HELP! PC keeps locking up I'm loosing the battle

[big_b]

I've been having trouble with my PC locking up without warning at any time.Thought the HDD might be getting on so put a new 250gb drive in & reinstalled XPHOME WITH SP3.

I still have the same problem which is usually 1 of 3 ways

1. Windows will hang during boot & never load hangs somewhere between verify dmi pool data & log on screen
2. Windows will load then hang on the desktop - mouse will move but everything is frozen Alt-ctr-del wont work keyboard nothing .
3. Working away without any problems then same as above.

When the problem happens the power light is on full but the disk activity light is blinking away but barely visable.

Thought it may have been RAM but managed a check with mem86 but it found no faults.

I'm now wondering if I have a problem with my install disk.Am at the moment reinstalling with my daughters disk to see what happens.

Any ideas comments
Dave

Current specs

[FONT=&quot]Box :Antec p180 & 800w p/s [/FONT]
[FONT=&quot]Processor: [/FONT]AMD Athlon 6400 X2 Dual Core
[FONT=&quot]Motherboard: [/FONT]AN9 32X series 3.00 gigahertz
[FONT=&quot]Memory: 4GB 800Mzh duel channel [/FONT]
[FONT=&quot]Graphics: Inno3d 9600GT 512mb(2x in SLI mode)
Drivers: Nvidia Latest available[/FONT]
[FONT=&quot]Storage: 4x Samsung 200GB SATA-II plus 2 x 200GB external backup
Sound: SB 5.1[/FONT]
[FONT=&quot]OS: Windows XP-Home SP2[/FONT]
[FONT=&quot]Optical : LG multidrive DVD burner[/FONT]
[FONT=&quot]Monitor:CMV 938D 19" flat panel 8ms response[/FONT]
[FONT=&quot]Printer/fax : Brother [/FONT]MFC-440CN[FONT=&quot]
Anti-virus/spam & Firewall: Zone Alarm[/FONT]

 

[fran1]

just a guess but have you just upgraded to SP3. if so stick with SP2. if not once you've loaded it onto your system go to m/soft site and get the latest updates before you do anything else. i've got SP2 and will not go to SP3 because of problems with it.

 

[jjeff1955]

Hope this helps fix your problems. Please read.

Just like Fran1 said stay away from Sp3! If you do have Sp3 installed then you will need to do a format and get rid of it as it will cause amd computers not to work very good at least slow them way down to almost a crawl. Uninstalling Sp3 is very slow and corruptive to the OS.
Next lets check you hardware for possible issues.

1. Memory you said all ready checked, but check the voltages and timings to the manufacturer settings.
2. Take a close look at your motherboard for blown caps. If there are any bad caps they will look pushed out at their tops and look swelled up. Bad caps will hang the system very badly.
3. Check your Powersupply with a good led light tester. unplug connector from th MB and plug it into the tester and chek all readings for green. + & - volts ect.
4. Cpu cooling, that the heatsink compound is good and the fan is seated correctly.
5. The Bios 3.3 volt battery is good, as it runs the clock and the bios settings.
6. :n: If your hardware is ok do a hdd format and reinstall with Sp2. You may have hidden viruses that will lock up the system.
7. If you still have problems after a reformat then check your Hard drive for bad sectors. A bad hdd will certainly cause hangs and freezing.
Try all of this and reply on how it is going and I will try to help you all I can as I am a certified pc Tech.

 

[narrowgauge]

I know that saying it works for me does not always help but I noticed the comment about the AMD and XP SP3.

I have XP SP3 running with no problems at all, no adjustments, no tweaks.

I have the following:-
Athlon 64x2 5400+
NVidea geforce 9800 GT
Gigabyte MA790X-DS4
Memory 2x2gb sticks DDR2

One thing I found with 2009 is that I had some dodgy overheating memory which kept dumping me back to the desktop, replaced the memory, solved the problem.

It must be noted that Auran expressly say that SP3 is required, if SP3 is as troublesome as people seem think, Auran would have had similar problems and not made that recommendation.

Hope this helps.

Peter

 

[Winterpaw]

i recently had an issue with the nvidia nForce drivers locking up my P5NSLI motherboard till I used drivercleaner and reinstalled them fresh.

 

[jjeff1955]

Thank You Narrowgauge

Thank you Narrowgauge for posting that reply about the Sp3 as I forgot to explain more in detail about Service Pak 3 for XP.

:mop: Let me clean up a little bit and explain more in detail as follows
Sp3 is ok to install with a clean format, but if it is added to an existing computer from the Microsoft Updates it almost always ends in disaster.
Also Sp3 has been more perfected over time. I work everyday in a high volume computer repair store and all of the computers that come in the door that are slow and sick was caused from the Sp3 being installed automaticaly from Microsoft Updates onto an existing used cluttered up registry. Sp2 was that way when it was first released. If Auran suggest that the Sp3 should be used then by all means do it. I have not personally tested it on my non internet AMD gaming machines as of yet as they are running to good and reliably smooth to trust it. I have read many horror stories on the Google search and my personal computer magazines that stated amd had trouble with Sp3 at the begining stages of Sp3. I am happy to hear some good news that it is working for many computers now.

 

[narrowgauge]

Jeff

I must be lucky. SP3 was installed from a recent download, less than two months back, not automatically by Updates, but it went onto an installation that has been running for at least 3 years so it was anything but clean. That time includes a new motherboard, new CPU and several video card changes.

Perhaps the latest version at Microsoft has been tweaked. That would be worth a try.

Peter

 

[macka]

Hi,

Just a thought, give the insides of your computer a good cleanout to get rid of any dust, had problems with mine yesterday in the heat, gave it a good cleanout with the vacuum cleaner, now it's working fine.

Macka

 

[narrowgauge]

Macka's post prompts the question - you have an Antec case with filters, have they been cleaned properly recently?

Peter

 

[big_b]

Thanks for the replies but this one has me beat.Its off to the Tech.
Got to the stage where I disconnected & removed all drives except C: & formatted & reloaded windows SP2 but it kept locking up.The box & filters are clean & makes no difference if SP3 is installed or not.

Besides that any suggestions on a new box the P180 isn't the best for SLI & HDD's in the centre bay.The box ain't quite deep enough.

I have my C + 2 games drives for the kids + trainz drive in the lower draw & my backup plus the drive for my daughters Uni assignments in the centre draw.( no longer have my external drives which were outdated )

Problem is the two 9600's line up with the centre HDD's & the power plugs from both overlap so I've had to remove them as I split a plastic SATA power plug end on a HDD previously.

Dave

 

[big_b]

Well the rigs back & running. the problem turned out to be an intermittent drop of power on the 12v supply to the video cards. Had to get a new power supply & all seems OK for now.He had to change out my cards with another set & test them in another PC as he wasn't sure if it was power or one of the cards that was the problem.
It took him a week to find it as it would run 3Dmark fine then the next run it failed.

Dave