[Fatal Error]

alright everbody, here's the situation
my pc is an emachines with an athlon xp 3000+, 1gig of ddr ram, radeon 9800 pro, audigy 2 platinum..and the rest doesn't matter
but here's what i need help with:

my computer has been awesome since i've had it..i got it in september and never had problems with it..until now. i left my computer on last saturday night when i went to a friend's house (like i usually do) and when i came back sunday morning, my pc was running slow as all hell. i tried opening a web browser, wouldn't even load the browser...so i restarted thinking maybe it was just some little glitch. well when the computer was to boot up again, it would get to the screen before the windows boot screen and would "freeze" at about 25% of the progess bar. getting frustrated, i shut it off and turned it back on again. same thing happened, but this time i just left the computer running. after about 5 minutes (literally) the boot screen came up...then i had to wait another 3-5 minutes to actually load into the windows login screen. once i got into the login screen, i typed in my password and it loaded my user profile but it took extremely long. I tried to diagnose the problem but i couldn't figure it out. it didn't show any hardware conflict issues in the device manager so i was left to scratch my head. i tried to run anti virus, wouldn't even load the anti virus app. ran anti spyware, didn't detect anything. i really doubt it's a virus, i think it might be a bad result of using some "tweak" program i found on cnet..i tried system restore but it froze...well when i shut the pc off and went into the bios, it said my cpu was at 52 degrees. that's the hottest it's ever been and i opened the case up and put a giant fan next to my cpu blowing air into it and i got it to go down to 35 degrees after shutting it off for about 20 minutes. well once i got the temp back to 35 degrees, i tried loading windows up again, and the same thing happened. extremely long load times, etc. i don't know what's wrong with my computer. i thought it may be the processor, or the heatsink, because after having it at 35 degrees, and trying to load into windows, i shut the computer off right after the windows boot screen and when i turned it back on, the cpu was already at 42-45 degrees...so it's heating up quickly. is it the processor/heatsink? or is it just result of some weird windows glitch? if anyone can help me, it's extremely appreciated. it's my only computer and i cherish it greatly

[Xtreme Barton]

do you have any sata drives ??
also have you tried to run check disk ??
were you running any programs when you left ??


i would maybe try taking out a stick of ram too. run one stick and then run other by itself.. try re-seating your cpu if need be too.

what kind of mobo is it ?

[Fatal Error]

no sata drives, i was running winamp and aim, just the usual things that i run when i leave it..how do i EFFECETIVELY run chkdisk..everytime i run it within windows it doesn't seem to do anything..
i'll try the ram thing you mentioned and as far as a mobo..i'll have to check when i get home...

it's an emachines T3065
http://www.tigerdirect.com/applicati...400-T3065%20OO

that same computer only not refurbished. i bought it brand new from best buy in september. added another 512 stick of ram and a 9800 pro along with the audigy 2 sound card

[jonspd]

I would definitly try to reapply and reset your HSF and see what kinda result's you get.

[Fatal Error]

HSF = heat sink fan?

i'm looking at buying another heat sink and some arctic silver 5 compound but i have a few questions.

i removed my current heatsink from the processor and there was compound left on there but it was wearing off a little bit..do i have to remove the compound that's on there before applying the arctic silver or can i just apply the AS5 on top of the other compound? if i have to remove the current compound..is there a way to do it without having to buy "compound removal" stuff?

[jonspd]

The best thing to do if you going to keep that stock HSF (yes heat sink fan) is lap it there's alot of lapping guide's out ther BTW. Which would would need to clean the base then start with about a 600 grit sandpaper and work your way to a 2000. If you do some searching you will find some pretty interesting guide's on lapping. To remove that stuff use alchohol or a razor blade (be careful).

[Fatal Error]

thanks dude, i'm going to buy another heatsink and try that route..i'll update after

[jonspd]

NP let us now how it turn's out.


Be sure to read artic silver's website on applying the stuff.

[c627627]

Sounds like a classic Windows problem.

If you were to reinstall Windows, the problem would likely go away, if you were to run a program from a DOS floppy, you'd probably find the system running OK, confirming there is no hardware problem..., consider creating an image to solve this problem in minutes next time: http://www.ocforums.com/showthread.p...hreadid=214369

Welcome to the forums, don't forget our paragraph friends.

