Re: God I despise Windows...
My Powersupply is a 450W and how do I monitor the voltage>
My Powersupply is a 450W and how do I monitor the voltage>
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Re: God I despise Windows...
this may or may not be helpful, but i had this problem a little while ago. my computer would suddenly just restart and when i was logged in to the desktop, a window would pop up saying that the system had just recovered from a serious error.
i don't know why, but this started happening after i installed the profile thingy that comes with a saitek joystick. when i first installed the joystick, i just installed the drivers and had no problems for a few months. then i decided to install the game profile software for the joystick, hoping that i would be able to change sensitivities and things like that, which bf2 does not allow you to change. soon after i installed the profile software, i started experiencing these random restarts. so i got rid of the program, leaving just the joystick drivers installed. no problems ever since, been a couple months now. hope this helps.Comment
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Re: God I despise Windows...
Actually I have never owned a Saitek game controller until yesterday when my friend bought me one. So I don't think that is the problem but thank you for your contribution anyway.Comment
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Re: God I despise Windows...
W32/IRCBOT.worm is a medium risk worm for home users. You can be simply infected by going online. Once infected, Your computer may restart continuously.Comment
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Re: God I despise Windows...
That may be your cause idk i just looked on here went to mcafee and found it:PComment
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Re: God I despise Windows...
my bro had this problem...and it was a virus. do a system scan and see what happens.Comment
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Re: God I despise Windows...
Sorry my response was slow. I was out and didn't check email...
I *really* don't think you problem is heat. I personally have a heat problem and my P4 3.0Ghz chip gets to 60-65 degrees when I play BF2!! If it goes a little beyond that then it either freezes or reboots. I replaced the CPU fan and added another secondary fan, now it doesn't go past about 45-48. This is still hot but my point is at your temps your problem is not heat.
You asked how to measure voltage. It depends on the maker of your system. That's why I asked in earlier post. Some well known 3rd party system board makers like Abit or Asus often come with free utils which monitor fans, heat and voltage. Another option is to just do a search on heat voltage monitor utilities and download a freeware version. It's a fairly good chance it will work with your system. Power is the most overlooked issue with PCs. If you have a few HDs, floppy, etc then 350 watts or so it probably okay but then add a nice graphic card (which most of us do) then a 350 becomes marginal. I personally would use a 450w. With a monitoring util what you want to look for are two things: first, the p/s should put out 12v+ or - and 5v + or -. If it is 12.91 and 4.97 that's still okay. The biggest issue is fluctuation. Those numbers should stay even. If they are dropping or jumping constantly then that can be a problem. If it drops + or - 0.5 to 1.0v then (to me) that's a lot. Cheaper p/s's tend to fluctuate more than the nicer ones. In the scheme of things though, the p/s doesn't go bad that often. It's not THAT likely you need a new one...but it is possible.
You will get a ton of msgs from people telling you this or that fixed their problem...make a mental note but take each one lightly. Like I said in another post, nearly *anything* can cause a freeze or reboot. Instead of telling you your joystick might be the issue because mine was one time, a better way to say it is that *any* card, add-on, or misc. crap you have could potentially be the issue. This is going to sound like a pain in the ass but the best way to eliminate some of the suspects is to remove everything that is realistically removable. So disconnect the joystick or any other easily removable item. If you are 1/2 way technical then you could even go as far as removing any extra cards inside the PC. Like in mine I have a SCSI controller, WinTV card, SB Audigy and Radeon X850. Obviously I can't yank my video card but all the others I can live without for testing purposes. You say these locks are occurring in multiple random apps. That is good. The more often it happens then the quicker you can reproduce the problem while testing. If this problem only occurs once every 2 weeks then this method sucks but if it happens a few times a day then just strip the system down and let it run. If it locks then at least you will know that *none* of those removed items is the source. You will have then just ruled out a ton of possibilities.
As for software, its possible you have a worm/virus/trojan of some sort. There are some that will do exactly what your system is doing. Get a copy of McAfee or Symantec’s antivirus and run it. I would also download Spybot too and scan for spyware. I have recently found a few worms that Symantec really should have caught but it didn't, however Spybot did. Now this step gets kind of anal but you could also get Wintasks Pro and run it. Wintasks will tell you exactly what all the running processes on your system are actually doing, who makes them, etc. I have been surprised at times on my system to find something obtrusive (borderline destructive) running as a normal process which Symantec and Spybot never even picked up! If you want to get extreme in eliminating software from the equation then back up your personal data, reformat and reinstall the OS and all apps. If it's a software issue then this will kill it. I am a systems engineer and I do that to mine probably every 3-6 months but if you never do it then it's kind of a pain.
