and405

I have tried everything I know to get a video driver that doesn't freeze my PC. All sites I have asked for help say to use the latest driver which is the GeForce8500 GT and after downloading it this PC may work for only a few minutes to a few days then it freezes up. The black and blue screens say it's a driver problem. I roll back the video driver to the stock VGA Graphics adapter and all is fine but I cannot use the media center to view TV. I had a WinTV card put in when I bought this about 2 years ago so I could plug the TV cable into this to watch TV while I surf and all worked fine for along time and then for whatever reason this pc wouldn't accept any Windows updates. This went on for 8 months or so then it crashed. I did a system recovery and started off new and it worked fine for several months then this driver problem started. I've tried to find a older version driver and I have downloaded several different ones and they either do the same thing or nothing at all. I've tried to get help from NVIDIA but so far only form letter fixes. I have aboout 89% hard drive free and as far as I know nothing is corrupted. I cannot use movie maker either as I get the same message as when I try to watch TV ("the necessary hardware is not installed"). I do not play any games. I'm too old for that stuff, I'm 60 years old. I only watch TV while surfing and I like Google Earth but now it is very slow and jerky. While the 8500 driver is installed and working everything is fine... then it freezes up. I'm at a loss. I've tried the HP update thing and it too advised me to use the GeForce 8500 GT. Sometimes when it freezes up I get a loud horrible vibrating sound out of the speakers. Anybody got amy suggestions? Thanks in advance. I'm new on here and hoping I have found the forum that has the answer. Thanks Jerry

and405

I'm sorry I forgot to include my system info. I have a HP Pavillion m8100n Media Center with Vista Home Premium 32 Bit. I hope this helps. Thanks again Jerry

Riskyone101

Hello and Welcome to TSF,

Can you please list your "temps and voltages" you can fine this information in the bios.

and405

Hello Riskyone101, I am humbled that you are willing to try to help me out. As for finding this info you want... I do not know how to do this. Here is copy and pasted info from my Help & Support

( Procedures vary depending on the BIOS manufacturer. Usually, you must press a key (such as F2, F12, DEL, ESC) or a key combination immediately after you turn on your computer but before Windows starts. For more information, check the information that came with your computer or go to the computer manufacturer's website.

Warning
Be careful when changing BIOS settings. The BIOS interface is designed for advanced users, and it's possible to change a setting that could prevent your computer from starting correctly.)

I think you are onto something good here. I've been thinking all along that there is a setting or something that is out of whack.

After posting here I went to HP Help & Support and posted my problem too and I tried what they said "Nathan" and it did not work. Below in the next post I will copy and paste what he said to try. I hope I am not doing something wrong on this forum by showing you his instructions. I just want you to know what I've tried and did not work.. See next post below. Jerry

and405

OK, here is Nathans instruction to me. I'm not demeaning him in any way, he tried to help but it just did the same old thing... it crashed and locked/freezed up my PC again within seconds of the restart.

***********************************************************

( Hello Jerry,

Thank you for contacting HP Total Care. I am Nathan. I am from the Desktop E-mail Support team.


From your email I understand that you are looking for the exact Chipset drivers for your computer. You downloaded the drivers many times from HP web sites but that is not the drivers are not compatible with your computer.



I appreciate that you have forwarded your concerns and have given me a chance to assist you in this regard.



Jerry, to resolve this issue, I am sending you the web link to download the required drivers from the manufacturer’s web sites.



First I request you to download the driver file and SAVE it on the desktop from the below graphics manufacturer’s website.



http://us.download.nvidia.com/Window...glish_whql.exe



Note:- The above-mentioned URL will take you to a non-HP Web site. HP does not control and is not responsible for information outside of the HP Web site.



Then go to Programs & Features in Control panel. Select Nvidia Drivers. Click Uninstall. You will get an wizard asking for which driver to uninstall. The Chipset drivers or the Graphics. Select only the graphics drivers and Uninstall. Restart the computer after uninstall.



After restart, right click on the downloaded file and click on “Run As Administrator “ to install the latest graphics drivers. Restart the PC after install.

This should resolve the issue. If you need furtherassistance, please reply to this message and we will be happy to assist you further.

For information on keeping your HP and Compaq products up and running, please visit our Web site at:


http://www.hp.com/go/totalcare

Sincerely,

Nathan B )

**********************************************************

OK Riskyone101..... I'm game to try anything you want. However I think I'm going to need help getting finding this info you want from the bios, "temps & voltages" sounds interesting to me. I will try to find it. Thanks Again Jerry

Riskyone101

Well Thank You for that, well appreciated, but there are other knowledgeable people here also that offer great help.

