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Geek Culture / Frequent Temporary Freezing

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AndrewT
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Location: MI, USA
Posted: 26th Aug 2009 19:14 Edited at: 26th Aug 2009 19:15
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For a little over a month I've been experiencing this very annoying freezing. It starts after my computer has been running for about half an hour or so. My computer will freeze every 5 minutes or so, and it'll last about 30 seconds. From that point the freezes get closer and last longer, to the point where they occur every 10 or 15 seconds and last about 3 minutes, and eventually I'll get a BSOD at which point I restart the computer and the whole thing happens all over again.

Also if it matters sometimes not everything freezes--sometimes only the programs I'm running will freeze and I can still move the mouse around fine.

Any idea what's going on?

Fun fact: My computer froze and unfroze 37 times while typing this post, and another 3 while editing it.

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Grandma
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Location: Norway, Guiding the New World Order
Posted: 26th Aug 2009 19:16
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Sounds like something is overheating?

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NeX the Fairly Fast Ferret
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Posted: 26th Aug 2009 19:18
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Or you're out of RAM. If you're very into your pagefile this is expected behaviour.

I experienced similar behaviour on Firefox 3 whilst it thrashed the HDD.

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AndrewT
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Posted: 26th Aug 2009 19:28
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My CPU temperature is fine, but my GPU is at 67°C with no load--could that be it?

NeX:

I doubt it, I have 2GB and I rarely go over 1GB.

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David R
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Posted: 26th Aug 2009 19:33 Edited at: 26th Aug 2009 19:35
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My guess: Hard drive. I had this problem when I received a dud WD drive and sent it back immediately.

Do a disk check (find a tool by your HD's manufacturer) to rule this out as the problem. Normally failure by this tool will mean the check will become stuck, or take an inordinate amount of time to complete

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Benjamin
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Posted: 26th Aug 2009 19:43
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I've had this problem before, but I don't remember how I solved it. Have you given the CPU heat sink a clean recently? If not, I'd advise you do so, even if it doesn't solve this problem.
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NeX the Fairly Fast Ferret
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Posted: 26th Aug 2009 20:04
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GPUs should not run that hot on idle. My onboard 7050M isn't very powerful, but it shares a die with the northbridge and is passively cooled and it doesn't ever go above 40C.

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David R
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Posted: 26th Aug 2009 20:38 Edited at: 26th Aug 2009 20:39
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If it were the GPU, the issue would be continual and would most likely cause visual artifacts - I wouldn't expect to cause lock ups in a random pattern. And 67C is completely safe (high for idle, but then it depends on your uptime too)

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Monk
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Posted: 26th Aug 2009 21:21
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My pc used to crash whilst playing games but I reckon this was psu problems.

I doubt it will be to do with gpu or psu, but it sounds to me most like a memory or hhd problem. Try http://www.memtest.org

I downloaded it as .iso, burned it to a cd and ran it. Takes a while but it does a full test of your ram.

Monk

I like work. It fascinates me. I sit and look at it for hours.
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AndrewT
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Posted: 26th Aug 2009 21:33
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Quote: "Have you given the CPU heat sink a clean recently?"


Yep.

I'll do some HDD and memory tests right now.

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AndrewT
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Posted: 4th Sep 2009 19:59
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A little update:

I've ran some HDD tests and ruled that out as a problem. I can't run memtest, because my computer won't allow me to boot from CD. Here's what happens when I turn on the computer:

1. First, it'll either go to the BIOS screen or the monitor will remain black, which happens about 25% of the time. When the monitor remains black I have to restart the computer.

2. If it does make it to the BIOS screen, it displays some info about my computer followed by a listing of specs that are prefixed with IDE and SATA. Once these specs have been displayed, the computer will often freeze--this happens about 90% of the time.

3. IF it doesn't freeze, then a majority of the time a little statement will pop up: "Floppy Fail(40)", followed by a "Please reset CPU or memory frequency in the CMOS setup" (I'm not sure what either means). These are typically followed by a "Press F1 to continue or DEL to enter setup."

4. If I press F1 I go to the next screen. At the bottom there it usually says "Verifying DMI Pool Data........Update Success". It freezes here about half the time. If it doesn't, it displays a "Boot From CD". It freezes here just about every time, and if it doesn't, then I don't get the choice to boot from CD, it just skips over it.

4. If it still hasn't frozen (which it almost always does by this point) it goes to the Windows loading screen, which displays a green loading bar. It freezes here about 75% of the time, at which point I have to turn off the computer and repeat the whole process.

5. And finally IF I make it here, then I load my Windows profile and wait another 5 minutes for that to load. Once it's loaded I can start Firefox, although it typically takes about 10 minutes for Firefox amongst other applications to open, regardless of how many times I attempt to open them.

So that's my computer experience in a nutshell. Yay.

Any help is very much appreciated.

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NeX the Fairly Fast Ferret
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Posted: 4th Sep 2009 20:04
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Sounds like a dead motherboard.

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Omega gamer 89
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Posted: 5th Sep 2009 12:01
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Quote: "Please reset CPU or memory frequency in the CMOS setup"

After a little googling, it looks like this has something to do with a Processor or Graphics card being overclocked.
However, it DOES mention the memory too. Have you ever overclocked anything on this system? If not, then Im guessing its your RAM.
How many chips of RAM do you have? If its more than 1, try removing them 1 at a time and see if it helps.

I have a devious mind.
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AndrewT
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Posted: 8th Sep 2009 00:03
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Quote: "Have you ever overclocked anything on this system?"


Nope.

Quote: "If its more than 1, try removing them 1 at a time and see if it helps."


Already done that with no success, and I can't run a memory diagnostic because of the reason mentioned in my previous post.

Quote: "Sounds like a dead motherboard."


Thanks, I'll check that out.

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