freeze theory

[gr8whitewaldron]

Hi everyone- I live in a really tight dorm room and have recently had some problems with my computer. It often freezes or shuts off for no reason, and my motherboard is sometimes reset to the defaults. I've reformatted and had the same error and have run diagnostics on the memory and video card and such but have found nothing. I was wondering if anyone thinks this could be caused by some inductance or noise from the power strip which is very close to it. Thoughts?
Thanks
-Matt

 

[etarhan]

I think your battery may have a problem. Better check its voltage in the morning after shutting the computer off for the night.

A properly built (and grounded) computer should not be affected from electrical influences found in normal living space.

Good Luck,
Engin

 

[franky77]

Well, when it freezes, it could be not enough ram or you may have something running on your computer you do not know about, maybe virus or just some spyware program. how much ram do you have in it?

 

[gr8whitewaldron]

Thanks for the tip, I'll do that
-matt

 

[9ballhelpdesk]

If your PC is randomly shutting itself off this is often a sign that 1. Your power supply needs to be replaced or 2. Your CPU may be overheating. I would start with replacing the power supply, and then the cpu cooling fan and heat sink.

 

[zbnet]

How old is the PC?

 

[cdlvj]

Before you replace anything, open it up and direct a room fan at it.

 

[BadBigBen]

Question - How old is this Dorm, where are you located at in this World? could be bad wiring...

ETARHAN - Quote: "A properly built (and grounded) computer should not be affected from electrical influences found in normal living space." - this may be true, depending on where you live in the world... and definetly a DORM is not a NORMAL LIVING SPACE, trust me (U of A)... Voltage fluctuations within the building can cause shutdowns and freezing of PC's (even professionally built), whereas a blow dryer or vacuum cleaner just putter along...

Suggestion for a fix: after checking the PC at another location and or PSU's test (replacing with another one), it would be recommended to get a Battery backedup USV and/or good Surgeprotection...

Ben

 

[gr8whitewaldron]

It's not wiring in the dorm because now I have it at home and it's doing the same thing. Its got 512 Megs of RAM so I don't think it is a memory problem. It's 1.3 Ghz, only about two years old. I've got another power supply here I'll try and put some more heat sink paste and try another fan. Thanks everyone.

I'm glad no one was thrown off by my made up word inductance, haha, induction was the one I was looking for.

-matt

 

[allteltec]

I have had two bad mother boards 800PIII and 1.1 Celeron.
Bulging Caps on MB, one would frez up and not boot the outher is rebooting randomly.
Get a good RAM check progam and let it run for a few hours also.

 

[BadBigBen]

allteltec - good suggestion to check up upon, the Capacitors... thought about that but didn't throw it in until further info from gr8waldron...

gr8waldron - no didn't get put off, just smiled at it, and thought 'wrote it in a hurry'... *G

... but as allteltec suggested, check for those leaking/buldging capacitors (they are located at or around the CPU, tall cylindrical electronic components in case you didn't know what they are)... if they are damaged, then the only real option is upgrading (or replacing the capacitors)... let us know what you find...

Ben

 

[ceh4702]

I would open it up and see just how much dust is on the CPU Cooler. I had a similar problem on a computer about 2 years old. The Cooler did not look to bad, but the computer kept crashing. When I took it apart, the cooler had a frame around the fins to hold it in place. When I took the frame off, there was a huge amount of dust in the fins. Sometimes a Can of compressed air works really great to clean this out. Just dont blow it out in the living room. You would be surprised how much dust that can create.

If you do not like my post feel free to point out your opinion or my errors.