P.C Freeze

No,not a very cold cop on the beat.

I've started experiencing this a bit lately.
ONLY with streaming/online media though,every other function is running fine.

Everything locks up during playback...screen,audio,mouse,modem,including the hard drive stopping spinning/accessing info.

Any immediately obvious ideas?

Suggestions appreciated,or do I have to start shopping for something new and shiny with the words 'quad-summit or other' on it?

I don't mind so much,but transferring programs/files will take months. :shk:

I've had this problem recently too...and it's driving me insane. Whenever I try to click on a link, everything stops...but the annoying thing is it doesn't happen all the time....just most of it. I've done virus scans and defragged and updated and all the other things that I'm supposed to do, but usually the only thing that works is swearing and threatening...I'm absolutely not joking about that. I too think that it's just that the puter is 5 years old and is a bit wheezy....I would appreciate advice too!

reply to post by caitlinfae


It's the manual 'turn off' and reboot that bugs me.
I'm pretty sure physically switching off without shutting down isn't going to help matters improve.

I've ran memory checks,graphics checks,disc read checks,defrag,clean ups,registry clean ups.

Next step is a J.B n Coke down the back. :bnghd:

Oooh, I hadn't thought of that Agent T....don't have any JD, or fizzy stuff though....live yogurt would work, wouldn't it? It deals with bad bacteria, right? Sounds about right to me, but I'm still hoping that someone cleverer than me will turn up. Maybe it's me...my beloved 5 year old laptop was so buggered last year it was on the point of ignition apparently.

*scratching head and waiting on clever people*

Seriously..you should try swearing at it...it really seems to work, but you have to give it some volume, and really mean what you say, even if it means inserting a screwdriver into some sensitive computer orofice just to show it who's boss. Doesn't matter which one...just one that's not meant for screwdrivers. Switch it off first though...obviously.

Computers can be real fun sometimes, can't they? What are your system specs? OS? It only crashes when streaming video?

You can check the Event Viewer (Assuming your running Windows) to see if there are any errors before leading up to the crash.
(Control Panel>Admnistrative Tools>Event Viewer)

It could be drivers, hardware or possibly heat related. Have you made any hardware changes recently? Updated video drivers? Cleaned out the dust?

I have found that a lot of problems relating to PC crashes, freezes and BSOD are more than often a ram issue. You said you ran some memory diagnostic programs. If you haven't already, I would download and run Memtest86+ if there is a problem with your ram, this will find the offender. Just follow the instructions on making a bootable ISO and you're done.

Good luck.

I wish I'd still had the pics of my old laptop after a Smirnoff n Coke incident in Dubai.

Screen,keyboard,psu and main part were all in separate parts and it still worked.
I couldn't post here because of the stuck Caps Lock button till I got an external keyboard though.

Never thought about the natural yoghurt idea,Maybe coconut oil or Acai berry juice inserted directly into motherboard.
Keeping it natural and healthy is my thinking.

Maybe a pretty laptop just for online media,which seems to be the main problem..
Prettttttyyyy!!

reply to post by kommunist


Cheers for the reply.I missed it earlier..odd..

Steaming audio too.
O.S is XP.

I got a new screen after monitor died, Acer 22".But pretty sure it's installed ok.
Had some freezes with old one anyway,not as many as now.

I made sure the RAM was seated ok. 4GB..2x2GB

Video card is Nvidea 7500le.. (don't laugh.. it does suck) but temp is ok.. 78'C

I downloaded the Nvidea sytem checker.It's not giving any failure reports on CPU,GPU,DISK,or RAM.

I'll download the mem tester you recommend.

AH'L BE BAKK...

Hmmm...not familiar with that GPU. Is it integrated into the mobo or is dedicated? I'm an ATi man myself.

78C is that the idle temp? That seems pretty high if it is. To put into perspective, I run an ATi 4870 oc'd to 850mhz on the core and 4400mhz memory and my idle temps right now are 45C and 70-80C load after manually adjusting the fan speeds with good airflow in the case. (And that is after playing Crysis for a few hours)

Now, I don't know what the thermal limits are for those cards (mine is 120C limit before it will overheat and shut down, but I've never, ever even gotten it close to that) it also might be worthwhile to download Rivatuner and manually adjusting the fan speeds to bring those idle temps down, if it is dedicated of course. Could be your GPU overheating.

Also, IF you want to test the stability of your CPU, RAM you could try also one of these programs: Prime95, Orthos, OCCT. They will stress your components and if there is any instability, they will find it. If you run these programs, depending on the CPU you have, I would recommend monitoring the temps of your CPU with Realtemp or Coretemp (Core2Duo) just to make sure everything is kosher. I use the programs to stress test when overclocking CPU and RAM, but they can be useful in diagnosing stability and heat issues in a non-oc'd system.

Up to you, good luck.

I think your video-card is overheating.

Try download riva tuner and try setting the vid-card fan @50-70% "BEFORE" you game or try to watch video's.

Let me know if this resolves your issues.

You can also try downloading speedfan to monitor your vid-card temps in real time.

Okaaay.

