Topic: Computer locks up / freezes

[Scotia]

Hi everyone.
I hope somebody can help me as my computer has started mis-behaving for no apparent reason. With no warning whatsoever windows just "locks up". Power is still applied to the computer, the monitor is still on (not in standby), at first glance windows appears to be ok as everything is shown as normal on the desktop e.g. mouse pointer, start button etc. but nothing moves and pressing ctrl/alt/delete results in nothing happening.
The reason I don't think that this is software related (Hence posting this in the hardware thread    ) is because that twice in the past week I've completely wiped my hard-drive and reinstalled windows "clean". I have not put anything else on. No antivirus softare, no windows sp1, no new video drivers or the latest version of directx. Just bare-bones windows.
The computer still locks up at intermittent intervals for no reason.
My computer specs are as follows:
AMD Athalon 1.2
256 sdram memory PC100
20 gig hard drive (5600 rpm)
Windows XP Pro
Geforce 2 video card

During normal operation my CPU temp is 49/51 degrees centigrade with a system temp of approx 30.

If anyone could shed any light on this I would be very grateful indeed as i'm getting a DVD Burner for Christmas and really need to get this sorted before then.

Many thanks in advance.
Scotia

[Sandra]

Hi Scotia and welcome aboard  

That does seem a strange problem  

Is there anything that appears to trigger it at all, one particular program or after you have been running a few different ones ?

The only thing that I can think of at the moment is that its a memory problem.
Either your RAM is faulty or possibly the page file is too small or some program has not released the ram after its closed.
There is a link on the forum to a program that forces programs to release the memory after its closed, I will try and find it and post it for you :doggie:

[Tony]

you could try this little free program http://www.meikel.com./en/products/freemem/P6D45A8A1-C7BD-44F3-A945-F06D6DF10F38.php3  to eliminate the "hanging onto memory" theory

[Scotia]

Thanks for the replies Sandra & Tony  

I'll try and shed a bit more light on the problem for you.

About 2 weeks ago I bought Star Wars Jedi Knight: Jedi Academy and once I had installed it I then had to upgrade to directx 9. I then had to upgrade my graphics card driver as the old driver couldn't operate directx 9. It was at this point that the lock up problem started raising it's ugly head. I then assumed that it was the new driver/directx 9 which was causing the problem. I uninstalled directx 9 and rolled back to my previous graphics card driver. The problem was still there. I also had windows xp sp1 installed.

I then decided to wipe my hard drive and reinstall windows. Once windows was installed I then put norton internet security back on and another couple of minor programs. Everything was ok for a couple of days so I then put on a few more programs (no games though)and I upgraded to windows sp1. I do a lot of video editing and video encoding and it was when I was using a program called Cimema Craft Encoder that the lock up problem re-appeared.

I then wiped my hard drive again   and this time I have only put windows on on it's own. Everything was ok for about 4 days so I thought it was windows xp sp1 that was causing the problem. I then didn't put sp1 back on but I put all my video editing software back on. Guess what, within a day my computer had locked up. The more I thought about it the more it seemed that the problem only occured when my CPU/ram was really working hard i.e. first during the game and then when encoding video.

So that's my life story   and I hope that it is useful to anyone.

Thanks again

Scotia

I almost forgot to say that I'll download that memory program tonight (at work at the moment) and I'll let you know how I got on.

[Dack]

Two possible suggestions:

1. Dodgy ram - I had the same problem when I used first used CCE as it's very processor/ram intensive. Changing the RAM in the computer cured it.

2. When you use naughty software its a good idea to get all the fixes e.g. the Athlon fix which cures random lockups in version 2.50 when an Athlon processor is used (I assume thats the version you have and not 2.64)

[Scotia]

Thanks for the suggestions Dack.

It's looking more and more likely that I'll have to replace my ram. I was going to upgrade my CPU and ram early next year but this little problem may hasten it.
I'll just have to break the news gently to the wife. (She hates computers)

Best regards
Scotia

[Tony]

Pity you cannot lay your hands on a friends Memory moduale just to see if the problem persists, before you replace the memory. Or just try your memory in his PC, to see if the problem migrates to his PC.

Mind you, buying another 256 stick wont go a miss if you do a lot of video editing. I always use Crucial memory as it carries a lifetime warranty

http://www.crucial.com/store/listmfgr.asp?cat=RAM

[Adept]

I'll just have to break the news gently to the wife. (She hates computers)

Don't they all ?

Scotia. Hope you het things sorted

[Lona]

you could try this little free program http://www.meikel.com./en/products/freemem/P6D45A8A1-C7BD-44F3-A945-F06D6DF10F38.php3  to eliminate the "hanging onto memory" theory

That is a very interesting looking little programme, Tony.
I wonder if it would solve my problems with windows freezing a lot. My hubby uses excel every day and often pc runs out of memory even although I have 256ram.

[Michelle]

Me too, should I try it ?  

[Tony]

I used to use it on my last PC running Win98se with 256KB ram. You canset it to dump memory it uses loading programes after boot up. Just minimize it onto the tool bar and you can see what free mem you have left. When it get low, maximize and dump if you want.


Better still Ladies...................... DUMP ME  

[Lona]

I think I will give it a try, Tony, as Me and 98 are similar. One question, does it not use up memory running in the backround.?

[Scotia]

Hi all.

Just to let everyone know, I've ordered 512 Mb of PC2100 DDR RAM from cruical this morning. I hope to have it installed by the weekend and I'll report back my findings.

Best regards
Scotia

[Sandra]

Hope that it cures it this time Scotty  

[Tony]

I think I will give it a try, Tony, as Me and 98 are similar. One question, does it not use up memory running in the backround.?

:brick: