pc freeze huge problem PLease Help

[Jan]

Hi
Im at wits end with this pc...as I am late on the scene I am unsure if
it ever worked properly.

It freezes constantly ...online...offline .......... grrrrr

Its an oldy AMD-Duron 900mhz
Motherboard is a Via VT8363

This pc has been torn apart over and over again
Has had complete formatting of hard drive ...has had brand new hard drive.

Has gone from win98 up to winxp...always with reformat of drive.

cpu temp seems to go from 40-45 celsius ...[thought overheating might be
a problem.

The 2 hardrives test out perfect

Virus scanners are always running

Registry checkers are used .

Could this be a flaw with the actual cpu or motherboard .... ant advice
is appreciated ... what Have I missed

I realize its old but buying a new one is not really an option....
besides it reall is like brand new still and is only used for minor
surfing...etc

Thanks in advance
Jan

 

[Rod Speed]

Im at wits end with this pc...as I am late on the scene I am unsure if it ever worked properly.

It freezes constantly ...online...offline .......... grrrrr

Its an oldy AMD-Duron 900mhz
Motherboard is a Via VT8363

This pc has been torn apart over and over again
Has had complete formatting of hard drive ...
has had brand new hard drive.

Has gone from win98 up to winxp...always with reformat of drive.

cpu temp seems to go from 40-45 celsius ...
[thought overheating might be a problem.

The 2 hardrives test out perfect

Virus scanners are always running

Registry checkers are used .

Could this be a flaw with the actual cpu or motherboard ....

Unlikely to be the cpu, could well be the motherboard.

Check for bad caps. Those are the usually blue or black plastic covered
post like things that stick up vertically from the motherboard. The tops
should be flat. If any have bulged or have leaked, thats the problem.

It could be the power supply too.

 

[Jan]

Just remembered one more important detail...which now makes me think
perhaps it is only the power supply.
When it freezes it can only be powered off and on by power switch on
back of pc ... ctrl-alt-d or power button on the front will not work hmmm

Thanks again for your help
Jan

Im at wits end with this pc...as I am late on the scene I am unsure if it ever worked properly.

It freezes constantly ...online...offline .......... grrrrr

Its an oldy AMD-Duron 900mhz
Motherboard is a Via VT8363

This pc has been torn apart over and over again
Has had complete formatting of hard drive ...
has had brand new hard drive.

Has gone from win98 up to winxp...always with reformat of drive.

cpu temp seems to go from 40-45 celsius ...
[thought overheating might be a problem.

The 2 hardrives test out perfect

Virus scanners are always running

Registry checkers are used .

Could this be a flaw with the actual cpu or motherboard ....

Unlikely to be the cpu, could well be the motherboard.

Check for bad caps. Those are the usually blue or black plastic covered
post like things that stick up vertically from the motherboard. The tops
should be flat. If any have bulged or have leaked, thats the problem.

It could be the power supply too.

ant advice is appreciated ... what Have I missed

I realize its old but buying a new one is not really an option....
besides it reall is like brand new still and is only used for minor
surfing...etc

 

[kony]

Hi
Im at wits end with this pc...as I am late on the scene I am unsure if
it ever worked properly.

It freezes constantly ...online...offline .......... grrrrr

When it freezes, does anything at all work? Do you press
power button or reset or can <CTRL><ALT><DEL> work?

Right after it freezes, if you have to reset or power off,
can it turn on and run fine immediately?

Check fans temps voltages cards cables

Clear CMOS.

Run memtest86+ for a few ours,
and Prime95's Torture Test.

Its an oldy AMD-Duron 900mhz
Motherboard is a Via VT8363

That's not actually the motherboard make or model, its a
chip on it.


Even so, examine the board for failed capacitors.

This pc has been torn apart over and over again
Has had complete formatting of hard drive ...has had brand new hard drive.

What if it just sits in the bios menus?

Has gone from win98 up to winxp...always with reformat of drive.




cpu temp seems to go from 40-45 celsius ...[thought overheating might be
a problem.

Boards that old tended to have in-socket thermal sensor, if
you have some heatsink grease lying around you might take
off the 'sink and clean off the original goo them put on the
grease and remount it. If no grease, touch-test the 'sink
to see if it's getting mildly to moderately warm as that's a
rough gauge for how it should feel if CPU at about 45C.

The 2 hardrives test out perfect

Virus scanners are always running

Registry checkers are used .

Does the system work ok before you add anything to the base
windows install? Try without loading any other software
yet, and newer drivers for anything left in. Check windows
Event Viewer.

Could this be a flaw with the actual cpu or motherboard .... ant advice
is appreciated ... what Have I missed

Yes, the CPU if the heatsink isn't on good, the fan had
failed, or the thermal compound is degraded. More often the
motherboard or PSU, though a psu problem more often causes
shutdown.

I realize its old but buying a new one is not really an option....
besides it reall is like brand new still and is only used for minor
surfing...etc

if all else fails, strip system down to bare minimums and
then test, adding things back one at a time (both hardware
and software).

 

[mhaase-at-springmind.com]

Im at wits end with this pc...as I am late on the scene I am unsure if it ever worked properly.

It freezes constantly ...online...offline .......... grrrrr

Its an oldy AMD-Duron 900mhz
Motherboard is a Via VT8363

This pc has been torn apart over and over again
Has had complete formatting of hard drive ...
has had brand new hard drive.

