IMPORTANT - My Computer is having SERIOUS problems

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Antoni

Antoni

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Apr 1, 2013
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Everyone, I really need some help. My computer is having some serious problems, I bet in a few weeks I won't even be able to turn the thing on at this rate. It just keeps getting worse and worse.

The first problem is related to videos/games:
I watch videos/TV online, from a variety of sites: Youtube, BBC iPlayer, streamallthis for example. It started off as a rare thing, but now it happens literally every several minutes in video. Suddenly it will just freeze for a couple of seconds and the noise will sounds really fuzzy, possibly repeating itself. For example it sounds kind of like "BRRRRRRRRR". After the 2-3 seconds it will just resume. But this is becoming a real issue happening every few minutes.

I tried plugging my HDMI cable back into my integrated graphics, still happens. So it isn't my graphics card. I have an i5 3570k and 2x4GB 1600Mhz Corsair Vengeance 9-9-9-24.

I think it happens mostly on fullscreen, I don't think it has happened out of fullscreen before. I also noticed it happen yesterday when playing Mafia II but only for under a second. I have been noticing some FPS lag at times when playing Mafia II and GTA IV which is strange for my setup, I have a GTX 670 MSI Power Edition.
Click to expand...

And yesterday an even worse problem started:
Right my build was fine, then I added the graphics card a few months later as I couldn't afford it at first. Computer startup speed suddenly became a LOT SLOWER. That was late January. Now apparently it's at the point where after I choose my user account and log in, the colors/menu styles and everything end up like this:

joke.png


It is insane, I have AVG free edition and scanned my PC for viruses, nothing. Those blacked out parts were done by me by the way in paint.
Click to expand...

To update on the second problem, it occurs after I start my computer and login to my main account. I found if I switch user to my admin account I barely use, then logout of it and go back into my main account, the colours will be back to normal aside from a couple of taskbar icons. I can log out and back in, and it will be fine.

I started up GTA IV and played it for a while, no problems at all. GTA IV is on a disc, games for windows live.

I started up Mafia II through steam, the problem comes back and Mafia II doesn't even load correctly, when it starts up the screen is black and soundless. I close it using task manager, and my colours are back to normal. I have noticed that steam is by default in "Compatibility Mode" (I think), so my computer must be starting in compatibility mode for some reason:
eXgb4r3.png


This is extremely frustrating, my specs are:
i5 3570k (not overclocked)
2x4GB Corsair Vengeance 1600Mhz 9-9-9-24
GTX 670 MSI Power Edition (not overclocked)
 
Solution
babernet_1
A computer is so incredibly complex that you can have bizarre problems like this. For starters, the usual driver updates. Make sure all your drivers are up to date. Try to remove them first then replace with the new ones.

Second is the RAM shuffle. Bad RAM can have an infinite number of different symptoms. Take our all but one RAM stick. Be sure the single stick is plugged in where your motherboard wants it.

Third, your Power Supply may be going bad. For starters remove your graphics card and just use the CPU's graphics. If this helps, you may need to borrow a friend's power supply to verify, of course your graphics card may be bad and interfering with things.

After this, the dreaded OS reloading. Save everything you need and reload...
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Antoni

Antoni

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Apr 1, 2013
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Coolermaster GX 650W Bronze (take note it's the 80 Plus Bronze/newer version, not the old one). I have been running this PC since September, in January I got the graphics card and yes the startup became a LOT slower after installing but no problems like this.
 
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babernet_1

babernet_1

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May 8, 2012
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A computer is so incredibly complex that you can have bizarre problems like this. For starters, the usual driver updates. Make sure all your drivers are up to date. Try to remove them first then replace with the new ones.

Second is the RAM shuffle. Bad RAM can have an infinite number of different symptoms. Take our all but one RAM stick. Be sure the single stick is plugged in where your motherboard wants it.

Third, your Power Supply may be going bad. For starters remove your graphics card and just use the CPU's graphics. If this helps, you may need to borrow a friend's power supply to verify, of course your graphics card may be bad and interfering with things.

After this, the dreaded OS reloading. Save everything you need and reload Windows.

After all the above, it's either the CPU or motherboard. You may try way underclocking the CPU. If that fixes it, a new CPU is in your future.

Try the above, not necessarily in that order. It may come down to some new hardware. Which may not be all that bad, with Haswell coming out in a couple weeks.
 
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Solution
babernet_1

babernet_1

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May 8, 2012
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CoolerMaster? Great coolers and cases, bad supplies. I'd see if I could try replacing that.
 
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babernet_1

babernet_1

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Seeing how you don't know the problem, install all the drivers. Don't install the utilities.
 
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Antoni

Antoni

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Apr 1, 2013
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I've been installing drivers- the nvidia ones and my motherboard's ones. So now when I start up the computer it doesn't go into those weird colors. When I open steam and start Mafia II, it does. And thus Mafia II doesn't play like it should, the screen just goes black, I load task manager to see all my PC is in those old colours, I close Mafia II in take manager and it goes back to normal. I think a good reason why this may be happening is because for some reason I am FORCED to run steam in compatibility mode. When I was on the admin account I double clicked to open steam and it warned me "Steam recommends you don't run it in compatibility mode". So any idea how to stop my PC being forced to run it in that way:

eXgb4r3.png


Oh and for some reason this only happens on my main/limited user account. On the admin account I can play Mafia II without problems.
 
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Antoni

Antoni

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Apr 1, 2013
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This problem seems to definitley be coming from steam. I uninstalled Mafia II and then steam, restarted my computer. I download steam, and go to install it.

As soon as I write my admin password so it can do the proper installation steps, my screen colours go like this (ignore the red, I censored stuff):

sO3Zzw2.png


And then seconds later, it tells me the install failed even (this one was censored with black):

VkRhNyb.png


When I closed steam, my colours went back to normal.

What is wrong with steam running on my computer? Why does it automatically lock my computer into running steam in "compatibility mode" on my main windows computer account?
 
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