Random Crashes!

[gpatel]

My computer seems to have a mind of it's own and randomly crash. I originally thought that it was due to lack of memory, but I just stuck in 512mb of ram just now and it's still crashing. Then I thought it could be a clash between codecs, but that couldn't be the sole cause of the crashes, could it?

My system specifications are:

AMD Athlon XP 2200+ (T-Bred), 1.8GHz
Syntax SV266A mobo, with onboard sound and LAN
WinXP Professional 5.1 SP2
768MB DDR2100 RAM with C2
WD 80GB HDD
Netgear Wireless PCI Adapter

I then read about how SP2 can cause similer problems, so I uninstalled SP2, and the problems still remain.


Any help is greatly appreciated.
Thanks.

combined double post:

edit:
I also thought it could be a conflict on the WiFi card and the onboard LAN. But I disabled the LAN in the BIOS, and took the WiFi card out and uninstalled the drivers.

I also have onboard sound, but that is disabled as I have a PCI soundcard.

 

[office politics]

random crashes could possibly be bad memory. Did you swap out memory with known good?

 

[Elbatrop1]

You said you just stuck in 512 MB of memory. Make sure that it's seated properly (by reseating it). Also, try different slots.

It could also be a problem with overheating or the power supply.

 

[gpatel]

I doubt it could be overheating as the temp in the case is around 30c and the cpu temp is about 40c.

And Kingston don't make bad memory! I did reseat the memory, still no luck.


Thanks for the replys guys.

 

[derrmc]

My computer seems to have a mind of it's own and randomly crash. I originally thought that it was due to lack of memory, but I just stuck in 512mb of ram just now and it's still crashing. Then I thought it could be a clash between codecs, but that couldn't be the sole cause of the crashes, could it?

My system specifications are:

AMD Athlon XP 2200+ (T-Bred), 1.8GHz
Syntax SV266A mobo, with onboard sound and LAN
WinXP Professional 5.1 SP2
768MB DDR2100 RAM with C2
WD 80GB HDD
Netgear Wireless PCI Adapter

I then read about how SP2 can cause similer problems, so I uninstalled SP2, and the problems still remain.

If you are on the internet, your pc could have been invaded


Any help is greatly appreciated.
Thanks.

 

[gpatel]

Well I have Norton Systemworks to sort that out. I run system scans regularly.

I think it may have been due to the latency setting in my bios, and the scan I did with Norton's WinDoctor. I tested it out by installing Red Alert 2. Before, it only got up to about 2% on the installation, now after doing these two things, it seems to have fixed it and now I can play this beautiful game in all it's glory.

However, it does still crash when watching movies. Again, my mind is on the cause being a conflit between codecs, but I go into Device Manager and it tells me everything is fine. :/


Thanks.

 

[gpatel]

Right. Well, I've changed some settings in my BIOS, like setting the clock speed and such "by SPD", and well it seems now that it doesn't freeze as much. It hasn't frozen yet when I have been playing Red Alert 2, but then again, I didn't play it for a long time. It now seems to be crashing when I am listening to music or watching movies.

I thought it was the onboard sound, but then I went into my BIOS and disabled it. Now, I have no idea what it could be.



Thanks.

 

[derrmc]

Right. Well, I've changed some settings in my BIOS, like setting the clock speed and such "by SPD", and well it seems now that it doesn't freeze as much. It hasn't frozen yet when I have been playing Red Alert 2, but then again, I didn't play it for a long time. It now seems to be crashing when I am listening to music or watching movies.

I thought it was the onboard sound, but then I went into my BIOS and disabled it. Now, I have no idea what it could be.



Thanks.

run task manager and see what is hogging your system

 

[gpatel]

Heh, well.. I've already tried that and nothing changes.

I am going to try and run a Linux live CD to see if it's a problem with my Windows installation or with my actual hardware.

I'll let you know how it goes.



Thanks.

 

[gpatel]

Well, I tried a Knoppix (Live CD) and it seemed to work fine, but Knoppix didn't have any support for my sound card.

I also did a reinstallation of Windows today, but the problem still lurks.


Tomorrow I shall see if it's the sound card causing the problem by taking it out and using the onboard sound.