RobT

Forgive me for asking a newbie question with (probably) insufficent information and (possibly) for posting in the wring forum. Lately my computer seems to inexplicably freeze for no good reason, and I'm beginning to think it may be a video card or video driver problem. Here's what I've noticed:
- The problem doesn't seem to occur when I'm in safe mode
- It seems to happen most often when I'm actively online (i.e. - downloading or on the net)
- Even when it is working, I get the "Windows Explorer closed unexpectedly" message on a regular basis
- The computer is totally unresponsive (including Ctl+Alt+Del), but the mouse still moves around, the animation on the mouse is active, and the NUM LOCK key on the keyboard works.

I have reinstalled XP a couple of times, but the problem persists. I have an ATI Saphire (RADEON) X300SE video card and an AMD Athlon 64 bit 3000+ (1.8 GH) CPU.

Thanks in advance for the help!! It's gotten to the point where the only way I can operate my computer with any degree of confidence is in safe mode!

dai

do you get any reboots or error messages
check your tempretures and voltages with this
http://www.cpuid.com/pcwizard.php
run
chkdsk /r

Rebellion88

Did you get a random blue screen known as the blue screen of death? With some error codes as dai stated. When your computer freezes next, reboot to get your system working again, then go into:

control panel -> Administrative Tools -> Event Viewer.

Then a new window will open up and click system and scan down the list, for a cross icon it should be fairly recent if it only just crashed. Click on it, a properties window will appear and give you and error code and the parameter codes with a description. You can google the code, or post it here and we can figure out the problem for you.

RobT

On Wednesday nite I got fed up and completly reinstalled windows, all of the peripherals, key software, windows updates, etc. Four hour later ...
- I started running into a brand new problem. Windows doesn't freeze, but some programs just won't run
- e.g. - NERO is properly installed, but it I try to start it (either by clicking on the icon or through the "run" command), and nothing happens.
- e.g. - when I try to run add/remove, it tells me to "please wait while the list is being populated", but it never gets there
- e.g. - when I reinstalled Office 2003 from my install disk, there was a looonnnggg period of time between my clicking on the "install" button and the installation process actually beginning.
- e.g. - when I tried to shut it off, it simply refused to respond. I ended up diconecting the power supply to shut it off.

This is all since I reinstalled Windows Wednedsay Nite! Who knows what new horrors await. There was no chance to clog up the registry, infect the computer, etc. Once again, everything seems to work just fine in my old friend, SAFE MODE.

I really believe I'm dealing with a video card problem, and I don't know if the card is nackered or whether it's just overheating. I was having a problem with the HD's overheating, so a while ago I installed a number of fans. A couple of Hard Disk analysis utilities I run indicate thay are fine, but I ran SpeedFan this morning, and it indicated that something was overheating (I'm not sure what). If the Video card is overheating, I don't think I have any room to install any more fans! My power supply is a 550W, so I assume that's not it.

Can anyone offer any advice, or do I have to go back to my nintendo, typewriter and abacus?

Thanks!!!

Rebellion88

Sounds a bit more than just overheating, please can you post your full system specs, your speed fan temperatures when idle please. If you have had any blue screen of deaths, i take it the system isn't new but have you installed or changed any hardware. Make sure all your drivers are up to date, you can do this in device manager found when you go into system properties.

dai

did you run this
http://www.cpuid.com/pcwizard.php

RobT

Yes I did ... which results would you like me to report on?
Thx!

dai

volts and temps

RobT

Here's the info from pcwizard:
CPU Core - 1.36V
Aux. - 2.59V
+3.3V Voltage - 3.34V
+5V Voltage - 2.8V
+12V Voltage - 11.5V
Chassis Fan - 3308rpm
Processor Temp - 70 Deg F
Processor Temp (Diode) 84.2 Deg F
Hard Disk Temp - Maxtor 60 Gig - 77 Deg F
Hard Disk Temp - WD 250 Gig SATA - 86 Deg F
Hard Disk Temp - WD 250 Gig SATA - 80.6 Deg F

When I run speedfan, I get some interesting results:
Temp 1 - 25C
Temp 2 - 21C
Temp 3 - 69C (!!)
Temp - 1C
HD0 - 27C
HD1 - 26C
HD2 - 28C
Core: 23C

Fan 1: 3375 RPM
Fan 2: 0 RPM (!!)
Fan 3: 0 RPM(!!)

I'm afraid I don't know what Temp 3 measures. Speedfan has a little flame icon next to it, though, which means it's a problem. Clearly, fans 2&3 are a problem too. I'll be taking it into the shop later today to get that looked at. I don't know if there is anything else I should be asking them to check out, though, or if there is anything that needs to be replaced.

Hope this is what you were looking for. Thanks so much for the help!!

dai

temp 3 there is no sensor ignore it mine shows around 155c
it appears you have a problem with your voltages double check them with those listed in the bios
if they are the same you need a psu replacement