At the end of my wits...

CowPunk

New Member
I've been having some serious freezing issues with my computer within the last 2 weeks, and I've run out of ideas on what it could possibly be.

I've looked over the "Questions 101" Thread, and I hope that I give all the information that is requested, if not.. bear with me..

The computer is a Compaq Presario 06, 512MB DDR400 Kingston RAM, Primary Master hdd=120GB Western Digital Model# WD1200JB, the Primary Slave HDD is a 40GB Western Digital model# WD400EB. I have tried various Power units in the computer in the last few weeks, the one currently is an Enlight 300W, Model #HPC-300-101. Processor is an AMD Athlon XP 2200+, 2.0gHz. I think that covers the basics... Oh, I've got an Nvidia GeForce 5500+ in the AGP port, but I run off of the on-board video display... don't ask, that's a problem for another day.

Now that I think I've got the computer type out on the table... my problem is: My computer freezes after inactivity. It seems like the only time it has any trouble is after about 20 minutes of idle, and the entire system will freeze, at first, I thought it was a problem with the screensaver, removed the screen saver (to the point it's not on the computer anymore) and it still freezes. I've tried running 2 different antivirus programs, ad-aware, I went to Western Digitals homesite and downloaded the hard drive scanners, repaired any bad sectors that it found (all 2 of them), I'm applied a new layer of thermal paste to the processor fearing that perhaps the system was overheating, blew out any dust that was on the heatsink and fan, and throughout the rest of the tower for that matter. I've downloaded speedfan, which tells me that my computer processor is running at a cool 38C-42C. I also ran memtest to let me know if the memory in the computer was still doing well, I had no negative results from the test.

After about a week of the freezing, on rebooting I noticed a message at the bottom of the boot log that said "Primary slave in imminent danger of failing, please backup all data." ... or something to that effect. So I backed everything up, and disconnected the drive, same problem persists. I hooked it back up yesterday, and the message doesn't display anymore. Now I have a message that says "Primary IDE channel no 80 conductor cable installed." I was pretty sure that I'm using an 80 conductor cable... but I could very easily be wrong, I didn't know til recently there was even a difference. Also, if someone can tell me how to recognize the difference between these two.. I'd be very thankful.

So, I think I've covered most of my bases here... I'm about to the point where I feel like just buying new everything and starting over... can anyone give me some tips on how this problem could be resolved in an easier, and cheaper manner?
 
This link will show the difference between the 2 types of IDE connector, the 40 pin and the 80 pin.

http://www.mikeshardware.com/howtos/howto_connect_ide_hd.html

Easy enough... Count the "waves" in the ribbon and I got my answer...

Okay, hard drives are hooked up to a 40 pin right now, and I don't think I have an 80's lying around the house (and I'm not in the mood to tear apart 3 spare (part) computers I've got sitting in the closet. I think I'll just play it safe and either go to the store tomorrow or just order a cable (or a few in case I decide to build others later).

But would this cause the computer to freeze up? Apparently, my system has been running on 40pin for quite a long time now.
 
Just in case you have not tried this. Right click on an empty area of your screen, go to properties, Screen saver, power and make sure your hard drives are set to never and system standbye is also set to never.
 
Just in case you have not tried this. Right click on an empty area of your screen, go to properties, Screen saver, power and make sure your hard drives are set to never and system standbye is also set to never.

System was defaulted that way; or I did it so long ago that I at least it was preset...
 
Ok, it could be a number of things.

Like you said, a possible bad hard drive.

The motherboard's IDE controller going out.

It could be an IRQ issue, but not very likely.

Before this started, had you installed something or changed/updated any drivers to anything.

Do you get any system messages when it freezes, blue screen or anything else. If so we need the error codes.
 
Ok, it could be a number of things.

Like you said, a possible bad hard drive.

The motherboard's IDE controller going out.

It could be an IRQ issue, but not very likely.

Before this started, had you installed something or changed/updated any drivers to anything.

Do you get any system messages when it freezes, blue screen or anything else. If so we need the error codes.

I don't like the sound of those... *sigh*

Hard drive is fairly new, under a year old.. and Western Digital has a pretty good reputation still, right? During the hard drive test the SMART status failed on both the primary and the master under "Raw Read Error Rate," I'm assuming that is partial to blame for the wrong ribbon being connected.

I haven't installed anything on the computer at all, I had actually just finished uninstalling an expired version of Kaspersky AntiVirus. I was going to switch the system back over to Avast! Antivirus. As far as Drivers go, none at all.

I've gotten a blue screen once, it was something to the effect of "Beginning physical memory dump"

Beyond that, I haven't gotten the blue screen, or any other message in the entire time of it's freezing. The computer acts just as normal as it ever did while I'm using it, it's just during an idle state that it stops.

(Ironically, my computer just froze while typing this message, and reminded me of why I love firefox... I didn't have to retype everything, just restore the session). So.. apparently it's not just at an idle state anymore, it chooses random times to do it. It's only done that about three times now, but... I fear that it will increase in numbers at this rate :-\
 
If this is a hard drive with Smart then that old cable could be a problem. Also it could be that your bio's does not recognize the smart features, if you have a really old MB.

Go into your bio's and make sure that (if you have it) smart is enabled. Or you might try un enabling it.

