Troubleshooting the error

[keba]

I have reacently experienced problems probably caused by too much time spend in front of the computer.
The original problem was that my computer suddenly would turn off the screen or the entire graphics card. Then I could fix it by letting the computer stay frozen for about 5 minutes, and then restarting it. If that didn't work I would keep restarting it every 5 mins until it did.
Now recently I connected two eksternal hardrives through the USB ports. That seemed to over overload the USB controllers and thereby causing it to freeze. Then I plugged the harddrives out and restarted, but it kept freezing whenever it reached the desktop. I then deactiveted the remaining USB controllers exept the one used by my mouse. It then returned to the original self with the need to restart every 5 minutes.

(I have a hunch that the long hours my computer has been active might have dryed out a Capacitor or two, and because of that, the computer needs to charge the Capacitors fully before my computer will start correctly, but I really have no clue...)

Can someone explain this to me? Or even help me fix the 5 minute thing?

 

[jolancer]

) you can not damage a computer by using it too much(if the computer is assebled and operating correctly)... i left my computer on 24/7 for probably ~4yrs maybe, and never had a prob with it.

) If you mean you need to restart it after 5mins From Within WINDOWS... then that just means your windows install is probably just F'd up... could be just for example: viruse|spyware|or justa messed up install from improper Dirver installation/uninstalltion or too many other misshadled apps perhaps, etc.

USB controllers dont get overloaded.... they could have incompatability probs or a Driver problem though.

...about your graphics and display turning off and freezing.. that could perhaps be caused by a lot of Dust Buildup on the Graphics Heatsink causing it to overheat or something...

have you ever cleaned the dust out of the computer?
and what is your computer specs?

 

[keba]

My Graphics card does have some dust to it... But you say that it easely could have been the graphics card overheating?

My computer was assempled about 2 years ago, could the cooling paste under the cooler be degrading and thereby causing it?

I just tried removing one of the the ram blocks, the cheap one, and it seem to have worked for now, but I will edit this post if there are changes.

In the mean time, if you have any suggestions that might help, please be sure to mention them.

 

[jolancer]

no, the thermal material under the heatsink usualy never degrades that much... quality thermal compound will actually get better over time, might be the same with most...

anyway, if anything causes it to overheat, its most likely the dust build up on the fins of the heatsink.
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any further suggestions would require you to post your system specs.

 

[keba]

I am currently at a friends house, but when I head back I wiil blow all that good-gaming-killer-dust away!

Thx for the help jolancer ^^

 

[keba]

I cleaned it but it didn't work very well. My com sill did the exact same thing. I then made a clean windows installation, but still, no effect. Then I changed the graphics card, and that worked well for two weeks or so, until the same error came back.

I now believe it has something to do with my monitor sending a bad signal to the graphics card, causing it to function badly over time.
(My monitor was bought from a guy who use broken parts to make working monitors, I suspect he might have done something wrong)
If not that, the error might be caused by the motherboard for some reason, as I find it to be the last possible thing I can think of.

Do you have any thougts that might help, or I should try? Anyone?


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My specs:
ASUS P4P800SE
768MB DDR-ram (3x256, 2xKingston+one more)
Intel Pentium 4, 3.00GHz
NVIDIA GeForce4 ti 4200
2xSeagate 80+320GB
Monitor: modified AOC Spectrum 7Glr 17"