screen locking up
My computer screen is locking up after my computer has been on for about 30-45 minutes. I can move the mouse/curser and click, but the computer does not obey. I have to manually turn off power to shut down and then reboot. Have had the problem before was advised that video card might be overheating and to check video card fan. In the prior instance, found video fan working only intermittantly. I cleaned and lubricated the fan and all has been working well for 2 months. Actually, I had to replace the mouse as well because after I fixed fan, then the mouse quit working. Recently experienced computer screen lockup problem again. Found video fan working intermittantly. Have REPLACED fan on video card. Had to do some fabricating as new fan mounting bracket incompatible with heat sink screw holes. Took new fan out of mounting bracket and superglued it into old mounting bracket and screwed mounting bracket in original holes. The new fan is working beautifully, but system still locks up. Please use simple language. The previous work I have done has been with considerable telephone advice from friend unavailable for time being.
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It sounds like you might have a ram / power supply problem (althoug it could be many other things).
Try downloading and running memtest from: http://www.memtest.org/ . This will run tests on your memory to see if its having problems.
Could you also give us as complete a listing of the hardware / OS you're using as you can?
Thanks for your reply. I went to the memtest site and about 1000 tests were listed. I couldn't find a basic "memtest". So, I just exited, afraid I'll mess up something.
Here is some of my configuration data (I hope this is the info you asked for. I got some other data from the "Device Manager" and can list it if you'll tell me what you need):
Abit KX7-333R
AMD XP 2000+
WD 600BB (primary, OS)
WD 800BB (backup drive)
http://www.short-media.com/download.php?dc=58
Good Luck
Flint
I have downloaded the test, to my desktop and to a floppy. Sorry, now I show my immense ignorance. I can't figure out how to "run" it. It is "zipped" and my options are "open, delete, send," but can't figure out how to "run". I don't really understand "zipping" anyway. I get this message from Winzip saying I am using Winzip provisionally or something like that. YO
Once it's made the disk, boot up with the FDD set as the first boot device and off you go. Keep an eye on what pass it's on. I like to let it go through two full passes. If you get any errors at all, the ram should be replaced.
I've got it on the disk. Now, how do I set my system so that my FDD (floppy drive?) is the first boot device?
YO
Willing to try it. But, how do I get into the BIOS and, when I'm in there, will it be self-evident how to set it so that my FDD is the "first boot device" when I'm in the "boot order" or "boot sequence area"?
As for being "self-evident", I'll attach a picture of a screenshot from a typical bios. Yours may look quite different and use different terminology, but the idea is the same.
Note: The picture shows the cdrom as the first boot device, you'll want to set yours to "Floppy".
Prof,
I did it! I successfully ran Memtest32 through 2 whole passes. NO ERRORS
Interesting, the computer was on all throughout setting up BIOS and the testing, but, so far the screen has not locked up yet. It usually freezes after about 30 mins while I'm in WINDOWS.
YO
As a next step, I'd go into the bios and disable the Power Management settings. Then boot into Windows, go to Control Panel>>Power Options and set everything to "Always On". If there is a checkmark in the screen to enable hibernation, I would uncheck it. (Look for the "Hibernate" tab in Power Options.)
See if that helps. It could be that your computer is trying to go into standby and is locking up the system instead.
Your previous problem with the video card fan looks dicey, too. If you have another video card to try, I'd do that. Even if it's an old piece of junk unsuitable for gaming, it would be very helpful for troubleshooting purposes right now.
Then I looked at the video card on my kids' computer, which is actually more advanced than the one in my problem computer, but it is connected differently. In my problem computer, the bottom/side of the card is pushed into a slot in the motherboard (?) and the back of the card is secured with a screw at the back of the computer. The fancier video card has, in addition, a 4-stranded cord (yellow, red, 2 black) coming from one of the hard drives (fancy computer has 2) and connected into a port on the card. The video card in the problem computer does not have a port for such a connection. Now before I go messing with the kids' computer, I want to make sure that the card will operate without the additional plug-in in my problem computer. What do you think?
YO