Computer crashing constantly! [HELP]

[Beddoes]

So yeh im not sure whats going on with my PC but its crashing all the time and at different times.. it can go on for 5 mins and crash or be on for a few hours and crash..

Doesnt seem to be a hardware problem because everything is running fine apart from this crashing..?

Also sometimes it crashes and restarts itself and othertimes it freezes and the power has to be turned off...

So please any help on this I've tried everything i can think of... :crying:

[kirupa]

Sounds like overheating. Do you have a lot of dust inside your fan/cpu/heatsink area? If that's not it, have you done a virus scan?

[Beddoes]

bloody hell that was quick and from the man himself...

Well there isnt much dust there and i checked for that .. but im guessing its overheating..

I have scanned with both norton antivirus and adaware cant find anything..?

any other suggestions? also how can I tell if my comp is overheating?

[foodpk]

Freezing suggests overheating. Restarting suggests RAM problems or driver problems. Go to your Control Panel -> System -> Advanced tab -> Startup and Recovery Settings and uncheck automatically restart upon system failure. That way instead of your computer restarting, it will show up a blue screen and provide info. Sometimes it can provide info pointing to a specific driver or device and you can go from there.
Also check your memory. It might be faulty (I had faulty memory several times and it restarted all the time). Do that by going to www.memtest86.com and downloading memtest86 and then booting up with it.
;)

[Beddoes]

Hmm so i changed the automatic restart but it hasnt crashed yet (WOW) I ran the memtest for 30 mins and it couldnt find any errors .. so im not sure if i should run it for longer

[foodpk]

It's good to run memtest for a longer period of time (a few hours or maybe even overnight) to see if errors occure under heavy data flow or how the RAM operates under heat. But if you don't have that time, run it for about an hour, if no errors show up within an hour, there's a very good chance everything is OK with your RAM.

[Maxtr0sity]

Norton isn't good enough, use AVG @ www.grisoft.com and scan that through. But by the sounds of it, it still sounds like a hardware problem, the fastest way to ensure if one of your components is lose, kick it in operation, it's not that safe, but if it restarts, then you know something's lose.

[Beddoes]

Ok so its crashed 3 times this morning already ugh (and its already 9:35am) .. twice while on AVG and once on kF!

Anyway the last time it crashed the blue screen came up and this is what i got:

something about trying disk usage or something and this:

Technical information:

***Stop: 0x0000008E (0xC0000005,0x8054AACC,0xB2BDD894,0x00000000)

yeh so i dont know what that means .. any help?

Also i'll run that memtest tonight and let it run through it all

[Jolly_Fat_Man]

Alrighty!
I'm guessing windows Xp and I'm also guessing you use some older applications...
I got that when some malware app, that I haven't gotten out yet, colides in memory use (I think) with some other not so well made app...
Its some app which doesnt show up in MS antispyware, nor in Ad-aware 6...
It colides with various other apps that don't have pros handling them...
Like Sharezaa, or Tibia, or several others...

Of course you can rule out overheating by reproducing what you did when the computer crashed, BUT you open the case and point a Room fan towards your computer, it'll be colder than normal,, but you can handle it.

Another thing you can do is:
-Open the Task Manager and shut off everything that doesn't say u can't...
I know its sorta bad, but that way u'll find out if there is anything weird running...

A hint! Programmers make crazy non-sensical names towards what you see in Task Manager so anything with a name that you understand in plain sight is usually not a normal thing or a good thing...

I know ur pain! I'm known for Mastering the Art of Crashing my Computer...

PS: Computers have warning systems for overheating... Mine beeps on CPU over-heating! If you think its better to be safe than sorry, just head on over to the nearest computer shop and purchase a case fan; usually behind the computer, near the PS/2 openings to suck out the heated air from the heatsink... If you want to go crazy with fans just put on the front blowing air in and everything else sucking air out...

