jpnv8

When i hear a "Click sound" My computer hangs. I noticed that that the red and green light (i forgot what they are called) mounted in my pc is permanently on (in normal it continually blinks).

This "Clicking sound" happens randomly from the windows loading screen up the point where i am running programs.

Im running WinXP Sp2, pentium 4 1.5 ghz, 512mb ram, ATI radeon 9950, 80 gb of hardrive space(its not SATA, forgot what its called) and my motherboard is ECS P4VXASD2.

Help. anyone?

justpassingby

Hi jpnv8 and welcome to TSF !

It's an hardware issue. How old is this computer and the parts in it ?

If what you hear is a clicking sound coming from the IDE hard drive then your drive may be failing. Backup all your data on another physical drive or an external USB drive as soon as you can. If needed you can take your hard drive out of your computer and hook it as a slave drive in another desktop computer.

Look on the sticker that's on the hard drive itself (open the computer case) for the brand and exact model. If you can get into Windows you can also go to the device manager (start => run => devmgmt.msc), expand disk drives and take the model from there.

Then download the appropriate diagnostic utility and create the DOS bootable CD. Repeatedly press del to enter the BIOS at startup, change the boot order priority to CD-rom first and run the long/extended test on your hard drive. If it finds errors or bad clusters the drive is dying and you'll have to replace it.

Most of the time the clicking sound comes from the hard drive, but you should also check that there's no dust inside the case and that all the fans spin properly. Have you installed some new hardware recently ?

I'll move you to the hard drive support section. If the problem lies elsewhere we'll move you to the appropriate section.

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jpnv8

Recently my monitor was displaying a pinkish light out from the screen. I still used the monitor up until there was no image at all displaying in the screen. I was experiencing beeps which started when the monitor screen turned pink(i have forgotten when the beeps exactly started occurring). I was told here that the problem was the hard disk. I sent it to the office and they plugged up a new monitor w/ the computer. All the beeps disappeared.

The problem is that i don't know if the beeps will occur again because it mysteriously disappeared when they hooked it up into another monitor. Someone said it was the hard disk but the beep mysteriously disappeared when a new monitor was plugged into it.

What should i Do? How could i prevent those beeps again? Is it possible that the problem is the monitor and not the hd.? Could those beeps possibly occurring because the pc is signaling that the monitor is the problem or is it the hard disk? Help.
thx in advance

justpassingby

Hi again jpnv8 !

I didn't tell you that the problem was the hard drive, I told you to identify the source of the clicking sound and test the hard drive to check whether it was fine. Problems with the hard drive are #1 on the list of emergencies since it can make you lose all your personal data. This is why I asked you to test the drive first, I was expecting you to come back the day after with the results Did you run the test ?

If it's a clicking sound it's often the hard drive or a fan but you didn't mention your monitor issues.

If it's a "beep" coming from the integrated PC speaker then you should refer to the motherboard manual to know what it means. A single beep sometimes identifies an error with the video card. If all is fine after you changed the monitor it could mean that the video card wasn't hooked properly on the motherboard. Is this an AGP video card ? Moving the computer or hooking a new monitor in the vga port could have reseated the card. Or it could have been some dust bunny in the video card fan and moving the computer around made it go away. The screen turning pink could have been some overheating issue, or it could also simply mean that the vga cable wasn't hooked properly, either in the vga port on the video card or at the back of the monitor. Could also have been something in the vga port preventing a proper connection, the display then loses one color and turns pinkish or greenish.

Open your computer case and check that there's no dust inside. Also report the brand, model and wattage of your power supply (check the sticker that's on the side of the power supply block). Repeatedly press del to enter the BIOS utility at startup and see if there's some hardware monitor screen with your temps and voltages. If so please report them here.

Please also answer these :

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jpnv8

ok. thank you for the information mr justpassingby. Yes my video card is agp
I am using MAXTOR 6y080LO (hard drive) and my power supply is ATX power supply 300w. I think the clicking is coming from the monitor? Im not sure. Im just a novice pc user. thank you again. btw sir what utility should i use for maxtor ?