[jonspd]

I thought the same thing but then again a cpu @ stock with a 52c idleing doesnt sound right either.

[nicknomo]

No offense, but I see that so many times people reccommend resetting the heatsink even with relatively normal temperatures. I think this is a bad idea.

Think about it... most people aren't that good at taking an Athlon HSF off, and there is a decent chance they can damage something this way. I think it would be more prudent to investigate other areas first, unless they have dangerously high temps.

I'm not trying to flame your advice here, but I just think that is the LAST thing you want some of these people doing...

[enduro]

I'm going to agree with nick here. I put my AXP in my little bros computer a while back using the stock heatsink and it was running at 65°C and doing just fine. I'd try reloading Windows first and see if that solves the problem. If you feel that you can correctly install the heatsink then by all means. it's fun to install parts in your computer just be very careful not to punch through your board when installing the heatsink.

I'll give a good example of why I think it's windows. Recently my laptop wouldn't play any game at all because I would have around 3 sec lag ( in anything game related). It didn't do it in Windows and so I naturally assumed my vidcard ( 9600 Pro mobility) was overheating so I popped it out and it was doing fine. So then I called Dell and they told me to reload the graphics drivers. Didn't do anything. Then a good friend ( Nerd Logic) told me to reinstall Windows. So after some grumbling I did. Formatted it and did a clean install of all the drivers. Worked even better after that because Dell had loaded something weird on there. My fsp jumped by 20 in UT2004 and 10 in HL2. So try a clean install of Windows first. It will be worth your time. Just remember to save your important files somewhere else first lol.

[Fatal Error]

well it turns out that the problem was my hard drive. i replaced the heat sink and the cpu and it was still occuring (sp). the cpu temperatures were down to around 35-40 which were good but windows was still not loading. so after scratching my head once again for a good 5 minutes, i figured maybe i should swap my HD and install windows on my backup 40 gig to see if that was the problem seeing as i couldn't format my original drive because it kept freezing. so i installed windows on my backup 40 gigger and here i am. so i guess my next step is to mail in my old hard drive to emachines and get a new one back (under warranty), buy another heat sink and AS5 just to be safe, and do a drive image.

just out of curiousity though, what is a good program to monitor cpu temperature....

and

as far as drive image..i should do it after i install all the basic apps (winamp, pc cillin, counter-spy) correct? creating an image after you have a problem won't really help..will it?

[nicknomo]

Glad to hear you figured it out.

As far as drive image is concerned, you are right.. an image is no good if its not in a properly working state.

[jonspd]

Motherboard monitor 5 or speefan.

Everest has some nice proggy out also.

[c627627]

Did you try completely reformating the drive?

[electrorcamd]

Are you still using the original emachines psu that it came with? If you are, then that could also be part of your problem. I think most Emachines have about 250W psus that aren't very good. I checked the rails on one with a Celeron D 330, ATi Radeon 9200SE PCI, and a single stick of 512MB PC2700 RAM. The 12V rail was dipping down to about 11.7V. I am not saying that this a major problem, but if you haven't changed it, then it may be part of it.

[jessemister]

He bought an emachine so I doubt he knows what he's doing...someone explain how to properly remount the hsf and how to check these things

[Molester]

my 2 cents, ok, you messed up on buying an emachine, but's that's ok, we can salvage much

order or go buy a new case(atx), power supply, memory, and oem windows

take your barton 3200+, your 9800pro, keyboard, mouse, monitor, and your hard drive outta that p.o.s., u can keep the case/mobo/ram for testing if u like

put all that stuff in the new case, w/ the new memory, and the new powersupply, and your fresh, clean, new windows and enjoy!

noone will ever know what kinda crap oem pc manuf. pre-package in the windows disc they give you, and the mobo's aren't any better....

[Fatal Error]

wtf is all the negative feedback on buying my emachines for? i'm not a nub, and i do know what i'm doing, and i bought an emachines because for 500 bucks i had an athlon xp 3000+, 512mb of ram, a dvd rom and a cd-rw drive...the graphics were onboard so i bought a radeon 9800 pro along with another 512 and this pc is amazing. i don't care if it's an emachines in a ***** case...i donno wtf you guys are trashing on me for..w/e i fixed the problem and now i'm installing a new heatsink...oh and i run xp pro, ef that pre-packaged home edition crap

ps::thanks to those who actually helped