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PC freezes

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by kadjohn

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Guys,a have a problem.There's a PC that i'm trying to fix and i cant seem to get through.

It is a Windows XP machine,SP1.It was working fine a weeks ago.Now when it boots normally,it freezes just after POST,just when Windows appears.Everytime i try to start Windows normally,it freezes.

here's what did next.I logged in using safe mode,and i got through.I logged in and went straight to Event Viewer,and while i was scrutinising the messages there,the PC restarted automatically.10 times i tried,same thing happened.

I re-seated the processor,memory cards,video cards and network cards,still got the same thing.I changed IDE cables,to no avail.Processor fan is working.I then removed CD-ROM and Floppy drives,stripped the PC to a bare minimum,got nowhere.

Any help will be greatly appreciated.

12 replies

by computercookie

1. What is the MB
2. Do you have a disk for it.
3. Have you paused the post the view the readout.

by kadjohn

1) it's a 256MB RAM.
2) you mean the recovery disk?i can look it up.
3) how do pause the post to view the readout?

by maniacman

Nevertheless, that's not the reason for your PC freezes. I'm suspecting that your CPU is overheating or the inside of your PC case isn't being ventilated properly, causing hot air to buildup and overheat the CPU as well.

I've seen this issue and even had this problem myself. Are you sure your CPU has a decent heat sink and fan designed for that type of CPU? Try running the PC with the side cover off and see if it still freezes. If it doesn't, then you definitely have a heat problem inside the case.

by kadjohn

I suspected overheating CPU too,so I removed the covers of the system unit and had it running without them,still got hung up.Could the SP1 be the problem?It ran perfectly fine with it before.I'll install SP2 shortly.

by tintoman

There is no pont taking the sides off the machine if the heat sink is clogged up with dust
this problem can also be caused by bad sectors on the hard drive so you need to scandisk it, good luck

by mayhem1969

Have you been using windows update without installing SP2? Some of those updates are designed for SP2 and not SP1. If you customized some security or other downloads, it could (hypothetically) cause a problem. Also, you might be looking at a power problem if you've eliminated heat.

by kadjohn

The PC is a standalone machine that i use in the lab to teach students hardware and software installation and repair.It's not connected to internet.

by mayhem1969

Did you recently install software or hardware on the computer? If so, the software may be designed for XP with SP2 or .Net Framework 2.0 or higher, which you do not apparently have. Or, if you added recent hardware you may have a hardware conflict with the older version of XP. You can order a free CD of XP SP2 from Microsoft website you just pay the shipping.

by kadjohn

i installed the latest AVG.the only other software i have on it is Ms Office 2003.I'll try installing SP2 when in Safe Mode,if it'll let me.

by mayhem1969

I have tried that in the past when I had problems installing SP2 and it wouldn't work due to the lack of drivers installed. You may still wish to try.

I would recommend a system restore back to before the latest AVG software download. You might be able to do that from safe mode, if I remember. Or I would try an uninstall of AVG. Since you don't use the computer on the internet you're chances of picking up a virus are slim to begin with.

by ic-it

Go to System Properties - Advanced Tab - Startup and Recovery section the Settings Button - Uncheck Automatically restart.
You may end up with a BSOD when the problem occurs, but this will give you an error message that MAY help isolate the issue.

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