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My computer has been freezing randomly for about 2 months now. It just seizes up, and I cannot move the cursor or shut it down normally. Also, sometimes it wont even boot up again. I just get a black screen, not even the opening "Compaq" logo. After a few tries it usually boots, but sometimes it takes numerous tries to start. Of course it tends to freeze again within a 1-12 hour period. Help me :(
First try defraging
second check to see if your heatsink is covered with dust (thus causing an overheat problem)From what your describing it sounds more like a heat issue than a software problem.
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I cleaned the heatsink and the fan blades... still freezes. Also, I checked the heatsink after it froze a few more times and it was cool, so that's not it. I also tried defragging but my computer freezes everytime. Maybe a hard disk problem?
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not sure how effective this is with xp but have you tried running drwatson?
Start-Run- type drwatson (he is still in there)Also you could have too many processes running at the same time check your memory and cpu usage while your on the PC.
The other possible problem is your ram is going bad, how old is the HD? if it has S.M.A.R.T. enable it in the BIOS.
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I noticed when the pc wont boot, the HD makes a clicking noise right after I press the button. But After like 30 tries or more, when it does boot, the HD doesn't make this noise. I'm going to reformat tommorrow, hopefully it's a software problem...
Also, the pc came with a 128 stick of ram. Since then I have added another 128 stick, and a 256 stick. Is there a program I can use to diagnose ram? Or should I just use one stick at a time until it crashes again?
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This is driving me nuts... anyone had the same problem? I read a few posts like this in which the person had a problem with the power supply. Maybe that's it?
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Has to be driving you nuts.
First of Compaq is upgrade unfriendly, at least the ones I have dealt with.
As far as a RAM tester there are a few
http://hcidesign.com/memtest/ is oneFor XP you should have a minimum of 256Mb RAM.
The drive must be a maxtor as I have a Dell at the office that has an H.D. that clicks too when you start it up, think it is a gear catching when the H.D. first spins up. If your hearing the clicks while the PC is running then I would say it's the H.D.
The other thing I did not think about is to check all your cables to make sure they were not jarred loose when you opened the case and place the RAM in, I had this happen a lot when I first put systems together, now I just check no matter what.
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Now that you mention it, the HD sometimes does a "double click" while the pc is running. Also, I have yet to get through a defrag without crashing. I suppose it's time for a new HD.
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I have exactly the same problem, i just did a google search to look for possible solutions when i came accross this.
My system specs are as follows:
K7S5A mobo
XP2400 CPU
512mb DDR PC2700
GeForce3 Ti 200 64 mb GPU
Western Digital 80gig Cavier SE HDD
WinXP pro - Fully updatedI have had this problem for quite come time nowand i have been trying all sorts of things to fix it.
This is what iv'e tried so far:I have just bought a brand new HDD because i do believe mine was faulty due to lud clicking noises followed by crashing, however im still getting the same crashes with my new HDD but without the clicking so its not a HDD problem.
I have bought a new battery for the mobo because sometimes on boot up (after a few failed attempts) it would boot but all bios bios settings would be lost (back to default) so i thought my battery might be flat. So far since ive had a new battery i have not had bios reset but i still have failed boot ups.
I have done extensive memory tests with various software. I have done HDD checks with Western Digitals own programs, i have defraged etc. I have fully updated anti virus, and done full checks. I have fully updated spy ware programs which once spy ware on my system is deleted i still get the same problems.
I have bought a new CPU recently (upgraded from an xp1700) this wasnot because of the problems but a simple upgrade, which at least rues out CPU being dodgy.
I have temp sensors on my hardware, nothing is over heated.
Basically i have checked all but 3 things:
GPU could be knackered, im getting a radeon 9800 soon so it that solves the problem, its the GPU.
It could still be RAM imo, because this is the sort of problems fuxed RAM causes, i am going to a local LAN soon, so i will swap RAM and see if that solves problem, or if the person i swap with gets my problems.
The motherboard could be knackered, god knows how but it could be...
If anyone has any answers plz help... as u can see ive been trying to sort this for some time to no avail.
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Ok ive done a bit more research and found some possibilities and possibly ruled some things out.
Some1 said that they had C-Media on board sound a a nivida GPU (same as me) that could be conflicting. Do you have this hardware john?
PPl have apparently changed RAM to no avail and formatted to no avail (something i didnt try because i can tell its a hardware problem)
Thing is, i never crash in games....
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Specs:
AMD Athlon 1.2
512 SD pc-133
GeForce FX 5200 128m
Creative Sound-Blaster
Win XP homeThanks for your comments, at least I know I'm not alone with this strange problem. I reformatted to no avail today. Of course I thought it worked for about 3 hours, then it crashed :)
I'm beggining to think it has something to do with my vid card. Since we both have nvidia cards it's a possibility. Obviosly some kind of hardware conflict going on in there. I'm going to try the "ram endurance tests" tomorrow. I'm baffled.
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Interesting thought... If I crash in a game, the image freezes (obviously), and the sound card emits a high-pitched, continuous "whine". each time at a random pitch/volume. I'm not sure if I have C-Media hardware, but I think we might be on to something.
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OK well i have bought a new graphics card and have not had any problems since. (Asus Radeon 9600XT)
I have restarted loads of times and it always works without fail. The Freezing however seemed to stop when i took out some of my fans.
At a guess i would say the problems were caused by an old GPU (i did overclock it s---loads and it was 3 yrs or so old, they do f--- up eventually).
Well problem fixed now anyway. It is possible that the freezing was caused by my dodgy HDD because once i got a new one it only did it once but the non booting was still persistant and that one time could of been coincidence. The non booting however was definatly caused by the GPU its fair to say imo.
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Looks like you figured it out. I'm now positive that it's the GPU, and I'll be picking up a new one soon. Kinda bums me out, my card is 4 months old... and it's a good one. Nevertheless, I'll be purchasing a radeon card this time.
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