pc keeps freezing

mentos

i just wanted to ask, if anyone had any ideas to as why my new system keep freezing, no matter what app im running.

It doesnt matter if its media player or browsing my ext HD.

My pc specs are :

Gigabyte ga8IPE775 motherboard
P4 3.2
1 GB Ram PQI running at dual channel
120 SATA HD
cd reader.
radeon video card 256 mb

& 4 fans keeping the temp of the CPU around 45 - 52c.
i havent used thermo glue as the heat sink had a square padding that sat right on the cpu [/b]

lordy

Could be the power supply. I have seen this happen before.

Try to get your hands on a different 350+W power supply and check if the problems go away.

Regards,
Lordy

mentos

ive got a 500 watt power supply.

lordy

The point is NOT the Watts of the power supply.

I have seen power supplies that did not provide stable voltages what caused the PC to freeze. This might be happening to you too, just an idea.

Regards,
Lordy

jescab

Try a different Power Supply.
Run the computer with the side off and see if that makes a difference. If it does the fans aren't working correct. Also, with the side off you can look and make sure all the fans are working properly.
Check for Spyware/Malware and Viruses.
I would try with those first and if those didn't work I would replace the CPU.

Thanks,
JB

mentos

good point, but i have checked that all fans are work, plus have tested this with the side off and it froze once.
I will change the power supply also, but these are the errors in event viewer

Hanging application explorer.exe, version 6.0.2900.2180, hang module hungapp, version 0.0.0.0, hang address 0x00000000.

Fault bucket 00733296.

Faulting application drwtsn32.exe, version 5.1.2600.0, faulting module dbghelp.dll, version 5.1.2600.2180, fault address 0x0001295d.

Plus ( this has happened twice) an app will drag all over the screen and fill up with its drag - like a ram prob ?

johnnynodough

I wouldnt be hunting down a PSU, I would first run chkdsk /f, and the run memtest86 and check the RAM. If it were a bad PSU it would likely just reboot, not lock up. CPU's rarely fail.

johnnynodough

also when you say freezing are you talking about a complete hardware lockup, such as no mouse movement or caps lock toggling, or just windows going bye bye, still allowing caps lock key to toggle? If you still ahev hardware control it could just be a corrupt OS, but Im going to guess its your HDD or RAM. PQI isnt that great.

mentos

firstly im swapping the ram for geil this week.

when it lockes, its locked up, no caps light turns on or off....

only the reset button will work. But this morning it hasnt happened. i just keep getting an app error in event viewer when i browse my ext HD, only in one specific folder. Its a bit laggie also when i use and swap between windows, it takes a few seconds for the other window to become active and visible 100%.

johnnynodough

do chkdsk /f. Im sure you will find errors and maybe some bad sectors.

mentos

ran chkdsk /f - it found no errors.
So im assuming that the HD is ok ?

johnnynodough

did you run it on all HDD's? ALso one more thing, you did latch the heatsink on the cpu right?

mentos

oh noh - im running on ext hd now.
heat sink firmly placed on CPU ok.

mentos

ok, I have run chkdsk on both hard drivers and there are no bad sectors.
Im thinking my ram has crapped itself and i might need to possibly reinstall I.E.

johnnynodough

thats not IE the the crashing explorer.exe is referring to, its the windows shell explorer.exe, basically the GUI of windows. I think you have bad ram. Heres a though, do you have a dual kit or is it just one 1GB stick? if its 2 sticks just pop one out and see what happens. If it still freezes swap to the other DIMM. If it still freezes, you would be more likely to have a bad motherboard than a bad CPU.

mentos

i have two sticks, im going to try your idea now...
i hope its the ram.

mentos

ive currently got one stick and im ripping a cd and it hasnt frozen yet, then only thing is now the CPU usage is at 90+% and its heaps laggy changing between windows.

mentos

ok - i moved the ram from bank 3 and tested still froze, i then placed the ram in bank 1 and 2 and tested and the whole system still froze. ( which is not running at dual memory) keyboard, mouse and unable to alt+ctrl+del.

one other thing that i noticed on the windows splash screen, the blue thing going left to right. In the middle of this it blanks out for a sec then comes back to it.
i think its the fricken board. ?

RussS

Like I said in the PM mentos - fault find with a certain methodology.
The logs I asked you to check leas me to believe that it is software. Of course there is only one way to check, but i would be thinking you dont have an identical motherboard laying around.

johnnynodough

Here, try this, im not sure if it will run long enough to give you an idea of a bad ram stick, but its worth a shot -

http://www.memtest86.com/

Its really kind of up in the air right now, I am leaning towards your ram, but it could very easily be your windows install, or your motherboard. If you have an option of loading windows on another HDD or partition that would help you eliminate software.

johnnynodough

btw, if you have only one stick of ram you arent running in dual channel, you need two sticks of the same speed in the same slot in opposing banks.

mentos

well, last night i was formatted the pc. Im not getting any application hangs or any app errors. There are no errors in event viewer either.
But i havent put the pc on the net yet.

I have also tried putting the ram in dimm 1 and 2. Not 1 and 3 for dual channel.
I then tested the pc and it froze once. I will be changing the ram tommorow and getting giel. Will also try installing the latest drivers for the video card. ?
If all else fails i will then change the board.....

mentos

johnnynodough, the ram i have are both the same speed, the specs on the board indicate that to run at dual channel i need to have the sticks in bank 1 and 3. I also tried it in bank 1 and 2 - and the pc didnt say that mem is running at dual channel, where it does the other way. Im still changing the ram.

johnnynodough

ok, nevermind about the dual channel, I thought I read somewheres that you had only one stick. You are correct in DUAL channel, slots 1 and 3 are actually slots 0 in both bank 0 and bank 1, same as saying slots 1 and 3, or 0 and 2.

mentos

thats cool man - i appreciate all of your helpz.
Im going now to talk to guy about swapping the ram - going to get geil. Should have stuck with that .....

johnnynodough

geil is good stuff, you shouldnt have any problems with it.

mentos

weirdest thing - my pc was tempramental....
I was on it last night and left it on all night till this morning, no frezzing or any errors in event viewer. I pushed the pc( even heard the CPU fan kick in second gear) and it was fine. No lagness either. Im now going to put the pc on the net and do windows update....

mentos

pc still going good, i dont think im going to swap the ram -