Also you could get an old paint brush and clean the inside of your computer... just suck the stuff out with a vacuum cleaner. Dust increases barriers since its mainly human skin and crap, it can block heat and air flows...

It could be a bad memory, AND it might not show up in memtest...
This one is harder than the do-it urself ones be4, but u might want to get another memory of the exact same speed(MHz) and quantity(MB) and stick it in there and duplicate ur situation when it crashes...


OR, u could go all out and turn every little app u got! I mean! Every single one u remember! Big and Small! Just go down ur start menu and start opening them one by one! That will ensure overload of processor and memory and create enough heat to shut the computer on over-heating protection...
Now! u might need to do this 2 or 3 times to see if it shuts off around a certain amount of time after u start this little stunt OR if its around a mem value...

I know its not scientific, but its free!:ko:

[Beddoes]

Sorry for long reply GCSEs are kicking my time's ***!

Ok so i have run memtest for a while and no errors appeared ..

managed to do a full scan with AVG .. again nothing!

Also fat man u mention a beeping when overheating is happening ..

I believe that is what is happening..! So im gunna try some more stuff soon see what i can make happen! Btw when i save enough money im going for a liquid cooling system so then overheating shouldn't be a problem :D

Any more suggestions would be awsome too !

[simplistik]

Dunno... sometimes the simplest things could help... maybe reformat... it may be a glitch in your OS.

[Jolly_Fat_Man]

Alrighty!
A simple yet dangerously techie way is to simply replace the paste between the processor and heatsink...

Its not that much, but i recomend going to a real computer shop and requesting for a good one, since that makes a LOT of influence between a few more and a few less...
I work in Celcius so it was -10ºC after i exchange the paste...
Silicon based pastes are better, but more expensive, but i believe they're worth it...

The trick to doing this sucessfully is turning all the cables off
Making sure u touch ur computer box with ur bare hands to get the electrical discharges urself and not sensitive computer parts!
Now!
Take the heatsink off and make sure u clean it until the heatsink doesnt have a trace of the previous paste... Use papper napkins or any non moist, non abrassive, nothing that can break into pieces and stick to anything...
The processor doesnt require u to take it appart from the motherboard, and its better if no non-techies take that appart its tricky to put back...

Same to the processor, clean until its totally clean...
After that just put a dab on the heatsink and the rest on the processor...

u shouldnt have anything around the processor or heatsink

Make sure that doesnt happen, although i havent been explained why, it seems to make some sense that u shouldnt...
Maybe it passes heat off that area, or maybe it can cause short-circuits...
And it is a waist!

After that just put everything back the way it was...
And ur done!

The main reason to do this is ur case, if ur pc is recent, or if u have never gotten it replaced since the store...
If its just heat increase from the area the pc is in... Then its a little more complicated...

First Concept: The air going to ur heatsink does not go bellow the air temperature in that room
Second Concept: The paste will only help improve the transmission of heat off ur processor to the heatsink where its cooled!

So not matter what u switch air cooling only goes as cold as the air used...
That does go very far!

Another thing that improves ur Box temp is the replacement of ur Energy Unit with a good double fan one, usually i recomend that u put in a Unit with more Wattage....
REALLY expensive ones are better if u get those big name brands that get great reviews! But a good recomendation from a trustworthy and Techie savy Technician is worth a lot more, since u are restrained to the local offer...

The 2 biggest noise makers are the heatsink fan and the Energy unit, so just make those silent starting with the Energy Unit and then the Heatsink...

[Jeff Wheeler]

I would try reformatting, and as Kirupa suggested, cleaning out your box because of heating problems.

I'd also love to be the first person to tell you to switch to Apple Computers.

[Beddoes]

Thankyou for ur great reply fat man .. my dad suggested the same thing ..

I'll try to get it done over the next couple of weeks..! and post back :D

@nokrev: I'll probably reformated in the late summer after all hardware is going proberly!

and i cant switch to mac as i have no money!