dixieskydiver 0 #1 October 10, 2004 And if it doesn't I'm certainly going to kill it. Ran Adaware and Norton and Mcafee both up to date. Nothing unusual comes up. When I run any kind of movie (divx) the computer starts having these fits of freezing and hangs. There is a subsequent spike in CPU usage. Now it has started doing that on start up, even going so far as to hang while loading in BIOS. CPU temp stays in the 38 to 40 degree celsius range. I can't pinpoint what program could be causing this if it isn't hardware. Anyone got any ideas? Dixie HISPA #56 Facil Rodriguez "Scientific research has shown that 60% of the time, it works every time." Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
wildcard451 0 #2 October 10, 2004 Any problems running any games or other graphix intensive apps? Could be a failing/overheating vid card and that may be the source of your problems. Just a thought. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
nate_1979 9 #3 October 10, 2004 QuoteAnd if it doesn't I'm certainly going to kill it. Ran Adaware and Norton and Mcafee both up to date. Nothing unusual comes up. When I run any kind of movie (divx) the computer starts having these fits of freezing and hangs. There is a subsequent spike in CPU usage. Now it has started doing that on start up, even going so far as to hang while loading in BIOS. CPU temp stays in the 38 to 40 degree celsius range. I can't pinpoint what program could be causing this if it isn't hardware. Anyone got any ideas? I've found that 90% of the time when computers just start hanging it is one of two things, eather the software load or bad memory.. If it's hanging before the operating system loads, while computer still booting BIOS I'd lean towards the RAM. If you do find that it is a RAM problem you may also have to reload the software depending on if any bad information has been written to the hard disk. Video card is another option, but I doubt it. Good luck, Nate FGF #??? I miss the sky... There are 10 types of people in the world... those who understand binary and those who don't. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Kris 0 #4 October 10, 2004 What he said.... Also, what you might try doing is reinstalling the latest service pack if it's 2K or XP. Sometimes that's a life-saver. Also, update the drivers for all of your hardware. I was having an evil time with my PC a while back, it started out of the blue. I updated the Catalyst drivers for my Radeon 9800 video card and haven't had a prob since.Sky, Muff Bro, Rodriguez Bro, and Bastion of Purity and Innocence!™ Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
nate_1979 9 #5 October 10, 2004 Yea, what he said too FGF #??? I miss the sky... There are 10 types of people in the world... those who understand binary and those who don't. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
wildcard451 0 #6 October 10, 2004 yeah, all good ideas.......best of luck with your box. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
dixieskydiver 0 #7 October 10, 2004 Thanks everyone, I'm going to try and find a memory checker to check this RAM. Don't think it's the vid card, WCIII doesn't make it hiccup. Now that I think about it, I use huge chunks of RAM to run those videos...that has to be it. You guys rock. Thanks again Dixie HISPA #56 Facil Rodriguez "Scientific research has shown that 60% of the time, it works every time." Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
AggieDave 6 #8 October 10, 2004 Or possibly a FSB that went out. That happened to me before. Kinda annoying.--"When I die, may I be surrounded by scattered chrome and burning gasoline." Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Amazon 7 #9 October 10, 2004 SHOOT it.. put the poor thing out of your misery Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
pccoder 0 #10 October 10, 2004 your motherboard or memory stick(s) could be bad. PcCoder.net Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
dixieskydiver 0 #11 October 10, 2004 OK so I ran a memory check on my RAM last night after I went to bed and it came out error free. *Sigh* back to the drawing board. Dixie HISPA #56 Facil Rodriguez "Scientific research has shown that 60% of the time, it works every time." Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
adamjenner 0 #12 October 10, 2004 hit it with a hammer Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
freeflydrew 0 #13 October 10, 2004 QuoteOK so I ran a memory check on my RAM last night after I went to bed and it came out error free. *Sigh* back to the drawing board. If you disconnect the HD and try to go into the bios, and it works fine, then you know it's HD related... If you remove the RAM and have no problem, then you know it may be the RAM... trouble shootin Windows is relatively easy. I say you disconnect the HD first and rule that out immediatley, then go for the RAM. If it's still funny at the Bios, then you may be looking at a system board problem. Hanging at the Bios rules out software. I'd put my money on the HD or RAM. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
dixieskydiver 0 #14 October 10, 2004 The real problem is that it's randomly intermittent but it seems to start when I start watching movies. Dixie HISPA #56 Facil Rodriguez "Scientific research has shown that 60% of the time, it works every time." Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
