XP & 200 Random Freezing

[moogoo]

I have a phantom problem here that's startng to annoy me really bad. I started out using Win 2000 pro and was experiencing random lockups...no mouse, keyboard etc. I would not get an error message in the event viewer as well. Tested CPU with Prime 95 on torture mode for 24 hrs and no errors at all. tested RAM with MEM86 utility all is well there.Changed out hard drive and video card...did not help. So I went on to install XP Pro and to make a long story short, I have replaced all the components to include the mother board now using (MSI), RAM 521 DDR PC 3300 etc. I am still seeing the same lockups. I am using Speedfan and my CPU temperature reads -51c? (Go figure). To see if this was a software issue with XP I created a partition on the same HD and installed Linux Redhat and even in there it locked up. Usually when I am browsing the Net but have tried different browsers as well to no avail. Please Help.

 

[Crowley16]

have you ever thought about a extremely thorough virus scan?

or maybe it's the psu not being stable or powerful enough, although prime95 should have caught that, but still possible...

Procrastinate Now!

 

[BadBigBen]

Hi there, when you tested the CPU (prime95) did you experience any lockup afterwards?

take a look at what is loaded up with windows: AUTO-RUN and disable anything unusual, post back here if in doubt as to what a proggie is for...

as you mentioned that you did a clean install of LINUX and experienced the same problem as in WINDOZE, this indicates to 99.9999999% a hardware failure somewhere...

PSU is a good point to start looking, it could be underpowered or on it's way out... I've seen RAM that passed MEMTEST86, MS Ram testing progie, and the LINUX RAM test and was still faulty...

Please post us what your system specs are, type of cpu, PSU, RAM how large how many sticks, mobo type and brand, etc... as this can help us help you better... also is it newly build or pretty old...

Ben

If it works don't fix it! If it doesn't use a sledgehammer...

 

[moogoo]

Answers to your response:
Crowley16: Yes with different AV (Avant!, Norton & Panda)
no viruses. PSU Fan looks good.

BigBadBen: No lockups through Prime95, The PSU is brand new. Speedfan says that all voltagesare good, I forgot to mention that I had XP do a Checkdisk at start up and it rebooted after the scan was done right before it told me that there were no error on the disk. Had to reset and boot windows looked into the event viewer and nada.

Specs are as follows:

Mobo= MSI KM4M-V
RAM= 2x 256 DDR PC3300
CPU= Duron 950Mhz
Video= Nvidia FX 5200 w/ 128Mbs mem
Creative sound card CT4750
Quantum 20Gb fireball drive
WD 80Gb drive

 

[satrow]

Try a new PSU.

Andy.

 

[moogoo]

A new PSU?? Why? I want to understand maybe I am missing something.

Could someone explain the -50C temp I am seeing through SpeedFan? That's odd....but i may have overlooked something.

 

[rotaman]

So you have basically tested everything, CPU, Memory, harddrive, motherboard, etc, the power supply is assumed to be ok. Now we have the certainty that it is a hardware problem, since these reboots are happening both in windows AND linux. What i would do is try to change the memory, see if that does anything, the memory could still be faulty, even after tests. The PSU is a good thing to check as well, you never know. Are your CPU heatsink and fan both installed and functioning properly? You're saying you're seeing an abnormal temperature for your CPU, so i would look at that too, as the CPU could be causing random reboots. Plus it is the one thing you haven't trying swapping.... get back to us, we want to solve this problem for ya!

 

[wahlen]

I would also try seeing if maybe the Harddrive is having problems. You say this is happening in multiple OS so its doughtful to be a virus. See if you can locate a hard drive stress test utility. Hope that helps.

Techs In A Sec

http://techsinasec.com

 

[moogoo]

With the only data that is abnormal being the -50 C reading through the diagnostic software....I'll try to upgrade the CPU. I'll let you all know what happens next.

 

[BadBigBen]

Hi there, some information pertaining to the said MOBO as to what Processor is usable...

Prozessor VCore VIO FSB max
AMD Athlon XP Barton (FSB333), Sockel A default 3,3V 166MHz 3000+
AMD Athlon XP T-Bred (FSB333), Sockel A default 3,3V 166MHz 2800+
AMD Athlon XP T-Bred (FSB266), Sockel A default 3,3V 133MHz 2600+
AMD Athlon XP Palomino, Sockel A default 3,3V 133MHz 2100+
AMD Athlon (C), Sockel A default 3,3V 133MHz 1,4GHz
AMD Duron, Sockel A default 3,3V 100MHz 1,3GHz


So as one can see the processor he uses is the right type, albeit not tested in another PC... suggestion is to try another CPU or have said CPU tested in another PC...

but found the following, which in my opinion sounds very interesting to this problem he is having... read on...

"Main Memory

•
Supports four memory banks by using two 184-pin DDR DIMMs
• Support upto 2GB of DDR200/266/333 DDR SDRAM.
• Supports 2.5v DDR SDRAM DIMM
Due to the High Performance Memory design, motherboards or system configurations may or may not operate smoothly at the JEDEC (Joint Electron Device Engineering Council) standard settings (BIOS Default on the motherboard) such as DDR voltage, memory speeds and memory timing. Please confirm and adjust your memory setting in the BIOS accordingly for better system stability.
Example: Kingston HyperX DDR500 PC4000 operates at 2.65V, 3-4-4-8, CL=3.
For more information about specification of high performance memory modules, please check with your Memory Manufactures for more details."... Quoted from the MSI website...

check you RAM settings... they may be totally off... as I had mentioned earlier that RAM may test good, but still be faulty (ie. reaches operating temps and then konks out (locks up system, causes reboots etc.))...


Hope this helps a bit...

Ben



If it works don't fix it! If it doesn't use a sledgehammer...