Help-- random program crashes, computer crashes

[dlyons14]

Hey guys,

Here's the specs on my machine:

Asus Motherboard
Athlon 64-bit 3500+
1GB brand name RAM
Geforce 6800 video card with latest NVIDIA drivers
Soundblaster Audigy sound card
WD Raptor 10,000 RPM SATA HDD
WD 200gb external hard drive

Okay, I've had this machine with these specs for over two years and
never had a problem. All of a sudden I start getting blue screens of
death, the computer restarts, and random programs start crashing. I
reinstall Windows, same thing. I try a different distro of Windows,
same thing after each fresh install... windows explorer is also a
common program to crash.

I have ran a memory diagnostic with many, many passes and it does not
report any errors in the memory.

I went out and installed a new HDD, a WD 80gb EIDE 7200 RPM drive, and
it seems like the crashes are less frequent, but explorer still remains
to crash, random programs crash, the computer freezes and also restarts
on it's own. With the new hard drive I've yet to see the 'blue screen
of death' that I was seeing when I had the previous drive installed.
But with the new drive the crashes are very less frequent-- before I
would get a blue screen at least once or twice an hour. They always
seemed to be random. But still have problems.

Also, the only addition i've made to this setup in the past couple
months has been a USB wireless card. It worked fine for a good solid
month before I started having problems, so I don't believe it to be the
culprit.

The fact that I have had this hardware config for years without
problems, and coupled with the fact that I have installed fresh copies
of Windows multiple times leads me to believe this is a hardware
problem. I thought heat, however, currently my motherboard and CPU rest
at 55C and 37C respectively. Fans seem to be running fine. Is this a
motherboard/CPU problem? That's all I have left but I wanted to get
another opinion before I concluded to that.

Thanks
Dustin

 

[Rod Speed]

(e-mail address removed) wrote

Here's the specs on my machine:

Asus Motherboard
Athlon 64-bit 3500+
1GB brand name RAM
Geforce 6800 video card with latest NVIDIA drivers
Soundblaster Audigy sound card
WD Raptor 10,000 RPM SATA HDD
WD 200gb external hard drive

You dont way what OS, presumably XP.

Okay, I've had this machine with these specs for over two years
and never had a problem. All of a sudden I start getting blue
screens of death, the computer restarts, and random programs
start crashing. I reinstall Windows, same thing. I try a different
distro of Windows, same thing after each fresh install...
windows explorer is also a common program to crash.

I have ran a memory diagnostic with many, many passes
and it does not report any errors in the memory.

Are you saying it never crashed when doing those tests ?

I went out and installed a new HDD, a WD 80gb EIDE 7200 RPM drive,

Very unlikely to be the hard drive.

and it seems like the crashes are less frequent, but explorer still
remains to crash, random programs crash, the computer freezes
and also restarts on it's own. With the new hard drive I've yet to see
the 'blue screen of death' that I was seeing when I had the previous
drive installed. But with the new drive the crashes are very less
frequent-- before I would get a blue screen at least once or twice an
hour. They always seemed to be random. But still have problems.

What shows in the event log ?

Also, the only addition i've made to this setup in the past couple months
has been a USB wireless card. It worked fine for a good solid month
before I started having problems, so I don't believe it to be the culprit.

Best to remove it to be sure.

The fact that I have had this hardware config for years without
problems, and coupled with the fact that I have installed fresh copies
of Windows multiple times leads me to believe this is a hardware problem.

Yes, its clearly a hardware problem.

I thought heat, however, currently my motherboard
and CPU rest at 55C and 37C respectively.

You've presumably got that backwards.

Fans seem to be running fine. Is this a motherboard/CPU problem?

Very unlikely to be a cpu problem, they usually work or they dont.

Could very well be a motherboard problem, check for bad caps.
These are the usually blue or black plastic covered post like things
that stick up vertically from the motherboard surface. The tops should
be flat. If any have bulged or have leaked, those bad caps are the problem.

That's all I have left

No it isnt, it could also be a power supply thats flakey. The best test
of that is to try a replacement, but you could check the rail voltages
with a multimeter. If one rail is sagging when you get the crash,
you wont see that unless you have a max/min multimeter and
those cost more than another power supply.

but I wanted to get another opinion before I concluded to that.

I'd certainly try it without the wireless card before swapping the motherboard.

And if it isnt that, and the power supply swap doesnt fix it, I'd try
running the motherboard loose on the desktop before buying a new
one. You can get an intermittent short to case that produces those
sorts of symptoms, and running the motherboard loose on the
tabletop is the best way to test for those. While its a real hassle
to get the motherboard out, its worth trying if you are going to
replace the motherboard anyway.

 

[dlyons14]

Ok, I'll take a look at the motherboard here in a bit. What I can't
seem to figure out though is why the new hard drive significantly cut
down crashes/freezes... before it seemed to happen twice an hour, now
it's once every 4-5 hours...

 

[USR]

If the new hard drive uses less power then the old one and the power supply
is the problem, that would explain it. Like Rod said, check the motherboard
for bad caps...however, I'm fairly certain that it's a power supply issue.

 

[Rod Speed]

Ok, I'll take a look at the motherboard here in a bit.
What I can't seem to figure out though is why the new
hard drive significantly cut down crashes/freezes...

Likely the power demands are different enough that the
flakey power supply isnt quite as bad with the new drive.

before it seemed to happen twice an hour, now it's once every 4-5 hours...

OK, it wasnt clear that the difference was as great as that.

 

[DaveW]

It is most likely NOT a CPU problem. CPU's generally fail completely or not
at all. They either work or they don't. It sounds like your motherboard
has developed a fault that is generating errors.

 

[dlyons14]

Just an update for the thread. The power supply was flakey and a new
one indeed fixed my PC. The funny thing was, I had two lights on the
front of my case (an Antec Sonata) that suddenly lit up once my new PSU
was in Didn't know they worked the entire time

Dustin

 

[dlyons14]

Now it seems the new PSU added a 'crackling' and 'popping' sound when a
MIDI plays or when I play any sort of video game. It doesn't happen
when I play a WAV/MP3 file however. It's a brand new PSU. Any idea what
is going on? Should I try another PSU or something? I got a nice Antec
one...

Dustin