Having MAJOR problems

O

OTE

Guest
In the last few weeks I have been having major problems with my system. The main difficulty i am having is locating the problem.

For a while my computer has been freezing, stalling and randomly shutting down.
The first thing i thought it could be was my CDROM drive as occasionally loading a CD would cause the computer to crash, so i replaced that with a SonyCDRW 52x24x52. I took out my old drive and put in the new one, also using the new IDE cable.
For a few days it ran fine then I had the same problem again. So i thought well maybe it could be the power supply if its so random. So i put the psu from my parents computer into mine. Again it ran fine for a day or so, and in the mean time i threw away my psu. Then it started crashing again, so i brought a Enermax 350W psu which has yet to arrive (ordered on Fri).
I just dont know what it is thats causing it to crash, ive tried playing games like Moh:aa and JK:Jedi Academy but they crash at least 2-3 times i.e. hard reboot, but once there running there fine for hours.
I dont know what could be causing this, and the problem the problem happen just before Catalyst 3.7's came out and they didnt fix it so it cant be driver related, also i have tried a complete reinstall of Windows with 3.7.

Any ideas???

Most appreciated

OTE
 
Originally posted by OTE
In the last few weeks I have been having major problems with my system. The main difficulty i am having is locating the problem.

For a while my computer has been freezing, stalling and randomly shutting down.
The first thing i thought it could be was my CDROM drive as occasionally loading a CD would cause the computer to crash, so i replaced that with a SonyCDRW 52x24x52. I took out my old drive and put in the new one, also using the new IDE cable.
For a few days it ran fine then I had the same problem again. So i thought well maybe it could be the power supply if its so random. So i put the psu from my parents computer into mine. Again it ran fine for a day or so, and in the mean time i threw away my psu. Then it started crashing again, so i brought a Enermax 350W psu which has yet to arrive (ordered on Fri).
I just dont know what it is thats causing it to crash, ive tried playing games like Moh:aa and JK:Jedi Academy but they crash at least 2-3 times i.e. hard reboot, but once there running there fine for hours.
I dont know what could be causing this, and the problem the problem happen just before Catalyst 3.7's came out and they didnt fix it so it cant be driver related, also i have tried a complete reinstall of Windows with 3.7.

Any ideas???

Most appreciated

OTE

could you list your system specifications in as much detail as possible and also include any error messages you can remmeber or do see ?

also what exactly happens during the freeze ? hdd light ? cd rom light? anything of that nature ?

just keep us posted...
 
ok the error messages I have had are:

'IRQL_Driver_is_not_less_or_equal' - seen after crashes druing games

and the thing that makes me think it could be my mobo-

'CMOS corrupted setting to defaults' - seen on reboot

when the computer freezes the green on light it on nothing else, also get that 'stuck sound' if play a game or music etc. fans still running though.

System specs:
Jetway V333DA w/ latest Hyperion (cant remember lastest number)
AMD Athlon T/brid 1.4
256DDR 2100
Maxtor 40GB HDD
Sony CDRW
ATi Radeon 8500 w/ 3.7
SB PCI128
3Com 10/100 network card
350W AMD/P4 cert psu - soon to be Enermax 350W
 
from experience, jetway boards are not good performers. check the www.jetway.com.tw website for a bios update for starters, and the error is pointing to a driver issue. so its time to update the radeon, the soundblaster, the network card (precaution)

another thing to note is an athlon t-bird cpu has less advanced graphics support then a duron cpu. so the cpu may be crashing the system when a game looks for an advanced dx9 command. it may be worth upgrading to at least an amd xp cpu, the lower end models are so cheep now, less then a new stick of ram.;)
 
Originally posted by GoNz0
it may be worth upgrading to at least an amd xp cpu, the lower end models are so cheep now, less then a new stick of ram.;)

odd how thats so true. (sorry im off topic)
 
thanks for the replys, unfortunately i dont have the cash for a major component upgrade, so i could either get - new mobo (abit nf7-s), XP1800 pr 2000 + 256DDR, or a graphics card. what should i go for?
 
have you tried clearing the cmos yet ?

clear the cmos... there should be a manual that tells you how to short it and then stick back the jumper to the original position..

once you do that.. remove your audio pci device and slot your nic card in a different area and try it out for stability... if you really need audio consider putting the sound card in a differnt slot than before as well...

see if this helps... if the system is stable for a while then hopefully you are on your way...
 
ive already tried clearing the CMOS and the cards havent moved slots since i brought my system, over a year ago! what about the upgrades, what would be my best bet?
 
Sounds like a problem I had a while back. It turned out to be my sound card going bad.

Try removing (or disabling in bios) everything but video. Run the system for a while and see if the problem goes away. If it does go away add stuff back in one at a time until the problem returns.
 
Well i got my Enermax psu today, installed it, booted perfectly first time, ive had no crashes yet and the computers been on for about 3hrs. Hopefully this has sorted it.
 

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