Hi, I had a problem with my old PC in that it would repeatedly freeze, ie the screen would stop and it would do nothing until I reset it, so when I had the money and wanting to upgrade anyway I bought a new one.

I now have a new PC and have the same problem, it freezes occasionally and last night even reset itself. Also when I try and defrag the main drive it says it cant due to inconsistancies with the file system and to run CHKDSK which I do and that doesnt show any problems. I did have diskeeper installed and that wouldnt run so I removed it.


The only things I have kept from the old PC are the monitor (changed not long before I got the new one so ruled out as a cause of the problem), The modem a D-Link DSL504T, and the extension cable to the mains outlet. Can anyone suggest some possible reasons for this or maybe something on the new PC that might cause it?

This is the system report form Sandra 2007 if it helps

System
Host Name : SENOTE
User : Owner
Workgroup : WORKGROUP

Processor
Model : Intel(R) Core(TM)2 CPU 6300 @ 1.86GHz
Speed : 1.86GHz
Performance Rating : PR6330 (estimated)
Cores per Processor : 2 Unit(s)
Threads per Core : 1 Unit(s)
Type : Dual-Core
Internal Data Cache : 2x 32kB Synchronous, Write-Thru, 8-way set, 64 byte line size
L2 On-board Cache : 2MB ECC Synchronous, ATC, 8-way set, 64 byte line size, 2 threads sharing

Mainboard
Bus(es) : ISA PCI PCIe IMB USB i2c/SMBus
MP Support : 1 Processor(s)
MP APIC : Yes
System BIOS : Phoenix Technologies, LTD 6.00 PG
Mainboard : ELITEGROUP COMPUTER SYSTEM CO.,LTD. P965T-A
Total Memory : 2GB

Chipset 1
Model : Elitegroup Computer Sys ??? (29A0)
Front Side Bus Speed : 4x 266MHz (1064MHz data rate)

Video System
Monitor/Panel : Dell E173FP
Adapter : NVIDIA GeForce 7600 GS

Physical Storage Devices
Removable Drive : Floppy disk drive
Hard Disk : WDC WD2500JS-58NCB1 (233GB)
Hard Disk : WDC WD3200JS-00PDB0 (298GB)
Hard Disk : Generic USB CF Reader USB Device
Hard Disk : Generic USB MS Reader USB Device
Hard Disk : Generic USB SD Reader USB Device
Hard Disk : Generic USB SM Reader USB Device
CD-ROM/DVD : LITE-ON DVDRW SHM-165P6S SCSI CdRom Device

Logical Storage Devices
Hard Disk (C : 298GB (287GB, 96% Free Space) (NTFS)
Local Disk (D : 233GB (167GB, 72% Free Space) (NTFS)
CD-ROM/DVD (E : N/A
3.5" 1.44MB (A : N/A
Removable Drive (F : N/A
Removable Drive (G : N/A
Removable Drive (H : N/A
Removable Drive (I : N/A

Peripherals
Serial/Parallel Port(s) : 1 COM / 1 LPT
USB Controller/Hub : Intel(R) ICH8 Family USB Universal Host Controller - 2830
USB Controller/Hub : Intel(R) ICH8 Family USB Universal Host Controller - 2831
USB Controller/Hub : Intel(R) ICH8 Family USB Universal Host Controller - 2832
USB Controller/Hub : Intel(R) ICH8 Family USB Universal Host Controller - 2834
USB Controller/Hub : Intel(R) ICH8 Family USB Universal Host Controller - 2835
USB Controller/Hub : Intel(R) ICH8 Family USB2 Enhanced Host Controller - 2836
USB Controller/Hub : Intel(R) ICH8 Family USB2 Enhanced Host Controller - 283A
USB Controller/Hub : USB Root Hub
USB Controller/Hub : USB Root Hub
USB Controller/Hub : USB Root Hub
USB Controller/Hub : USB Root Hub
USB Controller/Hub : USB Root Hub
USB Controller/Hub : USB Root Hub
USB Controller/Hub : USB Root Hub
USB Controller/Hub : USB Mass Storage Device
Keyboard : Standard 101/102-Key or Microsoft Natural PS/2 Keyboard
Mouse : HID-compliant mouse
Human Interface : USB Human Interface Device

MultiMedia Device(s)
Device : DTV-DVB 3056, Hybrid Capture Device

Communication Device(s)
Device : PCI SoftV92 Modem

Printers and Faxes
Model : SnagIt 8

Power Management
AC Line Status : On-Line

Operating System(s)
Windows System : Microsoft Windows XP/2002 Professional Media Center 5.01.2600 (Service Pack 2)

Network Services
Adapter : Realtek RTL8169/8110 Family Gigabit Ethernet NIC

Hi senote and welcome to PC Help Forum!

