Problem with computer, sneaky suspicion its the processor

RobFace

RobFace

New Member
i built my own computer (1st one) about last year, having fixed numerous bugs and problems this seem the be the final one.

basically when transferring data to locations my computer crashes grrr. (normally larger amounts e.g. video files/many songs; to mainly my SD card and ipod).
i'm using an intel core2duo 2Ghz.
only other time i can think of it crashing oddly is when logging into windows, this has only happened about twice and don't know why.

i'm not sure what it could be so i started going through my hardware as i think it isn't software. ruled out my ram (2 sticks of 1gb) took them out, switched them round etc. someone suggested a problem to do with the processor on another site, was wondering how i could test this, would 'stressing' the processor and just waiting to see if it crashes help?

i'm a little stuck here any suggestions? thanks
rob

System info:
intel core2 Duo (2GHz)
motherboard - 4CoreDual-SATA2
2x 1gb DDR2 sticks of ram
ati radeon HD 2400 pro
a dvd writer/reader & dvd reader
and a netgear network card
thats about it.
 
How are the temps overall especially board + cpu? If you have a temp problem or driver related issue of some type those can cause lockups and sudden restarts. For seeing problems when first cold starting the system drivers or some startup item loading along with Windows would be something to consider.
 
Well you could try a cpu stress test i use this one http://www.pcworld.com/downloads/file/fid,7146-order,1-page,1-c,alldownloads/description.html, inconjunction with http://www.alcpu.com/CoreTemp/ to monitor temperatures as i go.

My first suspicion would be the HDD's though, have you checked it for errors?, run a command prompt window as administrator and type CHKDSK.

To put you mind at rest as regards to the memory, try this http://www.memtest.org/#downiso you will have to burn this to disk then boot from it.

Also have you installed the latest drivers for your system i would start with the motherboard drivers, graphics then sound. Most should be available via the windows update process but you could check your vendors web site for the latest updates.

Also if you could tell us how it crashes IE does it freeze, reboot, blue screen error msg or similar?
 
I need more info. Exact model of the board (and manufacturer), operating system, brand of hard drive.

I don't think it has anything to do with the processor, really. I suspect something else, but I'll wait until I hear back from you.
 
by crashes i mean it freezes, ye i updated BIOS and then drivers for the graphics card about 4 months ago, i'll check for more updates tho.

the temperatures got these from everest unlimited:
motherboard - 29 °C (84 °F)
processor - 32 °C (90 °F)
(individual cores recorded as; core 1 29 °C (84 °F), core 2 29 °C (84 °F))
the temp of case is 23.8 °C.
wow aren't these supposed to be around the 22-25 kinda temp? england isn't especially hot for room temp either.

ok here more detailed system info:
processor - DualCore Intel Core 2 Duo E4400, 2000 MHz
motherboard - Asrock 4CoreDual-SATA2 (Socket 775) PCI-Express/AGP DDR2
hard drives - 1) Seagate Barracuda 7200.10 500GB SATA-II 16MB Cache - OEM (ST3500630AS)
2) (i took some pieces from old family computers formatted it this one is IDE)
description is IC35L080AVVA07-0 (31 GB) which i think is IBM for some reason used to be 80gb but now in this computer is 40, hmm. this one hasn't needed to be used yet as the other is so big.
graphics card - Sapphire Technology ATI Radeon HD 2400 Pro 256MB DDR2 PCIE VGA DVI TVO
sound - no sound card although using realtek audio hd output
ram - OcUK 2GB (2x1GB) DDR2 PC2-8500C5 1066MHz Dual Channel Kit
optical drives - 1) iteON DH-20A3P-12C 20x DVD±RW IDE Dual Layer ReWriter (Black) - OEM
2) TOSHIBA DVD-ROM SD-M1612 (old one from other computer)
network card - NETGEAR 108 Mbps Wireless PCI Adapter WG311T
operating system - Microsoft Windows XP Home Edition
case - Midi Tower 480W

i'm checking for errors on the HDD's now, then i'll stress the cpu and post what i find back here later in the day.

thanks guys.
 
One thing to try would be disabling some startups items in the msconfig utility in case this ends up being a driver problem of some type. If you do get any blue screen take notes on the error information.

Since the case is a year old another thought is the battery on the board getting weak. That maintains the cmos information and can cause a number of things before simply quitting on you.
 
Mr. AsRock.. The Asus budget board. Generally they're not bad, but I've had a couple of duds.

On transfer, you might want to look at your chipset drivers. Transfers go through the southbridge when coming off the harddrives and USB, the northbridge for VGA, CPU and RAM buses. The PCI bus sits in between the two.

Me thinkst there may be a problem there somewhere.

Edit: That board has the VIA chipset, the bain of motherboard chipsets. You're most definitely going to want to go to Viaarena.com and download the latest chipset drivers. I'll find a link and post back.

http://www.viaarena.com/default.aspx?PageID=420&OSID=1&CatID=1070

It says "Click here to begin free download" Version is 5.16a, release date Mar 28, 2008
 
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RobFace said:
the temp of case is 23.8 °C.
wow aren't these supposed to be around the 22-25 kinda temp? england isn't especially hot for room temp either.
Click to expand...

