Totally Screwed. Need any help I can get.

[OmnipotentKiwi]

Alright guys, normally I don't ask for help but this problem has me totally confused w/o anymore ideas, so:

Symptoms:
Random Program crashes: Various programs will become non-responsive and close for no apparent reason.
High Load Tolerance: When any kind of high load occurs, the computer restarts itself.
Shut Down/Restart: Whenever shutting down or restarting, the computer will often hang indefinitely, even though not being fully "crashed" (num/caps lock still works, so the keyboard is still responsive).

Things I have tried:
Full format. My initial diagnostic was that a Planetside crash totally screwed Windows since a lot of the clues pointed in that direction. restore did no good either. The full format did improve the condition, but I doubt it was connected in anyway.

Full Virus Scan: Updated Norton, nothing found.

Individual removal, cleaning, and reinstallation of all hardware: I cleaned my vid card/ram/PCI slots, etc w/ contact cleaner w/ the power off after waiting a while to prevent damage. Reinstalled all the parts, and still nothing.

Recent changes to my computer:
The only serious change in the apst three months was a very recent RAM upgrade. Even after removing the new stick of RAM, the problems still occur.

Comp Specs:
Gigabyte Intel 845G Mobo
P4 2.20Ghz
Mushkin Black PC2700 DDR CAS222. 2 sticks of 512MB
Western Digital "J" HD. 120GB w/ 7200RM
Audigy Platinum
OS: XP Pro

So, please help if you can. :)

[NoSurrender]

kiwi im totally stumped

[Hunter83]

Hmm, sounds like a Power Supply or mobo problem.
Do you have an extra mobo that you can try out to see if it still happens?

I need sleep, but I'll chekc this post again in the morning and try to think some more.

[OmnipotentKiwi]

Power supply was something I replaced after I got this problem (we think the same here). Unfortunately, I have no mobo I can just grab and pop in top of the line parts to without pulling a few strings. I'll try that if no other ideas surface.

[Cyanide]

Sounds like there's something wrong with your processor to me. Check your CPU core temps. Bad processor would explain the randomly freezing programs as well as the occaional restart.

On a side note. DirectX also causes those symptoms. Does it only crash with programs that use Direct3D? When you formated and re-installed what did you re-install from? Was it a drive image or did you re-install windows manually and go from there?

I would suggest that you re-download and update all your major drivers including DirectX, your video drivers, and your sound drivers. If that does not fix it get a new processor.

[OmnipotentKiwi]

Definitely not a DX problem as it occurs outside of those situations. I will check on my processor. Tempature currently runs around 36-40C for the processor.

[SpaceDrake]

Originally posted by OmnipotentKiwi
Tempature currently runs around 36-40C for the processor.

Are you absolutely sure about that?

Aside from heat, I can't think of anything that could damage a processor enough to impair functionality like this. It's not the sound card, as the freezes and reboots are random (and I doubt something as simple as an IRQ conflict could bring XP Pro to it's knees like this.) I know it's redundant, but it has to be a motherboard problem. See what you can do about finding a comparison board.

[OneManArmy]

sounds like the mobo to me 2. considering it still acts up after you have gone through that whole routine.

[OmnipotentKiwi]

Absolutely positive it isn't a heat issue. I'm not any computer newb or anything, which is why I am totally baffled. Upon one of the suggestions given, I borrowed a P4 that was around and stuck it in. So far, so good, but that isn't saying much since I don't currently have anything to stress test with. I'm going to go to bed and will try to update you guys tomorrow.

Spacedrake: I am absolutely positive on the temperture. Generally it caps out around 43-45C after running for extremely extended periods of time (8+ hours).

[SpaceDrake]

Well, when you wake up and have some free time tomorrow, use 3DMark or something to flog the hell out of the processor and see what happens. I still can't think of how you could've damaged the processor outside of heat, though...

