Pc Crashs all the time!!!

[poopster 0]

Hi everyone

 

I have this problem with the pc and for the first time I dont think its me, The pc keeps on crashing all the time its on win xp pro 512ram Amd 2500+ with 2 Samsung 80gig Hd's, Dvd writer it has a 128 mb 9200 ati AGP graphics card and was running pretty good but now it has this problem. It starts up ok then it gets past the bios then to the xp splash with the blue bar at the bottom and then it starts over again then again then again then again you could sit there all night and it will do it, I have formatted and reinstalled drivers then got the machine going just the way its ment to then this starts again after you defrag because thats the last thing I did and the restart thing is the outcome has anyone got any ideas because at this moment i think taking it to the top floor of the multi-story car park and seeing if it will bounce is not far away

 

 

I await the wiseones wisdom!

 

p.s Sometimes it will boot in safemode, if you speak nice it might even give you the networking option.

[jmmijo 1]

Well first off, what is the make/model of the motherboard ?!?

 

You may want to check out the manufacturers website for any BIOS updates as these can many times fix some timing issues with different makes/models of memory modules.

 

Also, are you using a pair of 256MB memory modules or a single 512MB stick ?!?

 

If you're using a pair of memory sticks, then try removing one of the sticks and retest the machine for crashes. Perhaps a flaky stick of memory is causing this.

 

Another thing you need to look at is the power supply, just because it says 300 watts does not mean it's really outputting that amount of power, is it a name brand PS unit ?!?

 

One more possibility could be the HD itself, possibly some bad sectors/clusters or some other media defect.

 

Of course you would want to do some destructive testing with some diags from Samsung's website, if they have any that is Most every manufacturer does have some kind of tool to do this kind of testing.

[poopster 0]

Yip its a pair of 256 sticks tried taking one out and leaving the other and visaversa, both the hard drives work find and are visable if I put them in another machine, power supply other than getting purchessing another one its hard to test, (although i did think this might be a problem)

 

As for the motherboard its a Dfi Infinity which has an nForce 2 Ultra400 chipset which at the time seemed to be an ok mobo.

 

Any other theories would be appriciated..

 

[jmmijo 1]

Then goto DFI's webstite and see if the latest BIOS/Firmware is installed for that model. Then repeat the testing process out.

 

After that you are down to the power supply to test out. So what is the make/model of the PS in your chassis ?!?

[poopster 0]

Well after all the time away from the pc due to getting fed up with it, I think its time for another bash and Dude have I tryed every thing.

 

Here's what I have done.

I have checked the mobo no probs there bios upto date.

still same prob. I have removed all the hard drives and dvd rw + cd rw and tryed with just a hard drive. same prob but it takes longer for the fault to happen eg 5secs now 20mins mostly before it reboots itself? Ramm is fine graphics card is fine and even the floppy works well so I think that leaves about one thing it has to be a power issue are we all agreed?

 

 

 

[poopster 0]

just had a look at the settings for the cpu its a athlon 2500+ and it had it was showing it was a 1.8mhz processor so I just clocked it to see if that makes a diff it now shows it as a 3200+ and at 2.2mhz do any off you think this will help or will it just screw the chip? I had a look at the temp and it seems to be runing at about 40 - 45c when at the 2500+ setting so it was'nt overheating.... its also stayed up for long enough for me to type this message but i expect it to cut off in about 5mins. I'll wait and see.

[jmmijo 1]

Yes, at this point you need to try out another PS.

 

Do you have anybody you know that has a spare lying around ?!?

 

I personally always have a couple of spare PS's lying about for testing and the like. Of course since I build these things for a living I have access to any make/model I want to get

[poopster 0]

Yip I have a spare ps, well there is a problem with that its in the wifes computer and it would be suicide to go into it. But when she is at work she will never know lol.

 

do you think the overclocking part might help if the processor is running too slow will that make it fall over?

[jmmijo 1]

OK, well there can be issues when overclocking as this means you are pushing the speed faster then what the manufacturer has tested that part at.

 

So this could be an issue for sure, be sure to clock at the specified speed/rating and see what happens.

 

Also note that overclocking produces more heat, which is power, this translates into using more power or current draw from the PS and other parts in the computer

[poopster 0]

We might have solved the problem....

I bite the bullet and bought a new 550watt ps and have installed that it, at the moment the computer aint crashed out but I will have to wait and see. Think the fault might be that there was'nt enough power getting to the board and other conponants it was only a 300 watt ps dont think that would be sufficiant to run 2 hds 2 cd dvd rws and a graphics card and the usb devises, so maybe that was the fault i'll have to wait and see what happens regardless. Cheers for all the advise jmmijo.

[jmmijo 1]

You're welcome, of course you'll know for sure when you've been running the machine for an extended period of time

[poopster 0]

Well the good news is it ran for about 8 hrs with out a problem. The bad is it's now back to the same old rebooting, God that hurt like being kicked in the nevers! thought the problem was gone there. well back to the drawing board. At the point it fell over I was installing paintshop pro and it fell over, now its rebooting whenever it fells like it, just after windows boots and you get to the desktop and sometimes it reboots before it even posts the bios. I think it leaves about one thing to change and that would be the mobo, but I hate to think that I am now on my way to building another pc again, but thats the way it looks.

