I need computer help! Freezing Computer

[Kayos]

Also, try doing a system restore through windows. Start, Accessories, System Tools, System Restore. Take it back to a date a week or 2 b4 the prob began.

System Restore as well as GoBack both say I can't revert back to before the freezing happened. When I try it reboots then a message says "unable to resore your computer to this time, no changes were made". I have used both these programs in the past and they worked great. I think the freezing deletes the last known good points. They come up as dates I can choose, but then the message comes up for "did not change settings".

 

[cubbies]

If you restore with a WinXP CD, it will get to a point during setup where you can create partitions. Also, you can do it in Windows after the installation, but you need to make sure that you dont make your primary partition the size of the entire disk, which it tries to do by default.

 

[Homercidal]

You should be able to get a partition utility online. I use Partition Magic, and am not up on the free downloadable ones. I have used Linux boot disks before. Their version of FDISK is very similar to Microsofts (except much more powerful...)

Picture you have a knife and you could cut a Hard Drive into pieces and use each piece individually. These are partitions. However, there are rules to partitioning (depending on the file system, but I'll only talk about the Windows ones).

Let's say you have a bare, unpartitioned drive fresh out of the box. You HAVE to partition it because you have to give it a file system. So you give it a single partition, lets say the NTFS system since we are talking about Windows XP. This partition also has to have the "ACTIVE" flag set or it can't be used to boot Windows. This would be the PRIMARY ACTIVE partition. This would be the "C:" drive.

If you want to cut the drive into two or three pieces then you have to partition it further. You can create a SECONDARY partition, which would contain one or more LOGICAL partitions. The first logical partition would become a "D:" drive, the second would be the "E:" drive and so on. Normally these would appear in Windows Explorer as, C:, D:, and E:, but they might not depending on if they are hidden or not (normally they would not), and depending on if you change the drive letter designation in Windows (You can do that if you like, but most do not).

I prefer working with Partition Magic when doing more complicated manuevers such as resizing, moving, etc. These are not possible with themore basic utilities, and can save tons of hassle. Say I want to create a new partition to hold a back up image. With Partition Magic I start the software and there is a graphical representation of my partitions. I can then tell PM to create a new partition from a section of the freespace of an existing partition, and hit go. A few minutes later I have a new partition that I can stick an image on for safety. Without a program like Partition Magic I'd have to back up the data in the existing partition, delete it, create a new, smaller partition, and then the new image partition.

The basic Partitioning utilities woudl be fine for what you are doing. You can even do that stuff from the Windows install program, or from the FDISK program that comes on the Install CD.

 

[Homercidal]

What size is your disk? We might be able to suggest appropriate partition sizes out of that knowledge.

 

[Sir Humpsalot]

This thread has been serious for too long.

Since your computer is freezing, why not build a huge box out of styrofoam, put the computer inside, and use it to lager your beers? That's what I'd do if my computer was freezing...

 

[Homercidal]

This thread has been serious for too long.

Since your computer is freezing, why not build a huge box out of styrofoam, put the computer inside, and use it to lager your beers? That's what I'd do if my computer was freezing...

LOL! My friend has plans to take an old arcade machine and install a MAME computer so he would have access to play all of the classic arcade games right from a spare computer. The best part is that the housing would also hold a kegerator system and tap for easy pouring access! :rockin:

 

[Kayos]

What size is your disk? We might be able to suggest appropriate partition sizes out of that knowledge.

HD is 120gb

I understand what a partition does, but how do I create one when installing Windows fresh? Doesn't it just come up as "C" for all my internal memory? I am guessing that is what the partition program does.

So if I have a partition and my "stuff" on say "K", when I go to reinstall a fresh wiped windows, why won't it delete all of the stuff on this drive as well? Isn't it still running on the windows program in order to work? for instance, now I have A, B, C, D drives. When I put in a memory card, it shows as F drive. If I put in a G, H or I, I could save to those drives and keep nothing saved to the "C" drive. Is that right?


Also, what does it mean to "image" something to a different drive like you were referring to earlier?

Looking at fdisk articles on MS website, it looks like that is a partition builder built in.

http://support.microsoft.com/kb/q255867/

So I can just use that to build partitions, right? And I can decide how much memory to put into each partition. Suggestions on what to put on each partition and how many to make for basic stuff? How about just one with different folders like I do in "C" now but in a different place?