[Sentrosi]

kiwi, may I suggest you download SiSoftSandra and put it through the stress tests it has? It may not be much, but if you start it then go to work, come home and look at the logs, that my be able to tell you what is up.

Just a suggestion.

[OmnipotentKiwi]

I'm totally baffled myself. Heat has always been highly monitored on my computer, if has NEVER broken 50C. I'm curious if I actually got a poor processor as odd as that sounds. Glad I don't buy OEM processors right now. Downloading something to stress test now.

[OmnipotentKiwi]

Another Internet Explorer freezeup. Processor says 100% usage for the entire hang. Can't ctr-alt-delete the program, had to restart the computer.

Best bets are now down to mobo and HD.

[Sentrosi]

Is the HD making noise?

If not, perhaps the board.

[OmnipotentKiwi]

Probably be a day or two until the next update. Next part (finding a replacement mobo to test) is going to take a bit of coordination. :-P

[CDL Full Otto]

Check the RAM again. I had a similar problem, replaced about everything I could think of (had 2 machines to test with)

Came down to 2 bad memory modules out of 4. Almost the same problems I am seeing you post.

Otto

[OmnipotentKiwi]

For anyone who was still wondering "What killed Kiwi's Computer?"

The correct answer is:
Mobo

So that will be replaced within a week. Took all my parts (and I mean all, right down to the power supply and A drive) and stuck it in a friends mobo. Installed no problem, ran 3D Mark 2003, and even scored a 1636 (fresh after install w/ 40.72 Dets, 0 tweaking), and then ran SiSoftSandra for a solid hour using the burn test running at high (stress) with 100% settings for the processor. Computer took it like a man and the benchmarks all appeared normal.

[powdahound]

Glad you figured it out. :)

What mobo did you order?

[OmnipotentKiwi]

I go to comp shows, so I haven't ordered anything. ;) I'll be going Saturday, and as to the reference of what board I'm going to buy.... I haven't decided yet. I think I am going to go with a Gigabyte brand board most likely. Chipset, not to sure on yet.

[NoSurrender]

well atleast u figured it out man i was lagging and crashing
then i bought a 512 stick( i use DDR PC2100) and a sound card(i was using intergrated) and now it runs as smooth as a babys bottom

[OmnipotentKiwi]

Yeah, I am sending it back and selling the refurbished version of it to a friend and upgrading to a new motherboard since I don't want to wait for the repairs anyhow. ;) Still trying to decide on a new mobo though.

[NoSurrender]

i sugest the Asus AV78X i think thats right? any body can confirm that

[Doobz]

ASUS P4S8X Gold Version Motherboard for Intel P4 478 Retail
Specifications:
Supported CPU: P4 Socket 478 1.4 GHz ~ 2.53+ GHz
Chipset: SiS� 648 North ,SiS� 693 South Bridge
FSB: 533 / 400 MHz
RAM: 3 x184-pin DDR PC2700/PC2100/PC1600Max 3GB
IDE: 2 x UltraDMA 133/100/66/33
Slots: 1 x AGP 8X 6 x PCI
Ports: 1xLPT,2xCOM,2xPS2, 1xRJ45,1x1394,and Audio Ports
Onboard Audio: C-Media 9739 CODEC
Onboard LAN: 10/100Mbs
Onboard Firewire: IEEE1394 interface provides high speed digital interface for audio/video
Onboard Serial ATA: With up to 150MB/s data transfer rate, Serial ATA is faster than current Parallel ATA
6 USB 2.0 Ports

right off of newegg, price is $114.99
it's what i'm getting for my new system
p4 1.8gig
1024mb DDR PC2700 RAM
ATI Radeon 9800 Pro

[Zatrais]

If the mobo is all you're getting for now then i suggest a granitebay chipset or the S655 unless you're going for a 800mhz fsb mobo.

[OmnipotentKiwi]

I was thinking Granite Bay or Canterwood (800mHz)so far, not positive yet.

[NoSurrender]

oops thats a amd mobo whoops srry bout that