Hi All,

I am having problems with my PC. It keeps freezing, randomly and also crashes and restarts randomly. Anybody recommend any software that will help/fix my system?

Thanks in advance.

Alfie

Some thoughts:

Did you run an anti-virus scan recently? Did you run a spyware scan recently? If enough spyware accumulates on your system, it can become completely unusable. A good tool to track down spyware is Adaware.

Did you install any new drivers recently? A badly behaving driver can easily take down the entire system.

Of course, it could be a hardware problem too. If the motherboard overheats, for example, it will shutdown the computer automatically.

This (http://www.linux.org) piece of software might help. Only kidding :D . I would probably just reformat when your system gets to be so unstable - even on Windows XP. As long as you are sure it's a software problem!

your problem is you have too much software, format!:D

a fresh install of XP is my solution to everything(lol and i have a techsupport job on the side right now)

Crashes involving freezing and random reboots are normally hardware problems. You might have an overheating problem or a dicky chip. It's often impossible to diagnose reliably (and cost effectively) though.

Cas :)

If you're running a decent OS like Windows 2000 or XP, I'd say it's probably a hardware issue. Like others said you might have an overheating issue of the motherboard, CPU, RAM, or even video card. It could also be a bad stick of RAM. Hope that helps. :) Make sure all your fans are working properly and see if you can check the CPU and/or system temperature either through the BIOS or a program that can do that.

I have ran a virus scan, no problems there.

Downloading Ad Aware now, so will try that soon.

I am running Win 98SE.

My gut feeling is that it's probably an hardware issue like Princec or Fenix Down mentioned.

Anybody know of any software that can test the heat of the motherboard/fans working etc.

Alfie

Modern motherboards sometimes come with their own monitoring apps.

failing that HMonitor (http://www.hmonitor.com/) is a pretty good one.

like PrinceC said it could well be a dodgy chip or whatever, memory is usually suspect, you should try MemTest-86 (http://www.memtest86.com) to test the memory.

If you've recently installed something then that would be the place to start looking.

Originally posted by Nutter2000
Modern motherboards sometimes come with their own monitoring apps.

failing that HMonitor (http://www.hmonitor.com/) is a pretty good one.

like PrinceC said it could well be a dodgy chip or whatever, memory is usually suspect, you should try MemTest-86 (http://www.memtest86.com) to test the memory.



Thanks for those 2 links, I am downloading now and will see if they can resolve my problem.

Alfie

Originally posted by Nutter2000

failing that HMonitor (http://www.hmonitor.com/) is a pretty good one.



Tried that HMonitor, not sure how to interpret the data it gives...but one thing in particular sticks out:

There is a section for "Cooling Fans", with three sets of Data ie

Power "5113 rpm"

CPU "0 rpm"

N/A "0 rpm"

I might be wrong, but item 2 with the CPU at 0 rpm, does this mean that this fan is not working? (assuming all CPU's come with a fan).

Alfie

Originally posted by alfie
Tried that HMonitor, not sure how to interpret the data it gives...but one thing in particular sticks out:

There is a section for "Cooling Fans", with three sets of Data ie

Power "5113 rpm"

CPU "0 rpm"

N/A "0 rpm"

I might be wrong, but item 2 with the CPU at 0 rpm, does this mean that this fan is not working? (assuming all CPU's come with a fan).

Alfie

In fact it doesn't. Most probaly motheboard not supporting fan diagnostic interface. The easy way to check it - open your box, turn on and see if CPU fan working.

The most common reasons for crash/freeze are overheating and a underpowered PSU.

So... the first things you've to check are the fans. Take a look if they are still working, remove some dust, check if the cpu cooler is correctly attached and take a look at the temps (bios and/or hardware monitoring programms).

A fan wich reports zero rpms doesn't necessarly be broken. Some fans just doesn't have a rpm cable (the yellow one). Therefore you should check it visually if they are rotating. Check noise and vibration, if they emit a odd sound and vibrate alot the ball baring is damaged. Replace those fans, because they will fail to work pretty soon (also vibration isn't a good thing).

Ok. The PSU needs to be powerfull enough for your system. 100-300mhz -> 200w, 300-500mhz -> 250w, 500-1000mhz -> 300w and above 350w (very roughly).

Check in the bios and/or with a hardware monitoring programm how much volts you have on your lines. If the 12v line is at 11-11.5v you are living in a region with a slightly underpowered power supply system. You'll need a overpowered PSU then in order to compensate that a bit.

Other things wich could cause freezing: broken ram (mem test) or a broken mainboard (the resistors will die one day - take a look if their tops are arched). And a rather unlikely thing would be a broken graphics card (only heared once about such a case).

Originally posted by alfie

CPU "0 rpm"

I might be wrong, but item 2 with the CPU at 0 rpm, does this mean that this fan is not working? (assuming all CPU's come with a fan).

Alfie That one is fairly easy to check. Take the lid off and look at the fan to see if it is going round. If your graphics card has a fan check that too. I had a sticky gfx card fan and it caused it to overheat and the machine crashed.