I am trying now the solution presented that putting my computer in the microwave may keep it from freezing, but I have to thaw it at room temp first or it will be rubbery. I'm not all serious either!

 

[RodfatherX]

First thing I did was the RAM diagnosis. Took out each one and left it as it was before I ever bought the the new stuff. No difference. It was actually worse when I put the original one in only without the new.

OK, to make it more weird.....in the morning after it has been resting all night, it lets me get about an hour out of it before it freezes up. Then as the day goes on and it has been used a bunch I end up getting about 5 minutes between freezes. So I am thinking heat. But then I run it in safe mode and it will never freeze. So it can't be heat. It froze while in the BIOS only once and that may be because I tried to reboot too dam fast (didn't toally shut down). It only did that once. Hasn't happened since that time and I think

So.....are you saying you ran a bootable ram test? or just tried 1 stick at a time and leaving it running? I have another suggestion also.......try downloading a copy of a linux live cd. Unplug the harddrives from the pc and boot from the live cd. Mess around with it for a while and see if it freezes.

 

[Homercidal]

First, the A and B are reserved for Floppy drives. You can ignore them for these purposes.

Next, we are concerned only with the Hard Drive partitions. The memory sticks should start popping up as letters after the last HDD (Hard Disk Drive) letter. If not, you can change them in windows later.

The fact that you have a D: drive might indicate that you have a hard drive partitioned into 2 chunks, or that you have 2 drives. You can see this in

Control panel -> Administrative Tools -> Computer Management -> Disk Management. This will show you what you have for drives and partitions (as far as windows can see anyway...)

On the left it lists the drives (Disks) you have and then to the right of that it shows what partitions there are for each disk, and their drive letter. It shows CD drives and removeable media liek memory sticks. This is where you can change the letters of the drives (not recommended for the primary partition).

During the installation program you will be prompted as to where you want to install windows. At this screen you can delete, and create your partitions, and when you have them created, you can choose which one you want to install windows to. It's very simple to understand. Just read the instructions and press "d" for delete, and "c" on the freespace to create a partition in the unpartitioned space. You will enter the size of the partitions in Megabytes. If you screw it up, no big deal, just reboot and start over.

 

[Homercidal]

So.....are you saying you ran a bootable ram test? or just tried 1 stick at a time and leaving it running? I have another suggestion also.......try downloading a copy of a linux live cd. Unplug the harddrives from the pc and boot from the live cd. Mess around with it for a while and see if it freezes.

+1 on that. I've used Knoppix (search for it). You might also try running a benchmark software for the CPU and Video, just to create a little heat. 3DMarks used to be my favorite. but there are likely others now.

 

[Homercidal]

Also, what does it mean to "image" something to a different drive like you were referring to earlier?

Looking at fdisk articles on MS website, it looks like that is a partition builder built in.

http://support.microsoft.com/kb/q255867/

An image is a snapshot of the data on your drive. They are typically compressed so they are smaller than the actual partitions they came from. When in need, you can make an exact copy of the original drive by uncompressing them onto a new partition. So you could save an image of drive C: on another partition, and then use that to reinstall your C: partition later if you have problems. Just delete the C: Partition, create a new one, then boot the recovery software and copy the image back to the new C: drive.

They are often created after your OS is installed and updated, and all of your basic Apps installed. And then when you make any major installations.

 

[Kayos]

So I can create an image whenever I like, or only the computer creates it's own? And then I save that to a different drive (partition) and can run it in full form if needed later? If so....cool....how do I create an "image" to store for later use?

My memory tests have been to put one stick in at a time and see if it freezes. I will try the tests you guys are referring to.

 

[RodfatherX]

Yes that is not a good way to test it. Even the memtest that you run as a program in windows is not good. You have to get a bootable memtest (memtest86) and run it over night on each stick. I think most copies of linux you would download will have a bootable memtest86 on the disk. I know ubuntu does for sure.

 

[Kayos]

You guys rock......but I still need someone to explain what Linux is......

