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computer locks up on a ramdom basis.

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by nomad712 Mar 22, 2002 last reply May 23, 2002

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I had a 486/450 that started locking up, the only solution that worked was to shut the machine down. I tried looking for software that might be causing it to crash. Nothing seemed to help. Since then, I replaced the case with a ATX, with 350 watts. Upgraded motherboard to elite group k7s5a, amd +1800,repartioned hard drive with fdisk, reformatted, re-installed windows 98SE, full version, installed the windows ME upgrade. Recently while still experiencing the lock ups, I bought and installedNorton System Works 2002. When I ran the fix program it found 82 errors that it said could cause the problems I've been getting, I told it to fix them. which it did. But I still get the lock ups. It seems to be program oriented. I never know when it will happen. Right now I running off my old hard drive. Which is a Seagate 10 gig. I also have a Western Digital 20 gig. Both hard drive have the same problem. When I try to resolve the problem, I shut down and switch the IDE cable and power. On the 20 gig I have not done the upgrade to windows ME. The only hardware that is original is a soundblaster PCI 128, plextor cd-rw, and floppy drive. I don't know what else to try. I have 256 megs of sd-ram. Any help would be greatly appreciated.

13 replies

by dmiles Mar 22, 2002

While the computer is running use CTRL+ALT+DEL,to check Task Manager for any programs not responding

Check your anti-virus configuration to see if it is scanning programs in the background,screen savers will cause similar problems

Disable FindFast and Power Management to see if this solves your problem

Run MSCONFIG to check what programs is loading at startup

Update the video driver and any application service packs on the machine

by nomad712 May 23, 2002

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by Member 33712138 Mar 23, 2002

Try just using one hard drive, its likely one of them has a prob. Also replace the IDE cable and put the HD & CD RW on different cables. Sometimes 2 devices just won't work on the same cable.

by nomad712 May 23, 2002

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by Member 33712138 Mar 23, 2002

Try just using one hard drive, its likely one of them has a prob. Also replace the IDE cable and put the HD & CD RW on different cables. Sometimes 2 devices just won't work on the same cable.

Its no good just changing some settings then bootinginto Windows, you will have to reinstall windows each time. It sounds like a hardware fault is corrupting Windows. But that software corruption stays until you reinstall, and will continue to cause you further probs.

Remove the SB 128 as well before you do the reinstall to see if thats the prob.

The main aim is to get it to run stably. Once you've got that, you can add devices & software one at a time to see when the probs start.

You seem to have replaced most of the other likely causes of probs - PSU, MB, CPU. So my moneys on the HD or cable.

by nomad712 May 23, 2002

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by caquino3759 Mar 24, 2002

Don't overlook the RAM,try reinstalling it one stick at a time if you have more than one stick. If you have just one stick try replacing it with a known working stick.

by nomad712 May 23, 2002

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by sfhsgrad00 Mar 25, 2002

Windows ME has a lot of flaws in it, so there could be a number of things causing the lockup. I had the same problem. What I suggest, is try running Windows Update, Microsoft put out a number of patches and fixes for Windows ME that should fix your problems. Also you may want to use CNET Catchup to check for updates also. You can use the following address.

http://catchup.cnet.com

Catchup must install on your system and will scan all of the software on your drive(s) and will publish a list of potential updates. YOU MUST BE ONLINE WHEN USING CATCHUP.