I would say that those temps are fine especialy on a stock cooler and well within Intels specification.

Anyway let us know how you get on with the tests and follow SirKenin recomendations and download the VIA chipset driver. I must admit i have encounterd many issues with via chipsets in the past.
 
the stress test showed nothing really the cpu usage and/or temp didn't flicker or go crazy or cause a crash.

i also used the CHKDSK to check for errors on the hdd's, it did something i looked away looked back and its little box was gone, so presume it did whatever it was try to.

Raise109 i downloaded the memory thing and burned the image to disk, then booted from it, but it came up with a blank black page, nothing happened so i had the exit. tried this three times, same thing happened every time. :confused:

i installed the latest VIA chipset drivers too.

checked BIOS just earlier and it showed temps as CPU 39C/102F and m/b as 32C/89F. don't understand why temps would go up when i presume less 'things' are going on inside.

On transfer, you might want to look at your chipset drivers. Transfers go through the southbridge when coming off the harddrives and USB, the northbridge for VGA, CPU and RAM buses. The PCI bus sits in between the two.
Click to expand...
thinking u mean watch the number in my everest program while transferring data? do that next.

i disabled some startups items in the msconfig utility thing and it didn't change anything when transferring data.

rob
 
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checked BIOS just earlier and it showed temps as CPU 39C/102F and m/b as 32C/89F. don't understand why temps would go up when i presume less 'things' are going on inside.
Click to expand...

When in BIOS, your CPU will run at full clock speed, thus generating more heat. When in Windows, EIST will kick in and cut back the clock speed, so lower temps.
 
Hi,

with regards to chkdsk id presumed you where under vista at that point, but you can perform the same task in xp via the following;

1: Open My Computer, and then select the local disk you want to check.
2: On the File menu, click Properties.
3: On the Tools tab, under Error-checking, click Check Now.
4: Under Check disk options, select the Scan for and attempt recovery of bad sectors check box.

as for memtest i cant explain that, have you downloaded the correct one? here is a direct link http://www.memtest.org/download/2.01/memtest86+-2.01.iso.zip extract it using winrar (http://www.rarlab.com/rar/wrar371.exe) then burn it to disc with a iso burner like nero or some free ware like "create burn iso" available here http://www.nbxsoft.com/files/createburniso.exe
 
i just did the task in xp, check disk thing, phase 1 worked fine, but this came up at the end of phase 2 "Windows was unable to complete the disk check" with the "!".
does this mean its definitely a memory problem, with that hard drive?

also, ye thats the iso i downloaded and unzipped it with winrar then burnt it into a disc using using nero, yep image file.

i'll scan my computer now to double check for viruses+spyware.

rob
 
RobFace said:
i just did the task in xp, check disk thing, phase 1 worked fine, but this came up at the end of phase 2 "Windows was unable to complete the disk check" with the "!".
does this mean its definitely a memory problem, with that hard drive?
rob
Click to expand...

It could be a hd issue try runing the scan again in safe mode to avoid conflicts, if other programs/windows services are running at the same time it can generate this message (to get in safe mode press F8 repeatedly after the bios screen/logo it will come up with a list of options, select Safe Mode).

I dont see a memory issue at this point, put memtest on the back burner till we see what happens with scan disk, then we can try and get that going.
 
my virus scan found nothing harmful and the disc check in safe mode finished with nothing odd just told me it finished.
 
when i tryed to install the newer sata drivers it said
"Sorry, the install wizard can't find the supported hardware in your system. You should check your hardware and try again. Please press OK to terminate the install wizard."
i know what i'v put in the computer, maybe its getting confused with the IDE hd? shall i take that one out and try it again?

rob
 
sorry about the late response, have been vbusy, yes id try taking the redundent ide out, anyway. Though it should not make a difference to the installer. Maybe there are different versions of your mboard i went for the exact match in your post but there is one almost the same but has R1 after it. It may be woth going back and reselecting to double check we have the correct mobo. If your not sure a great utility can be found here http://www.cpuid.com/cpuz.php it will tell you alsorts you may already have it but look under the Mainboard section it will give you the manufacturer and model no and bios version.

Also do you use I-Tunes ive seen a few cases where itunes craps things like this up, if you do, uninstall and re-install to preferably the latest one.
 
no worries thanks for all the help.
i took the IDE Hd out, and checked disk and it said it couldn't finish it again, i'll try doing it in safe mode again over night cus last time it took ages. i'll post those results tomorrow.

i looked on the website again and i found one with R2 at the end but no R1, and the one that i'v got (definitely this one http://www.asrock.com/mb/overview.asp?Model=4CoreDual-SATA2&s= )
i have a prog like that already i have BIOS P1.50 btw.
 
Either your SATA controllers are not getting detected, or you download/used the wrong drivers. You have SATA, according to your link.
 
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