CrazyIvan 0 #15 October 10, 2004 QuoteThe real problem is that it's randomly intermittent but it seems to start when I start watching movies. Problems like this sometimes are due to a "bad DLL" that your OS (I'm guessing Windows) doesn't like or is corrupted, I'd suggest to uninstall the CODEC and re-install it again.__________________________________________ Blue Skies and May the Force be with you. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
dixieskydiver 0 #16 October 10, 2004 Yes, I attempted this path, although now that I think about it I'm not sure if it updated the codec or just the player app. Thank you Master. Dixie HISPA #56 Facil Rodriguez "Scientific research has shown that 60% of the time, it works every time." Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
AggieDave 6 #17 October 10, 2004 If its when you're watching movies, update your video drivers. Also, check for updates for the program you're using to watch the movies. Also check updates for your soundcard drivers.--"When I die, may I be surrounded by scattered chrome and burning gasoline." Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
dixieskydiver 0 #18 November 2, 2004 Alright my computer has started having fits again. First it froze during a non-graphics intensive game (Civ III), and the sound was skipping in a loop. So I force power down after I can't ctrl-alt-del out. Then it boots to windows and freezes immediately. Force power down again, next time it gets to the Windows loading screen and freezes. It does this a couple more times, and it won't even load safe mode. Then it all goes to hell, it won't even load past the BIOS start up screen and I can't even get into BIOS set up. Now I tried a bunch of things, including popping the battery out and trying without it and clearing the CMOS. A new stick of RAM started to clear up the problem, first boot into windows it froze. Then froze at the loading menu, then I told it to "Use last known good configuration settings" and now it seems to be working ok. Was it the RAM? It was that cheap Kingston RAM... Anyone else got an alternate theory? I'm going to stick the old RAM back in now that I'm using the other settings and see if it starts working again... Dixie HISPA #56 Facil Rodriguez "Scientific research has shown that 60% of the time, it works every time." Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
flyangel2 2 #19 November 2, 2004 Are you sure it didn't eat too many kisses?May your trails be crooked, winding, lonesome, dangerous, leading to the most amazing view. May your mountains rise into and above the clouds. - Edward Abbey Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
dixieskydiver 0 #20 November 2, 2004 I don't know but it's on a diet now, drinking skim milk as we type. Dixie HISPA #56 Facil Rodriguez "Scientific research has shown that 60% of the time, it works every time." Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
RevJim 0 #21 November 2, 2004 Glad it's working now dude, but that's a classic example of the video card going tits up. Even though you say it wasn't graphic intensive, you'dbe surprised. I'm willing to bet the vid card got hot, malfunctioned, and eventually shut down. After a good cool down period it started working again. Try a different video card if it happens again. Of course, i'm not sitting in front of the system so this is an educated guess, but it's very educated in these matters. (Learned the hard way about cheap video cards).It's your life, live it! Karma RB#684 "Corcho", ASK#60, Muff#3520, NCB#398, NHDZ#4, C-33989, DG#1 Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
dixieskydiver 0 #22 November 2, 2004 QuoteGlad it's working now dude, but that's a classic example of the video card going tits up. Even though you say it wasn't graphic intensive, you'dbe surprised. I'm willing to bet the vid card got hot, malfunctioned, and eventually shut down. After a good cool down period it started working again. Try a different video card if it happens again. Of course, i'm not sitting in front of the system so this is an educated guess, but it's very educated in these matters. (Learned the hard way about cheap video cards). While I can't eliminate that, wouldn't that mean the video would go out not freeze the computer? Oh and I let it cool for hours between some of the tries so I don't think it's the video card. Dixie HISPA #56 Facil Rodriguez "Scientific research has shown that 60% of the time, it works every time." Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
RevJim 0 #23 November 2, 2004 For some time mine was work/fail, work/fail, ect, then just fail. Swap it out, really. A dead or ailing vid blocks access to literally everything else.It's your life, live it! Karma RB#684 "Corcho", ASK#60, Muff#3520, NCB#398, NHDZ#4, C-33989, DG#1 Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Zep 0 #24 November 2, 2004 I had problems with videos and Real player It got to the stage where every time I tried to open the carpet where the video files were it rebooted making it impossible to delete them using windows(XP) In the end I had to install Ms dos an delete every thing to do with Real, glad I had a Mirror image without Real still took a hell of a time to delete Oh guess who owns Real, suprise suprise GATTOR Gone fishing Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