Another likely source is either your RAM or processor. If the system is freezing or rebooting while sitting dormant (no apps running, no hard drive crunching). It is just idle and it freezes or reboots then I would lean toward RAM, Processor or the p/s (covered above). One poor mans way of testing the RAM is to only use 1/2. If you have 1GB then maybe you have 2 512K sticks. If your system will boot with just one (no hardware errors) then try running with just that one stick until you are convinced the problem is gone. If the problem still occurs then reverse the sticks (put one back in and remove the one still in the system). If the problem continues then either both are bad (or neither…haha). If you have access to another PC then switch ALL the RAM (with a compatible system of course). Then see if the problem goes to the new computer or stays with yours.
It could also be your video card. If you have access to another (even if it’s an old piece of crap) you could swap it out for a day. Again, the time length all depends on how often this problem occurs. Video cards (nice ones) run very hot and they can cause the problem you are having if they are defective. ...or take your video card to another PC and install. See if that PC starts to reboot. Just wait until the problem happens again or until you are satisfied the problem is gone.
Freezes/lockups can be a real pain to figure out. This all may sound like a lot but it’s really just trial and error until you narrow down the problem. A final note: it is possible you have a short of some sort. Maybe an area of the system board is touching the case where it shouldn’t …or a card is loose or a screw fell inside …or the system was moved and parts shifted around inside the PC. If the system was just moved and the problem started after that then I would pop the cover and reseat all cables and cards just to be on the safe side. It’s unbelievable how much grief one loose card can give you.
Sorry this is long but I type fast and there's a lot to check when you have a problem like this. Lemme know if you have questions. And tell me what you discover. Hope this helps.
TheDRComment
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Re: God I despise Windows...
Originally posted by AquilaPhasmas
Hey! I just read this post with the Microsoft link about a device driver. First, (I am a cert. Microsoft engineer) their tech docs are sometimes way off so don't take it as gospel. Assuming it is on the right path though, do this:
- Start button, settings, control panel
- dbl click "system" icon
- select "Hardware" tab
- click "Device Manager" button (you will see a list of all hardware in your system)
Look for any exclamation marks or question marks next to a device. This indicates that a driver is wrong or missing. See if you can get that driver issue corrected or removed from your system. Also, something I forgot to mention, do an update on *anything* you can update. I would start with the ROM on the system board (depends on brand of computer)
- then go to http://windowsupdate.microsoft.com/ which has hardware updates for some devices, OS patches, etc. - do them all! (of course you can skip goofy stuff like "update to MS Journal app" - haha, but grab the rest)
- if the system is a brand name (HP, Dell) then go to their manufacturers site and get any updates available for your PC (onboard sound, lan, video, ROM, HD controllers)
- if it is clone then go to the system board maker's site (they will have the ROM update here also)
- if you have any other hardware (like sound card or video) which has not been updated by above steps then go to the manufac. site and do those drivers too.
Don't skip the updating of all drivers. These updates come out often because of people having problems like you are having. I have already solved a few BF2 issues I was having by applying driver updates to my system.
TheDRComment
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Re: God I despise Windows...
Hey guys thanx again for all of your help I really appreciate it. Im using AVG free at home virus scanning and protection. Can anybody suggest a bettter one? I really dont like this one very much.Comment
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Re: God I despise Windows...
AquilaPhasmas... did u even read or try anything TheDR said? his post look helpful but you seem to be ignoring it. Unless im mistakenComment
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Re: God I despise Windows...
You are mistaken, I read his post in depth and tried everything he suggested within my power. Ive tried all the hardware stuff to no avail and im downloading McAfee now.
Try posting something constructive next time eh?Comment
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Re: God I despise Windows...
Avast Pro is a good AV program.
u sure it's just not any dodgy Ram.
Memory probs seem to reboot pc abnormaly as well.Comment
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Re: God I despise Windows...
Avast Pro is a good AV program.
u sure it's just not any dodgy Ram.
Memory probs seem to reboot pc abnormaly as well.Comment
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