PC hangs randomly, fine in safe mode.

[Dan Wallace]

Hi all, first time poster so take it easy on me eh! :)

We have a pc that my partners' brother kindly gave us about 10 months ago (it is Tiny though), he's an avid gamer and wanted something better.

The PC is as follows (from CPUZ):
Intel P4 3.4GHz socket 478mPGA
2GB RAM
Pheonix Technologies BIOS
First International Computer m/b model# P4M-800M
Windows XP home edition (SP2)

The problem started about two months ago. Once every few weeks the pc would hang when on windows; surfing or just sitting idle. The pc was uncontrollable (crt/alt/del did nothing). This has now become much more prevalent, and now the pc can also hang on the xp splash screen or the welcome screen. It boots fine into safe mode and runs for days and doesn't play up. Sometimes it will load ok, and run for 5 seconds to ? minutes, but always hangs eventually.

This is what I've tried so far (from advice given previously on this site):

• Tried new RAM
• Disabled all boot programs
• Run scandisk (OK - fixed a couple of things, but did not help)

I am waiting for the original windows xp for this pc (if it can be found) and the xp pro I have is older than the home version, so I can not attempt a repair via that.

Can anyone offer any other suggestions? Getting a bit frustrated here!

Many thanks in advance

Dan

[SnowDog]

Well, if it works fine in Safe Mode I think you're on the right track waiting for that Windows disk.

In Safe Mode you're just running essential or generic drivers and processes and obviously (well, more or less) whatever it is causing the problem isn't running.

If you still get the problem after recovery/reinstall then that is a different matter, of course.

Back up everything you need while you can.

Out of interest, how many items do you have running in your startup list?

The only time I've seen systems OK in Safe Mode but still have problems in normal mode after a full recovery is when ATI graphics cards are involved (just one or two cases).

[Dan Wallace]

Hi Snowdog

Already backed everything up to my external drive so no worries there.

I've disabled all programs from booting to see if that did rectify the problem, but no joy.

Funny enough the machine does have an ATI Radeon 9800 graphics card! Could this be the issue?

Cheers

Dan

[SnowDog]

Well, it's hard to say - but in my personal opinion, based on my experience with ATI cards, yes.

I stress that that is absolutely just opinion and at this stage there's no way of pinning the blame on ATI in your case.

Once you run the reinstall, if the problems persist then you're going to have to find a way of narrowing down the culprit. Is there any way you can try swapping/removing the various components to see what effect it has? It's only the graphics card that will need a swap and you can get hold of a basic one for about $30.

[prince 1]

Anyone online

[jephthah]

ain't nobody here but us chickens

[Biker920]

ain't nobody here but us chickens

Knew there was something different about you jep. (Snicker) Later---

[pcs365_4]

Hi, did you scan the system for virus/spyware? Try Malwarebytes and do a scan and fix detected items.

Steps to increase system speed:

1. Disable startup items using msconfig
2. Download, install and run CCleaner tool from http://www.ccleaner.com/download (Refer the help manual on the web site)
3. Disable to Index services by going to Control Panel -> Add/Remove -> Click on Add/Remove Component and
uncheck Indexing
4. Install and test if Service Pack 3 increases system speed or not. If you encounter any issues after installing SP3, please uninstall it
5. Reduce your Recycling Bin Reserve by right clicking on your Recycle Bin -> Select properties and find the slider -> Reduce the size used by the Recycle Bin for each drive to 2-3%, a much more reasonable value

[Gavin Cruz]

Hi,

I can say pcs365_4 is right u should scan for Viruses and clean distorted & bad registries..Ccleaner is also f9 ..but it only cleans not optimizes regs..there is tool that can solve ur both prob of virus & registries..named Advanced System Optimizer..its tool help u in this..

System Protector for scanning viruses & Spywares
Registry Cleaner + Registry Optimizer for cleaning & optimizing distorted registries..!!

This can surely help..give it a try..!!
they are best cleaners i have ever used.

http://download.cnet.com/Advanced-System-Optimizer/3000-2094_4-10147659.html?tag=mncol