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Computer infested by demonic creatures

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Sliver

Member
Joined
Jul 1, 2004
Firstly, I'm running a XP 2000+ T-bred with an A7N8X-E Delux motherboard 256 megs of mem (DDR not sure on the speed) a 9800pro and a couple WD HDs. Just recently it's become severely unstable. I go to boot it up and then the mouse refuses to work, I go and unplug the mouse and then plug it back in and it doesn't help at all, and then the comp freezes completely and after a few (30) seconds the monitor goes blank. Sometimes it'll reset itself, others I've got to turn it off on the switch in the back and try to turn it back on several times. I finally got it to boot normally and got into windows and once it got to that point it seemed to be stable. But after I scanned the HD for bad sectors and rebooted the comp, it did it again. I got it to boot normally again and I'm posting from it right now, but I'm still worried that one of my components is on it's last legs. (I'm praying it's not the video card.)

I've got no formal training and never dealt with a problem quite like this before. If anyone could help me to at least find out what's happening to cause this, or help me isolate the problem I'd greatly apreciate it.

EDIT: Oh, and I'm not ocing, I've got everything at stock speeds.
 
Sliver said:
Firstly, I'm running a XP 2000+ T-bred with an A7N8X-E Delux motherboard 256 megs of mem (DDR not sure on the speed) a 9800pro and a couple WD HDs. Just recently it's become severely unstable. I go to boot it up and then the mouse refuses to work, I go and unplug the mouse and then plug it back in and it doesn't help at all, and then the comp freezes completely and after a few (30) seconds the monitor goes blank. Sometimes it'll reset itself, others I've got to turn it off on the switch in the back and try to turn it back on several times. I finally got it to boot normally and got into windows and once it got to that point it seemed to be stable. But after I scanned the HD for bad sectors and rebooted the comp, it did it again. I got it to boot normally again and I'm posting from it right now, but I'm still worried that one of my components is on it's last legs. (I'm praying it's not the video card.)

I've got no formal training and never dealt with a problem quite like this before. If anyone could help me to at least find out what's happening to cause this, or help me isolate the problem I'd greatly apreciate it.

EDIT: Oh, and I'm not ocing, I've got everything at stock speeds.

sounds like either your hard drive is dying or your cpu is dying.
 
Here are a few steps you can follow in order. Note: It's possible that one of your expansion cards (modem, NIC, sound card) could be causing problems. Before doing the listed tests, it might not be a bad idea to remove any expansion cards to remove that variable from the equation.

  1. Do as suggested, and visually check your motherboard for damaged/swelling components. If all is well then:
  2. Use a multimeter to check your PSU voltage with everything (fans, drives, etc) running. If the PSU is putting out within 10% of 12,3, and 5V, then:
  3. Run memtest 86 to check your memory. If memtest 86 passes, then:
  4. Run prime95 to check your CPU.
  5. If the CPU passes, then run 3D mark to test your video card.

If all of the tests pass, then re-install your expansion cards one at a time and see if the problem recurs.
 
Last edited:
hafa said:
Here are a few steps you can follow in order. Note: It's possible that one of your expansion cards (modem, NIC, sound card) could be causing problems. Before doing the listed tests, it might not be a bad idea to remove any expansion cards to remove that variable from the equation.

  1. Do as suggested, and visually check your motherboard for damaged/swelling components. If all is well then:
  2. Use a multimeter to check your PSU voltage with everything (fans, drives, etc) running. If the PSU is putting out within 10% of 12,3, and 5V, then:
  3. Run memtest 86 to check your memory. If memtest 86 passes, then:
  4. Run prime95 to check your CPU.
  5. If the CPU passes, then run 3D mark to test your video card.


I would add to check your harddrives with the diagnostic tool from the drive manufacturer. Most of these and memtest are on the www.ultimatebootcd.com
 
Having read your original, I'm inclined to think that it is either your motherboard or your PSU. The fact that most components that rely on the mobo for goodness have problems, makes me think that the mothererboard is the culprit. Of course, at this point, I have to issue a disclaimer.
 
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