Hey guys, I am rather baffled by

[mgicash]

Hey guys,

I am rather baffled by this problem. My fiance's computer is acting rather strange. Starting about two days ago, we got back from a weekend away, and when we returned home, i noticed that when i tried to wake the computer out of sleep mode it did not respond. (no response from keyboard nor the mouse) I thought no big deal, so I restarted by cold rebooting. The computer booted up fine, and ran great for another few hours until i went to use it again. This time it had not gone into sleep mode, but was just sitting idle. When I went to move the mouse, it did not respond and the cursor was froze on the screen. The keyboard did not respond to any CTRL-ALT-DEL or any keys that I pressed. So once again I cold rebooted. When the computer started back up, it worked fine again. The computer locks up and freezes between 30 minutes after restart any where up to 3 to 4 hours, every time after I have restarted it. I have tried everything I can think of. I have searched several times with Virus scan and found no viruses, looked under event viewer to see if anything strange is occuring (nothing out of the ordinary there) , and just run out of ideas. I have no idea what the problem could be. I dont beleive anything has gone wrong with any of the components because the computer still runs great other than the freezing up problem. If yall could help I would really appreciate it.

Here are the system specs:

1 Ghz AMD Athlon
384 megs of PC100 Ram
16 mb tnt 2 pci video card
40 gig hd
cd burner
dvd drive

I am not sure what the motherboard is because it is a compaq computer and I hate looking in there because they always make everything so screwy, and never label anything.

Thanks for all your help,

mgicash

 

[linney]

Have a check of Windows Update to see if there is a patch for resuming from Hibernation.

Have you checked the Event Log to see what error you are getting have a look in both System and Apllication logs.

Here is some reading for you.

http://www.google.com/search?sourceid=navclient&querytime=wC&q=hibernation+problem+windows+xp

http://groups.google.com/groups?q=hibernation+problem+windows+xp&hl=en&sa=N&tab=wg

 

[RSA]

Also, as always with Compaq, make sure you have the latest BIOS updates for your machine. The updates are available at

http://www.compaq.com/support/files/

just make sure you know which 'family' your BIOS is. This can be found in the BIOS itself (usually a system info screen).

 

[mgicash]

I did check on the event log and nothing unusual showed up. It also occurs not only after hibernation, but just when the computer is sitting there, or even sometimes when I am using it, it will freeze. I will try updating the BIOs when I get home. Thanks guys for all the help.

mgicash

 

[JLSigman]

Check to make sure the power supply fan is running. It almost sounds like the processor is overheating, since it happens every few hours. Jennifer Sigman
Code-borrower extraordinaire
"They call us public servants for a reason..."

 

[Jakman]

The problem stems from heat. I have two Pesarios, make sure that ur fan vents are clear. Have a tech clean the inside of it. Good luck.

 

[SQLBill]

I had a problem similar to this and the computer 'died'. The shop determined the system board burned out. Replaced the board and within 10 days it happened again. Same symptoms, shutting down on it's own and then finally dying. A friend (a SA at work) suggested I have the shop check the power supply. Turned out COMPAQs have a problem with their power supply and it sometimes messes up the system board. By the way, mine is a brand new COMPAQ with almost the same setup as yours.

So, I suggest replacing the power supply if JLSigman's solution doesn't work.

-Bill

 

[mgicash]

Thanks for all the help. I have checked on the compaq sites, and there is no BIOS updates available for the computer. I have also opened the case and both the power supply fan and the processor fan are running fine. I agree that I think it is overheating so I am going to go out and get a case fan and still probably replace the processor fan. I hope this will have an effect. I also notice now when I restart the computer after it freezes, when it is loading XP, at the screen where the blue bar scrolls across the screen underneath the windows xp logo, it now takes forever to get past that screen. The little blue bar, doesnt scroll smoothly like I remember it, not it scrolls for a few seconds, stops for a minute, then scrolls again. The process repeats for like 10 minutes then the computer finally starts up. Maybe this is something yall have seen before? When I put in the new fans, if they have no effect, I am going to look into the new PS, that SQLBill mentioned. If you have any other ideas since the new info that I posted, it would be appreciated.

Thanks again,

Ash

 

[pry]

Athlon CPUs are known to "freeze" the system, especially on a newly built computer. Is this a new one? Anyway, I had my computer freeze up (Athlon 1800 + with an Abit KG7 Raid mobo, Win XP Pro, and I fixed it by setting the CPU P/N Slew Rate to 6, rather than the default of 3. Maybe you can check your BIOS setting, and see if you can change something there. I don't know about Compaq. I would check the system and cpu temparature before I blamed overheating...
let us know what happens, and good luck!

James

 

[mgicash]

I am not sure if this is the solution to my problem, but I think this may fix why my computer is freezing up. I didnt even think about this, but my fiance pointed out that I might have too many things plugged in and her computer might not be getting enough power. I wasnt even thinking about this, but in one power strip I have a two computers, two monitors, a lamp, speakers, and a switch all plugged in. And the other computer is constantly running, so I think this might be the cause. Do any of yall know whether or not having all these devices plugged in to the same strip could make my computer freeze?

mgicash

 

[SQLBill]

I have a computer (COMPAQ), printer (HP all-in-one), monitor, speakers, telephone, and something else (I can't remember what it is right now) all plugged into a power strip and don't have any problems. At least not since my power supply was replaced in the Compaq.

-Bill

 

[ColdPhreze]

The problem is most likely NOT an external power problem. You probablly have a hardware problem somewhere. It may be anything.

First you do want to rule out software, so backup all data and do a full system restore using the cds that came w/ the compaq.

If it still locks up, continue with below process.

Remove all unnecessary hardware (all external hardware except keyboard mouse and monitor, then internal cards like sound and modem, but not video) until either you cannot remove anything else or find that the pc no longer locks up.

If after doing all that it still locks up, you have a problem with 1)cpu 2)motherboard 3)ram.

Experience, Knowledge, and good friends are your best allys.

KyferEz

 

[squirtgunboat]

I have had this problem in several versions of Windows and it was as simple as turning off the energy saver settings in the screen saver tab of the display properties. In there you will find system standby and monitor and HD energy saving schemes. Once I set to never, I NEVER had that problem again (no pun intended). Could be worth a try, sometimes the most irritating problem is the simplest fix!

Good Luck,

SG

 

[ColdPhreze]

Yes, but that is not the best way to fix it. The energy saving features not only reduce energy consumption, but also keeps your monitor from wearing out prematurely, as long as the settings are not too short. The monitor will dim and become fuzzy much sooner without the use of the energy settings to turn off the monitor.

A good balance will save energy, money, and the monitor. About an hour, more if you use the computer a lot, is a decent median.

KyferEz

 

[mgicash]

Well, I finally backed up all the data, and formatted the computer. I repartitioned the hard drive, and I started formatting a 28 gig partition last night and let it run while I was asleep. I thought everything was fixed, with just formatting the drives, because it hadnt frozen in a long while. Well when I woke up this morning, the computer wasnt responding to anything, it was asking for a volume label for the partition, but when i pressed enter it did not respond. So obviously the computer is still freezing.
I am going to try pulling out all the hardware now and adding it back one by one. Thanks for all the help.

mgicash