Random PC freezes

[amon91]

Hey guys. This is a problem i've been experiencing in a while: when I'm working, my apps stop responding one after another, including explorer, which leads Windows to an unusable state. When I reboot, the BIOS wouldn't detect my HD, so I'd open up the case, disconnect the SATA cable and connect it again - and it temporarily fixed the problem, believe it or not, but it'd come back again.

Then I went into a store to get a new HD, installed Windows on it and the problem actually went away, but 2 weeks later or so I got the exact same problem, so I did the same thing: unplugged the SATA drive and plugged it again just to get my work done. Then I thought it could be some kind of software messing with my system, so I reformatted the HD and installed Windows and everything else all over again, but the issues persisted.

Today I booted my computer but 5 minutes later, all the apps froze (the usual) and I don't seem to be able to fix this with the usual method. Do you guys have any suggestions for me or anything that could be wrong with my machine?

Thanks in advance.

[phil-mize]

hmmm first guess is the power supply....

try unplugging all your extra stuff (bells and whistles) but the essentials for your pc to run properly and see if it still happens... i doubt this but there still is a possibility its either a bad sata cable or even sata port on your motherboard... is it a dell? hp? built urself? give us some info on what it is please...

[therage800]

What version of Windows are you running?

[benjamin-7]

Maybe try booting to a Linux Live Distro and see what happens. (With the HDD out then with it in) to see how it may effect the live system.

Maybe your motherboard is having problems with the Sata 1(or "master") port?

[amon91]

hmmm first guess is the power supply....

try unplugging all your extra stuff (bells and whistles) but the essentials for your pc to run properly and see if it still happens... i doubt this but there still is a possibility its either a bad sata cable or even sata port on your motherboard... is it a dell? hp? built urself? give us some info on what it is please...

It's custom-built yeah. I have already tried unplugging everything except the essential stuff and plugging the HD into another SATA port on my motherboard. I also tried another SATA cable, same problem.

Do you have any more suggestions? I really wouldn't like to get a new power supply (and pretty much rewire my PC) to later figure out the problem remains, so if you have more suggestions please keep em coming.

[amon91]

Maybe try booting to a Linux Live Distro and see what happens. (With the HDD out then with it in) to see how it may effect the live system.

Maybe your motherboard is having problems with the Sata 1(or "master") port?

I tried booting Mandriva Linux from a CD and it's working apparently, which is weird.

[davmoo]

I tried booting Mandriva Linux from a CD and it's working apparently, which is weird.

Leave it running for a while, and actually use the system. Surf for a while or something. If the machine locks up just like on Windows, you most likely have a hardware problem. If Linux never freezes or has errors, then its probably a motherboard driver issue.

Do you really have to physically unplug the drive, or would a cold boot be sufficient?

[amon91]

I used Mandriva from the CD for a while and it actually works perfectly, not even a glitch. Does that eliminate the possibility that the power supply is broken? Do you have any more suggestions to get Windows to work?

[tehboris]

Run a file system check.

[computoman]

I like the live cd idea. Might check the device manager for conflicts or missing drivers. I would also run trk to see if you have any viruses.

[davmoo]

I used Mandriva from the CD for a while and it actually works perfectly, not even a glitch. Does that eliminate the possibility that the power supply is broken? Do you have any more suggestions to get Windows to work?

Did you have all of your hardware hooked up just like you would when you were having the problem in Windows? If your answer is "yes", then chances are good its not a power supply problem.

My next step would be to download and burn a disc with Memtest86+ (http://www.memtest.org/). Boot up your PC with it, and let it check your memory. Memory problems can cause weird symptoms, and those symptoms could easily include what you're describing. I've found that Linux can sometimes be more forgiving of memory errors than Windows because of differences in how they operate and manage memory. So Linux running successfully by itself does not eliminate memory problems. Let Memtest86+ complete at least 16 passes. I once had a laptop that the memory would not show errors until the 14th pass.

[fishtoprecords]

When I used Windows heavily (like 10+ hours a day) I would have to periodically just

format c:
and reinstall Windows.

Its radical, but sometimes you have to do what you have to do.

[myketuna]

When I used Windows heavily (like 10+ hours a day) I would have to periodically just

format c:
and reinstall Windows.

Its radical, but sometimes you have to do what you have to do.

He's already tried that. I was thinking of telling him the same thing.

Anyway, you either have a virus or some kind of hardware problem. I don't know if it's a memory problem though. I'm not sure how live CDs work, but I think they use your RAM to store changes. But you can check with Memtest86+ like davmoo said. Most live CDs come with it. Also, check the device manager in windows if you haven't already. Otherwise, you could just tear apart your PC and reassemble it. And if that doesn't work, something is very wrong.

[phil-mize]

what are your rig specs!? if its some off weird brands then maybe its a driver issue but i doubt that... go to your mobo manufacturer's web site and download the new bios updates and flash ur old bios into fruition. i still am like 80% sure its hardware failure...

[computoman]

It amazes me how much disk fragging, disk formatting and windows reinstalling is done. Back when I was running windows xp, I only redid the machine twice in two plus years. Once was because of real hard disk failure. The other time was by choice to get rid of software from my ex-employer. However I did remove temp files, clean the registry, check for spyware, check for viruses/malware, and installed updates on a regular basis.

[davmoo]

Defragging was important in Windows 95/98/Me. But not nearly as much in Windows XP, and its pretty much a waste of time in Vista. If you have the proper hardware specs to even be running Vista, a fragmented hard drive is not going to make an impact.

I also think there are many people who do the format/reinstall shuffle when its not really necessary. That's simply the guaranteed catch-all way to fix anything that isn't a hardware problem, and thus is the easy way out.

There is also a bench time issue. For example, this past week my mother's computer started failing at bootup, with Windows claiming it couldn't find certain files. Rather than sitting there playing whack-a-mole with the machine for several hours, its was much faster and more efficient with my time to simply reload her hard drive with a known-good Acronis backup image.

[phil-mize]

it was much faster and more efficient with my time to simply reload her hard drive with a known-good Acronis backup image.

ahhh acronis... i remember using that... the hacked version i downloaded effed my windows image up... lol i also used it like 4 years ago maybe its way better now...

[xfuuey]

...ya, it has

[benjamin-7]

Maybe it's time to get back on topic? :P