This really baffles me!

  • Thread starter Thread starter Old Enough
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Old Enough

My computer is a "custom-built" unit. The MotherBoard is an ASUS
CUV4X-C.
Processor is a P III 800 MHz.

There is a 3½ inch floppy drive (A); two hard drives: a 20 GB (C) and
a 40 GB (D).
Both disks are less that half full.
There is a CD-R drive (E) and a CD-RW drive (F).
Physical installed memory is 1 GB (two 512 MB SD RAM PC-133).

My first indication of something being wrong was a few days ago, when
suddenly the computer told me "New Hardware detected: CD-RW."
(This drive was installed years ago, and works OK)
Shortly after that, the display would freeze for about 42 seconds,
then it would run for about 50 seconds. This cycle would repeat
itself.
If I kept keyboarding during the "frozen" part of the cycle, most of
the letters come up immediately when it "unfreezes".

I checked for viruses using AVG as well as AntiVir, and ran Spybot
S&D, and AdAware. Spyware Blaster is running in the background.
Everything checks out "clean".

I have inspected the components, cleaned all fans and heat sinks (just
in case it was over-heating). For the last day, I have left the cover
off the tower - so there's lots of cooling.

I did a system restore to a time before I first noticed the first
indication of trouble.
That seemed to "fix" the problem for a while, but then it came back.

I also find that during the boot-up the system fails to detect either
one or both of the CD drives.

Is it possible that I have a corrupt BIOS? When I first owned the
computer, it had rev. 1003 installed. I have since flashed the BIOS,
and it now has rev. 1007 (the latest, and final version I understand).

Can I flash the BIOS again using rev. 1007? Would it do any good?
Could it harm things?

The "freezing" thing seems to be less frequent, however, the system
still will not detect the CD drives.

Help, anyone?

Thanks!

_________________________________
Old Enough
to know I don't know a thing ....
 
Please post copies of all Error and Warning Reports appearing in
the System and Application logs in Event Viewer for the last boot. No
Information Reports or Duplicates please. Indicate which also appear in
a previous boot.

You can access Event Viewer by selecting Start, Control Panel,
Administrative Tools, and Event Viewer. When researching the meaning
of the error, information regarding Event ID, Source and Description
are important.

HOW TO: View and Manage Event Logs in Event Viewer in Windows XP
http://support.microsoft.com/kb/308427/en-us

Part of the Description of the error will include a link, which you
should double click for further information. You can copy using copy
and paste. Often the link will, however, say there is no further
information.
http://go.microsoft.com/fw.link/events.asp
(Please note the hyperlink above is for illustration purposes only)

A tip for posting copies of Error Reports! Run Event Viewer and double
click on the error you want to copy. In the window, which appears is a
button resembling two pages. Click the button and close Event
Viewer.Now start your message (email) and do a paste into the body of
the message. Make sure this is the first paste after exiting from
Event Viewer.


--



Hope this helps.

Gerry
~~~~
FCA
Stourport, England
Enquire, plan and execute
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
 
Thanks for your suggestions, Gerry!

I flashed my BIOS with the latest version available, and that seems to
have resolved the problem.

Thanks again!
_________________________________
Old Enough
to know I don't know a thing ....
 
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