New computer freezing.

[Colin]

My new computer is occasionally freezing up. It usually happens while on the 'net. The screen (LCD) will just go white with a bunch of vertical lines.
Esc / F5 / Ctrl-Alt-Del all do nothing; I have to manually turn it off and re-start. Windows then does it's file check thing and eventually brings it back.
I took it to the computer store last Saturday and they felt that it was the hard drive and so they ghosted my old one to a new one, but it's still doing it.
Any ideas? Video card? Motherboard?

There's no way my old Sacnvec Inspire 1.6 security dongle could be causing the problem is there?

 

[bullcrew]

I'd look at memory, the latency might not be right.
Have you upgraded memory lately.
When it does the wierd and unexplainable it's usually memory, unless your monitor POPS real loud and a ploom of smoke comes pouring out like mine last month. Then it's a safe bet it's the monitor.

 

[Techman]

memory,, usually,,

 

[Colin]

It's a brand new dual core machine with 2 gigs of RAM.

 

[Cadmn]

Colin techs are taught first thing is Hard drive most customers never question it & at couple hundred bucks its nice profit because now in most cases the store has a good hard drive to sell to the next unsuspecting customer big scam watched it many times as an old boss was a good crook
did you run all the virus/ spyware checkers sounds like memory bog to me & spyware will eat memmory quick & yes even 2 gig

 

[Techman]

Ram could be loose.

 

[Colin]

Cadmn: There was no charge to me, it's covered under warrentee. (they're aquaintences of mine).

 

[Geary]

Colin you said, "usually happens while on the net" but, does it EVER happen like when working a lot on it with graphic programs? How 'bout gaming?

I'm just thinking video card/monitor issue at the moment.

~Gear

 

[Colin]

Gear: I don't do any gaming on it. I sense no corelation to any heavy task and the freezing, it will crash when doing the most basic thing - but it always does it when in use, it will idle all night with no problem.

I will likely be taking it back again on Friday night so they can have some time with it over the W/E. I just thought one of you computer smartie-pants might be able to point me in the right direction.

 

[2NinerNiner2]

Colin - A friend of mine had a similar thing happen with his, although it was a CRT display and an older system. I did some troubleshooting and found it to be, of all things, the monitor cable! His was a cramped installation and the cable was being forced to make a hard 90 degree bend right at the connector out of the PC; I could duplicate the problem by moving the cable around; an internal break in the cable. A new cable cured the problem. RAM issues usually result in a no POST(Power On Self Test), no boot. As yours fires up and runs properly until the issue occurs, I'll concur with Geary and the vid. card/ monitor. Do you have another monitor you can hook up to eliminate that from the equation?

 

[Colin]

This problem was occuring last week with the monitor cable that came with the AOC monitor. It was a little short, so when I took the computer in last weekend I got a slightly longer cable; so, it's been doing it with both cables.
Are you guys suggesting it could have something to do with the monitor itself, or its relationship with the video card.
(I'm not sure if its an on-board card or not).

Thanks.

 

[2NinerNiner2]

That would seem to eliminate the cable. If you can, borrow another monitor and see if it still happens. If so, then you can at least nix the monitor as the culprit. Should it be on-board video, then good thing it's under warranty as that usually implies a motherboard change. That or install a separate video card.

 

[Techman]

RAM issues usually result in a no POST(Power On Self Test), no boot

Not always,, just sometimes.
The only time that will occurr is when the computer tries to write the boot sequences to a bad spot in the memory..
If it can write there,, it will boot fine,, but later it will crash when something is trying to use certain bad areas further up in the addresses.

In order to keep from just GUESSING,, find a good memory checker online,, and use it while playing media player with graphics.. And then use it while a heavy graphics screen saver is running..

If it does not find a bad spot in the mempory chips but still crashes,, your problem lies elsewhere..

That would be the first thing I would do..memory checker. I do not understand why the shop just ghosted your hard drive without doing a mem check.

The problem with MOST basement computer geeks is they just muddle around. Usualyl fall upon the problem after a while of guessing. You have to do diagnostics with the proper software. If not you are just guessing.

Also,, turn OFF reboot on error. Let it give you a blue screen with error codes in it. Then you wil usually pinpoint the general problem.

 

[Geary]

The problem with MOST basement computer geeks is they just muddle around. Usualyl fall upon the problem after a while of guessing.

If you are speaking to the lot of us here....then welcome to the basement friend....'cause you, me, all of us are just guessing, What else can we do ?


So, Colin: Yeah, man....I've seen this sort of thing as well with the monitor and video card issue.

G.

 

[OldPaint]

It's a brand new dual core machine with 2 gigs of RAM.

too funny...and youre tryin to run a 16 bit win 95/98 copy of INSPIRE with a dongle??????
you need to wash it down with ACETONE.......HEHEHEHEHE
disconect the dongle....XP probable dont understand what its doin there.......that would my 1st shot, then uninstall the INSPIRE....2nd if you still got the problem ACETONE IT......

 

[OldPaint]

:Oops:

 

[Techman]

What else can we do

In order to keep from just GUESSING,, find a good memory checker online,, and use it while playing media player with graphics.. And then use it while a heavy graphics screen saver is running..

You have to do diagnostics with the proper software. If not you are just guessing.

There are several really good utils around for doing a diagnostic on a sick computer... if they are used,, then guessing is almost nill.

Hiren's boot CD has just about every util you can find for making your computer run..

PC diagnostics run under Windows, Windows PE, Linux, and DOS. These products deflect calls from support centers. When end users have the tools they need to troubleshoot their problems independently saving them frustrations of chasing an invisible glitch..

There,, that should suffice..

 

[Cadmn]

colin once figured please post answer this supposed smartie pants NOT would like to learn as computers always learn new tricks & so do I thanks

 

[Liquid GraphX]

It sounds likeyou have an PCI or AGP Video Crad and it's haveing some heat issues! If your Vid card overheats like in the summer its will cause video faliure. A good test is to open the side of the case and point a fan at the video card turn it on low. If that solves the problem your fan on the video card is shot and you can replace it for about 2 bucks!

 

[Colin]

too funny...and youre tryin to run a 16 bit win 95/98 copy of INSPIRE with a dongle??????

disconect the dongle....XP probable dont understand what its doin there.......that would my 1st shot, then uninstall the INSPIRE

OP: I'm not using Casmate Pro (which was 16 bit) but Inspire, which is 32 bit............and it ran just fine on my previous XP computer.

When I bought this new machine, I opted for a better case with rubber feet and a large, slower moving fan (instead of fast-running tiny ones). It is a very quiet machine and they said they never have problems with cooling with these. BTW: It's a computer store, not a basement guy.