Computer freezes

Hello,

I recently built a machine from spare parts but it is very unstable.

Usually within half an hour to an hour from booting Win2K it will =
totally freeze. The only thing that will continue working is mouse =
pointer positioning. If I immediately reset it, the situation will =
repeat after a similar time frame. Usually happens when using the =
browser. Did not happen when left under DOS running the screen saver of =
Norton Commander (don't ask!) for several hours.

Motherboard: ASUS P5A rev 1.06, flashed latest BIOS (1011.005)
CPU: K6-2/400
Memory: One Infineon(?) 256MB PC133 DIMM (at 3-2-2)
PCI Cards: Diamond Fireport 40 (worked in another box for years without =
problems)
AGP: ATI AIW 8500 (never tested before), running "Catalist 3.8" drivers
OS: Win2K SP4 with latest patches from "windows update"
Drives: 2 ATA33 hard drives and 1 floppy connected to the board, 1 =
Plextor CD-ROM connected to the Fireport
Misc: PS/2 style mouse and keyboard, HSF on CPU, case left open

What can cause the problem?

Thank you!

--=20
Please replace myrealbox with alexoren to reply by email.

On Thu, 6 Nov 2003 16:17:40 -0500, "Alex"
wrote:

Hello,

I recently built a machine from spare parts but it is very unstable.

Usually within half an hour to an hour from booting Win2K it will totally freeze. The only thing that will continue working is mouse pointer positioning. If I immediately reset it, the situation will repeat after a similar time frame. Usually happens when using the browser. Did not happen when left under DOS running the screen saver of Norton Commander (don't ask!) for several hours.

Motherboard: ASUS P5A rev 1.06, flashed latest BIOS (1011.005)
CPU: K6-2/400
Memory: One Infineon(?) 256MB PC133 DIMM (at 3-2-2)
PCI Cards: Diamond Fireport 40 (worked in another box for years without problems)
AGP: ATI AIW 8500 (never tested before), running "Catalist 3.8" drivers
OS: Win2K SP4 with latest patches from "windows update"
Drives: 2 ATA33 hard drives and 1 floppy connected to the board, 1 Plextor CD-ROM connected to the Fireport
Misc: PS/2 style mouse and keyboard, HSF on CPU, case left open

What can cause the problem?

Thank you!

As a general rule on these things, strip it down to the essentials.
Pull the soundcard. Stick in an old PCI video card. Ditch the Plexor.
Use one hard drive. Uninstall all now unneeded drivers. See how it
works for a while. Put stuff back one by one. Swap in a different
memory dimm if you have one.

I always blame the video card until something else proves to be the
problem. I've just had too many experiences where swapping out the
video card cured a problem.

Power supply?
--
Bob Eager
rde at tavi.co.uk
PC Server 325*4; PS/2s 9585, 8595, 9595*2, 8580*3,
P70...

I recently built a machine from spare parts but it is very
unstable.

Usually within half an hour to an hour from booting Win2K it
will totally freeze. The only thing that will continue working is
mouse pointer positioning. If I immediately reset it, the
situation will repeat after a similar time frame. Usually happens
when using the browser. Did not happen when left under DOS
running the screen saver of Norton Commander (don't ask!) for
several hours.


I always blame the video card until something else proves to be
the
problem. I've just had too many experiences where swapping out
the
video card cured a problem.

I always blame
a) The ram
b) Kazaa esp. on win98 if you are i-net related problems.
c) All PCI cards(various reasons, remove 'em all)
d) Video Card
e) Motherboard

Check to see if there is any interesting Event Viewer comments
btw. Can be helpful.
...
jo

"Bob Eager" wrote in message =
...
Power supply?

Used to power an Intel AG430HX board with a P-MMX/200, same drives and =
more cards with no glitches.
Anyway, if it was a PSU problem, wouldn't it occur when booting DOS as =
well?

Alex wrote:
"Bob Eager" wrote in message ...

Power supply?


Used to power an Intel AG430HX board with a P-MMX/200, same drives and more cards with no glitches.
Anyway, if it was a PSU problem, wouldn't it occur when booting DOS as well?

Sometimes when a power supply is "marginal" it will supply the enough
for everything to work, but not in a stable manner. Erratic voltage and
frequency, etc.

But like the others have said, strip everything down to bare bones, and
slowly add things back in.

--
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will he ever receive either. " - Benjamin Franklin

"Alex" wrote in message
...
Hello,

I recently built a machine from spare parts but it is very unstable.

Usually within half an hour to an hour from booting Win2K it will totally
freeze. The only thing that will continue working is mouse pointer
positioning. If I immediately reset it, the situation will repeat after a
similar time frame. Usually happens when using the browser. Did not happen
when left under DOS running the screen saver of Norton Commander (don't
ask!) for several hours.

