computer freezes & sometimes won't boot up

A couple of months ago i purchased online a game from game rival called tumblebugs. It ran for about 2 months and than started freezing. I don't believe this is the cause of my problems but it was the most obvious symptom. I haven't used it now for awhile but the problems persist. I have a Dell Dimension 4600, intel pentium4 at 3.0 Ghz with HT Technology, with 1 Gig memory at 400 MHz. and an 80 GB HD. I also have a 128MB 7200 NVidia GeForce FX 5200 graphics card. Occasionally my computer won't boot up; the screeen just stays black while it hums slightly. Another issue is if I open too many windows it freezes. And the infamous blue screen error message that occasionally comes up when I boot up that says my computer has a serious problem in the, I think NV4.disp file. Now I took it to Best Buy and paid them to fix it. It originally had 512 RAM and I told them to install 512 more which they did and it improved. I also asked them to check out the graphics card which they say is alright. But isn't the NV4.disp file a graphics card file? I reinstalled the graphics card software at one point when it would only boot up in safe mode. And that got me up and running again. I thought I needed a new graphics card, but Best Buy says no. Best Buy said they ran a couple of scans and put in the memory and it was fine. It is not. I took it back and now they say they want me to have them reinstall the OS System. Now they say they fixed 31 registry problems, but it has 10 errors w/.NET framework that are unrepairable. And they had WinASO fix 240 reg problems. Although I ran AVG, CCleaner, AdAWARE, SPYBOT, and Max Registry before I took it to them. I run scans regularly. Anyway, they say screen freezes during 3DMARK, and then resumes whatever that means. I checked out .net framework on the internet and it looks to me like I could just download the latest version of that (.NET FRAMEWORK 3.0) and if that is really the problem wouldn't that fix it? I hestitate to reinstall the OS system because I always run into problems with comcast and the internet. Please help me?

 

Try to reinstall your graphic card driver(I have 5200)And download 93.71.This is the best driver for 5200.Post what happened.

 

Nothing personal, but BestBuy may not be the best place to take your PC for repair. I would seek out a small, local, independent PC shop, run by 4 or 5 guys, that's been in business in your town for at least 6 years. These smaller shops REALLY know what they're doing, and if they've been in business awhile, they're doing it right! Besides loading the newest video drivers, look into new chipset drivers also. Maybe download and run a RAM diagnostic and a hard drive diagnostic (available free from your hard drive manufacturer's web site) to make sure that they're 100% healthy. You can also run the WindowsXP system file checker utility which scans/repairs your OS files. Insert your XP CD in the CD drive, and click Exit when the big blue installation window opens. Click Start > Run; type cmd and press Enter. A black window with white lettering should open. At the prompt type 'sfc /purgecache' without the quotes. Let that run (it takes maybe 10-20 seconds). Then type 'sfc /scannow' and press Enter (again, no quotes). This can take some time (over an hour or more sometimes), so be patient. If you get a message asking you to insert your XP CD, just click Retry and keep clicking Retry every time it pops up (your XP CD is in the drive, right? ).... when it's done, type 'exit', press Enter, and reboot. There's a great little tool called Dial-A-Fix (a free download from MajorGeeks) that can really fix alot of problems... check it out.... and GOOD LUCK!! Keep us posted!

hd2k

NOTE: there's a space between the "sfc" and the "/" in the commands above....

 

thanks guys. I will try your ideas and post a reply.

 

ok, i tried to do what Goran.P said, but it did not seem to help. Then I tried what hopperdave2000 said and ran the system file checker, and that did seem to help a little, but it is still not right. it still freezes. I downloaded Dial-a-fix, and was going to run it, but was a little intimidated, by all the categories that you can check. do you check off everything and than let it rip or what? i don't want to screw it up more than it is. Also do you think those .net framework updates might help or am I barking up the wrong tree in that regard. Also, at one point I called Dell and some guy, somwhere in the world walked me through a Hard drive scan that ran for over an hour and it said my hard drive was ok. since i do not know what kind of hard drive i have i don;t know what manufacturers web site to go to to do that diagnostic thing. also do you think maybe my graphics card is just overwhelmed by everything that is on my computer although I think I am only at about 25% of capacity on the hard drive. If it is overwhelmed maybe I should just buy a new graphics card. Since all those error messages don't always tell me what is really hurting on my computer maybe I just need a new graphics card. What do you think?

 

With Dial-A-Fix, it's totally IMPOSSIBLE to hurt anything. The first time I ran it, I was a bit scared too 'cuz it looks so freekin' technical Just check all the boxes in the registration center and click go. You may want to check the boxes in the section right above the reg center (I don't remember the name of that particular section) also. DAF is totally safe to use; it simply goes thru all the .dll files, unregisters them, and then re-registers them. It doesn't delete or re-write anything. It more or less 'opens and closes' a bunch of system files to make sure that they're in working order, and if there's a problem, DAF will report the problem and the filename so you can research the error and/or post it here for more assistance.....

hd2k

 

i'll try it today. thanks.

 

i ran dial-a-fix and it didn't report any problems. And I can still freeze it up right away by opening tumblebugs. it always resumes, but not necessarily quickly. tumblebugs is my easiest barometer. what now the . net framework thing or am i hung up on that for nothing, or maybe the graphics card?confused