Any ideas??

 

Absolutely GUTTED!!

[poopster 0]

just for a laugh thought I would post an error report and this is the conclusion..

 

Error Caused by a Device Driver.

Do you think this is a plausable? If thats the case what driver would be causing that? Could be anything from graphics to nforce2 drivers.. Oh boy things are getting worse!

 

The only good thing is thats the new ps rocks with the nice new neon lights lol

[jmmijo 1]

You could try reinstalling the latest nForce chipset drivers, the graphics card drivers, DX9.0c, audio drivers and anything else you have in your system, just to be sure. I would first however, d/l them anew and burn them onto a new CD-R just in case

[poopster 0]

Just completed formatting and resetting the cpu speeds to manufacture specs reinstalled windows and downloaded new nforce drivers, ati drivers all seemed to be fine then it happened again shutting down and restarting?

 

I am just out off any ideas dont know if its the graphics card, hard drive or the motherboard any more, the only things I am sure about now are the powers supply, ramm, dvdrw, cdrw.

 

Bit by bit, I can see a new pc on the way....

 

[Exxccessive 0]

i'm not sure if you've tried this before...

 

from scratch:

1. repartioning

2. reformatting

3. install all the devices.

4. install all the drivers, including the MOBO'S.

but don't install anything yet ie application, just your basic system. NO APPLICATION. NO SPONGEBOB GAMES, NO TETRIS, NO DAVINCI CODES WHAT EVER. JUST YOUR PLAIN PC..

 

THEN OBSERVE..

IF NOTHING HAPPENS..

TRY TO DEFRAG...

IF NOTHING HAPPENS..

INSTALL APPLICATION.

OBSERVE AFTER EVERY INSTALLATION...

 

IT MIGHT HELP..

 

 

GUD LUCK..

 

FORGET THE NEW PC FOR NOW

[cc_vader 0]

I had the same problem with my computer. Try changing out the CPU fan with a better one and put a few more fans in your case if don't already have them... I blew a high powered industrial fan on my computer and it managed to stay up for a week without shutting down randomly. It's probably a problem with the cooling.

Just an idea.

[poopster 0]

cc_vader I was thinking along that lines, but I have checked the temps in bios and they all appear to be fine even took the sides off the case and just to let more air circulate still has the same affect. What your sugesting to me makes sense but the temps and the fans are all running fine. I have extra case fans installed just to be safe, the thing still falls over but at the moment its not rebooted itself for 7 hrs. But by no means do I think its fixed it will fall over just a matter of time..

 

exxccessive, I have formatted installed drivers that have are freshly downloaded. Installed the latest drivers for the board, Graphics card, Nforce drivers,

 

I have got 2 256 sticks of ramm i have tried each on there own.

Also tried the same with the hard drives.

Removed the dvd and cd drives and tried 1 stick of ramm and 1 hard drive. Even removed the floppy drive. Just bought a 550watt power supply and installed that. and the fault still persists.

I'm all out off ideas the only 2 things I think it could be are the mobo or the graphics card.

 

[casinochik 0]

I'm the first to admit I know next to nothing about the inner workings of a computer, but I went through this same problem with my cheapy HP unit. Sent it out to HP and believe me they tried everything trying not to replace the hard drive (kept getting calls from their techs to update me because I was so good at making a major pain of myself) - but it turned out to be the hard drive after all!!!

[jmmijo 1]

@poopster, have you checked in the system BIOS and noted if the S.M.A.R.T. HD option is enabled or disabled ?!?

 

I've found that sometimes this causes problems when it's Enabled, I'm not sure why but it occasionaly does

 

Also note that a possible HD issue could be occuring however, you would need to have a spare HD for testing purposes of course.

[poopster 0]

jmmijo I just read your last post and gave it a blast, restarted and in to bios its was enabled so disabled it. Do you think this will make a difference? Whats that option ment to do? The pc has been running most of the day now and has fallen over once thats before I did the bios though will have to wait and see what happens to it now. but thats the thing it is getting unpredictable. But its getting better.

[jmmijo 1]

To the best of my knowledge, the S.M.A.R.T. option is something to do with newer HD's that have this active feature built into them. It's a way to tell the user upon reboots or power on's that there are now one or more media defects on the HD plater(s) and that attention to this is important before you lose any data

 

However, why does this behave badly with some drives, I'm not really sure. Hopefully somebody with more knowledge about this could chime in here.

[poopster 0]

Well thought I would let you know that the pc has now been up for more than 24hrs and aint fallen over yet, Fingers crossed but that S.M.A.R.T option seems to have done the trick so far. Thanks for that with any luck it will keep going......

 

[Exxccessive 0]

poopster.

 

any updates about the status of your pc?

 

please let us know before closing this case, ok?

 

im praying that SMART thing will do the trick.....

 

that was a cool SMART solution, jmmijo

 

peace!!!

 

[jmmijo 1]

Yeah let us know your updated status on this issue