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computer freeze

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Every OTHER time my computer boots up, it freezes. The mouse does not work while programs are being loaded during startup. Any thoughts? I am running XP pro and occasionally the system shuts down, with a blue screen which reads the computer is shutting down, unstable. I have 425 watts power supply, amd 3500 939 chip, MSI KN8 Neo2 motherboard, 1 gb Kingston value RAM, ATI 9600 XT all-in-wonder graphics card.

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Have you scanned the system for malware and viruses?

What is the message on the Blue Screen of Death (BSOD?)

Have you checked in Device Manager and made sure there are no yellow or red warning?

Anything in the Event Logs?

Have you downloaded the lastest drivers for your periperhals?

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Poster rated this answer.
My system is free from viruses and malware. The BSOD has occured 3 times or so in the past month. I am more concerned that my system freezes exactly every other time it is booted. No yellow or red warnings, drivers are up to date, nothing special in the event logs

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Did you build system yourself? What is brand of power supply? Is it overclocked?

Some things to check:

1. CPU temperature, CPU fan, and internal temperature. Run with case open and monitor CPU fan and system fans.

2. Memory. You probably have 2 sticks of RAM. Boot with one stick and then then the other installed. See if system is stable with either one alone.

3. Power supply. There are 425 watt power supplies that are very good and some that are very poor. A poor quality (read cheap) power supply can cause strange problems.

4. As mentioned in first response, drivers. Ensure drivers are updated. Check MSI and ATI web sites. I’ve installed several AIW 9600 cards and have not had any problems with cards or drivers.

5. Malware. As recommended in first response, scan for critters. What anti-virus and adware/spyware removal software do you have?

Dalton

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Poster rated this answer.
My system is running cool. RAM is fine. My power supply is “Just PC” 425 watt, sounds cheap. Drivers are updated. I use norton antivirus and ad aware software. I built this system myself 2 months ago

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It sounds as if you have severe heat problem. If software was causing the lock-ups then the entire system would not lock up. You should still be able to Alt-Ctrl-Del to close the offending program and keep on ticking! but if excessive heat is causing your microprocessor to suffer heat stroke then… there you have it. The computer actually reads “the computer is shutting down, unstable”? That sounds suspicious, wording does not sound right for a windows error. Check for virus and trojan horse problems. Check for adequate cooling thats my guess.

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Poster rated this answer.
My system is not hot. the BSOD read something like “graphics problem”. I wish I had written it down. It has occured 3-4 times in the past month. I am more concerned about the system freezing every other time it reboots.

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Check the system for any hardware drivers that may need updating ,check that graphics card is not hanging system at startup

Check the memory that to insure that it is seated in the slot properly,this should also apply to video card
What error are you getting from BSOD it will give you the cause and problem after the code in list,so check that

Check the system for any IRQ conflicts

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Poster rated this answer.
drivers have been updated. I don’t understand how to check if the graphics card is hanging system at startup. the cards are properly seated. the BSOD read something like “graphics problem”. I will write it down next time. I haven’t seen the BSOD in a while. The freezing every other time the system reboots in my real problem

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when i am trying to pick hardware over software as my failure point, i boot from a floppy or possibly into Safe mode. If the problem goes away, it is software and/or operating system related. if it stays, i look at hardware…
that symptom of ‘mouse won’t move while programs loading’ sounds like something very busy in background. malware/virus gets my vote also. how long exactly is the desktop taking to load.
what has changed lately? xpsp2? add cd burner? printer? ram?
bfilm is asking you questions to help us get better error message because can be many many problems. are you defragged, windows updated, latest sp, all drivers latest xpsp2 compatible? what periperals on this box. we need more. your blue screen error message may be enuf but betcha you have a couple problems…
perhaps search for your bsod message in the mskb at support.microsoft.com

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Poster rated this answer.
I booted up in safe mode. My display adpaters in the device manager under the “all in wonder 9600 series- SECONDARY” resource settings: this device isn’t using any resources becaause it has a problem. I removed it and rebooted regularly. The system was working fine until XP found new hardware “…secondary” then the system froze. When I looked at the devive manager in regular mode, it had resouces settings an no conflicts. I am defragged and all latest drivers are installed. the desktop loads in less than one minute. I built this system months ago. HP printer, wd 250gb hd, artec dvd ROM, emperex dvd writer, pci fax modem card, terayon external cable modem.

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Check the software side first. As previously suggested, try booting the system in Safe Mode. You can even reinstall the OS and check if it’s OS-related. It’s probably cheaper to reinstall the OS than to buy hardware. But don’t forget to backup your important data first before doing any OS installations. If after reinstalling the OS the problem still persists, you can look into the hardware side

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Poster rated this answer.
The problem occurs before the OS is loaded.

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Hi,
I’ve only seen this once before(“every other boot”) so this answer might not work for ya, but it’s a shot. The “Secondary” part is my clue, have a friend that put in a new AGP graphics card when the former card was PCI, he forgot to change the “Display First”(AGP/PCI) setting in his BIOS. It caused the same thing to happen.
GL 🙂
HTH
E.D.

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Poster rated this answer.
My bios setting are correct for AGP

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do a complete disk cleanup, run scandisk, defrag, then reboot and fdisk the mbr. Then shut completely off, wait 30 seconds, and reboot. Hope it works
bev

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Poster rated this answer.
The problem occurs before the OS is loaded. Right away as the memory is being checked, the computer does not respond to any commands, every OTHER time it boots up

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I’m quite sure it is related with the ATI grapfics card. I have a 9800 XT and I went through hell fighting with this card and Windows XP. If you have a more “simple” card, try uninstalling the ATI and installing the “small” one, and see if the problems persist.

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Poster rated this answer.
I installed a simple 32mb card and the problem persisted.

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You’ll have to do a repair install of XP Pro. That will solve your problem.

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