--

jpnv8

Additional Info
------------------
my pc just produced a click sound again coming from the pc(im not sure exactly where) but the pc didnt hang or froze.
-------
btw whats a dust bunny? thx more power and God bless

justpassingby

Are you sure your monitor is dead ? The monitor doesn't send any information to the computer, it's only an output device. If the freezes were caused by the monitor it means only the image on the monitor was frozen and everything was still working fine in the background. Could you still move the mouse when the computer was "hanging" ? Was the screen turning off ? Could you restart the computer by pressing ctlr+alt+del twice ? Retry to hook your old monitor to your computer or to another computer. If it works fine then the issue was elsewhere. All is working fine now but as you said it's better to run more tests to make sure the issue won't come back. edit : just saw your second message. Leave the computer case opened while you're working and see if you can hear where the noise is coming from. I'm pretty sure this is still your hard drive. Run seatools on the drive and read below for more informations.

Go to start => run and type eventvwr.msc. Search the application and system sections for errors happening at the time you had the freezes that are not appearing anymore now.

Are there any .dmp files in the c:\windows\minidump\ folder ? If so zip them together and attach them to your next post (click on post reply or go advanced and use the manage attachments button).

The hdd diagnostic utility for maxtor drives is seatools (Seagate acquired maxtor some time ago). Use Seatools for DOS and read the informations and tutorial to know how to create the bootable CD, boot your computer on it and test your hard drive.

Note that if the clicking comes from your hard drive it could be a problem specific to this drive model. See this thread about several 6y080LO drives making clicking sounds. But please run seatools on the drive to confirm that it's working fine.

Do you see any brand or model on the power supply sticker ? While the case is opened check that all the cables and cards are hooked properly.

Please answer my other questions : was there dust inside the computer case ? What are the temps and voltages readings in the BIOS. How old is this computer and the parts in it, when did you buy it ? Had you installed some new hardware recently ?

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jpnv8

(update)
I maxed out the settings in ATI catalyst Control Center. Then I played warcraft III when i started to play a game in battlenet(when the game was loading) it hanged and produced a sound again (i think its coming inside the pc)
---------
(Dust) there are some dust but i used a paintbrush recently to remove the dust. I got scared using a paintbrush but I tried to use it on my vid card. I dont know how to properly use a paintbrush to clean the inside part of the pc. I just heard that the paint brush can be used to clean th inside part of the pc. I discontinued it because im afraid i might use the paintbrush improperly.
but overall i think theres a just a medium amount of dust inside the pc.
---------
(About the Power supply)- additional info
Task International Inc. ATX switching power supply
number of amps on +12V rail(s) = 8.0A,8.5A,9.0A, 14.0A
---------
(recently added hardware)
I recently changed my video card from Nvidia Ge-Force FX 5200(Inno3d) to a second hand
ATI radeon 9550 video card. I also bought a second hand monitor and changed the old one.
I also added additional 256mb memory
>_< i don't have enough cash to buy a new monitor and vid card T_T
----------
(Age of the PC parts)
Luckily i managed to save some of the receipts when i bought new pc parts.
Hard drive- (Maxtor) - 12/7/5
Atx power supply - 11/12/6
Processor- Very old (forgotten when it was bought)
Video Card - Last week?
Memory(RAM)- probably it was 3 weeks ago (i added 256 mb ram+256) =512 mb RAM
Motherboard- ECS -4vxaSD2 (very old)
OS- Windows XP professional Version 2002 SP2
--------
(SEA tools for Dos)
Cant use it because my floppy disk drive was impaired ages ago. Is there any other way to use the utility w/o using the floppy disk Drive? thanx
---------
(Voltage Reading)
V core - 1696V
Vcc2.5V 2.512V
VCC3.3V 3.184V
VCC5V 4.838
+12V 12.225V
-12V -12.213V
SB5V 4.730V
VBAT 3344V
System Fan Speed 0RPm
CPU Fan Speed 440 Rpm
Power Temperature 48 degree Celsiuses/118 Fahrenheit
System Temperature 41 degree Celsiuses/105 Fahrenheit
CPU temperature 54 degree Celsiuses/129 Fahrenheit
---------
(other info)
The clicking just started again recently(minutes ago) and i confirmed that the clicking sound is coming from the inside of the pc. T_T maybe its the hard disk T_T ? Is there any alternative Sea tools for dos..
---------
(attachments)
A)screen shot of eventvwr.msc
B).dmp files in the c:\windows\minidump\ folder (zipped)
----------
thanks again sir!

