Troublesome PC...Numerous Problems?

Hello hello and thank you very much for taking the time to read this. I am somewhat computer knowledged but not too too much. I am having problems with my video and also problems booting up my computer. Whenever my computer is running World of Warcraft for instance it will play for 20 minutes or so then lock up and I will have to manually restart. This is not a game problem as it will do this even if I am playing Windows Media or a smaller, less-intense game. It has never happened with Winamp though...so maybe thats because it doesn't have a visualization? Also...when I have to manually shut down the computer and then boot up, it usually takes 7 or 8 times for me to boot back up. It will get past the Windows screen at booting then at the part where the mouse cursor is supposed to show up and show the desktop the screen will just go black there and the monitor light will start blinking. I have a DVD-Rom drive and a PlexWriter CD burner, the fan that is on the door of my computer is almost always running. During boot troubles as the monitor light is flashing, my CD burner drive light is on, the fan is running and both of the power lights stay on. I have an Alienware...Athlon 1800...running XP...512 ram...I'm sure you might need more information but it is very troublesome when your computer crashes and it takes 10 minutes to reboot, let alone not being able to play World of Warcraft. Thanks again and if you need any more information let me know. I'll be checking this often.

-ryan-

 

Hi, and welcome to the forum,

How old is the computer and did this start all of a sudden?
Were you ever able to play games or other graghic intense programs?

Does the computer have trouble with a cold boot say if its been off at least 30 minutes?

What psu do you have?

Try and list youe full system specs like mine

Rick

 

I had almost exactly the same problem. In my case it turned out to be a bad fan on my video card, letting my chipset overheat and shut down. I replaced the fan and every thing seemed to work fine after that.

Could you have a similar hardware issue?

If you have integrated video, this probably isn't the case.

 

definitely a heating issue. this happens me as well if I disconnect the graphics card fan (accidently did it once). what you can do to verify is cause the problem, and instead of rebooting just shut down and open the computer up and feel with your hand on the graphics card. it's probably hot as hell. be sure to keep your one hand in the chassis while having your hand on components within. also be careful coz many newer cards get so hot you'll actually burn youself.

check your graphics card fan, (easiest if you have the chassis open and start the computer) and if it doesn't move check the connector. if it's connected but still doesn't move you should replace the fan. and obviously if it's not connected connect it.

good luck.

 

thanks guys for the help. the video card is running quite hot...its an nvidia geforce if anyone wondered. 64 megs of ram i believe. im gonna try and see if i can fix the cooling problem. i installed this card when i received this computer from a friend. it has always had weird problems so maybe thats it. these problems also do occur from a cold boot. i turned it off last night and it took about 10 tries to boot this morning. so does that still make sense for it to be a cooling problem? as of now i am going to see if my friend's video card works in here to see if that is it or not. thanks again for the quick response...wonderful forums.

 

If its doing it from cold boot then probly not heat. If its had problems before then try the other card and see. If it don't fix the problem post back. It could be a psu problem

Rick

 

hey i will not be able to switch video cards for a couple days. i had put in this video card when i first got the computer and put it in the bottom slot of the computer. i realized the fan wouldnt blow on it there so i moved it to a slot where the fan actually affected it today. its just that when i did that, i began to have sound problems. when i restart, the windows xp start up sound is very glitchy and sometimes the last note plays repeatedly. winamp will not even start a song. any ideas?

 

either you have an IRQ (interupt request) sharing issue or one of your cards are damaged, probably the graphics card. I suggest you wait until you can try the other graphics card and see if that'll help. my guess is it does.

 

hey guys...i just might have solved my problem. gonna try and test out tonight by doing a little bit of gaming after my schoolwork that is. i had an old sound card in my computer that i did not take out when i put in my new one. i removed the drivers and then removed the sound card. i then switched my video card to a higher slot so that the fan could cool it better. after that i got the best drivers and so far so good. no boot problems and no crashes today. thanks for your input and i hope its gonna run well.

 

Yea that would do it, you'll be ok now

Rick