Has gone from win98 up to winxp...always with reformat of drive.

cpu temp seems to go from 40-45 celsius ...
[thought overheating might be a problem.

The 2 hardrives test out perfect

Virus scanners are always running

Registry checkers are used .

Could this be a flaw with the actual cpu or motherboard ....

Unlikely to be the cpu, could well be the motherboard.

Check for bad caps. Those are the usually blue or black plastic covered
post like things that stick up vertically from the motherboard. The tops
should be flat. If any have bulged or have leaked, thats the problem.

It could be the power supply too.

If the caps look OK, I'm betting Rod's right on the Power Supply
Issue. I've had more than a few problems caused by
shaky/cheap/failing units.

Seems like at least 75% of the time when "it COULD be the power
supply", turns out it IS the power supply.


M

 

[Vanguard]

Hi
Im at wits end with this pc...as I am late on the scene I am unsure
if it ever worked properly.

It freezes constantly ...online...offline .......... grrrrr

Its an oldy AMD-Duron 900mhz
Motherboard is a Via VT8363

This pc has been torn apart over and over again
Has had complete formatting of hard drive ...has had brand new hard
drive.

Has gone from win98 up to winxp...always with reformat of drive.

cpu temp seems to go from 40-45 celsius ...[thought overheating
might be a problem.

The 2 hardrives test out perfect

Virus scanners are always running

Registry checkers are used .

Could this be a flaw with the actual cpu or motherboard .... ant
advice is appreciated ... what Have I missed

I realize its old but buying a new one is not really an option....
besides it reall is like brand new still and is only used for minor
surfing...etc

Get a digital voltmeter and measure voltages. Your BIOS might tell
you what they are but I don't rely on those except to indicate if they
are way off. The power supply is the life blood of all the electronic
components, and if it can't push out enough juice then erratic
behavior ensues. Try disconnecting all the equipment except for the
video card and a hard drive (so you can see and boot). That way, the
CD/DVD, floppy, sound card, and whatever else you have inside isn't
draining the PSU. See if a minimal hardware configuration will run
reliably.

You might also testing the memory. Try with just memory stick if you
have multiple sticks (be sure to use proper anti-static precautions
when handling electronic parts). If the memory has SPD, let the BIOS
use it to get the timing specs. Make sure you aren't overclocking
anything.

Check the motherboard for any black smudges around the electrolytic
capacitors. Saying it is Via only describes the chipset, not the
motherboard. Some older ones were manufactured with defective
electrolytic capacitors that leaked. Also check if they are pregnant
(bulging).

Rather than installing a fresh copy of Windows and then reinstalling
all that software which might be infected, you could create a LiveCD
to boot an OS from there. Then let the computer run under the OS from
the LiveCD to see if the hardware is stable. You can find LiveCDs at
distrowatch.com. Knoppix and Kubuntu are a couple where you can
download the ISO image file and then cut it to CDs to boot from those.

 

[Rod Speed]

Just remembered one more important detail...
which now makes me think perhaps it is only the power supply.
When it freezes it can only be powered off and on by power switch on
back of pc ... ctrl-alt-d or power button on the front will not work hmmm

Certainly easier to try a power supply, specially if you have one handy.

Thanks again for your help

No problem.

Im at wits end with this pc...as I am late on the scene I am unsure
if it ever worked properly.

It freezes constantly ...online...offline .......... grrrrr

Its an oldy AMD-Duron 900mhz
Motherboard is a Via VT8363

This pc has been torn apart over and over again
Has had complete formatting of hard drive ...
has had brand new hard drive.

Has gone from win98 up to winxp...always with reformat of drive.

cpu temp seems to go from 40-45 celsius ...
[thought overheating might be a problem.

The 2 hardrives test out perfect

Virus scanners are always running

Registry checkers are used .

Could this be a flaw with the actual cpu or motherboard ....

Unlikely to be the cpu, could well be the motherboard.

Check for bad caps. Those are the usually blue or black plastic
covered post like things that stick up vertically from the
motherboard. The tops should be flat. If any have bulged or have
leaked, thats the problem. It could be the power supply too.

ant advice is appreciated ... what Have I missed

I realize its old but buying a new one is not really an option....
besides it reall is like brand new still and is only used for minor
surfing...etc

 

[DaveW]

Due to its age, I might suspect that the motherboard is failing and
demonstrating a thermal fault that randomly occurs during any use. That is
much more likely than the CPU failing. Basically, CPU's either completely
work or don't work at all.

 

[Jan]

Hi
Im at wits end with this pc...as I am late on the scene I am unsure if
it ever worked properly.

It freezes constantly ...online...offline .......... grrrrr

Its an oldy AMD-Duron 900mhz
Motherboard is a Via VT8363

This pc has been torn apart over and over again
Has had complete formatting of hard drive ...has had brand new hard drive.

Has gone from win98 up to winxp...always with reformat of drive.

cpu temp seems to go from 40-45 celsius ...[thought overheating might be
a problem.

The 2 hardrives test out perfect

Virus scanners are always running

Registry checkers are used .

Could this be a flaw with the actual cpu or motherboard .... ant advice
is appreciated ... what Have I missed

I realize its old but buying a new one is not really an option....
besides it reall is like brand new still and is only used for minor
surfing...etc

Thanks in advance
Jan

Thank you everyone for your help... it seems to be better ... have been
trying many of your suggestions not sure yet which has helped ... I will
post when I know but I think you may have all helped somehow ... I love
these newsgroups they are a wealth of info.
Thanks Again
Jan