Question

PC freezing

Asked by: DubberDan

Got a pc that has been having real problems of crashing loads each day.  It was running Win NT and I thought it might be the OS so I decided it would make a good time to rebuild it with 2000.  However it's still crashing loads - when I try to go into Disc Management, install a printer, use word, etc, etc.  I've swapped the RAM and tried different slots but still it keeps crashing.  I wondering which bit of hardware is nost likely the problem, (cpu/mobo?)

Any advise how to go from here welcome.

Are there any bits of software I can download to be able run some diagnostics?

Cheers

D

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Asked On
2003-09-15 at 06:31:09ID20738990
Topic

General Computer Systems

Participating Experts
4
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Comments
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Answers

 

by: leadheadPosted on 2003-09-15 at 09:26:08ID: 9364136

Dubber: When you say crashing loads do you man A Lot?
Could you provide system specifics such as Memory amount, Type,Processor,Power Supply, Motherboard Manufacturer and Model Number, Any Error Messages. Hard Drive size and Brand?
When you swapped ram did you use other sticks?
When you went from NT to 2000 did you format and do a clean install.

 

by: DubberDanPosted on 2003-09-16 at 00:55:35ID: 9368745

Yep, I mean a lot.

256Mb PC133 DIMM - has been swapped with another one of the same and tried in different sockets
Fujitsu 20GB HDD
AOpen MX3W-E2 motherboard (onboard sound, video, NIC)
Celeron 800MHz
Kingston PCI NIC

Win 2000 was a format + fresh install. Before that it had been running with NT fine for the past 6 months.

Simply freezes, no error message, no response from k/board or mouse, the only thing to do is a hard reboot. Sometimes it only boots to "Verifying DMI Pool Data........." and freezes.

 

by: mimicsuPosted on 2003-09-16 at 00:58:46ID: 9368758

The DMI Pool verification could mean there is a hdw prob. Make sure all devices are connected & seated properly including cables, fans etc.  This could also be cause by a bad cmos battery, which is preventing the bios from retaining dev config.

 

by: DubberDanPosted on 2003-09-16 at 01:46:33ID: 9368924

Everything is seated fine (I'd already checked that). Don't you normally get a message when the CMOS battery is bad (at least that's what I've usally seen).  It seems to be holding setings fine.

 

by: mimicsuPosted on 2003-09-16 at 02:14:33ID: 9369044

No, usually you get problems with the date/time not keeping up correctly. Also, I have a pc that would get to Verifying DMI Pool then reset bios factory defaults, & chging the battery fixed that.

 

by: DubberDanPosted on 2003-09-16 at 02:37:35ID: 9369129

Well the date and time are fine on this pc and it doesn't seem to be resetting factory defaults (although I will check again)

 

by: leadheadPosted on 2003-09-16 at 05:38:22ID: 9370062

Have you tried stsrting in safe mode?

 

by: william200mphPosted on 2003-09-17 at 14:10:40ID: 9381679

Are you aware of any fans in the case/on the processor failing recently?
Can you check all the fans inside to check they're all running ok?

Thanks.

 

by: DubberDanPosted on 2003-10-14 at 03:07:09ID: 9545754

I've changed the battery to one I know is working fine - still no go.

I've checked and reseated everthing - still no go.

I've tried a different IDE cable - still no go.

I've tried the HDD on IDE 2 - still no go.

I've tried booting with no HDD - still no go.

I've swapped HDD's with a working pc - still no go.

I would say it's fairly safe to assume it's the mobo but I've borrowd copies of PC Check and Microscope of someone and they don't come up with any errors :-/

Is it the mobo?

 

by: DubberDanPosted on 2003-10-15 at 06:26:13ID: 9554467

I've finally tracked the problem down to a faulty mobo.  Got the answer [url=http://www.pcguide.com/vb/showthread.php?s=&threadid=25482]here[/url] from the forum of PC Guide.  Turns out to be caused by a faulty batch of capacitors!

Thanks for your input folks.

How do I close the question as none of the answers here were the right one this time?

D

 

by: Computer101Posted on 2004-10-10 at 03:25:07ID: 12269751

PAQed, with points refunded (50)

Computer101
E-E Admin

20120131-EE-VQP-002

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