PC freezing

[immortality]

my PC is freezing. no warning. the only option is to reset. it normally freezes within a couple minutes the first time you turn the PC on. once reset it generally goes ok for a while. no blue screen of death. no warning etc.

sometimes when you push reset the PC restarts but doesn't do anything, screen turns off in power saving mode. when this happens the only option is to switch the power off and wait a while.

sometimes it freezes during the boot cycle. couple times it has frozen during the RAM check.

done multiple virus scans etc. nothing. possibly a hardware issue? PC was full of dust. have cleaned out with the vacuum cleaner.

is there anyway to test hardware or diagnose the issue?

cheers

[azzfox]

I had this problem one morning about a year ago. Would freeze about 30secs after reaching the desktop. I reset it about 3 times then eventually I got nothing but a blank screen. Turns out something on the motherboard packed up. It wasnt the bios chip because I reflashed it and got no errors doing so. New mobo and all is good.

[immortality]

thats what i was thinking too.

i've just pulled out a ram stick (the original, i added some at a later stage) and it's actually running better. wait and see i guess

[s1knt]

take it out the freezer

[Goon]

sounds like the motherboard. have u tryed another harddrive, just to make sure thats not it.. if not yeah mb.

[vy_storm]

Installed any new hardware lately? Sometimes a conflict will only show up after everything has fired up and booted.

[GetToDaChopa]

PLEASE! Do NOT use a vacuum cleaner to clean your PC.

[Matt_vp]

you can buy cans of compressed air for cleaning computer componits cant you?

[immortality]

no changes for ages to the PC. been running good since i pulled the old ram stick out. better then it's done in a long time actaully. things are loading faster etc. it had issues booting after i pulled the ram stick out, reset and it seems to be fine since?

not use a vacuum cleaner? seems to work ok. sucking the dust out of the CPU cooling fan and heat sink seems like a better idea then blowing more dust into those narrow fins? there was a 3-4mm layer of dust over the fan cover

[vy_storm]

To elaborate, vacuum cleaners and their plastic and metal fittings generate static electricity which in turn fries components on your boards/cards. Compressed air can also generate static and essentially everything should be earthed when you are cleaning/opening the case.

[GetToDaChopa]

no changes for ages to the PC. been running good since i pulled the old ram stick out. better then it's done in a long time actaully. things are loading faster etc. it had issues booting after i pulled the ram stick out, reset and it seems to be fine since?

not use a vacuum cleaner? seems to work ok. sucking the dust out of the CPU cooling fan and heat sink seems like a better idea then blowing more dust into those narrow fins? there was a 3-4mm layer of dust over the fan cover

Omg no, please, how many times have you done it? It creates static around the area that you are vacuuming (static and computer parts do not mix). It does not blow more dust in it blows it of. Also cans of compressed air would be the best thing to do as mentioned above, if you do not have an air compressor.

[immortality]

Omg no, please, how many times have you done it? It creates static around the area that you are vacuuming (static and computer parts do not mix). It does not blow more dust in it blows it of. Also cans of compressed air would be the best thing to do as mentioned above, if you do not have an air compressor.

something to keep in mind for next time. i usually vac the outside case about once a month to clean all external dust build up around the ventilation holes. haven't vac'd inside for ages but i've done it a few times. never had issues. certaily haven't done anything to the PC before this failure. there was a fair bit of dust on the ram stick i took out

never had static issues. always leave it plugged in but turned off at the wall so it's always earthed though the house wiring.

don't think compressed air from the compressor in the garage is a great idea, epsecially not if you don't have a moisture trap fitted.

[immortality]

2days now and no more problems. running better then it has in ages and i've only got 1/2 the ram. maybe i got lucky this time. cheap fix. just gotta bet some replacment ram

[delcowizzid]

cheap fix in the end then mate i just use the compressor works great you can download memtest and copy it to a floppy if you still have the archaic things and slot it in then restart and leave it over night to test your ram.i just got a second hand ram stick it fails memtest in the first 5 mins of the test LOL but its still running faster than without it LOL.just crashes when i view youtube videos so i dont do that and its fine ide pull it out but the speed is to nice i cant make myself do it

[VXdarkmagic]

2days now and no more problems. running better then it has in ages and i've only got 1/2 the ram. maybe i got lucky this time. cheap fix. just gotta bet some replacment ram

Yeah definitely a RAM problem, I would have said that right up the top there...the reason you would have had to reset the BIOS after removing the stick the first time is because the BIOS would have still thought you had more RAM in than you actually did. Your PC will be running better than it was because you removed the faulty RAM, although you will find you can't run as many applications at once as you could when both sticks of RAM were functioning.

As for the cleaning/vaccuum cleaner/compressed air debate...Vaccuum cleaners are a no go, not because of static as such, but because they can suck the jumpers straight off your motherboard after which your PC will operate worse than it did before and some on-board components may not function any longer/properly. A compressor will do the job, however it can be a bit violent if there's too much power there, at work (I am an IT technician) we use can's of compressed air, because they blow the dust away, they have a directional nozzle, and they get rid of the dust perfectly.

With regards to RAM tests etc, you can use memtest, or you can use some of the other tests available on Hirens boot cd which contains memtest amongst other testing/diagnostic programs (free iso download, lots of handy little apps for many different purposes including password recovery etc)

[immortality]

thanks guys. i'm hopefully going to be moving the PC soon to a area with better ventilation so the dust issue shouldn't be as bad. the PC currently sits under a desk in a corner. i'll keep the vac cleaner for the outside of the case only

i'll try those app as well

cheers

[Kal123]

[GetToDaChopa]

Good one, that gonna keep me laughing for he next two days.