Computer freezing not sure why

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phughes200

My computer is acting up. After rebooting, it run run normally for
about 2 minutes then it locks up. The screen freezes and the mouse and
keyboard don't work. The hard drive still spins. The CD tray still
opens. The CPU fan still spins. The power supply back fan is spinning
(does not seem to be moving ait). The video card has passive cooling.

If I do a hard reboot, everything will work again for a few minutes.

Any ideas what the problem is? I am thinking that something is over
heating. I orginally thought it might be the power supply but the fans
and drives still seem to be getting power.

This is a XP system, AMD athlon X2 6400, 2 gig, 1 hard drive, video
card with passive cooling, ASUS MB.
 
My computer is acting up. After rebooting, it run run normally for
about 2 minutes then it locks up. The screen freezes and the mouse and
keyboard don't work. The hard drive still spins. The CD tray still
opens. The CPU fan still spins. The power supply back fan is spinning
(does not seem to be moving ait). The video card has passive cooling.

If I do a hard reboot, everything will work again for a few minutes.

Any ideas what the problem is? I am thinking that something is over
heating. I orginally thought it might be the power supply but the fans
and drives still seem to be getting power.

This is a XP system, AMD athlon X2 6400, 2 gig, 1 hard drive, video
card with passive cooling, ASUS MB.
Click to expand...

You might be infected by something. If it was a cooling issue I believe
the machine would shut itself down. Have you tried booting into
safe-mode to see how it acts?

I assume you have a WINDOWS operating system. Next time it "runs
normally" quickly run msconfig, go to start-up and disable everything
and reboot. See if that helps.
 
My computer is acting up. After rebooting, it run run normally for
about 2 minutes then it locks up. The screen freezes and the mouse and
keyboard don't work. The hard drive still spins. The CD tray still
opens. The CPU fan still spins. The power supply back fan is spinning
(does not seem to be moving ait). The video card has passive cooling.
If I do a hard reboot, everything will work again for a few minutes.

Any ideas what the problem is? I am thinking that something is over
heating. I orginally thought it might be the power supply but the fans
and drives still seem to be getting power.
Click to expand...

Any PC repair shop can test the PSU in seconds (free.) It takes
much longer to test RAM but this should also be done.
 
phughes200 said:
My computer is acting up. After rebooting, it run run normally
for about 2 minutes then it locks up. The screen freezes and the
mouse and keyboard don't work. The hard drive still spins. The
CD tray still opens. The CPU fan still spins. The power supply
back fan is spinning (does not seem to be moving ait). The video
card has passive cooling.

If I do a hard reboot, everything will work again for a few
minutes.
Click to expand...

Check the power to your computer, before your PC power supply.

For checking your PC power supply, all you have to do is use a
Windows utility while it is under load.
--
 
My computer is acting up. After rebooting, it run run normally for
about 2 minutes then it locks up. The screen freezes and the mouse and
keyboard don't work. The hard drive still spins. The CD tray still
opens. The CPU fan still spins. The power supply back fan is spinning
(does not seem to be moving ait). The video card has passive cooling.

If I do a hard reboot, everything will work again for a few minutes.

Any ideas what the problem is? I am thinking that something is over
heating. I orginally thought it might be the power supply but the fans
and drives still seem to be getting power.

This is a XP system, AMD athlon X2 6400, 2 gig, 1 hard drive, video
card with passive cooling, ASUS MB.
Click to expand...

Khlong capacitors scraped together in industrial amounts off the
sidewalls of the worst sewer ditch that could be found in Southeast
Asia. There were whole production runs scrapped by pre-assembled
namebrands, such as Dell, due to substandard supplies. The issue runs
back ten years and involves millions and millions of dollars.
Manifest problems widely vary among operational anomalies, to include
causing power supply units to fail prematurely. In an article from a
Gigabyte corporate meeting with a journalist, the journalist is
presented damning evidence placed against for false claims of
industrial malfeasance ASUS used against Gigabyte, as well as contrary
practices ASUS employed in knowingly incorporating substandard
capacitors. Gigabyte is in big time on building their premier product
line with number one, Japanese solid-state capacitors, you know.

