Hardware causing random freezes?

rpgaction · Sep 10, 2007, 12:44 AM

I was running Vista for a while, until all of a sudden (this would be a few days ago) I start getting random and frequent (usually a few times per hour) freezes. I tried to find a solution to the best of my abilities, but several things about using Vista had been irking me lately and I just decided it was about time for a formatting anyways, so I did and I installed Windows XP again. And not ten minutes ago, I just got the same kind of crash.

The screen just locks up and becomes completely unresponsive. The clock stops. If anything was happening, it is just frozen there in whatever state it was at when the crash happened.

It's really quite annoying. Does anybody know what could be causing this? It can't possibly be a software issue at this point, can it?

Tipstaff · Sep 10, 2007, 01:07 AM

Have you made any changes to your system, either hardware, or to the operating system before this started happening? Also, if it's on, have you tried turning off the Vista Aero interface, and using the Vista Basic interface (the one that has no 3D effects, or transparent windows)? Also, are you using DreamScene for your desktop backgrounds?

rpgaction · Sep 10, 2007, 01:20 AM

I was using Aero when I had Vista, but I'm using XP now. And I'm not using that background thing.

I haven't touched in the inside of my PC for at least a month. I just realized I forgot to post my specs:

ASRock 939Dual-Sata2
2GB (4x512) DDR400
AMD Athlon 64 3500+
Radeon X1800XT 256MB
Creative X-Fi ExtremeGamer

Tipstaff · Sep 10, 2007, 03:05 AM

Oops.. I read the whole thing, and forgot right away that you had reinstalled XP. My bad.

Usually those kinds of freezing are caused by hardware issues, either due to overheating, bad hardware, or drivers, however it can be software related in some cases. My guess is that if you've installed XP, and are still having the same issue, then that removes drivers as a possibility unless it's due to a setting that is common with both versions such as the graphics driver.

First though, does this happen when you are doing nothing? By this I mean, say, if you were to boot up, and left it there, would it still freeze up? If so, does this also happen when you are in Safe Mode? On the software side, if you installed the same software on both OS's, and it's something non-critical, you might want to look at removing them just for testing.

rpgaction · Sep 13, 2007, 04:30 AM

It happened when I was doing nothing with Vista, but it hasn't yet in XP.

The crashes are still occurring, but are much less frequent now (about 1-3 a day). I've opened my case up and given my PC a good air-fucking, but I've crashed twice since then so I'm not sure what to do...it shouldn't be overheating.

Edit: Grr! It just crashed again, not two minutes after it did the last time.

ChaosMinionX · Sep 13, 2007, 04:42 AM

Check your temps, and stress test(stability test) your rig.

Taken from my previous post :

Quote:

CPU-Z - CPU-Z - Lots of useful information about your current hardware as far as the chip, mobo and ram are concerned. A standard in the OCing world.

Orthos - Download Stress Prime 2004 BETA - A stability testing program, highly trusted in the world of stability.

Prime95 - Prime95 version 25.4 - mersenneforum.org - Another program like Orthos, recent updates have brought it into the foreground of OCing community as its support for multiple core stability is unprecedented at this moment as its the only program capable of running more than 2 cores from 1 instance of a program and does not need to have any core affinities set for it to test more than 2 cores.

Everest Ultimate Edition - Lavalys - Comprehensive IT Security and Management - Everything you possibly want to know about your computer, its there. It also has great tests to see the synthetic scaling of your computer as you overclock, these are located in the benchmarking caption of the program. You have to pay for this program to have all the features, but if you look hard enough you dont

Core Temp - Core Temp - a solid temperature monitoring program for Core2Duo, Core2Quad and any other chips made by Intel or AMD.

Memtest 86+ - Memtest86+ - Advanced Memory Diagnostic Tool - A bootable program that is the gold standard for memory stability. Highly recommended when overclocking ram.

Speedfan - SpeedFan - Access temperature sensor in your computer - Excellent temperature monitoring program as well, also has some other great features if it supports your motherboard.

