Computer - freezing & more

[Charlotte]

My Dads computer (Advent T9409) died the other day. It would get so far to signing on and the screen would freeze.

Over time the computer wouldnt get as far as it did the previous time/s and eventually it just stuck on one day and froze.

No idea what the cause was/is. It had full virus scan which came back with nothing but one day the blue screen of death flashed up saying Memory dump or something like that

He has since bitten the bullet and bought a new one. But it seems an awful shame that this one is going to computer heaven when it cost a fair bit and was a good machine until it died.

Any ideas? Could I just buy a new HDD and get it working again?

Thanks

 

[jip0]

it could be a case of over heating open it up clear all the dust out check all fans are working ect ect

 

[Eklipze3k]

How old is it? Chances are it's just a case of Windows making a mess of itself, a fresh install of XP or whichever version is on would definitely help. If you can get far enough into windows to be able to defragment the HDD that would likely help too.

 

[Charlotte]

it could be a case of over heating open it up clear all the dust out check all fans are working ect ect

Done that - it didn't work

How old is it? Chances are it's just a case of Windows making a mess of itself, a fresh install of XP or whichever version is on would definitely help. If you can get far enough into windows to be able to defragment the HDD that would likely help too.

It's about 2 years old at a guess. Doesn't seem like 10 mins that we went to buy it. It won't get far enough into anything before it freezes again reloading won't work either

 

[jip0]

It's about 2 years old at a guess. Doesn't seem like 10 mins that we went to buy it. It won't get far enough into anything before it freezes again reloading won't work either

can you boot it up in safe mood? press the power switch and keep pressing f8 and it will come up wit a load of options select safe mood

it it runs like that then you can sort it out

 

[default_user]

It still may be an overheating issue, although it should run long enough for you to get into the BIOS. Overheating is usually caused by the fins on the CPU cooler clogging up with household dust. You can't clean it properly without taking the fan off. I'd advise trying this first, if you haven't already. Just blowing the dust off the motherboard and the bottom of the case won't do it.

Another thing you could try (if you have the know-how) is to download an ISO image of Ubuntu, burn it to a CD and try booting the computer from that. You'd need to be able to get into the BIOS to set the boot order to CD first. If it boots and runs OK with Ubunto then it's not an overheating problem.

Happy to supply a noddy guide to creating an Ubuntu CD if you want to try it.

 

[jip0]

It still may be an overheating issue, although it should run long enough for you to get into the BIOS. Overheating is usually caused by the fins on the CPU cooler clogging up with household dust. You can't clean it properly without taking the fan off. I'd advise trying this first, if you haven't already. Just blowing the dust off the motherboard and the bottom of the case won't do it.

Another thing you could try (if you have the know-how) is to download an ISO image of Ubuntu, burn it to a CD and try booting the computer from that. You'd need to be able to get into the BIOS to set the boot order to CD first. If it boots and runs OK with Ubunto then it's not an overheating problem.

Happy to supply a noddy guide to creating an Ubuntu CD if you want to try it.

ubuntu would be another option to diagnose it but a bit long winded

you can just order a free CD but it takes a few weeks to come but saves the big download and burning it ect

 

[Ucof]

I want to visit the Pc and make it run smoothly again.
I love doing stuff like that and cleaning them up.

BSODs (that "blue screen memorydump thingy") is usually caused by a driver issue or faulty RAM.


At the end of the day, if you dont have loads of data you need to keep (photos, music, game saves or videos), then just wipe the disk and start again.
You could also try putting the hard drive is another PC and seeing if you can access it, virus scan it with http://housecall.trendmicro.com (I think) - its an online virus checker with multiple detection rules for different products, so you should be able to guarantee a virus free system.

 

[Charlotte]

I want to visit the Pc and make it run smoothly again.
I love doing stuff like that and cleaning them up.

You can if you want to - tea & biscuits provided

 

[fingers99]

If your connection is too slow to download Knoppix (which I'd suggest is likely to be far more useful in this context than Ubuntu), you could always download Damn Small Linux. Save any data you want/need, reload the OS of your choice.

My best guess, it isn't a virus (even if it is, reformatting the hard drive should kill it): may be a board or overheating fault, it may be Windows playing one of its usual silly tricks.

 

[dave]

Memory stack dump error can be because drive need defrag, windows virtual memory puts what it can in the scattered empty bits then forgets where they are,