In which case, you'll need a 60- to 100-watt soldering iron to break
capacitors out with minimal hand aptitude for not destroying traces
that quickly wick off the iron's heat.
 
I try running the computer again. Froze after a few minutes.

I went into msconfig and selected the diagnostic mode and reboot. It
start up and I start to run a malware scan (malbytes) and everything
went smoothly for about 8 minutes and it froze. I rebooted again and
it frooze during the start process.

In the past, a failing power supply would cause reboots or failure to
boot. I am not seeing that. When frozen the fans are still running and
the screen image is frozen.

Any suggestions?

My next step is to try the last known working restore point. After
that, I will probaby replace the power supply.

I
 
My computer is acting up. After rebooting, it run run normally for
about 2 minutes then it locks up. The screen freezes and the mouse and
keyboard don't work. The hard drive still spins. The CD tray still
opens. The CPU fan still spins. The power supply back fan is spinning
(does not seem to be moving ait). The video card has passive cooling.

If I do a hard reboot, everything will work again for a few minutes.

Any ideas what the problem is? I am thinking that something is over
heating. I orginally thought it might be the power supply but the fans
and drives still seem to be getting power.

This is a XP system, AMD athlon X2 6400, 2 gig, 1 hard drive, video
card with passive cooling, ASUS MB.
Click to expand...

You say "video card with passive cooling".

Download GPUZ and check the video card temps. You'll
need to launch that quickly, before the thing freezes up again.

http://www.techpowerup.com/downloads/SysInfo/GPU-Z/

Screenshot here. If the card is hitting 110C, that
will cause problems. In the example, they're running
around 47C or so.

http://www.legitreviews.com/images/reviews/1305/gpuz-sensor.jpg

*******

As another test case, take the side cover off the PC, and point
a large cooling fan at it. Does it run for longer now ? If so,
clean the filter tray in the computer case. (Antec cases have
a hidden plastic filter that pulls out from the bottom of the
case.)

You can also display temperatures with Speedfan (almico.com).
That's another example of a readout program.

http://www.almico.com/speedfan445.exe

Paul
 
Any suggestions?

My next step is to try the last known working restore point. After
that, I will probaby replace the power supply.

I
Click to expand...

Yea, sure. . .don't spend a lot of money on the PS. If it works
peachy for awhile and then starts in on you again after a year, tops,
you'll be feeding it power supplies. I replaced my ASUS Athlon S751
with a Gigabyte MB and AMD Orleans socket AMD2. Had the S751 a long
time, but also rode its instability issues to their logical
conclusion. High priced, higher end /asYS at the time I got cheap for
third or something as a returned item. Now they don't cut as much
slack, don't mind selling crap, then charging restocking or both-way
shipping. Yep, sure is nice now to have a stable Gigabyte board that
isn't mad. Discounted low-tech but new. Also have a stable ASUS
Intel setup, about a 3 years old with a 2.6 Celeron D, I changed out
for a used $12 P4 3.2;-- but if it starts in on me and eats its power
supply, I'll might just chuck it. I built the Gigabyte for $100 (MB/
CPU/Mem) and can more than live with unbelievable temps for a 45-
micron 2.4Ghz single core. If connected on 24/7, even getting 3, 5
years out of MB/CPU ain't really paying much for all that play, though
I'd expect 5 years normal use out of a MB.
 
Up to today, this system has been stable for over 5 years. I have had
to replace the power supply before. The current one is a decent mid
quality one. I also replaced the video card a few years ago to get
better performance.

I check all the voltages coming out of the ps and they are all within
spec with the system on with a virus scanning program running (in
other word the hard drive is spinning and reading data). The CPU temp
looks good. The PS fans are spinning but I don't feel much air coming
out (the PS reduces fan speed based on load). It does not feel hot.

The system has been running for about two hours so far. Before it
frooze after 10 minutes. The only real difference I made was to turn
all the services on in msconfig. Not sure what is going on. I wonder
if somehow a required service was turned off and the programs froze as
a result. The odd thing is that I have not touch those settings in
well over a year.
 
Up to today, this system has been stable for over 5 years. I have had
to replace the power supply before. The current one is a decent mid
quality one. I also replaced the video card a few years ago to get
better performance.