-----------
Bold text- edited items

Attached Images

eventvwr.msc.JPG (39.1 KB, 1 views)

Attached Files

minidump.zip (203.7 KB, 2 views)

justpassingby

Use the .ISO CD-ROM Image version of Seatools, use these instructions to create the CD.

The voltages, while still in the ATX specs, are far from perfect. This could indicate an unsufficient power supply. Did all the problems start after you upgraded the video card ? When upgrading the video card to a newer version you usually need to upgrade the power supply as well since newest cards often need more power. An underpowered suppy could cause graphic glitches (pinkish display) and would cause the computer to crash when running heavy games. I'll ask the advice of the hardware team about your power supply but in the mean time see if you can get your hands on a good quality 400W+ power supply and see if it still hangs with Warcraft III.

What's the brand and model of each memory stick ? Your may run into compatibility issues if you use sticks from different brands and with different timings, always better to have a matched pair.

Your rig is pretty old, I wouldn't waste money trying to upgrade it since AGP video cards and pentium 4 CPU's are outdated. It'll cost you more but you'll need a new motherboard to use the latest PCI-e cards. Since this means you'll also need to replace the CPU, RAM and power supply you may want to look into buying a whole second hand computer.


The CPU seems to be a little too hot and the 440rpm reading for the CPU fan is either a misreading or a proof that your fan is clogged by dust. Read what follows about the dust, you should manage to get the CPU temp below 50°C.
To clean the dust you need to use a can of compressed air (5$ at a local computer or electronics shop). You can use a very soft brush but the best solution is still the compressed air. Read this guide if you want the comprehensive method. You should clean the dust once a year or you'll run into overheating issues. Always turn the computer off and remove the power plug when you work inside the case.

In the event viewer click on application and system on the left to actually see the events. Double-click each error you see, click on the third icon on the right then right-click => paste the content here. No need to report identical errors more than once (identical meaning same event number and same source).

I'll see what I can find in your minidump files.

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justpassingby

Nearly all your crashes could have been caused by memory corruption. The last crash when playing Warcraft 3 also references you video driver. I attached the bugcheck analysis.

The one thing that can cause errors with both your RAM and video card is bad voltages from an unsufficient power supply.

Test your ram with memtest : download, unzip and burn memtest86+'s pre-compiled bootable .iso (.zip) using your burning software's burn from image file feature. If in doubt use ImgBurn (select "write image file to disc" and browse for the memtest .iso file). Leave the CD in the drive, restart the computer, enter the BIOS at startup and set the boot order priority to CD-rom first. Leave memtest run overnight and report if it shows any errors.

Attached Files

bugcheck analysis.zip (38.5 KB, 1 views)

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HJT - 5 steps against malware. Post your HijackThis log there and not here !
Posting system specs

jpnv8

eventvwr.msc


[APPLICATION]
Event Type: Error
Event Source: PerfNet
Event Category: None
Event ID: 2004
Date: 7/30/2008
Time: 11:01:58 PM
User: N/A
Computer: HOME-4412574AF4
Description:
Unable to open the Server service. Server performance data will not be returned. Error code returned is in data DWORD 0.

For more information, see Help and Support Center at http://go.microsoft.com/fwlink/events.asp.
Data:
0000: 34 00 00 c0 4..À
-------------

Event Type: Error
Event Source: Application Error
Event Category: None
Event ID: 1000
Date: 7/30/2008
Time: 10:26:46 PM
User: N/A
Computer: HOME-4412574AF4
Description:
Faulting application acrord32.exe, version 8.1.0.137, faulting module unknown, version 0.0.0.0, fault address 0x24003f75.

