Testing tools

Punk

Punk

Moderator
Staff member
What's up everyone?
Long time no see!

What kind of software do you use to test your hardware? I've been getting freezes with my seven years old desktop that are becoming more and more frequent. Usually when the PC is idle it'll freeze but lately, it did even as I was listening to music (stoping everything and not being able to move the mouse). The only thing that helps is turning off power...
So I'm guessing it's either RAM or MB. I've also been experiencing lots of problem while gaming, games would crash too and resulting in the same freeze where I need to turn off the power supply...

I've recently changed the OS HDD so I don't thing that's it, also reinstalled Windows less than three months ago...

Thanks for any help!
 
johnb35

johnb35

Administrator
Staff member
First thing I would do is disable all programs from running at bootup using taskmanager and see what happens. Then I would run a diagnostic on the HDD/SSD and then use memtest on the ram.
Punk said:
games would crash too and resulting in the same freeze where I need to turn off the power supply
Click to expand...
So you wouldn't even press the power button to turn it off?
 
beers

beers

Moderator
Staff member
I had a weird issue with files becoming corrupted every now and again, although it probably was expected since it was RAM out of a system that failed out of a lightning strike. It passed memtest86+ multiple times, but you could observe weird things like programs randomly killing themselves after an extended period of time, sometimes file hashes wouldn't match up despite 100% legitimacy of the download.

I'd start off with memtest86+ in your instance as it seems to help in 90%+ of instances. Also you can use a Linux LiveCD to rule out software in a lot of cases. What found that other one was using memtester under Ubuntu and allocating most of the system RAM to that process. It would erratically fail a specific number shifting sequence every now and again, but it would silently corrupt the data while doing so. Replace/RMA, no problems.

Freezing is frequently RAM related.
 
Punk

Punk

Moderator
Staff member
johnb35 said:
First thing I would do is disable all programs from running at bootup using taskmanager and see what happens. Then I would run a diagnostic on the HDD/SSD and then use memtest on the ram.

So you wouldn't even press the power button to turn it off?
Click to expand...
Power button somehow just restarts the computer, and I've had trouble at startup too afterward so I usually "pull the plug", wait a while and start it over.
beers said:
I had a weird issue with files becoming corrupted every now and again, although it probably was expected since it was RAM out of a system that failed out of a lightning strike. It passed memtest86+ multiple times, but you could observe weird things like programs randomly killing themselves after an extended period of time, sometimes file hashes wouldn't match up despite 100% legitimacy of the download.

I'd start off with memtest86+ in your instance as it seems to help in 90%+ of instances. Also you can use a Linux LiveCD to rule out software in a lot of cases. What found that other one was using memtester under Ubuntu and allocating most of the system RAM to that process. It would erratically fail a specific number shifting sequence every now and again, but it would silently corrupt the data while doing so. Replace/RMA, no problems.

Freezing is frequently RAM related.
Click to expand...
Yes RAM is what I was leaning to, so I'll try Memtest86 thanks.

Thing is, as I said, the PC is seven years old, and at that time I had bought a middle range MB, I think it was the Z97 so I'm not sure I will find RAM that will fit my MB. Or even if it's worth it.

I have a few HDD/SSDs on this computer, but I only changed the one where the OS is, as the games that were crashing (mainly R6, so I thought it was Ubi dying :D ) are on this OS SSD.

If RAM comes out clean, I'm thinking Motherboard, any way I can test that too? I've ruled out the GPU, but could this be the issue too?

Thanks for your help both of you!

EDIT: the build is from 2015, but I've changed the RAM already: https://www.computerforum.com/threads/first-build.235280/
 
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Punk

Punk

Moderator
Staff member
Update:
I ran memtest for about five hour to six hours overnight, everything came out clean. I did not change the order of tests though, should I do that?
 
johnb35

johnb35

Administrator
Staff member
Usually one pass is all thats needed anymore. I just had to look at a pc that wasn't booting correctly, thought it was the HDD as I originally built it about 9 years ago. HDD tested good so the next thing I did was boot memtest and it immediately popped up with thousands of errors. Removed the bad ram and it booted up just fine. I did build him a new system since it was running an Athlon II X2 250 with only 4gb of ram.