I check all the voltages coming out of the ps and they are all within
spec with the system on with a virus scanning program running (in
other word the hard drive is spinning and reading data). The CPU temp
looks good. The PS fans are spinning but I don't feel much air coming
out (the PS reduces fan speed based on load). It does not feel hot.

The system has been running for about two hours so far. Before it
frooze after 10 minutes. The only real difference I made was to turn
all the services on in msconfig. Not sure what is going on. I wonder
if somehow a required service was turned off and the programs froze as
a result. The odd thing is that I have not touch those settings in
well over a year.
Click to expand...

Have you looked in Event Viewer, to see what kinda stuff
is being dumped in there.

Have you done an offline scan for malware lately ?

Paul
 
You say "video card with passive cooling".

Download GPUZ and check the video card temps. You'll
need to launch that quickly, before the thing freezes up again.

http://www.techpowerup.com/downloads/SysInfo/GPU-Z/

Screenshot here. If the card is hitting 110C, that
will cause problems. In the example, they're running
around 47C or so.

http://www.legitreviews.com/images/reviews/1305/gpuz-sensor.jpg

*******

As another test case, take the side cover off the PC, and point
a large cooling fan at it. Does it run for longer now ? If so,
clean the filter tray in the computer case. (Antec cases have
a hidden plastic filter that pulls out from the bottom of the
case.)

You can also display temperatures with Speedfan (almico.com).
That's another example of a readout program.

http://www.almico.com/speedfan445.exe

Paul
Click to expand...

I think Paul is spot on. It sounds like the symptoms of overheating.

You did not mention that you checked that the CPU fan was spinning. Is it?
Have you replaced the CPU heatsink and fan recently?
 
Up to today, this system has been stable for over 5 years. I have had
to replace the power supply before. The current one is a decent mid
quality one. I also replaced the video card a few years ago to get
better performance.

I check all the voltages coming out of the ps and they are all within
spec with the system on with a virus scanning program running (in
other word the hard drive is spinning and reading data). The CPU temp
looks good. The PS fans are spinning but I don't feel much air coming
out (the PS reduces fan speed based on load). It does not feel hot.

The system has been running for about two hours so far. Before it
frooze after 10 minutes. The only real difference I made was to turn
all the services on in msconfig. Not sure what is going on. I wonder
if somehow a required service was turned off and the programs froze as
a result. The odd thing is that I have not touch those settings in
well over a year.
Click to expand...

Same here, about 5 years and I start getting the occasional oddity.
Thing to watch for, pretty hard to ignore, it'll get worse. I didn't
dick with the OS. When it crashed it would be pretty much
catastrophic for all of Windows intent and blow it out of the water.
Binary backups, Ghost imagines. Yep, me and Ghost get along real good
together. Only real complaint is it chewed up a couple power supplies
while babying it along for the last year or so. I'm not sinking any
money in that other ASUS/Intel setup. Bought a Ebay heatpipe, socket
462 for it's updated P4 the other day, $10 new Antec unit. But that's
all the more she's gonna be gettin'. Probably the same for the
Gigabyte. Toying with a sub-$50 oldie off Compgeeks.com, but they're
playing games -- advertising free shipping on minimum purchase amounts
after jacking prices substantially the past couple months (got the P4
for $7 from them awhile back). Newegg or similar is about the best
going, once the Bulldozers, F1s, octals and such drive down a residual
entry level multicore.
 
In the past, a failing power supply would cause reboots or failure to
boot. I am not seeing that. When frozen the fans are still running and
the screen image is frozen.

Any suggestions?
Click to expand...

You might try running a linux (or Bart's PE) live CD to try to
differentiate between a hardware problem and a windows OS problem.

If the linux/Bart runs well, then it points to the windows OS installed
condition rather than the hardware.
 
[email protected] said:
The system has been running for about two hours so far. Before it
frooze after 10 minutes. The only real difference I made was to turn
all the services on in msconfig. Not sure what is going on. I wonder
if somehow a required service was turned off and the programs froze as
a result. The odd thing is that I have not touch those settings in
well over a year.
Click to expand...