For more information, see Help and Support Center at http://go.microsoft.com/fwlink/events.asp.
Data:
0000: 41 70 70 6c 69 63 61 74 Applicat
0008: 69 6f 6e 20 46 61 69 6c ion Fail
0010: 75 72 65 20 20 61 63 72 ure acr
0018: 6f 72 64 33 32 2e 65 78 ord32.ex
0020: 65 20 38 2e 31 2e 30 2e e 8.1.0.
0028: 31 33 37 20 69 6e 20 75 137 in u
0030: 6e 6b 6e 6f 77 6e 20 30 nknown 0
0038: 2e 30 2e 30 2e 30 20 61 .0.0.0 a
0040: 74 20 6f 66 66 73 65 74 t offset
0048: 20 32 34 30 30 33 66 37 24003f7
0050: 35 0d 0a 5..

-------------

Event Type: Error
Event Source: Application Hang
Event Category: (101)
Event ID: 1002
Date: 7/30/2008
Time: 10:26:24 PM
User: N/A
Computer: HOME-4412574AF4
Description:
Hanging application firefox.exe, version 1.8.20080.4669, hang module hungapp, version 0.0.0.0, hang address 0x00000000.

For more information, see Help and Support Center at http://go.microsoft.com/fwlink/events.asp.
Data:
0000: 41 70 70 6c 69 63 61 74 Applicat
0008: 69 6f 6e 20 48 61 6e 67 ion Hang
0010: 20 20 66 69 72 65 66 6f firefo
0018: 78 2e 65 78 65 20 31 2e x.exe 1.
0020: 38 2e 32 30 30 38 30 2e 8.20080.
0028: 34 36 36 39 20 69 6e 20 4669 in
0030: 68 75 6e 67 61 70 70 20 hungapp
0038: 30 2e 30 2e 30 2e 30 20 0.0.0.0
0040: 61 74 20 6f 66 66 73 65 at offse
0048: 74 20 30 30 30 30 30 30 t 000000
0050: 30 30 00

---------

Event Type: Error
Event Source: MsiInstaller
Event Category: None
Event ID: 11905
Date: 7/12/2008
Time: 12:51:47 AM
User: HOME-4412574AF4\JP
Computer: HOME-4412574AF4
Description:
Product: Macromedia Flash Player 8 -- Error 1905.Module C:\WINDOWS\system32\Macromed\Flash\Flash8.ocx failed to unregister. HRESULT -2147220472. Contact your support personnel.

For more information, see Help and Support Center at http://go.microsoft.com/fwlink/events.asp.
Data:
0000: 7b 30 41 32 38 43 36 31 {0A28C61
0008: 30 2d 45 45 30 36 2d 34 0-EE06-4
0010: 41 33 33 2d 42 42 35 36 A33-BB56
0018: 2d 41 32 31 35 35 42 35 -A2155B5
0020: 32 34 39 31 36 7d 24916}

-------------

Event Type: Error
Event Source: Application Error
Event Category: None
Event ID: 1000
Date: 7/12/2008
Time: 12:25:13 AM
User: N/A
Computer: HOME-4412574AF4
Description:
Faulting application hydradm.exe, version 3.21.0.2108, faulting module ntdll.dll, version 5.1.2600.2180, fault address 0x00018fea.

For more information, see Help and Support Center at http://go.microsoft.com/fwlink/events.asp.
Data:
0000: 41 70 70 6c 69 63 61 74 Applicat
0008: 69 6f 6e 20 46 61 69 6c ion Fail
0010: 75 72 65 20 20 68 79 64 ure hyd
0018: 72 61 64 6d 2e 65 78 65 radm.exe
0020: 20 33 2e 32 31 2e 30 2e 3.21.0.
0028: 32 31 30 38 20 69 6e 20 2108 in
0030: 6e 74 64 6c 6c 2e 64 6c ntdll.dl
0038: 6c 20 35 2e 31 2e 32 36 l 5.1.26
0040: 30 30 2e 32 31 38 30 20 00.2180
0048: 61 74 20 6f 66 66 73 65 at offse
0050: 74 20 30 30 30 31 38 66 t 00018f
0058: 65 61 0d 0a ea..

[SYSTEM]
no errors.. all information



--------
thank you for your time :D

jpnv8

sir how will i know the brand model of the memory sticks?

ill try get my hands on one 400w power supply. thank u for the information


ill try to buy a blank cd today and make the necessary test that you advised.
----------

Also thank you for the cleaning and upgrading tips

More power and God bless.

justpassingby

Thanks for the event viewer errors. These ones are typically caused by faulty RAM :