0

My computer system has two Hard disks (One on 320SATA(boot disk with one partition) and one on 80Gb P-ATA(C:,d:,e:,f:)),1Gb SDDDR1 RAM, an Nvidia 6600 graphics card, a Gigabyte motherboard and a 64bit AMD3200+ processor.From 6 months or so I have noticed that the computer Hangs/Restarts without reason at n minutes after boot(where n is a random number).

I have tried updating the OS to include the latest patches, Installed Avast antivirus, checked working with Zone Alarm firewall and removed it as well... I have also tried cleaning the system for dust particles etc.

Is there anything else which I can do to possibly get the computer to run sane? Please don't tell me to throw the computer...I can run even the latest games on it(In the lowest resolution of course) so performance is not an issue at all.

Improve this question
8
  • 1
    get rid of windows (xp) ;]
    – ThiefMaster
    Jan 25, 2011 at 9:27
  • After restarting, you might be able to get some information about what happened from the system log files, which can be examined in the Event Viewer which is in the Administrative Tools control panel.
    – martineau
    Jan 25, 2011 at 12:13
  • @ThiefMaster: That wouldn't help if it's a hardware problem.
    – martineau
    Jan 25, 2011 at 12:14
  • @martineau :Already checked event viewer...nothing unusual
    – Whimsical
    Jan 25, 2011 at 14:05
  • @ThiefMaster: I thought it might be hardware fault...but I have not added anything new...It has worked perfectly for 4years...so im guessing either one of the hardware pieces is malfunctioning or it is the OS upgrade...Not sure which route to take to troubleshoot the issue
    – Whimsical
    Jan 25, 2011 at 14:07

2 Answers 2

Reset to default
0

Most simplistic and possibly fastest solution.

Backup your data, format your system hard drive and reinstall windows.

This will basically take much less time than you think it will AND pretty much guarentee that if you still have problems afterwards, its hardware related.

Improve this answer
2
  • Excellent Idea...I was thinking on same terms..+1 for you once I have enough rep to upmark
    – Whimsical
    Jan 29, 2011 at 10:11
  • seeing as you're the one who asked the question, you do have the capability of selecting my answer as the correct one, which also gives points and reputation :)
    – g19fanatic
    Jan 30, 2011 at 5:18
0

These are the classic symptoms of a bad power supply. The exact same thing happened to my old 3.0ghz Pentium 4, Radeon 9800 Pro Dell Dimension 4600. Dell put in a cheap power supply, which didn't really cut it and began to fail just after the warranty expired. If this happens when your gaming or doing other graphics card/CPU intensive tasks, it is definitely your power supply. I bought a cheap but redundant 450 watt power supply on Newegg (which was a major upgrade from my 250W or 150W, or whatever the piece of junk was), and you should too.

Although if it really does happen randomly, it could mean other things. Your CPU or RAM or GPU could be overheating. Try opening the case and using a fan to blow air inside, and see if it reboots after n minutes.

It could be a bad CPU cooler, so you might want to monitor CPU temperatures and re-seat the heatsink. Or, you could have bad sticks of RAM, which cause all sorts of stability problems. Do a memory test with a 3rd party program, and if that is the case, you may need more RAM.

Download Prime95, and run the memory intensive torture test to see if your CPU or RAM is the problem. http://www.mersenne.org/freesoft/

Improve this answer
1
  • The hanging is comepletely random...It happens when I browse the net(not even videos)...On restart it works fine..but after n minutes it hangs again...It might just be the RAM..Let me give the mem tests a go..and il let you know
    – Whimsical
    Jan 29, 2011 at 10:10

You must log in to answer this question.

Not the answer you're looking for? Browse other questions tagged .