Reading Hardware

Ok ive had this problem for a while now. My computer occasionally resets itself when it is working hard (running lots of programs, opening new programs or shutting programs). Ive reinstalled windows a few times but its made no difference so im thinking its a hardware problem. I have changed the ram and it still does it. It also does this strange thing where the computer "stutters". Cant describe it better than that. Basically if your listening to music the song starts to skip like a scratched cd would and the whole system does the same (mouse moves all jumpy etc.) If i hit the computer on the side lightly it carries on fine so im thinking theres a loose connection. Not really sure tho. Anyone think these two problems are connected? Any help would be greatly appreciated. Thanks

Both the resetting and the 'stuttering' hint at a thermal problem. I'd check the CPU vent and the thermal compound/pad stuff. It might also help to check the Hardware Monitor section of your BIOS setup, if there is such a thing. If it's not the CPU, it might also be a graphics card or something else; you could run a benchmark software on various hardware parts and try to find a pattern, i.e.
CPU is benchmarked - system stays stable
3D card is benchmarked - system crashes
Disk is benchmarked - system stays stable
3D card is benchmarked - system crashes
etc.
Most likely (and in most cases) it's the CPU though.

Spontaneous resets can also be caused by a bad (or overloaded) power supply, but judging by what you write I'd say that's not very likely in your case. It can't hurt to check tho, especially if all else fails. (If you check the voltages, don't rely on the values that the on-board monitor may give you. Calling them inaccurate would be an extreme understatement.)

Oh, and it can't hurt to check the cables & plugs on the inside.

"*sigh* Some men are really hard to manipulate!" - Orchid

This post was edited by null on Dec 05, 2006.

Hey. Thanks for that. Tried a different power supply and that made no difference. Trying the cpu now so finger crossed. So far so good...

Ok this other processor is working fine so that must be the problem. Is it possible to get mine working again properly? New heat sink and thermal compound do the trick? And i have another problem. Just put my processor back in. Its an amd duron 1400 but on the boot up screen and in the everest program it says its an amd duron 1050 but this is definately wrong. Any ideas?

New heat sink and thermal compound do the trick?

I have no idea. If it's a heat problem, they most likely will. But that's hard to say for sure from where I am. (Keeping my fingers crossed tho)

Its an amd duron 1400 but on the boot up screen and in the everest program it says its an amd duron 1050 but this is definately wrong.

The 1400+ actually runs at 1050MHz (they just label it "1400" because it's comparable in performance to a 1400MHz Intel). If the number 1050 you get is the clock frequency, everything is fine.

"*sigh* Some men are really hard to manipulate!" - Orchid

This post was edited by null on Dec 06, 2006.

Thanks for the great help so far. The cpu is running at proper speed again. Changed the bios settings. I cleaned the cpu and heat sink and put on new thermal compound and this has cleared up all problems apart from one. When i start the guitarport program it crashes but only when guitarport is plugged in my pci usb card. When plugged into the onboard usb it is fine. And after taking out the pci card everything works fine so i there must be a problem with that aswell. It didnt use to reset when i ran guitarport and this is the only time it does reset now. Any ideas why my pci usb card is doing this?

Try using it a while without. If it is the end of your problems, then I think you've identified your problem (or at least all future problems with the card). I think it is important to establish that what you've done so far has 'fixed' it. Make sure there aren't anymore problems.

Diagnosing a computer is a lot like diagnosing a patient. You look for symptoms, and you try to treat the cause. If the other symptoms can be explained by the cause, then you first fix the source itself of the problems, then the problems caused by the source. Though I can't imagine that if the problem were a thermal one, that it would cause the 'guitarport' to stop working. Perhaps the 'guitarport' was the source all along. Is it new? If not, did you do *anything* hardware or software-wise prior to when the crashing started (it is very important you don't underestimate the possibilities of possible causes).

"If I die of a heart attack eating bacon, I'll be a happy man." -My father

Ok guitarport is no longer crashing when i start it since i have removed the pci card. After putting new thermal compound on the computer worked fine for a few days but now its started resetting itself again. Doesnt appear to be linked to guitarport causse it crashes with guitarport not running. And the pci card is still out so maybe thats not it. And i had my guitarport for long before the resetting began. The only things i havent changed from before the problem began is motherboard, cpu, cables, hard disk, and my ethernet card.

Have you installed any software prior to the incident?

Consider formatting your harddrive. Of course, save whatever is important, but don't install immediately after formatting. Simply format your harddrive and try to use a while to see if there are any further problems.

What are you running when the computer thinks so hard? Is it a hard-drive intensive exercise (like a defrag), or a game? If formatting your computer fixes this problem, it could mean one of two things:

1) There was a virus on your computer which came with one of the things you installed (no, reinstalling windows doesn't remove viri).

2) The 'heavy' activity of your computer is the cause of the problem (which would strongly indicate a thermal problem).

"If I die of a heart attack eating bacon, I'll be a happy man." -My father