Have you disabled everything at bootup yet and tested? Disconnect any hard drive not needed and try that.
 
Punk

Punk

Moderator
Staff member
No I haven't. I thought since I changed the OS SSD it would be fine (I did not test it but kept it in case I find time to test it). It worked fine for a while after the clean install but it started again. I have to old HDDs used only for files with no games installed on them. I mainly use them for music. I will test them in the coming month then.
So basically if Memtest came out clean (with me just booting on it, not changing any settings) it means the RAM is fine?

I have just a few things installed, and I mostly keep my start up clean so I don't know if that's the problem. The only hardware I added recently was the Wifi antenna to allow a faster and stronger connection.

I still have to check my old HDDs then, but if they come out clean, could this be the MB?
 
johnb35

johnb35

Administrator
Staff member
I doubt it's the MB. Maybe it's the wifi adapter. Disable all startup programs and go from there.
 
Punk

Punk

Moderator
Staff member
Intel_man said:
Does that behaviour continue within safe mode?
Click to expand...
I haven't tried Safe Mode yet, will do as a next step.

I have run Seatools to test the HDDs and SSDs. All of them came out clean as a fast check up. Long check up couldn't finish as the computer froze...

Right now I removed the Wifi adaptater and am trying with ethernet to see if that's the problem.
johnb35 said:
I doubt it's the MB. Maybe it's the wifi adapter. Disable all startup programs and go from there.
Click to expand...
Ok I'll look at my startup programs, but I have a few only, I reinstalled Windows less than six month ago...


Edit: well it just froze after 10 min, without the wifi adaptator...

EDIT 2: I have re-read this conversation, I am now trying to remove one by one my old HDDs to see if that's the problem. In the meantime, here are my startup programs:
1679655237337.png

I could remove the Itunes helper and security health but none of the programs are installed any other places than the new SSD...
 
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Punk

Punk

Moderator
Staff member
Update: Yesterday I removed a HDD (unplugged actually) and everything seemed to work perfectly. Next step would be to add the Wifi antenna and see if that works. It does seem like it was this HDD that was causing the problem. How would I go about looking at the files that are on it and copying what needs to be copied without the risk of it freezing the computer again? Do I have to buy a kit to make it portable?

Thanks for your help guys!
 
johnb35

johnb35

Administrator
Staff member
Kinda figured it was one of the HDD's. It probably doesn't matter how its hooked up but you may get better results using an external adapter.
 
Intel_man

Intel_man

VIP Member
Punk said:
Update: Yesterday I removed a HDD (unplugged actually) and everything seemed to work perfectly. Next step would be to add the Wifi antenna and see if that works. It does seem like it was this HDD that was causing the problem. How would I go about looking at the files that are on it and copying what needs to be copied without the risk of it freezing the computer again? Do I have to buy a kit to make it portable?

Thanks for your help guys!
Click to expand...
Try using a different SATA cable and plugging it into a different SATA port to see if it still produces that freezing behaviour.

At least that'll narrow down if it's your HDD, cable, sata port that's causing this behaviour.

I'm still trying to think of why a HDD would freeze up the system like that...
 
Punk

Punk

Moderator
Staff member
Well It appears that the antenna is also a problem, yet I don't see how it could... It has a PCI slot needed and a USB on MB plugged in. Today it froze again. I haven't reconnected the HDD though.
 
Punk

Punk

Moderator
Staff member
Hey guys,
I've been having more problems lately and decided to take the computer apart and clean it, so I can also at the same time see if some cable/connector was bad.

I'm pretty sure I reconnected everything correctly but it doesn't boot. It starts, fans turn, leds are OK, it works for about 15-20 seconds then restarts. I have no images on my monitor at all.

Any ideas?
 
Punk

Punk

Moderator
Staff member
No beeping, not sure what the Q-code is though. All leds turn red then off, except for the PWR led that stays green.

Yes the 4 pin is connected.
 
lucasbytegenius

lucasbytegenius

Well-Known Member
Some more ideas:
- On the motherboard, are any of the capacitors bulging? They can fail without showing exterior damage though.
- Have you tried a different power supply?
- Have you tried reseating the RAM after putting things back together?

Check the Q-LEDs: https://www.asus.com/support/FAQ/1042678
Though per your last reply it sounds like they're all normal.
 
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