freezing problem

[bones279]

I have an old comp that i pieced back together.
Board is a GA-8PE800 rev 1.1
processor is a intel celeron 2GHZ/128/500

Problem is after installing winXP pro everything works for a while but certain actions make the whole computer freezes, mouse, CTRL.ALT.DEL nothing works.
Managed to get service pack 2 installed after many attempts. no difference.
The quickest way to make it freeze is to play solitare, move three cards and its frozen.
Tried 2 different hard drives no difference.

Any ideas i would appreciate

Thanks
Bones279

[profdlp]

What kind of PSU do you have in there, and what do your temperatures look like? You might give Memtest-86 (http://www.short-media.com/download.php?dc=58) a shot as well.

Good luck. :wave:

[bones279]

PSU is a 350w codegen.
How do i find out the temperatures?

Sorry for the dopey question.

Thanks
bones279

[bothered]

Motherboard monitor should tell you your temps. It's in the downloads - http://www.short-media.com/download.php?dc=47

[bones279]

New ram 512mb.
ran memtest all ok

any other ideas.

Thanks
Brenton

[bones279]

Temps all fine 22, 24 ETC.

[bones279]

Hello anyone out there.

[profdlp]

What video card do you have and what driver are you using?

[bones279]

Hi Prof,

Thanks for the reply.

Its a siemens, s3 virge/dx/gx.PCI

The driver is VER: 5.1.2535.0, microsoft windows publisher.

I also once borrowed a PCI video card and it seemed no different.

Brenton

[profdlp]

See if you can get a Dr. Watson (http://support.microsoft.com/kb/308538/EN-US/) log and attach it here.

See if you can get through a game of solitaire in Safe Mode. That might also help us figure out where the problem lies.

[bones279]

Hi prof,

I can play a full game in safe mode.

Dr watson has no error files in it.

Thanks
Brenton

[profdlp]

The fact that Safe Mode gets you through Solitaire indicates that something which is loading on startup is likely to be causing your problem.

Dr. Watson won't do anything until the system chokes on you, so try to keep it ready just in case.

Try clicking Start>>Run, type in msconfig and click "OK", then go to the Startup tab. Uncheck everything except your firewall and AntiVirus program. Reboot, then see how it goes. If things stay stable, add the programs you unchecked back in one at a time, giving the computer ample time to see if it is still running properly. If and when things go bad you'll know that the last one you enabled is the culprit. :)

[bones279]

The only thing in startup is CTFMON and MNMSGS, which i removed with no change in freezing problem.

The pc only has XP loaded on it and nothing else. Also it has only ever had barebone components in it. Ram, HDD, CDROM, FLOPPY, mouse, keyboard and PCI video card.

Thanks
Brenton

[Leonardo]

Prof, do you think that his video card is overheating? It sounds like a GPU overheating problem. S3 Virge is rather primitive and shouldn't put out much heat, but it does sound like a heat-induced problem.

Mr. Bones, try running the computer with the case side off. See if that changes anything. If not, keep the cover off and direct the airflow of a ventilation fan into the case.

I assume that the computer's components are clean, considering that you just rebuilt the computer. Am I correct?

[bones279]

Components are clean.

I havent had the sides on it since ive had it and i had this PC in the shed for a while (at night my shed is freeezing to) and the pc still freezes.

Yes the s3 is old but i didnt see the point in getting a new one if the pc doesnt work in the first place.

I did borrow another pci video card (it was an old one as well) ages ago but it still froze.

thanks
Brenton

[Leonardo]

the s3 is old but i didnt see the point in getting a new one if the pc doesnt work in the first place. No Sir, you misunderstood me about the old video card. Nothing wrong at all about using old components if they meet your needs, until just two days ago I was still running a 32MB PCI video card in one of my machines. All I meant in my previous post concerning the ancient S3 card was that due to it's simplicity and low-powered GPU, it should not be putting a lot of heat.

[bones279]

Dont stress about it buddy. I wasnt getting defensive just letting you know why.

Thanks
Brenton

[GrayFox]

Are any of the capasitors on the motherboard leaking or buldging ?.

[bones279]

No bulging or leaking capacitors.

Is there a program available that can test the CPU?

Thanks
Brenton

[skankinred]

No bulging or leaking capacitors.

Is there a program available that can test the CPU?

Thanks
Brenton
http://sp2004.fre3.com/


Please go here and download sp2004. Run it on Blend mode, cpu and memory.
If it fails, try cpu then memory specific tests. If all good post back we will try something else

[bones279]

Ran sp2004 all ok no errors.

Thanks
Brenton

[skankinred]

Ran sp2004 all ok no errors.

Thanks
Brenton

You're able to run sp2004 for an hour with no errors, but solitare locks up in 3 card moves? I'm stumped as to what's causing this. Have you run scandisk? Try Test Disk. http://www.cgsecurity.org/wiki/TestDisk

[bones279]

Is scandisk an outside programe or in xp?

Run test disk all ok.

Ran sp2004 for 4 hours with no faults.

Thanks
Brenton

[skankinred]

Strange, but solitare freezes you right up. Maybe try running this stress test http://www.futuremark.com/download/ Try 3dmark03 free edition. If your pc is going to crash, this program will usually do it. I hope some one else has any other suggestions, I can't think of anymore if your temps and voltages are all fine.

[bones279]

Tried to run 3dmark03 but it can up with ****loads of reasons why my hardware is not able to run this programe then produced an error report because of 3dmark03.
Then it said i should download 3dmark01.

I have now run out of monthly megabytes because 3dmark03 was so huge and can do this until the start of the new month.

Thanks
Brenton

[skankinred]

I'm sorry about that. I don't know what is causing the problem. I hope someone else can help here.

[Leonardo]

Makes me wonder if your Windows installation is somehow flawed. Solitaire is OpenGL coded if I remember correctly. Have you tried any other OpenGL games? Try Hearts, see if it causes problems. Is your Solitaire the bundled Windows version or a third party's?

[skankinred]

He did say he tried 2 different hard drives, and still no difference.
Maybe try from scratch again. Only connect cd-rom and mobo power connectors. If your mobo has on board video use it. Don't plug in any other PCI slots or video cards if you don't need to. If you have another computer, try using it's power supply as well just to test. Reset your bios to defaults. You don't have to assemble everything in the case yet. Just try things 1 by 1.
One faulty electrical component can cause everything to screw up.

[bones279]

Pc freezes and then sometimes turns its self off or resets. (within a minute or less after startup) Cant even get as far as starting the hearts game.

I have go quite a few programs on it now though from all the ones you guys asked me to test.

Did come up with an error message but i cant find it now or remember what it said. Something like (docs&settings/tempfile) bla bla bla. Probably something from the test programs.

Will do another clean wipe and reinstall with a different xp disk. Then swap components like you suggested.

Get back to you soon.

Thanks
Brenton

[skankinred]

Turning off by itself or rebooting is a sign of overheating or memory instabilities. I'm ot sure why the sp2004 didn't give you any of these signs. SP2004 will heat your cpu up right away and either sp2004 or memtest 86 should have found any problems located in the memory. This is a very strange machine. It's like a phantom ghost or something.