Pick any of them from the description given... I would suggest checking the temps, then going with Prime95 or Orthos for stability testing. Use in conjunction with a temp monitoring program from that list, report back your IDLE temps and LOAD temps as well as any sort of Ambient temps, and if your case runs real hot.

Sep 10, 2007, 12:44 AM	#1
rpgaction DriverHeaven Newbie Join Date: Jul 2006 Posts: 14 Rep Power: 0	Hardware causing random freezes? I was running Vista for a while, until all of a sudden (this would be a few days ago) I start getting random and frequent (usually a few times per hour) freezes. I tried to find a solution to the best of my abilities, but several things about using Vista had been irking me lately and I just decided it was about time for a formatting anyways, so I did and I installed Windows XP again. And not ten minutes ago, I just got the same kind of crash. The screen just locks up and becomes completely unresponsive. The clock stops. If anything was happening, it is just frozen there in whatever state it was at when the crash happened. It's really quite annoying. Does anybody know what could be causing this? It can't possibly be a software issue at this point, can it?

Sep 10, 2007, 01:07 AM	#2
Tipstaff HardwareHeaven Extreme Member Join Date: Jul 2002 Location: Real capital of Canada: Torauna Posts: 6,773 Rep Power: 190 System Specs	Have you made any changes to your system, either hardware, or to the operating system before this started happening? Also, if it's on, have you tried turning off the Vista Aero interface, and using the Vista Basic interface (the one that has no 3D effects, or transparent windows)? Also, are you using DreamScene for your desktop backgrounds? __________________ Portal: The Flash Version _________________________________ Brain: So, you sacked the cocky khaki Kicky Sack sock plucker? Mr. Sackett: The second cocky khaki Kicky Sack sock plucker I've sacked since the sixth sitting sheet slitter got sick.

Sep 10, 2007, 03:05 AM	#4
Tipstaff HardwareHeaven Extreme Member Join Date: Jul 2002 Location: Real capital of Canada: Torauna Posts: 6,773 Rep Power: 190 System Specs	Oops.. I read the whole thing, and forgot right away that you had reinstalled XP. My bad. Usually those kinds of freezing are caused by hardware issues, either due to overheating, bad hardware, or drivers, however it can be software related in some cases. My guess is that if you've installed XP, and are still having the same issue, then that removes drivers as a possibility unless it's due to a setting that is common with both versions such as the graphics driver. First though, does this happen when you are doing nothing? By this I mean, say, if you were to boot up, and left it there, would it still freeze up? If so, does this also happen when you are in Safe Mode? On the software side, if you installed the same software on both OS's, and it's something non-critical, you might want to look at removing them just for testing. __________________ Portal: The Flash Version _________________________________ Brain: So, you sacked the cocky khaki Kicky Sack sock plucker? Mr. Sackett: The second cocky khaki Kicky Sack sock plucker I've sacked since the sixth sitting sheet slitter got sick.

Sep 10, 2007, 01:20 AM	Thread Starter #3
rpgaction DriverHeaven Newbie Join Date: Jul 2006 Posts: 14 Rep Power: 0	I was using Aero when I had Vista, but I'm using XP now. And I'm not using that background thing. I haven't touched in the inside of my PC for at least a month. I just realized I forgot to post my specs: ASRock 939Dual-Sata2 2GB (4x512) DDR400 AMD Athlon 64 3500+ Radeon X1800XT 256MB Creative X-Fi ExtremeGamer

Sep 13, 2007, 04:30 AM	Thread Starter #5
rpgaction DriverHeaven Newbie Join Date: Jul 2006 Posts: 14 Rep Power: 0	It happened when I was doing nothing with Vista, but it hasn't yet in XP. The crashes are still occurring, but are much less frequent now (about 1-3 a day). I've opened my case up and given my PC a good air-fucking, but I've crashed twice since then so I'm not sure what to do...it shouldn't be overheating. Edit: Grr! It just crashed again, not two minutes after it did the last time.