Windows 2000 Freezes OR Restarts Computer

Howdy,

Windows 2000 Professional Edition
850 Mhz Athlon
640 MB RAM (PC133 SDRAM)
20 GB Hard drive
VIA Chipset

Recently, I was running on Windows 98 SE and the computer began freezing on me as I browsed the internet. After receiving some consultations, I decided to reformat the hard drive and upgrade to Windows 2000 Pro, as well as add 512 MB of RAM. So, currently I am running the above specs. Unfortunately, my computer has now begun freezing more frequently and restarting in lieu of freezing. I have observed that when I click on the Start button, the toolbar initially appears fainter in color than normal or will be delayed for a few seconds before opening. Also, any website containing more than simple tables or text appears to trigger the freezing/restarting. Any assistance would be appreciated.

 

maybe its a dying PSU

 

Hi,

Try taking out the original 128mb of ram and see what happens, sometimes if you mix ram that has different timings you can get flaky results. 512 should be plenty for that machine. If this don't work post back with what type mobo or the manufacturer and model of your machine

Rick

 

Doby, do you think the processor is even using all of that ram?

 

Probably not it would load programs into memory but if you tried to run them all at once the cpu would not handle it,say for instance you tried to burn a cd and play music and use a word processer all at the same time, there would be enough ram but not enough cpu

 

Doby et al,

I have mixed up the RAM slots, but have had no improvement in the situation. Also, when I leave the computer alone for a few minutes after startup and return to it - it's already frozen.

Some more specs:
VIA KT133 Chipset
AMI BIOS GA-7ZX F8
ABS Computers, Inc.

Thanks for your help. Any/all help is appreciated.

 

http://www.majorgeeks.com/download3846.html

Does the computer run well enough to download and install the above program if it does, install and tell us what mother board and cpu you have.

If it don't run well enough try removing the 512mb of new ram and just run the original ram.

Can you give us the specs on the new ram is it pc133 sdram? and is the original ram pc133 sdram? PC wizard can also tell you this.

Rick

 

Doby:

MAINBOARD
Manufacturer: Magnell
Mainboard: GgYyYyGg
Bios: American Megatrends Inc.
Chipset: VIA VT8363/5 KT133/KM133 System Controller
640 MB SDRAM PC133
YES: ISA Bus, PCI Bus, AGP Bus, USB Bus, SMBus/i2c Bus
NO: Bus Hyper Transport, Bus CardBus, Bus FireWire

Thanks for your help.

 

After much shearching I was able to find a manual for your mobo it is a Giga Byte GA-7ZX. Where the manufactuer Mengell you have listed came from I have no idea.
Random reboots/freezes can be caused by many things hardware or software related, as for hardware it can be overheat,cpu,mobo,psu,ram or bad drives and cards. Lets start with the easy things, overheat, now that I have a manual I know you can monitor the temps what are they? Clean the inside of the computer especially the hsf that sits over top the cpu of dust using a can of compressed air. Also blow the dust out of the psu.

report back

Your mobo does support upto 1.5 Gb of ram

Rick

 

Doby,

I checked the Temps via PC Wizard 2004 and they seem to plateau at the following:
Processor = 39 C
Mainboard = 23 C
Power = 25 C

I also thoroughly air-can dusted the inside of my tower and power supply. I have noticed that in the bottom bar of the PC Wizard there is a Processor activity monitor. My processor activity spikes from <10 % to up to 75% when I adjust the size of the different tables/frames in the PC Wizard. Also, opening up a new Firefox window causes spikes up to 60%.

Thanks for your help - will wait for further instructions/guidance.

 

Your temps look good and are not the problem, the spikes are normal as long as the cpu usage goes back down. I am glad you mentioned this if the processer activity would stay high that would indicate a problem with spyware or a virus but you seem to be ok.

http://www.majorgeeks.com/download1247.html

Next would be to check the ram or psu, ram is easier so click on the above link and download memtest86, follow the instructions to make a bootable floppy, put the floppy in and reboot to run the program. Run at its defaults for 8 hours or untill you get errors. It would be best if you would test with only one stick at a time. Any errors and thats a problem.
I know this is time consuming but we need to eliminate one thing at a time otherwise we would just be guessing.

Rick

 

Doby,

I downloaded memtest and ran it for each stick individually.

512 MB stick
Test: Std
11 passes
0 errors
12 hours

128 MB stick
Test: Std
25 passes
0 errors
7 hours

Waiting for your next response.

 

You are doing a very good job, it looks like the ram is good.
List your voltages in pc wizard

Vcore
+3.3V
+5V
+12V

Let me know what monitoring chip you have it is also listed

 

When you reinstalled windows did you install the mobo drivers?

 

Doby,

Voltages:
CPU: 1.75
VCore1: 0.2
3.3: 3.5V
5.5: 4.93V
12: 11.75V

I do not think that I installed any drivers for the mobo after the reformat and reinstall - only the sound/video/ethernet cards.

 

There should be a disk or floppy that came with the mobo it contains the chipset drivers and possibly software to monitor temps and voltages.
It is very important that the chipset drivers are installed and could lead to problems such as this if they are not. Do you have this disk? If so install the drivers and see if it helps.