I've found that those settings sometimes change themselves. :(

How about turning on just the services in the top half of the list?
If that doesn't fix the problem, turn those off and turn on the
services in the bottom half. The idea is to keep cutting the size of
the remaining list in half until you pinpoint the one causing
problems, and that shouldn't require more than log2(number of
services) tries, meaning 6 tries if you have 64 services, 10 with 1024
services.
 
OP here.

To answer the questions asked.

Completed malware scan. No issues.
Completed virus scan. No issues except cookies.
CPU fan is running. CPU temerature is running 37-40 C.
CPU heat sink was replaced about 6 months ago. Got a decent one.

Right now it is running. Like I said, I ended up turning on all
services and programs in the startup section. Later on today, I will
review what can be turned off.

Not sure what caused this. I suspected the PS due to its age but so
far it seems okay. I thought that with the system freezing after
running for a few minutes indicated a overheating problem. At this
point, I will clean up the system and update the drivers and wait for
the problem to return. I have a spare PS and video card if needed. If
the MB goes then I will build a new system.
 
OP here.

To answer the questions asked.

Completed malware scan. No issues.
Completed virus scan. No issues except cookies.
CPU fan is running. CPU temerature is running 37-40 C.
CPU heat sink was replaced about 6 months ago. Got a decent one.

Right now it is running. Like I said, I ended up turning on all
services and programs in the startup section. Later on today, I will
review what can be turned off.

Not sure what caused this. I suspected the PS due to its age but so
far it seems okay. I thought that with the system freezing after
running for a few minutes indicated a overheating problem. At this
point, I will clean up the system and update the drivers and wait for
the problem to return. I have a spare PS and video card if needed. If
the MB goes then I will build a new system.
Click to expand...
What was the result of taking the sides off the case and blowing a fan
at the box?
 
What was the result of taking the sides off the case and blowing a fan
at the box?- Hide quoted text -

- Show quoted text -
Click to expand...

I didn't get that far. Removing the one side cover resulted in a drop
of about 5 degrees for the CPU. Right now the system is running fine
with the cover on. I am still trying to determinr the root cause but
so far the problem has not reappeared.
 
Okay this is now past the point of being frustrating. Worked fine for
a few days and then acted up again.

After carefully checking the power supply, it appear to be good. Since
I had one, I replaced it anyway along with the case fan. Power up and
had the same problem (frozen system).

Removed the video card and turned on the on board video. Work for a
few minutes and then the system rebooted. Tried again and the system
blessed me with the blue screen of death. I did manage to run a simple
memiry check (Checkit Diagonistics) and had no errors.

CPU temps appear normal. CPU fan is running. Power supply is new.
Video card is removed. Memory passed simple check.

Not sure what to check next. my remaining guesses are drivers or
motherboard.

Any other ideas?
 
I tried safe mode and the system booted. I removed the graphic drivers
and rebooted. In regular mode, I went to the NVIDA site and use the
app to locate the drivers I needed. Installed and rebooted and the got
the windows welcome screen. When I loged onto to my account, The
screen was scrambled. Tried removing and loading the drivers again.
Sometimes would work for a few minutes and then would reboot or would
get the scrambled screen after logging on.

Now it gets interesting. Based on a post on the web (after searching
on error message from blue screen), I tried removing Java and then
installing the video drivers. So far it is working.

Still can't figure out what is going on. Was the video card bad? Was
it a software conflict with Java? Prior to this the system was stable
for two years,
 
Okay this is now past the point of being frustrating. Worked fine for
a few days and then acted up again.

After carefully checking the power supply, it appear to be good. Since
I had one, I replaced it anyway along with the case fan. Power up and
had the same problem (frozen system).

Removed the video card and turned on the on board video. Work for a
few minutes and then the system rebooted. Tried again and the system
blessed me with the blue screen of death. I did manage to run a simple
memiry check (Checkit Diagonistics) and had no errors.

CPU temps appear normal. CPU fan is running. Power supply is new.
Video card is removed. Memory passed simple check.

Not sure what to check next. my remaining guesses are drivers or
motherboard.

Any other ideas?
Click to expand...
Like Paul commented earlier, did you check for any leaking or bulged
capacitors on the motherboard.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Capacitor_plague

or read here


http://badcaps.net/pages.php?vid=5
 
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