Freezing

My computer periodically freezes. When I say freeze I mean whatever is displayed stays on the screen forever. There is no response from the mouse or keyboard. I don't get blue screens or resets just freezing.

Initially I thought it may be a thermal issue. I added a case fan and a few other things to reduce the temperature. Initially my idle temp was around 60 C afterward it was 54 C, but it still freezes just as often.

I installed a program so I could check on the temp in Windows. I ran some programs to test stability. The "Video Card Stability Test" program managed to get my CPU temp up to 80 C and my computer did not freeze or crash. Sometimes my computer can freeze within seconds after being idle for a while. So I don't think its thermal.

I ran some live linux distros and SLAX, Knoppix, Ubuntu, and Fedora. Some of them caused my computer to freeze, especially Ubuntu. It took a few tries before I was able to fully boot Ubuntu. So I don't think the problem is in the software.

If my computer freezes and I press the reset button quickly. Sometimes my computer will freeze while Windows is booting. I have always seen it freeze before the Windows boot image is displayed.

I can reproduce it in seconds by opening a very large video file (<500MB) and skipping to a different part. Almost always after skipping 1-4 times I can get my computer to freeze. If it is a smaller video file its much harder to get it to freeze. If I wait about 30 seconds or more between skipping it doesn't freeze as much. If I open the video on another computer from a network share I don't have any problems. My computer can also freeze if I am browsing web pages very quickly that have a lot of content on them. I have also gotten my computer to freeze when copying over a GB of music to my MP3 player. I also got it to freeze while converting music. The later two cases I was deleting and copying files at the same time.

The only thing I really see in common is that it tends to freeze when its reading a lot of data off the hard drive. I never noticed my HD light being on while frozen. Is there maybe something wrong in the BIOS with how I have my hard drive setup? Any suggestions would be appreciated. Thanks.

System Info:
All the latest drivers.
OS: WinXP Pro Sp3
CPU: 3Ghz P4
MB: ASUS P5GD2 Premium
BIOS: v1009
Video: GeForce 9800 GT
HD: Seagate 160GB SATA (ST3160023AS)

Relevant BIOS Settings:
IDE Configuration
-Configure SATA As: Standard IDE
-Onboard IDE Operate Mode: Enhanced Mode
-Enhanced Mode Support On: S-ATA
-IDE Detect Time Out (Sec): 35
Onboard Deviced Configuration
-HD Audio Controller: Enabled
-Font Panel Support Type: AC97
-Onboard 1394 Controller: Enabled
-Onboard PCIEX GbE LAN: Enabled
-LAN Option ROM: Disabled
-Onboard PCI GbE LAN: Enabled
-PCI LAN Option ROM: Disabled
-Onboard WIFI Controller: Disabled
-ITE8212F Controller: IDE Mode
-Detect Device Time: Quick Mode
-Silicon Image Controller: SATA Mode

 

It seems to me that you haven't considered the RAM modules to be faulty... try and run a checking util from a boot CD and/or floppy.

 

I downloaded the Ultimate Boot CD 5 and ran several tests.

Memory:
Memchk86 - Passed (One pass)
Memchk86+ - Passed (One pass)
Windows Memory Diagnostic - Passed (One pass)

System Info:
NSSI - No errors
ASTRA - No errors
PCI - No errors
System Speed Test 32 - No errors

CPU:
StressCPU - Ran for 10 mins
CPU Burn-in - Ran for 10 mins

CD:
CD Index - Division by zero exception.

HD:
SeaTools for DOS 1.10 - Passed (Short and long)
SeaTools for DOS 2.13b - Freezes when detecting drives on startup sometimes. Especially if I just reset the computer because it froze. Always freezes when I try to run any test.
Maxtor PowerMax 4.23 - Passed (Short and long)
MHDD32 - No errors (ID, SCAN, RST, STOP, EID)
Parted Magic - No errors

SeaTools for Windows - No errors

The only program that froze or gave any significant errors is the SeaTools program. The other HD programs ran fine so it could be a coincidence, but it does lend more credence to it being a problem with something related to the HD. Maybe some part of the MB is going bad like the SATA controller?

After doing some more tests with video files I noticed some new things. WMV files playing in Windows media player as small as 15 MB (too big to buffer in memory?) can cause my computer to freeze when seeking to a different part of the video. Any smaller and I can't get it to freeze at all. AVIs and MPEGs in WMP are harder to get it to freeze.

It seems like its a hardware problem, but triggered by something specific in software. Does anyone know of a program that will log software events like task switching or low level calls directly to the HD? Maybe I might be able to find that it freezes when at a certain call or when a certain module is running. All the tools I have been able to find log in memory.

Thanks for reading and thanks for any suggestions.

 

So I found a program called "Process Monitor" that logs API calls and can write the log directly to the hard drive. However, when I run the program I cannot get my computer to freeze. Assumably the slowdown it causes prevents the computer from freezing. That sounds like a heat problem doesn't it? Any new suggestions given this new information? Thanks.

 

It sounds very much like an overheating problem. I'm guessing if you give the system some time to cool it doesn't freeze while booting. Are you using the stock heatsink? What case are you using, and what kind of fan layout? However, I've known people with a similar issue, and it was fixed by a BIOS update.

 

I think this is the heat sink I use Rocketfish - Rocketfish Universal CPU Cooler, or something similar. The case is a standard basic tower. There is one side fan that blows air out. There is also a larger fan in back that blows air into the case.

The case is along a wall with two other computers. There is about a 3 inch spacing between the cases. There is a large squirrel case fan run buy a 1 horse motor that blows air through the wall from the basement. The air goes through a filter before it goes through the fan. I have very little dust inside my computer. There is some cardboard at the very back of the computers to try to force more air through the computers rather than between them.

I also live in Minnesota and its February. The air is coming from the basement is about 65 deg F. When I first started having this issue, I plugged in the back fan and removed a hard drive I never use. That lowered my CPU idle temp from 145 to 130 and my system temp from 100 to 90. However it didn't seem to affect the frequency of the problem at all.

I can get my computer to freeze within seconds of being idle. And yes it is much easier to get my computer to freeze if I push it after I just reset it. If I give it time to cool down its much less frequent. Its getting worse too. When I first had the issue I had to do some very fast web browsing in order to get my computer to freeze, and even then it was rare. Now if I click two links within 5 seconds of each other it can freeze although rarely. It doesn't seem to matter whats on the page. The pages can have flash apps that use max my CPU usage or they can be simple pages like this forum.

I have run CPU burn in tests and memory tests. I could be wrong, but I don't think its the CPU or memory that's overheating.

I did try updating my BIOS and it didn't have any affect.

Thanks for any help.

 

It seems you have a memory problem. Virtual memory is too low. You can try and install additional RAM or first try and clean up your system to free more space, i.e. defragment, delete temporary internet files etc.