Before we check voltages/psu those drivers need to be installed and also make sure you have all the MS critical updates

 

Doby,

I found the CD with the chipset drivers and installed it. I also ran the MS update. During the reboot after the MS update install, the computer restarted after the Windows 2000 Logo screen. Then, it did it again. And again. I seem to be unable to get past the Windows 2000 Logo screen. I am wondering if a 3rd reformat/reinstall is the only option at this point. What do you think?

 

At this point I will say yes and in this order

Reinstall the OS
Chipset drivers
Video, sound ect.
MS updates

Check the manufacturers web sites of all components for the latest drivers. This will insure they are compatible with 2000.
Sure hope this fixes it with all the trouble you are going thru

Not sure why it did that after ms updates, this may have been a driver issue all along

 

If you can't install the os for some reason then I suspect the psu to be bad, we know the ram is good. If you have a volt meter I can explain how to check the psu. Let me know

 

Doby,

I will make an attempt to re-format/re-install over the holidays.

Also, the last time that I did this I was not able to install Windows 2000 directly. When I attempted to do so using the 4 Boot Up Disks, I received an error message at the end of the installation and it failed. I made new disks and tried again, but to no avail. So, eventually I had to first install W98 and then install W2K on top of that - that's what I plan to do again. I may be able to find a voltmeter, but I will not know for a few days.

Thanks.

 

Can't you install 2000 directly from the cd if not why?
Why do you need the boot disks? I am assuming you mean floppy's
Is 2000 a upgrade version?

 

Doby,

I attempted to install W2000 Pro - the full edition with license. When I tried to install off of a boot up disk in DOS, the msg said that setup could not be run in DOS. So, I made the 4 boot up disks and ran the install that way. Unfortunately, at the end of copying all the files the blue setup screen gave an error message about an "invalid line" or something to that effect. This happened 3 times, so I assume that I am unable to install W2000 straight off. Why? I am not sure. I reinstalled W98 SE and am running that. I tried to do a clean install of W2000 yesterday, but it kept crashing as usual after the reformat/reinstall. W98 SE seems to be running okay, but it is noticeably sluggish when I perform more than one operation. A new experience - but it is not crashing.

Unfortunately, the curiosity in me would like to diagnose my problem and run a more stable W2K. But, I don't know if I am being greedy.

What do you think?

 

http://www.winsupersite.com/showcase/win2k_pro_install.asp

Please read the above artical maybe it will help, it seams to install in dos you need smart drive exe on the floppy.

Rick

 

You shouldn't need to use a boot disk to install Win2k. The cd is bootable and will launch the installation if you boot to it.

 

Thats what I thought till I read the artical I posted above. I have never installed 2000

 

My two cents worth.
You shouldn't need a boot up disk to install 2000 pro, it should install from the disk. If you're having problems installing go into the bios and set the cd-rom as first boot up device, the setup program should then format your hard drive and copy some files, after it restarts go back into bios and set the hard drive as first boot up device, it should then complete the installation.
Did you install sevice pack 4, plus there are around 30 other updates you'll need to install in order for windows 2000 pro to function properly.
Also adding more memory requires more power, what kind of psu do you have?

 

Hey All,

I reformated/reinstalled W2K from the CD using the SmartDrv as suggested and the installation proceeded without problems. Unfortunately, the freezing and slow operation is still occurring - even after the clean start.

The PSU is a Sparkle FSP300-60BT (300W output).

I would like to check the PSU, but do not have access to a volt meter. Is this possible without one?

 

The only way I know of is to swap with another one.

http://www.extremeoverclocking.com/articles/guides/Power_Supply_Guide_1.html

The above guide will show you how to check it with a volt meter. A digital volt meter is not very expensive maybe $20.00 US and can be used for other things around the house and garage.

Rick

 

When you say clean install do you mean the basic install or after you've installed service pack 4 and all the other updates?
If you're not running a graphics card, sound card, tv card or other peripherals then 300w should be fine.

 

Hey All,

I tested the PSU with a volt meter and did not see any deviations from the readings posted on the website - no spikes or jumps.

For the clean install, I have not yet been able to enable my Ethernet controller so I have not updated the W2K with any updates.

I'm not sure what's left to check.

 

Did you check the psu when under load not just when the computer was at idle?

It is important to install the os updates and chipset drivers.I know this led to you having a crash but these need to be installed.

The ram passed memtest and if the psu tests good under load, download prime95 and run its torture test it will also test the mobo and cpu. The problem with prime is it don't tell what part is bad but at least it will tell if its a hardware problem. Prime would also be a good program to use when testing the psu under load.

Rick

 

I had very similar problems when I installed 2000 pro, grinding to a halt after a few minutes. Although you did say it was freezing when using windows 98 so maybe you have other problems.

Go to Task Manager and check cpu usage, with me it would be at 100% which meant installing the updates took a very, very long time. Although once I did it was fine. If you have access to another computer you can download most of the security updates from ms then copy them to cd. You can also find a download version of service pack 4 which is around 120mb. As Doby says the mobo drivers are also important.

Maybe you've noticed that 2000 doesn't have msconfig, do a search on the net and get a version of this that works with 2000 and install it in WINNT/system32, you can then uncheck all the stuff you don't need especially "Messenger". Good luck with it.

 

Howdy All,

I am currently running under W98SE with a noticeable lag in speed. But, no crashes in the last 48 hours. I ran the W98 updates and updated the mobo drivers. I also ran prime95 for a few hours with no errors.

I am wondering if there is a way for me to check my hard drive for problems.

Thanks.