But right now, get a new cable. Cable problems are not rare at all. After you get a new one, test it out and let us know if you are still having problems.
 
If this is a hard drive with Smart then that old cable could be a problem. Also it could be that your bio's does not recognize the smart features, if you have a really old MB.

Go into your bio's and make sure that (if you have it) smart is enabled. Or you might try un enabling it.

But right now, get a new cable. Cable problems are not rare at all. After you get a new one, test it out and let us know if you are still having problems.

Will do, I'll probably end up ordering a new on one Newegg.com ... I plan to get a new power unit, a few cables, and a RAM upgrade... as soon as I get everything put in, I'll come back with the results.. I guess until then I'm going to use my laptop, the less stress I put on my desktop, the better of it probably is.

Thanks again for your help.
 
Finally after waiting on UPS to show up, I've installed the new cable, new power unit, and more RAM. Okay... so I probably didn't need the RAM, but I think I like it :)

So far so good, computer is working fairly quickly, no big hesitations. I'll give it some more time to run and then keep you posted. Thanks again for all of everyone's help.
 
Cool! Good luck w/ the new HD. Good thing hard drives are cheap. :D

I ended up not getting the hard drive, That's an investment for another day. I'll probably just make the effort to back up all the information I have on my current drives, and just run them til they flop. Once they die, I'll put a bullet hole through them and destroy them. It's just easier that way, and cheaper in the long run (let's say they last me another year, prices will drop a little in a year.) I've got a DVD r/w drive, shouldn't be too hard to back up the important pieces.

I'm running a virus scan now on my computer with AVG, I've removed any instances of Kaspersky because it was when I started removing it that my computer began freezing... besides that, the subscription is up. AVG found two virii already, go figure, Hopefully it can find any more existing virii.. Avast didn't pick up anything.

I'll keep posted.
 
I ended up not getting the hard drive, That's an investment for another day. I'll probably just make the effort to back up all the information I have on my current drives, and just run them til they flop. Once they die, I'll put a bullet hole through them and destroy them. It's just easier that way, and cheaper in the long run (let's say they last me another year, prices will drop a little in a year.) I've got a DVD r/w drive, shouldn't be too hard to back up the important pieces.

I'm running a virus scan now on my computer with AVG, I've removed any instances of Kaspersky because it was when I started removing it that my computer began freezing... besides that, the subscription is up. AVG found two virii already, go figure, Hopefully it can find any more existing virii.. Avast didn't pick up anything.

I'll keep posted.

Skip the bullet hole. I say open em up and burn it or sand it. Best way is drill 4 holes through :P

Try Avast too, and some antispywares.
 
I ran Avast prior, it didn't find anything, at all. I've used AdAware, it picks up a few things here and there, nothing out of the ordinary... it always does. (What can I say, some of those games on MySpace... Who doesn't wanna slap a fat man's belly sometimes? lol) Anyway, the final count with AVG was 7 trojan horses O_O and one.. something else. They were all removed, and since then the computer's been rocking. I left it up and running when I went to work, came back 5 hours later and it's still running just fine. I think the problem may be solved. Thanks again for all the help that's been offered.

Oh, and I think the 4 drill holes seems much better than a bullet hole, easier to get away with in city limits too, lol.
 
Oh No!

The problem isn't gone! I came back to the computer and it was frozen this morning, it did this last night as well.

What else could it be?!
 
Oh No!

The problem isn't gone! I came back to the computer and it was frozen this morning, it did this last night as well.

What else could it be?!

HDD and possibly the memory. Down a diagnostic tool from your HDD manufacturer's website and scan your HDD for errors. After that, download Memtest86 and scan your memory too.
 
HDD and possibly the memory. Down a diagnostic tool from your HDD manufacturer's website and scan your HDD for errors. After that, download Memtest86 and scan your memory too.

The memory is fine, not to mention brand new.. I just installed it this morning.

I've run Western Digital's diag program, Everything is fine except the "Raw Read Error Rate" is at 200... I don't know where it's supposed to be...
 
The memory is fine, not to mention brand new.. I just installed it this morning.

I've run Western Digital's diag program, Everything is fine except the "Raw Read Error Rate" is at 200... I don't know where it's supposed to be...

Brand new memory does not guarantee that it's error free. Brand new memory can be errored. Download Memtest86 and scan it, no matter new or old.

http://www.ariolic.com/activesmart/smart-attributes/raw-read-error-rate.html

This attribute value depends of read errors, disk surface condition and indicates the rate of hardware read errors that occurred when reading data from a disk surface. Lower values indicate that there is a problem with either disk surface or read/write heads.


Critical:
Yes


Hard drives that support this attribute:
Samsung, Seagate, IBM (Hitachi), Fujitsu, Maxtor, WD (Western Digital)

I think we struck gold.
 
Brand new memory does not guarantee that it's error free. Brand new memory can be errored. Download Memtest86 and scan it, no matter new or old.

http://www.ariolic.com/activesmart/smart-attributes/raw-read-error-rate.html



I think we struck gold.

So it's fairly safe to assume that my problem lies with a crapped out (or crapping out) harddrive?

Can anyone suggest a hard drive for me? I've always used Western Digital, but they don't seem to have the life expectancy that they used to have...
 
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