Motherboard: ASUS P5A rev 1.06, flashed latest BIOS (1011.005)
CPU: K6-2/400
Memory: One Infineon(?) 256MB PC133 DIMM (at 3-2-2)
PCI Cards: Diamond Fireport 40 (worked in another box for years without
problems)
AGP: ATI AIW 8500 (never tested before), running "Catalist 3.8" drivers
OS: Win2K SP4 with latest patches from "windows update"
Drives: 2 ATA33 hard drives and 1 floppy connected to the board, 1 Plextor
CD-ROM connected to the Fireport
Misc: PS/2 style mouse and keyboard, HSF on CPU, case left open

What can cause the problem?

I suspect the AIW 8500 could be drawing too much power. Does this board have
a separate powerconnector?
If the setup works fine with an old PCI video card, yes, well, that will
support my theory.
Did you install this driver: ftp://www.ali.com.tw/driver/agp_utility140.zip
or are they maybe included with Win2K?

On Thu, 6 Nov 2003 22:10:09 UTC, "Alex" wrote:

Used to power an Intel AG430HX board with a P-MMX/200, same drives and more cards with no glitches.
Anyway, if it was a PSU problem, wouldn't it occur when booting DOS as well?

Not necessarily. DOS won't be driving the graphics card hard, or indeed
the CPU. First thing I'd do is try a different PSU. Many freezes are
caused by a bad PSU.

--
Bob Eager
rde at tavi.co.uk
PC Server 325*4; PS/2s 9585, 8595, 9595*2, 8580*3,
P70...

Could be heat related since it doesn't crash right away, or maybe the video
card. The power supply and the chip dissipate lots of heat and need proper
ventilation. Also, it's an old motherboard... the properties of the
capacitors change over time...they dry out etc... may be unstable just due
to age..who knows.

Jeff

--
Hello,

I recently built a machine from spare parts but it is very unstable.

Usually within half an hour to an hour from booting Win2K it will totally
freeze. The only thing that will continue working is mouse pointer
positioning. If I immediately reset it, the situation will repeat after a
similar time frame. Usually happens when using the browser. Did not happen
when left under DOS running the screen saver of Norton Commander (don't
ask!) for several hours.

Motherboard: ASUS P5A rev 1.06, flashed latest BIOS (1011.005)
CPU: K6-2/400
Memory: One Infineon(?) 256MB PC133 DIMM (at 3-2-2)
PCI Cards: Diamond Fireport 40 (worked in another box for years without
problems)
AGP: ATI AIW 8500 (never tested before), running "Catalist 3.8" drivers
OS: Win2K SP4 with latest patches from "windows update"
Drives: 2 ATA33 hard drives and 1 floppy connected to the board, 1 Plextor
CD-ROM connected to the Fireport
Misc: PS/2 style mouse and keyboard, HSF on CPU, case left open

What can cause the problem?

Thank you!

--
Please replace myrealbox with alexoren to reply by email.

Alex wrote:
Hello,

I recently built a machine from spare parts but it is very unstable.

Usually within half an hour to an hour from booting Win2K it will totally freeze. The only thing that will continue working is mouse pointer positioning. If I immediately reset it, the situation will repeat after a similar time frame. Usually happens when using the browser. Did not happen when left under DOS running the screen saver of Norton Commander (don't ask!) for several hours.

Motherboard: ASUS P5A rev 1.06, flashed latest BIOS (1011.005)
CPU: K6-2/400
Memory: One Infineon(?) 256MB PC133 DIMM (at 3-2-2)
PCI Cards: Diamond Fireport 40 (worked in another box for years without problems)
AGP: ATI AIW 8500 (never tested before), running "Catalist 3.8" drivers
OS: Win2K SP4 with latest patches from "windows update"
Drives: 2 ATA33 hard drives and 1 floppy connected to the board, 1 Plextor CD-ROM connected to the Fireport
Misc: PS/2 style mouse and keyboard, HSF on CPU, case left open

What can cause the problem?

Thank you!


FWIW, my daughter had similar symptoms recently on her new computer.
It turns out she had contracted the Blaster virus almost immediately
upon connecting it to the Internet, before even having an opportunity
to download the needed patch. Blaster consumed resources until the
machine slowed to a crawl; rebooting cleared it so the cycle could start
again.

Thanks, Microsoft.

--
After being targeted with gigabytes of trash by the "SWEN" worm, I have
concluded we must conceal our e-mail address. Our true address is the
mirror image of what you see before the "@" symbol. It's a shame such
steps are necessary. ...Charlie