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Strange Computer Things

Posted: Thu Jul 14, 2005 1:27 pm
by Painaxl
I guess I always end up with the strange topic posts, but maybe someone could provide a little help or a point in the right direction...

Ok, so I've got this strange issue with my computer in that it seems to freeze up completely for no reason at random intervals. Sometimes it will be within 40 minutes of booting up, other times it will be after 4 days. It doesn't matter what program is currently running, however, converting video with TMPEGnec seems to always freeze. The freeze will cause everything on the screen to stop, the cursor can't be moved and if there was a sound playing at the time, it gets stuck.

I've got an Athlon 2100 with Windows XP w/SP2 (SP2 came built in to the version I installed and I can't seem to uninstall it). I use a wireless PCI card to connect to the internet via a router in another room. This seemed to really start happening after I installed the PCI card and connected to the internet, but I can't find any actual proof that it's causing it.

My computer is free of viruses and spyware (according to my anti-virus, Spybot and Ad-Aware). I thought it might be heat or dust, so I cleaned the inside, moved it to a more ventilated area and started running a heat monitoring program. The system did not freeze at any regular temperature, leading me to believe that that's not it.

I realize this is random and vague, but I'm not sure where else to turn. Since I can't identify it with one specific program, I can't find a good board to post on. Can anyone provide me with any help or any tech board that might provide some help?

Posted: Thu Jul 14, 2005 1:38 pm
by randomwab
I have PC troubles too, if i do anything taxing on my Laptop it turns off. Basically, it started about March i would say, where the battery was not working, it wouldnt run off the battery. So we sent the entire thing away and we were told it was the indeed the battery. We payed alot of money for a new one, got it back, and fair enough it does run of the battery now, but if i do to much the computer turns off. Like, for example, if i burn a CD, i can hear the thing build up in noise, then it cuts off, like all power left it or something. This used to happen like if i was playing a major poweful game at a very demanding level, IE Half Life 2, but now i cant do much without this happening, and i have no idea what causes it

Posted: Thu Jul 14, 2005 3:45 pm
by Jonathan Ingram
My parents' XP machine (with an Athlon) processor does that random hanging thing, it's a right pain in the arse isn't it?

Nothing fixed it in the end, I'm pretty sure it's a hardware defect though as it was originally doing it on Me, then when an upgrade to XP Pro was performed, the problem still persisted. I changed the optical drive (for other reasons), and mucked about with msconfig for a lifetime, but it just kept on hanging when it felt like it. I was convinced in the end that it was a hardware defect, like a processor/motherboard problem.

One trick that has worked for me (because a similar thing happened to my PC, just kept resetting itself rather than hanging) is to take your PC, backup all your files onto removeable media, then smash your PC with a huge hammer (or any heavy object). Once you've done that, get online and head over to http://www.apple.com/ and buy a Macintosh.

Posted: Thu Jul 14, 2005 3:49 pm
by Painaxl
Very nice indeed. :)

Anyone know what a normal CPU temp is supposed to be?

Posted: Thu Jul 14, 2005 3:53 pm
by Jonathan Ingram
Not sure on that, but that was something that they tried, and moving the computer away from the wall and turning the ceiling fan on seemed to keep the time between hangs up, but not eradicate the hangs entirely. Again, that just says some sort of irreparable hardware issue to me.