Sounds like you got a few issues there. Considering it is brand new, the best thing to do would probably be to get all your personal stuff off of it, and then send it in for replacement or repair. However, if it is not under warrenty, or if they would charge you to fix it, we'll be glad to assist you in fixing it yourself.

If that is the case, let's address the Defrag one first.

I know you said you ran chkdsk, but ypu probably didn't use the correct "switch" to fix the problem. The defragment problem is caused by a "dirty bit". It's rather complicated to explain what a "dirty bit" is, but suffice it to say, it is an error on the hard drive. Here's how to fix it:

This next step will unset the Dirty Bit: Click Start, then Run, type cmd in the Open box and click "Ok". At the command prompt, type the following, pressing "Enter" after each one: (Note the spaces.)

• chkdsk /f /r c: ..... (To manually run a full chkdsk operation)
• Y ..... (To accept having it run on the next boot)
• Reboot the computer.

This should take you through 5 stages of the scan and will unset that Dirty Bit. Be patient...this is a very thorough check and will take quite a while. Finally, when the chkdsk operation has completed, go to Start > Run and type cmd and press enter. Type fsutil dirty query c:, press "Enter", and Windows should confirm that the Dirty Bit is not set on that drive.

Let me know what it says.

As for your freezing, there are several ways we could investigate what's up with that. Let's try SpeedFan first:

Please download Speed Fan and install it.Start Speed Fan. When it is fully loaded, take a screen shot of the first screen by pressing Print Screen/SysRq on your keyboard. Open Paint and paste. Save the screenshot as a JPEG and post it in a reply to me. Now click on the tab called S.M.A.R.T.. Select your hard drive by using the drop-down box at the top. Now take a screenshot of that as well. Post it in your reply to me as well.

NOTE: For certain computers, Speed Fan will not display accurate measurements. If the temperature wildly fluctuates or doesn't change at all, let me know, otherwise I will believe the mesurements are accurate.


And finally, the next time if freezes, please write down the time and date, since we might be able to use this to find out what is causing it by looking at your computer's Event Viewer.

Hi, thanks for responding to my post. You were right, though I had done a CHKDSK at reboot it wasnt the thorough one, so i did that last night and it defragged without problem.

I have installed the program, set it to log 21 days and got the screenshots you asked for. I have also considered the possibility of a problem with the household electrics so have invested in a UPS with voltage stabilization

Attached Images

	Main.jpg (66.6 KB, 7 views)
	SMART.jpg (92.3 KB, 7 views)

The voltages in Speed Fan look good. And the hard drive is healthy too.

Considering this problem happened with and old and new PC, I would suspect something wrong with the outlet the computer is plugged into, or the circuit in that area of your house. Though, I would be interested to see if your computer gives you a reason for the freezing.

After running the thorough chkdsk, you might not even have the problem anymore. That may have been the whole issue. But if it does freeze again, or if it reboots, write down the exact time and date of when it happens. Once you have the time, and your computer is back up and running, do this:

Click on Start, Run, type eventvwr in the text box and then press Enter. Click on Application and see if there are any exlamation marks or red X's at the time when your computer had an froze. If there is an exlamation mark or X next to an item, double-click on that entry and copy the description of the error. Do the same thing for the System section. Post the description along with the source so I know what the description belongs to.

Eventlog shows nothing sadly and it has continued, the manufacture suspects a fault ram stick and asked me to remove one to test, which im in the process of doing now.

This might help you to find the problem faster. If you haven't already found the bad stick, do this:

Put all your RAM back into your comptuer. Download Stress Prime

After you download it, double-click on it (which opens the CAB that it is in) and drag the program to your desktop. Now you can run it. Click on the drop-down box at the top and select Large, in-place FFTs - stress RAM and click Start

If it detects a fatal error, it will stop automatically and then report it. Let me know if that happens.

Otherwise, stop the scan after about 30 minutes, and then in the window at the bottom, it will say if any errors/warnings were detected.

If it detects an error right off the bat, then you know you have bad RAM. Now you can take 1 stick out and run the test again. Continue this until you found the bad stick(s) of RAM. The best idea would be to test them all individually.

Let me know how it goes.