Memtest is the prog I was running.. not the + one though.the original.
Seems fine memory wise..

Downloaded speedfan.. Was reading 80'C.. Limit before meltdown is 115'C I think..

Sooo.

I've just rigged up an old toy hovercraft fan on a 9V adapter and stuffed it inside the PC..

It's a tad noisy in here but the temp has rapidly dropped 20'C....Not just the P.C but the local weather conditions too,there's a storm front building up directly over the house now..hehehe.
Next door's dog has just blown into the river...

I'll do some streaming tests to see if it has made a difference.
Now where's that naughty site I like!

[edit on 8-3-2009 by AGENT_T]

Did you try uninstalling and re-installing the video driver? This may fix the issue.

Then maybe try a spare graphics card if you have one, to see if the problem goes away. Borrow a friends, if you need to, so you can test.

Troy

Thanks for the advice guys and girls.

Since putting in an extra fan the freezes seem to be lessened.
My ps2 optical mouse was also at fault I think..cursor was freezing while everything else was ok...
,but since I replaced it with a usb wireless again it's working smoother.

It still has a random freeze only during streaming media playback,
I'll try giving it a dust...

maybe buy some different RAM chips to eliminate that too..
I also want a new Graphics card,but the PSU is only 350w,So by the time I start replacing those I might as well just buy/build a new system methinks..

You can also try to go to your Start menu, go to control panel, open up Display, you'll have a few tabs to choose from, select settings, and click on advanced.

Another window will open up with more tabs to choose from, select troubleshoot, you'll then see a slider for hardware acceleration, try lowing that down one level. Just might help you out.

Helped me out, and I have a GeForce 3. :bnghd:

Cheers
I'll do that too,I've no need on current setup for high end graphics..no gaming on it anyway,purely studio system.

I was just looking at Nick Phoenix's setup from EastWest studios.
Mac O.S X With 2 3ghz Quad core processors..

SmartBottom..

Can anyone walk me through building a P.C equivalent?

So how is your system running now Agent?
I hope it's going better for ya.

Hey there Slash,thanks for asking

Well.... I'm a bit embarrassed after just yesterday actually..

I'm awaiting a new pc delivery,so took out the sound card to transfer to new one, I decided to give the insides a bit of a 'wipe down' with a q-tip/cotton bud......

I'm not joking.. I should have swapped the q-tip for a shovel

It wasn't dust inside.. It was bleedin "topsoil"..

The air fan intake/funnelly thingy was a tad dusty,so I took it off to clean the metally heatsinky thingy.it was TOTALLY clogged up with crud of all description
...dust/hair/cobwebs/biscuit crumbs/salmon/ostrich feathers/whatever..

I'm surprised it lived that long with so much poo reducing it's thermal conductivity.It's really a wonder how the processor didn't melt.

Since cleaning it thoroughly,full heat in the dishwasher then a tumble dry,..it's been working a dream. no freezing on media playback/faster file transfers/boot up

So now I'll have a spare I suppose,I just couldn't take the chance of being unproductive at the minute...

But the new one is Sooo pretty

reply to post by AGENT_T


Good to hear. It's important to pop open your computer case every now and then and get the dust out. I use compressed air my self. I've had a power supply blow out on me before because the fan was clogged.
But if you're going to have a spare, now you know! And if you don't want your old computer, send it to me to replace this dinosaur I'm working on. lol just kidding of course.

Originally posted by caitlinfae
I've had this problem recently too...and it's driving me insane. Whenever I try to click on a link, everything stops...but the annoying thing is it doesn't happen all the time....just most of it. I've done virus scans and defragged and updated and all the other things that I'm supposed to do, but usually the only thing that works is swearing and threatening...I'm absolutely not joking about that. I too think that it's just that the puter is 5 years old and is a bit wheezy....I would appreciate advice too!

I have the same problem when i go to click a link the mouse gets choppy and freezes. It be could be my wireless mouse but i just changed the batteries.

[edit on 5-4-2009 by SimpleKnowledge]

reply to post by AGENT_T


That is one of the reasons I do not put my computers on the floor.

The way computers are designed, the air is usually sucked in from the front of the computer, but from the bottom, and in some computers that air intake is really under the computer, working like a vacuum cleaner.

Smoking also affects computers, because cigarette smoke is somewhat greasy, and it turns the dust in a stronger barrier against free air flow.

So, the best option is to clean the computer at least every six months, but we should check them more frequently.

reply to post by ArMaP


I certainly will from now on..
The new one is rack mounted with front to back airflow.
Because it's for studio work it's sound insulated,but has quite a deal of air passing through.GPU is silent cooling.. no fan but large heatsink.So silent fans galore in case(I'm guessing,been too busy to collect but tomorrow is the big day. WOOHOO!! )

I'm glad I experienced this with the old one.
Honestly, it's running like new again..everything is faster..
Just because of some dumb ole dust.

Isn't there a cpu temp display with xp? it probably would have been screamingly hot in there.
I thought it was the GPU card,but the processor must have been adding to that considerably.

I could even take out the turbofan I added.
No more weather disturbances overhead.