Useless computer

[thegatekeeper]

Hmm i don't know if this topic belongs here, but how come my computer is crashing with everything i do? If i leave flashget overnight, i come up and find it closed on its own and all the downloads that where running went to their previous state (like i never left it running), if i unrar a large volume my computer hard locks and i need to restart. Even when playing games it sometime hard locks during loading. This just started happening on its own one day, i don't know if the system got corrupt from nothing at all or if its a hardware problem. My CPU is overclocked but i ran prime95 for over 12 hours and no errors happened.

What are your thoughts?

 

[xanoth]

have you tried running a memtest?

also has this just started happening or has it done this since you got the PC?

 

[cfvh600]

Put everything back to the stock settings and see if it still crashes.

 

[Smoked Turkey]

How overclocked is it? You could try dropping it back down to the OEM settings and see what happens. If nothing it might be a memory issue. You could also try bumping the memory and/or CPU voltage up a little too if they are already somewhat low.

If anything start with the easy stuff. Check the logs in Computer Management for any errors. You could also run a CHKDSK /f from the command prompt and restart. But if it is locking I would say hardware.

 

[thegatekeeper]

My CPU is at 2886 from its stock speed of 2600, at a voltage of 1.33 (voltage is set to auto).

I have ran prime95 for a very long time and the computer didn't even give one error or warning, doesn't this mean that the CPU is stable?

I have ran memtest for a short time up to 100% coverage and it didnt give any errors but i need to let it run for more, i will do it overnight. The program would only run by starting 2 different memtest processes and setting them to 511 each (i have 3 gigs installed), is this correct?

 

[grieve]

definate sounds like a Memory issue... memtest till it fails lol

 

[Onus]

Memory, heat, ESD, or power glitches. Prime95 running for a long time makes heat less likely. How reliable is your power, and is your PC protected?
Any large cyclical current loads on the same circuit? Examples would be laser printers, space heaters, refrigerators, or other things that generate lots of heat or contain motors.

 

[thegatekeeper]

Memory, heat, ESD, or power glitches. Prime95 running for a long time makes heat less likely. How reliable is your power, and is your PC protected?
Any large cyclical current loads on the same circuit? Examples would be laser printers, space heaters, refrigerators, or other things that generate lots of heat or contain motors.

If you mean if something else is connected to the same outlet, no, but the plug has 2 outlets on it so sometimes things like an microwave oven or a mobile charger get connected there.

I will let 2 instances of memtest run overnight each at 511 and see if it finds anything.

Thanks.

 

[evongugg]

I would reload Windows.

 

[thegatekeeper]

I would reload Windows.

You mean a reinstall? It hasen't been even 5 months since my last format.

 

[evongugg]

You probably have a problem elsewhere if it has been reinstalled 5 months ago.
But search for trojans and viruses.
How much memory is bein used? How much is the CPU usage at idle?

 

[Onus]

A microwave oven can be a considerable cyclical load. Even small ones are often 700W, and large ones can be 1200W or more. The mobile charger is insignificant. Was the microwave in use when you had problems?
Looking for trojans or virii is also a good idea.

 

[thegatekeeper]

You probably have a problem elsewhere if it has been reinstalled 5 months ago.
But search for trojans and viruses.
How much memory is bein used? How much is the CPU usage at idle?

At idle the CPU is at around 1-5%, i don't know how to check my ram usage.

A microwave oven can be a considerable cyclical load. Even small ones are often 700W, and large ones can be 1200W or more. The mobile charger is insignificant. Was the microwave in use when you had problems?
Looking for trojans or virii is also a good idea.

No, it wasn't dependent on weather something was plugged into the wall socket, the crashes while playing The Witcher always happen when the game was loading, the other crashes i noticed was when extracting winrar files that are very large and that flashget closes on its own when left overnight (also restoring all torrents back to 0%).

I was thinking this was because my system was running out of memory address space, because i have 3 gigs of ram, 512 graphic card memory, and 64 megs on my sound card, and a 32-bit system can only support up to 3 gigs total. But then i thought if this WAS the problem, it would have happened from the beginning and not just now all of a sudden.

No viruses or trojans where found, althou Avast found something called Decompression Bombs, watever that is.

Also, where does XP keep the log from when windows crashes?

 

[Onus]

A decompression bomb is a type of malware. Google it; plenty of listings. Something like that, even temporarily filling your hard disk, would certainly cause a crash.

 

[maltaguy]

run memtest, if it finds no errors then reinstall windows, if problem still persists dump the sucker ;p

no really 5 months is more than enough for windows to become royally screwed up with all the trojans/viruses lurking behing every corner nowadays. my bet is that a reformat will do the job, but if that still fails then 99% its a hardware issue

 

[thegatekeeper]

I ran memtest+ for over 5 hours and it found nothing, so its windows, time to format.

 

[onestar]

I had a client machine that used to do that. It turned out to be a virus. The antivirus would try to delete/quarantine the file and the machine would dump/reboot. It took a while and a different antivirus program to fix it.

 

[maltaguy]

tbh when i get a virus, antivirus programs never relly manage to remove it 100%, reformatting always does the trick for me, just have to remember to kep a backup at all times

 

[thegatekeeper]

I formatted, reduced CPU speed, tested RAM, checked my hard disk SMART report and it is still doing this. Whats wrong???

 

[bliq]

faulty PSU?

 

[Onus]

Power glitches, PSU or possibly mobo?

 

[Shadow703793]

Possibilities:

1. Windows has problems
2. PSU
3. Power glitches

 

[rwpritchett]

Just to throw some more ideas out there, maybe it's a bad driver or IRQ conflict? A reinstall of Windows wouldn't cure that if you load the same drivers. Food for thought...

 

[thegatekeeper]

The drive IS showing some strange signs, it spins up and down when i'm using it causing whatever i am doing to stop for a bit (like copying files, it spins down and the "Time Left" field goes crazy), but the computer is crashing even when the drive has managed to copy the files on to the computer and i run the installer from there.

I have not installed any drivers for my drive, i don't think there are any.

Oh, and have a look at my voltage readings from speedfan:

How does it look?

Edit: the cd in the drive had some cracks at the bottom, so nevermind what i said about my drive.

 

[thegatekeeper]

The "Windows has recovered from a serious error" said it was caused by a some driver, but it didn't mention which. How am i going to find the culprit?