Strange computer behavior. Looking for suggestions.

[JChamp]

Hi all,

My computer has been exhibiting some odd behavior of late. Programs will occasionally crash (Firefox, Thunderbird, IE, Viruscan etc.). For a while, there, I was getting the blue screen of death although that seems to have subsided.

Most unusual is that when I start up, after the black windows screen appears, my monitor will go into standby mode before I reach the welcome screen. I can hear the windows theme through my speakers, but my monitor remains black. I usually have to repeat the startup process about 5 times or so before the monitor engages.

Another curiosity: When I am finally up and running, I'll usually get a bubble prompt stating that either my screen resolution is too low (it isn't) or that my virus scan is disabled.

Is this a simple question of needing more RAM. I only have 256, but I'm not running any high powered programs. I ran a mem. test and it checked out fine. Besides, I don't think that memory has anything to do with the monitor problem.

My system's a few years old now, so perhaps my mobo is crapping out.

Here's my basic specs:

AMD Athlon XP1800
Epox 8KHA+ mobo
Maxtor 40 gig HD
2 sticks 128mb ram
GeForce MX-460

Any feedback would be greatly appreciated. Thanks!
John

 

[SHAWN]

Sounds like a virus. Go to www.antivirus.com and run a free scan quick. Then download Microsoft Anti-Spyware and run a scan with that. See if that helps

 

[JChamp]

Ok, I've run the scans and everything looks good - No viruses.

Any other suggestions?

 

[The_Urge]

Try replacing the video driver. Or the card itself maybe the problem.
Have your tried to reseat the card. Sometimes they creep out after a couple of years.
Clean out the dust inside.
I'm not sure what OS you have but 256 is enough to run. Of course more is better but that is OK.
Does the card have a fan? If it does, is it working?
Have you installed a new program that would coincide with the errors?

 

[smileygladhands]

It doesn't sound like a RAM issue. Could be a virus.. but doesn't sound like it. Just to be sure, you should boot into to safe-mode and perform a full system scan.

Honestly, it sounds like a Video Card issue. Check Nvidia's website and make sure your drivers are up to date. See if you can swap in any other v-cards and test the issue.

Also, your psu might be crapping out on you, which might explain the odd behavior.

Those are my guesses.. psu or video card.. or both.

 

[Him]

Yeah, I would say video card. Is it overheating? Perhaps it could be.

 

[JChamp]

Thanks for the thoughtful response.

I haven't tried a different video card yet, but I have tried reseating it (also, cleaning out the cp as you suggested).

It does have a fan - I cleaned that also and it seems to be working fine.

I'm running a fully licensed version of xp. Here's some important background that I forgot to mention before, however.

I never could properly run a clean install of xp - the monitor would shut down during gui mode with 34 minutes remaining (I'd rather not revisit that topic again!).

The only way I got around this was to install 2000, and then to upgrade to xp. Here's another strange thing: The monitor would still cut out at 34 minutes, but the HD would keep on ticking and the rest of the install would complete.

Maybe I've been living with the fallout ever since lol.

 

[Him]

Maybe there is a mobo problem. If you can, try a different mobo. Or just try the card in a different computer, puut it under load, and see what happens.

 

[JChamp]

Yes, I'm fearing that its the mobo too. Tell me, is there much involved in transfering a processor from one mobo to the next? I've never done that before. Or would this be a good time to upgrade my processor as well?

 

[JChamp]

Oh, one other thing. My processor tends to run around 50-55C. Isn't that a bit high?