Go here for a list of pc`s of how to enter bios:
http://michaelstevenstech.com/bios_manufacturer.htm

You dont need to make any changes in bios, so dont be afraid to enter and just look
around. maybe under "pc health" but could vary on different pc`s.

and405

Hello Again, as of now I still have not been able to get into the bios. Sorry for this. I know you need this info and I will continue to try to get in there and find these temps and voltages for you. One of the messages I have got on the blue screen of death says this ("Disable Bios memory options such as Caching or Shadowing") Something I want to ask you.... is it possible that this GeForce 8500 GT driver when installed causes some componant to heat up thus causing it to fail? Do you suspect that the problem is on the motherboard or in the WinTV graphics card. The last time it froze up I was just writing a letter on Yahoo. The screen turned all Pink looking. As of now I have uninstalled the NVIDIA Driver. The only driver I have now woking is the Standard VGA Graphics Adapter. It is a Hauppage WinTV HVR-1600 NTSC/ATSC.
One other strange pop up message I got when trying to get the Media TV Center working said this.. ("tv may not work as expected because the video card does not meet the minimum requirments of 64 MB of video Ram, if you consistantly encounter errors with TV or Video, please update the video driver or install a new video card.")
I will say that when I do download the current driver everything works perfectly.....until it freezes up!! OK, I will continue to try to find the way into my bios and will post here as soon as I can get something for you. I have some screen captures of Diagnostic tool testing results and other problem messages screens which I could send to you? If you want to see them let me know where to send them. Thank you again for this help that you are doing for me. Much appreciated. Jerry.

Riskyone101

If your on desktop then just download this here and post the temps and voltages here:

http://www.almico.com/sfdownload.php

Speedfan 4.38

and405

OK, I have these pictures for you of the Voltages and Temperatures. Hopr you can see these two pictures. The second one is after 30 minutes of a fan blowing into my tower after I took the side panel off. It only took about 10 minutes for it to reheat up to where it was before. I turned this computer off for a couple hours and left the fan on and I have been back on it now for 2 hours and it seems that it is staying cooler. I think maybe it can't heat up as fast with this fan running into it. As I write this Temp #1 is 16C, Temp #2 36C, Temp #3 25C and Core is 30C I hope these pictures say something to you.
Jerry

Attached Images

	Temps & Volts.JPG (54.3 KB, 7 views)
	Temps & Volts after cooling.JPG (53.8 KB, 7 views)

and405

Temperatures at start up

Attached Images

Start up Temps.JPG (54.4 KB, 10 views)

and405

Now it heating up at the Core. ???? What's Up?

Attached Images

Hot Core Temp.JPG (53.0 KB, 8 views)

and405

I tried again to install this driver again to see if these temperatures would rise and cause this computer to freeze up again. After running the program it did a automatic re-start and Windows would not start. All I had was a blank screen and I could do nothing so I held in the start button for 5 sec to shut it down.... then turned it back on and the same thing again so on the third attempt I held down the F11 key to go into system restore and after a sucessful restore and that driver is gone All is OK again. Something in this computer is not able to cope with this update driver. I'm at a loss. Jerry

Riskyone101

Ok I see, TY for pics and information.

I noticed your 12v and 5.0v rail are low

Go here to apply arctic silver: It gives the information here
http://www.arcticsilver.com/arctic_s...structions.htm

Power Supply Unit - name and wattage?
Note: You will need to remove side panel of pc to find the information, its where your power cord plugs into the rear of pc.

and405

Here is a picture of my Power Supply information. Also, about this artic silver stuff, wouldn't the motherboard have to be pulled out to do this? Do you think my CPU is overheating?

Attached Images

542.JPG (490.9 KB, 9 views)

Riskyone101

Replace the PSU.

Go here:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16817151040

and405

OK, I got it ordered. I'll get back with you when I get it in. I trust you figured out which one will fit/work in this computer of mine. I sure don't know. I don't understand what is wrong with the one in it now. Could you explain what you feel is wrong with it? I mean like it is not burnt out... haven't smelled anything burning??? Loss of horse power or what??? :-) Jerry

Riskyone101

Not enough wattage for running the pc with graphic card you have installed in it.

Note: PSU deteriate over time plus the cheap ones ( this includes most factory installed ones especially) arent true in wattage so in saying this here you see my point of why I suggested the PSU I have.

and405

OK, I understand now... Well with a new motor under the hood I hope she runs good.. :-) thanks for the answer, Jerry

and405

Well... BAD NEWS. It did not work. I put the new PSU in today and then downloaded the same suggested driver and exactly the same thing happened.. computer wouldn't restart... again. It used to start and last for several minutes to several days before freezing up. Now it won't even start. The time it takes to freeze up has progressively got shorter. I got a message that said " a recently installed driver has prevented windows from starting sucessfully. So I did a restore and it is working again. I have attached a picture of the speedfan display with the new PSU so you can see what difference it made. I don't know what it did. I see some voltage differences but only beside the -V. So, what can I try next? thanks, Jerry

Attached Images

After New PSU.JPG (52.2 KB, 7 views)

Riskyone101

What kind of PSU did you buy?...your voltages are off.