locking...a lot

[avarice81]

i bought a computer from axis systems (now bankrupt/absorbed) in summer 2000, and it has given me nothing but trouble since i got it...it locks up frequently, which i attempted to fix by reinstalling windows, formatting the hard drive, installing a new motherboard, adding ram and running fewer programs...nothing has worked yet, i've just been learning how to minimize my losses...i just came across this site today, and after browsing through the posts, it seems that if anybody can get me back running, it would be you guys...

would appreciate any info you can share...

thanks,
j

 

[DoyceJ]

How long ago did you do the format? Are you recieving any errors? Do you regularly clean your system and remove spyware? Right click on mycomputer and choose properties>device manager, do you show any conflicts such as a ! or ?.

I wont be of much help if its hardware related but we can start working on eliminating things.

And welcome to TSG.

 

[$teve]

welcome to T.S.G avarice81.........you have come to the right place.
if you post a few details it would be easier to work with i think.
eg: operating system,system specs,any details of your problem,such as.....what are you running when you get the lock-ups?that sort of thing.
as much info as you can please.

 

[Rockn]

What is your power supply rated at...could be your system is underpowered.

 

[avarice81]

okay, well, here's all the details i can think of right now...

running windows 98se for my os...haven't scanned for spyware or anything like that...don't know exactly what the power supply is rated at, but the fan is really loud...usually i get errors when i'm running a game (especially unreal tournament when i had that) or writing a cd but if i left the machine on for a few hours on a screensaver it would also lock up then...also would lock up when i would use word and winamp in conjunction...

i did talk briefly with a tech guy this summer, and he told me to put in a new motherboard, which i did...that didn't seem to fix the problem, though...

the case, hard drive, video card, floppy drive and cables are really the only original parts of the machine, now, i think i've replaced almost everything else at one point or another...

also, when i have no programs but windows running, i only get about 70% of system resources free when i check it on my hardward profile...i have 256 megs pc100 ram, i would think that i would have more available memory, no??

thanks for the warm welcome, i hope we can get through this...

j

 

[avarice81]

system is a 800 mhz athlon
256 mb pc100 ram
15 gb primary hd
40 gb secondary hd
cd-rw by creative
nvidia tnt2 video card
win98se

that's all i can think of....

j

 

[Nanook]

I know that the NVIDIA TNT 2 Mach 64 can cause problems by locking up a system. It happened to me and my brother many times. But since you have been running your PC since last year, I hardly doubt it's driver related.

Possible causes can be; over-heating CPU or VGU, faulty power supply, or plain ol' bad luck. What is your CPU and MB temp running at? Is there a fan on the video card also?

Seeing that you replaced the MB and RAM, rules out port problems or frizzled memory. If after you've formatted and reinstalled your OS, have you tried running the computer with the bare essentials? If so, I would try to borrow a different video card as a test. Or, if you feel extremely adventurous, remove any hardware you don't absolutely need (i.e. modem, soundcard) to make a system work and reinstall each item until you locate the culprit. Naturally, this method isn't very helpful should the problem reside in non-optional hardware.

Good luck bro!!!

 

[Rollin' Rog]

If the motherboard uses a Via or Ali chipset, did you install the proper drivers for it? The absence of Via 4in1 drivers, where required, would be a particular issue for problems where games and/or DirectX processes were running.

Also be aware, memory and "system resources" are not the same thing. "System resources" refers to two 64k areas of memory set aside for graphics and user functions. Depletion becomes a problem only when they fall below 20%.

http://www.aumha.org/a/resource.htm