Tech Support Forum - View Single Post - Computer lock up even after replacing parts

Smorgan102 · 06-15-2009, 09:55 AM

This issue is driving me nuts, and though I still have a few things to maybe try, I wanted to see if I could get insight from those with more experience.

So one day I blew a fuse and the computer went down. The hard drive (which was quite old) bit the dust, but that's not the big problem. The real issue is that, no matter how I tried booting the computer after that (live cd, different drive with linux installed, or no drive at all...just bios), it would lock up after maybe 10-20 minutes. I decided it was time for an upgrade so here is what I picked up:

GIGABYTE GA-EP43-UD3L LGA 775 Intel P43 ATX Intel Motherboard
Intel Pentium E6300 Wolfdale 2.8GHz LGA 775 65W Dual-Core
Crucial 1GB 240-Pin DDR2 SDRAM DDR2 1066 (PC2 8500)
Crucial 2GB 240-Pin DDR2 SDRAM DDR2 1066 (PC2 8500)

It all went together fine, but when I tried getting it to run (had not setup a new hard drive yet, so still using live cds and a hard drive with linux), I had the same problem. So I swapped out the power supply..same problem. Just for kicks I tried plugging it into a different outlet incase the power coming in on that line was the issue...same problem. Got a new video card (XFX Radeon HD 4350)..same problem. So I decided just to try setting up a new hard drive and see how it went. Installed a fresh new SATA drive, put a fresh install of XP on it and it actually ran great for the first few days. Then it would run for most the day and lock up, then for 20 minutes at a time. So at this point it randomly locks up still, sometimes after 20 minutes, sometimes after many hours. It doesn't matter if I'm running anything or letting it sit there.. I have replaced everything except the case. I do have an old hard drive and cd rom in there, but it locks up with or without them. So...at this point I've pulled out most my hair. I have two things that I still need to tinker with:

1. When I get time, I know I need to run it outside of the case, though I don't have high hopes that the case is the cause.
2. Though this would not have any relation to why the computer locked up before replacing the parts, I have noticed that my motherboard wants to run my ram at a voltage of 2.0v instead of 1.8v (which is the actual voltage of the ram). If i set it to 1.8v in the bios, the computer locks up as soon as windows loads, so that still has me scratching my head.

So, pretty much at the end of my rope on this one, any ideas?

06-15-2009, 09:55 AM	#1 (permalink)
Smorgan102 Registered User Join Date: May 2005 Posts: 10 OS: Windows XP	Computer lock up even after replacing parts This issue is driving me nuts, and though I still have a few things to maybe try, I wanted to see if I could get insight from those with more experience. So one day I blew a fuse and the computer went down. The hard drive (which was quite old) bit the dust, but that's not the big problem. The real issue is that, no matter how I tried booting the computer after that (live cd, different drive with linux installed, or no drive at all...just bios), it would lock up after maybe 10-20 minutes. I decided it was time for an upgrade so here is what I picked up: GIGABYTE GA-EP43-UD3L LGA 775 Intel P43 ATX Intel Motherboard Intel Pentium E6300 Wolfdale 2.8GHz LGA 775 65W Dual-Core Crucial 1GB 240-Pin DDR2 SDRAM DDR2 1066 (PC2 8500) Crucial 2GB 240-Pin DDR2 SDRAM DDR2 1066 (PC2 8500) It all went together fine, but when I tried getting it to run (had not setup a new hard drive yet, so still using live cds and a hard drive with linux), I had the same problem. So I swapped out the power supply..same problem. Just for kicks I tried plugging it into a different outlet incase the power coming in on that line was the issue...same problem. Got a new video card (XFX Radeon HD 4350)..same problem. So I decided just to try setting up a new hard drive and see how it went. Installed a fresh new SATA drive, put a fresh install of XP on it and it actually ran great for the first few days. Then it would run for most the day and lock up, then for 20 minutes at a time. So at this point it randomly locks up still, sometimes after 20 minutes, sometimes after many hours. It doesn't matter if I'm running anything or letting it sit there.. I have replaced everything except the case. I do have an old hard drive and cd rom in there, but it locks up with or without them. So...at this point I've pulled out most my hair. I have two things that I still need to tinker with: 1. When I get time, I know I need to run it outside of the case, though I don't have high hopes that the case is the cause. 2. Though this would not have any relation to why the computer locked up before replacing the parts, I have noticed that my motherboard wants to run my ram at a voltage of 2.0v instead of 1.8v (which is the actual voltage of the ram). If i set it to 1.8v in the bios, the computer locks up as soon as windows loads, so that still has me scratching my head. So, pretty much at the end of my rope on this one, any ideas?