Windows freezes, and lockups...

[lilstone87]

Well for about two weeks now my computer has been randomly freezing. When i say that i mean one minutes im doing something on the pc and i go to click on a window or something, and it doesn't respond, but for some reason i can hit CTRL+ATL+DEL and hit cancel on option page, and things respond again until it decides to do it again.

So i started testing everything including ram,harddrive,video card,cpu,psu, and clean the inside of the computer out. With testing everything, everything checked out fine. so i then did a fresh install of windows to a wiped drive, to test if it was driver problems, and etc but still got this problem.

So im now left thinking it could be the motherboard, but i havent had any BSOD nor did i see any bad caps on the board. So is it possible this is still the board thats going bad? I know this post is long but this pc has been giving me hell lately.

 

[godless]

try running the memtest on the ram.

http://www.memtest.org/

burn the iso to a disk and boot computer with the disk. this will test your ram.

is your computer overheating? did you check thetemperatures. try something like speedfan to check the temperatures of your system

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

 

[lilstone87]

Ran memtest on both sticks of ram a few times without any errors. Cpu isn't overheating its in a well vented case.

I was just running a stress test on the cpu, and i stopped it after about 10 minutes, and looking at the graph it showed the cpu usage drop to 25% a few times, but it never caused test to stop. But maybe the cpu is going bad, because there should be no reason why the cpu usage is dropping that low on a stress test.

 

[godless]

well i doubt its the cpu. freezing sounds more like the hard drive. try running the tests using HD Tune. scan for bad sectors. do the performance test as well. see if anything pops up.

 

[lilstone87]

Well i ran that hd tune program and i ran disk checkup the other day both didnt find anything. But in the last two hours i have gotten two complete computer freezes that require pushing power button to turn off, and two BSOD's with this error codes 0x0000007e, and 0x0000003b.

I dunno what this all means but i still have feeling its either cpu or motherboard.

 

[lilstone87]

Just crashed again displaying this error code now 0x000000f7.

Btw it has my desktop now smaller then actual screen size, and also has desktop icons all over the desktop, not in there correct place.

 

[pont]

pull one ram stick and test.............. i bet you have a bad stick of ram

 

[lilstone87]

pull one ram stick and test.............. i bet you have a bad stick of ram

Sad thing is i did this yesterday and ran one stick at a time and found nothing. Trust me i was hoping for it to be one stick of bad ram but all test have passed.

 

[arael]

I'd hazard a guess and say it's your motherboard.

http://support.microsoft.com/default.aspx?scid=kb;en-us;137539
Causes of STOP 0x00000007F

http://support.microsoft.com/kb/330182/en-us
Troubleshooting a STOP 0x00000007E

I recall having the 7E on a PC I recently built, ended up being a motherboard error.

 

[photonboy]

Troubleshooting methods:

1) Proving the hard drive:
a) Get Ubuntu as a Live CD, disconnect your hard drive connections and boot to the Linux CD and run from it only
b) Try another hard drive

2) RAM:
a) Memtest as stated (excellent but not 100% postive)
b) Try one stick of RAM at a time (see Motherboard manual for exact slot)
c) don't mix RAM types (perfectly working RAM can fail when mixing)
d) Manually change settings (first try lower frequency, secondly also try raising timings, thirdly try to overvolt.)

3) Power Supply:
a) Replace (not necessarily a waste of money if you plan to upgrade later or you can sell it to someone)

4) Motherboard:
a) Replace (the biggest pain of course; you test everything else first)

5) CPU:
a) Stress test with Orthos (or look for a better test if one exists)

6) Video card:
a) stress test with free Futuremark program (3DMark series)
b) replace (I doubt it's the problem though)

7) Other (leave side of case for cooler operation and ensure all fans are working)
a) Try leaving the side open and blow and use a large house fan to blow air (not into the case but from front to back so the hot air is travelling the same direction as the rear of the case, this may prove insufficient cooling or a failing chip.)


Summary:
My guess would be a failing chip on the motherboard such as the North or Southbridge.

 

[lilstone87]

Photonboy, i think ima buy a new motherboard this week.

Because I have tested two harddrive and installed a fresh copy of windows on one, to get rid of virus/spyware/driver problems question. Tested ram many times without any errors. PSU is only few months old and is a 850watt corsair which is way more power then i need, also 260gtx video card is only few months old also, and i ran 3d mark vantage yesterday and ran fine. Stress tested the cpu today and yesterday without errors. Cpu is a phenom II 940 which is only maybe 6 months old.

So i personally think it is motherboard related with all the little cpas and etc on them board, and its no telling what could be going bad on it. Plus i have been testing everything for a good 4-5days now so i aint just do alittle and jump straight to thinking its the motherboard. Because i first thought it was ram or harddrive related, but i tested both and only got good signs for both of them.

 

[lilstone87]

Ok now on startup while everything is loading on the desktop im getting really bad laggyness when moving the mouse, and at times mouse stops. Also this problem is happen randomly even when i have nothing open or running. Plus i have a dreamscene background which moves all the time, and when the mouse starts skipping/locking up, the background is still running fine.

So does this sound like a motherboard problem or cpu to you? I wish i had the money i would just buy new parts for everything but i dont.