROM/RW drive and I have to restart the computer so the drive(s) become visible.

Thanks MINz

John

 

[dai]

run
chkdsk E: /p
if the drives are both on the same cable,check the cable at the m/b and the drives for a loose connection.
try another cable

 

[byanoseau]

G'day dai,

How do I prevent the computer from doing a file check on the E: drive every time the computer boots? There are no scheduled tasks running.

Thanks.

John

 

[dai]

something must be telling windows that something is wrong
try replacing the eide cable e drive is on
d/l and run the h/d diognostic program from the h/d manufacturer