 

[JVD_X]

It just seems strange that this never happened before I put in the bigger RAM a few weeks ago. But then again it was fine for 2 weeks after that...grrrrrr

OK - next up... did you completely replace all the memory or just add sticks? If you added two sticks (or one even with "modern" pc's) and they are not off the same assembly line, they often will create the instability you describe.

You really need to have all the same type and manufacturer memory.

 

[Kayos]

OK - next up... did you completely replace all the memory or just add sticks? If you added two sticks (or one even with "modern" pc's) and they are not off the same assembly line, they often will create the instability you describe.

You really need to have all the same type and manufacturer memory.

Tried to add one. Worked fine. When this happened, I took the old one out and jut went with the new. Still froze. Took out the new and just used the old, like I never even bough the new. Froze even faster.


From the research I have been doing tonight, it look slike I can save all my stuff to a partitioned drive and then reinstall the OS. Is that true? Will I only lose the stuff in the drive I am putting the os in?

 

[EvilTOJ]

First, never mind what fdisk is. It's an old partitioning software and a lot of the oldskool geeks used to use it. You also need to know what you're doing because it's very easy to erase everything off a drive by accident. And you, my friend, don't know what you're doing Homercidal gave a good explanation on Fdisk here; http://homebrewtalk.com/showpost.php?p=703153&postcount=35

and here; http://homebrewtalk.com/showpost.php?p=703297&postcount=43

You already have the partitions set up. I'm going to assume you have a regular windows XP, and not an OEM disk (that means a specialized operating system disk that came with your computer) Here's a good page on how to do a clean installation of windows XP.

http://www.theeldergeek.com/clean_installation_of_windows_xp.htm

Ignore the crap in the blue box on that page, you don't need to know it. Now, when the installation gets to the point where it asks you which partition you want to use, select it, and you MUST tell the installation to format it, not leave the file system intact! Otherwise it will just install another copy of XP and that won't fix your problem. It will go through the motions but not fix it. The rest of the reinstall will go along with that page.

You also need to do like many people have suggested and run memtest86. It boots off a CD or floppy and runs all by itself testing memory sticks.

 

[Homercidal]

For more info on Linux, do a google search and look at some screen shots. You can simply assume that it's the same thing as Windows (it generally performs the same functions, which is essentially connects the hardware to your software applications).

There are many "flavors" of Linux, because it's free and customizable, and lots of serious geeks and nerds have decided to create their own favorite versions over the years. It's going to have a much larger learning curve, especially if you know how to use Windows, and dont' know much about how hardware and OS works together.

 

[RodfatherX]

For more info on Linux, do a google search and look at some screen shots. You can simply assume that it's the same thing as Windows (it generally performs the same functions, which is essentially connects the hardware to your software applications).

There are many "flavors" of Linux, because it's free and customizable, and lots of serious geeks and nerds have decided to create their own favorite versions over the years. It's going to have a much larger learning curve, especially if you know how to use Windows, and don't' know much about how hardware and OS works together.

lol don't scare the poor chap.........you will only use it to mess around with eitherway, and it will be pretty easy to pop in the disk. With your HD disconnected it should boot from the CD. Then it will take you to an EASY to understand menu. Where you will run the memtest over night (on each separate stick). My god alyssa milano is hot ......sry watching charmed. Not that I like the show. I have it muted and am just glancing up every sec or so when she comes on screen. Then, you will reboot and click the run or try linux option with out making an changes to your PC. From there it will take you into a GUI(graphical User Interface) that depending on the version, will look a lot like XP/MAC OS 10 mix. It'll have a start button probably....that will pop a menu up just like xp that will list all your programs. Just play around with it for a while leave it up overnight again, to see if it freezes.

I would go with Ubuntu just because I know it has the memtest in the start up menu, and I know it is semi close to XP. You will have to burn the ISO you download to a disc. Incase you do not have a program that will burn an ISO......here one is

D/L both links........install the imageburn program. Click on the ubuntu ISO ...
click burn.

Turn off the PC.... unhook the Harddrive/remove one stick of RAM...turn on PC. It will take you to a menu. Run the Memtest overnight. If error free...or even if it isn't check the other to make sure. Then if they both check out.....or even if they do. Run the linux live cd and play around with it for a while and see if it freezes.




Good Luck