Drivers... Computer Freezing... oh my!

Cyan007 · Jul 21, 2009, 02:29 PM

Hey guys,

So, after spending 12 hours troubleshooting my system, I still have no solution on why it keeps freezing.

As of now, when I boot my computer and login, everything seems fine. Once I load IE (or other such browsers) and scroll using my mouse wheel, the computer locks up. On other occasions, the computer freezes for about 5 seconds, the monitor flashes on and off (as if it's changing resolution) and comes back on with DirectX disabled. Now when I scroll through the web site it works but it's very choppy as if I don't have drivers installed.

All roads seem to point to my video card until I swapped my AIW X800 with a Radeon 9600 with the same result. I've tried 3 different sets of drivers (9.3, OMEGA + older OMEGA that I've used for 3 years without an issue).

What I've done to combat this issue:

1. Two memory sticks, removed each and swapped sockets. No luck.
2. Multiple video card drivers. No luck.
3. Removed old hard drive (I use two). No luck.
4. Reinstalled Windows XP. No luck. (I did not perform a reformat yet, that'll be the last stretch)
5. Blew out case to prevent overheating. No luck.

Probably others...

If anyone has experienced this before, any help would be appreciated. If not, I wanted to build a new rig anyway since I'm 6 years past due.

necrophyte · Jul 21, 2009, 02:52 PM

maybe a psu problem? or damaged wires? corrosion?

if a win reinstall (i suppose repair install) didnt fix it, its almost certainly a hardware issue.

best way to solve a software problem like that would be a virus/malware check, system integrity (registry scan, sfc /purgecache, then sfc /scannow etc.) check.

but if a repair install didnt fix it, it seems to be hardware..

does it happen in safe mode, as well? try debugging mode and full error reporting

PS: install SP3!

also, if it seems to be a gpu/gfx error, get rid of any driver and its traces and install an official one, no omega - then see if it runs stable.

Cyan007 · Jul 21, 2009, 03:02 PM

Yeah, if I remove the video card drivers, the computer will not freeze. So... that's why it would appear all roads point back to the drivers but I've installed a few different driver versions (using DC to remove). I'll go ahead and perform a registry scan since I haven't done that yet.

Thanks for the help!

Jul 21, 2009, 02:29 PM	#1
Cyan007 DriverHeaven Lover Join Date: Sep 2002 Location: Newport News, VA Posts: 212 Rep Power: 0	Drivers... Computer Freezing... oh my! Hey guys, So, after spending 12 hours troubleshooting my system, I still have no solution on why it keeps freezing. As of now, when I boot my computer and login, everything seems fine. Once I load IE (or other such browsers) and scroll using my mouse wheel, the computer locks up. On other occasions, the computer freezes for about 5 seconds, the monitor flashes on and off (as if it's changing resolution) and comes back on with DirectX disabled. Now when I scroll through the web site it works but it's very choppy as if I don't have drivers installed. All roads seem to point to my video card until I swapped my AIW X800 with a Radeon 9600 with the same result. I've tried 3 different sets of drivers (9.3, OMEGA + older OMEGA that I've used for 3 years without an issue). What I've done to combat this issue: 1. Two memory sticks, removed each and swapped sockets. No luck. 2. Multiple video card drivers. No luck. 3. Removed old hard drive (I use two). No luck. 4. Reinstalled Windows XP. No luck. (I did not perform a reformat yet, that'll be the last stretch) 5. Blew out case to prevent overheating. No luck. Probably others... If anyone has experienced this before, any help would be appreciated. If not, I wanted to build a new rig anyway since I'm 6 years past due. __________________ Microsoft Windows XP Home SP2 Shuttle SN95G5 v3 AMD Athlon 64 3200+ Geil 1024MB PC3200 DDR400 (512x2) ATI AIW Radeon X800XT Creative Sound Blaster Audigy 2 Seagate Barracude 500GB SATA

Jul 21, 2009, 02:52 PM	#2
necrophyte HardwareHeaven Lover Join Date: Feb 2008 Location: 1130 Vienna, Austria & Zagreb, Croatia Posts: 131 Rep Power: 0 System Specs	Re: Drivers... Computer Freezing... oh my! maybe a psu problem? or damaged wires? corrosion? if a win reinstall (i suppose repair install) didnt fix it, its almost certainly a hardware issue. best way to solve a software problem like that would be a virus/malware check, system integrity (registry scan, sfc /purgecache, then sfc /scannow etc.) check. but if a repair install didnt fix it, it seems to be hardware.. does it happen in safe mode, as well? try debugging mode and full error reporting PS: install SP3! also, if it seems to be a gpu/gfx error, get rid of any driver and its traces and install an official one, no omega - then see if it runs stable.

Jul 21, 2009, 03:02 PM	Thread Starter #3
Cyan007 DriverHeaven Lover Join Date: Sep 2002 Location: Newport News, VA Posts: 212 Rep Power: 0	Re: Drivers... Computer Freezing... oh my! Yeah, if I remove the video card drivers, the computer will not freeze. So... that's why it would appear all roads point back to the drivers but I've installed a few different driver versions (using DC to remove). I'll go ahead and perform a registry scan since I haven't done that yet. Thanks for the help! __________________ Microsoft Windows XP Home SP2 Shuttle SN95G5 v3 AMD Athlon 64 3200+ Geil 1024MB PC3200 DDR400 (512x2) ATI AIW Radeon X800XT Creative Sound Blaster Audigy 2 Seagate Barracude 500GB SATA