pc keeps freezing up

ive just had a brand new pc for crimbo what the wife bought for me the spec is

celeron 2.4
80 gig hd
256 ram
xp
service pack 2

however since ive installed a dvd re writer a geforce 4 a network card and 256 ram the pc keeps freezing at random intervals wether im playing a game or just browsing the web has anyone got any ideas on what it might be i cant take the pc back because ive voided the warranty by sticking the extra bits in it but it worked fine anyway till i put the extra bits in

 

no idea then ppl?

 

you might want to make sure all the cards and ram are all plugged in all the way, some cards are a real bear to get seated properly,hope this helps.

 

Make sure the speed of the ram you put in is the same as the ram already installed. It is unadvisable to mix ram of diffrent manufacturers, much less diffrent speeds! Also, check to make sure that your power supply is good enough to handle the extra drive, GPU, and ram.

 

Couple of additional things to try
Clear out all your temp files plus those in Outlook Express History
Check how many progs are running in the background - they can be bad memory hogs
Happy New Year
Robert

 

Can you monitor the temps? Adding things can make heat build up because of airflow restriction, I would check temps and add case fans if needed.

Rick

 

I noticed bigblokey0 you bought an xtra stick of 256mb ram; the problem is that if its not the same MFG/revision/speed you can conflict the hardware pieces (old ram vs new ram) and causes problems such as you were mentioning. A simple check would be remove one ram piece see if it does the 'hickup' if it doesnt go and put the other piece and remove the previous one and check again.

 

ok heres an update ive since done a clean format with all the extra bits removed ie ram/card and it is still freezing up ??????????????????????????????

 

Since you already went thru the 'Format' patch and even removed RAM as suggested previously, here is what I think you should try:

NOTE: every time you need to reach in the PC case always unplug the power cord and then touch the PSU for a few secs!!

Only have the Video Card, CPU/fan, the initial RAM, disconnect everything else, see if it boots up? see if you can get in BIOS, did is freeze so far? NO, ok then reset your BIOS by choosing an option like 'Load Fail-Safe options/defaults' > confirm > save > reboot. Check the condition, get in the BIOS don't do anything but just get in there, let the system run for an hour or so then try browsing thru the menus in BIOS, see if you can or see if it freezes....if all is well so far then shutdown the machine after modifying the Boot Order ( Floppy > CDROM > HD0,etc) depending on your installation method. Then (read the note on top) re-connect the HardDisk and CD-ROM then re-install the OS of your choice....and check the condition.
After OS installation is complete re-insert all other removed cards, NIC , phone modem, etc.
if everything looks good so far then start installing the drivers for each device one-at-a-time and make sure to reboot after installing each driver and check the condition of the system before continuing onto the next one...

 

I tried to help someone once who had a similar problem. Everthing worked fine until he added more memory, then afterward he had freeze-ups regularly. Unfortunately he failed to discharge static electricity from himself before reaching into the case and pretty much buggered the system. Could this be what happened in your situation?

 

well heres an update ive replaced ram /hard drive and graphics card it seems to work ok without the graphics card however as soon as you stick a graphics card in it will either freeze or wont boot up and if it does boot up with the drivers installed it will freeze when either playing or trying to install one we have looked in the bios to see if theres a way to turn off the onboard graphics but theres not one can anybody shed any further light on the situation or wether the whole thing makes sence??

 

I would blame the RAM not the Video Card unless you are using wrong drivers or the card is overheating...

 

well ive changed the ram and it only seems to happen really when the graphics card is in

 

You mean once you install the card? Even prior to installing its drivers? Is the Video Card the only card installed when this occurs or do you have any other cards installed (which could change the scenario) Then yeah you got a defective card...not very common but so it appears.



What I was referring to is the drivers not staying after installing and rebooting the system the display settings would go back to default 'safe mode', which is commonly caused by incompatible RAM or related BIOS settings.

Try settings the BIOS to 'Safe Configuration' which usually appears as 'Load fail safe defaults'....if nothing helps then faulty Video card it is!
But keep these possibilities in mind: AGP slot is damaged / Video Card is not supported by the mobo (I know these two are remote possibilities but ...)

 

ok ive tried setting the 'Load fail safe defaults' in the bios and that seems to have worked well the game did run very well apart from when i tried to alter the resolution as soon as i set a higher resolution the screen went blank so what does this tell me?

 

Sorry for late reply, due to a nasty flu I was seeing purple monkeys on my bedroom walls last Tuesday and Wednesday...anyhow, back to your issue.

What does that mean? It depends, depends on what?
~ If Video Card drivers are properly installed and working then the resolution at the given color-depth and refresh rate is NOT support by your Video Card and/or Moitor.

~ If you checked 'Display Adapters' section in the 'Device Manager' list and it didn't list (recognize) your Video Card accurately, meaning video card drivers are not installed properly, then you need to install the drivers and then check the Device Manager to see if the video card drivers (the correct version for your OS) stick, if not then go back and read my previous post about the RAM...it could also be (still a remote chance) the GPU on the Video card is bad.

 

latest update everything i put in the pc ie. ram ,graphics card all work fine so i phoned the technical support ppl and they have had the pc in for repair so it sounds like it was a dodgy cpu or board

 

I hate when that happens!

Glad your feeling better

Rick

 

Thanks Rick, funny thing I I still came here and tried to post to few threads, then later read what I wrote and wondered what medication I was on at the time..

BigBlokey, I am glad the technical support is handling the issue, we kinda neglect the fact that after the users do the basic hardware/system troubleshooting an in-person live servicing should be next since there is only so much you can do via remote troubleshooting.
Good Luck to you.

 

ok latest update on my pc freezing up turned out to be a dodgy cpu but luckily the pc manufacturer repaired it free so thats cool thanks for everyones input

cheers