32 replies to this topic

[PassTheBuck]

Hi all, just bought a second hand PC and its started freezing now and again, anyone have any ideas what may bee the cause please???

 

Ta in advance  PTB

[dmmsta]

Did you install the OS or was it already on there?

 

Bit difficult to diagnose without some more info.

[PassTheBuck]

Hi Adam, it had Windows 7 installed mate

[Favs]

Microsoft up there with Lucas in the Prince of Darkness stakes.

[muddy]

As Dmmsta say's, we need a bit more info, preferably the PC specification, CPU, RAM, etc.

[PassTheBuck]

Sorry for the delay, its an Intel pentium 4 2.8 ghz with " gig of ram, running Windows 7 ultimate

2 gig of ram doh!!

[muddy]

Sorry for the delay, its an Intel pentium 4 2.8 ghz with " gig of ram, running Windows 7 ultimate

2 gig of ram

is it using onboard graphics chip or does it have a separate graphics card?

[PassTheBuck]

Just its onboard graphics mate, and just had to re-boot after it freezing for the fourth time in 4 days.

 

Ta

Did the same with a graphics card in so i took it out to try

[dmmsta]

Anything in event viewer just prior to the freezes?

 

Could be a driver issue, or potentially a dodgy RAM module.

 

Take a RAM stick out and run it for a while to see if it does it again - if nothing swap and repeat.

Could also try moving RAM into alternate slots if you have them...

 

Also - is it complete deadlock, or does there appear to still be disk activity when it freezes?

[muddy]

you've not really given a very detailed account, so it's difficult to diagnose. A Pentium 4 is getting on a bit. If it was me I'd burn a copy of Ubuntu and try running that. Linux runs better with old tech than Windows 7 or 8.

[dmmsta]

As per Muddy the CPU is getting on - it is as fast as todays spec's but the architecture of the P4 is dated now.

 

Win7 should still run, just a bit slowly - should cause the freezes though, just bog down more than anything.

 

Check to see if drivers are all up to date, and swap out RAM if you can

[nakeddivy]

An older spec pc would have more than likely come with either Windows XP or Vista, its possible that the operating system was changed at some point. If the operating system came pre installed by a system builder or OEM then by law they attach the licence or certificate of authenticity to the casing somewhere, on desktops its usually on the side of the case or the top and on notebooks on the underside, if its a software problem like virus/malware or similar a fresh instal is the best fix but you will need this licence number and it will look like this below, hopefully you were given this as part of the sale, you will need it if a re install is required. If you have no COA licence sticker then I would check that its genuine software here http://www.microsoft...ll/default.aspx

 

 

 

Before you waste time with software you really should make sure that the most common hardware components to fail are in working order, ie. the RAM and the hard disk. If you have access to another computer and you know how to burn a CD or DVD from an ISO image then grab a copy of Ultimatebootcd from this website, Boot from this disc by placing it in the drive and switch the computer off, power it on again and press and hold F12 for a few seconds, a menu will appear to choose the devive to boot from, chose your optical drive. http://www.ultimateb....com/index.html

 

Run any of the manufacturers full hard drive diagnostic tests from the HDD Diagnostic menu on the disc, this will take quite a while and witll either flag up errors or tell you the drive has passed. normally the Seagate Seatools tests or the Hitachi tests will work fine with other manufacturers drives but if the diagnostic fails to detect the drive it might be worth popping the side panel of the case and looking at the label on the hard drive to identify the manufacturer.

 

If your hard drive passes a full test then run memtest86 from the memory diagnostic tools menu, this will also take some time and will either flag up errors in red or pass on completion. If both your hard drive and RAM are ok then I would look at booting into safe mode, installing something like malwarebytes free etd. and run a full scan for web nasties https://www.malwareb...rg/downloads/If all the above checks out fine and its not something like a overheating or motherboard problem then a fresh install of the operating system should then sort it.

 

Test the hard drive and ram first, it would be a waste of your time otherwise in my opinion.

Edited by nakeddivy, 16 August 2014 - 09:02 pm.

[PassTheBuck]

Hi Guys and thanks for your input, 

 

Nakeddivy, wow you know your stuff mate, I'll do as you indicated and let you all know how it goes.

I have the above sticker on the side of the machine so all should be fine,

many thanks all  PTB

[PassTheBuck]

Hi guys, just got home to do a couple of the things you suggested and before switching on I thought i would change the memory sticks first , also checked the sticker on the side panel  and noticed that it was for Windows Vista and not Windows 7 ult as is installed. When I started it up without memory in it wouldn't show anything on screen but was working so after putting my old memory sticks in instead of the ones which come with it , it started up fine and up to now not frozen. Fingers crossed that the memory could have been at fault and time will tell I suppose.

 

Watch this space for any updates.

 

Ta fellas up to now PTB

[PassTheBuck]

Seems ok at the mo guys, looks like the memory swap has done the trick, fingers crossed

[TKH]

be careful as dodgy memory can corrupt the hard disk.

[PassTheBuck]

Well alls ok up to now, still browsing since 2 thisaft, fingers still crossed

[dmmsta]

Technically it bad memory doesn't corrupt the disk, just files that are written from memory to disk.

 

THe problem only comes if the system is writing a critical system file update and corrupts that.

 

Memory is cheap these days, and based on the CPU you'll probably pick up additional / replacement RAM for peanuts on eBay or the like.

 

As you're running Win7 I've suggest trying to get to 4GB RAM (if the CPU is 64bit then 6GB would be ideal).

[PassTheBuck]

Hi Adam, just turned the machine on and it froze after 20 secomds or do, re-start and it seems to be fine, Strange

[PassTheBuck]

Just checked the hard-drive and RAM and both come thru ok, where or how can I download Windows 7? I have the oem code number,

 

Ta