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General discussion

pc freezes all the time

by headache Nov 21, 2004 5:06PM PST

my pc crashes or freezes all the time no matter what i am doing

if i am playing a game it freezes or comes out with an aplication error message saying something was trying to read to a memory address

if i am online just browsing it will freeze after sometime and i have to turn the power off

it even froze whislts reading messages in this web site
i have downloaded drivers for grapic card and sound and tryed all windows updates and upgraded to sp2

my spec is
compaq presario 4500uk
nivida fx 5200 128mb
realtek onboard sound (i think)
i have a network ethernet and have two pcs conected via a router to cable modem

one more point to make is that i went to compaq web site and downloaded all drivers there and even a bios update and since then it all seems to have gone wrong

any help will be great thanks from a bloke who is going nuts at the min

bring back spectrum computers i say

Discussion is locked

8 Posts
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Re: pc freezes all the time
by r. proffitt Former Forum moderator Nov 21, 2004 9:24PM PST

The HP 4500UK is an Athlon XP 3000+ CPU, 512MB, 120GB, 16X DVD, DVD+R/+RW desktop "box".

You can try this. Remove the case cover and see if it helps to sniff out a heat issue. If that helps, then a call to HP about this issue and ask they fix it would be the right thing to do.

From what I see, this unit is under warranty and you need to let them fix it.

Bob

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Re: pc freezes all the time
by headache Nov 21, 2004 10:41PM PST

just a thanks for your swift replys and i will contact hp over this as i have done system restore and all manner of things till i am blue in the face
and as i suspect it must be a hardware fault in the system
anyway thanks again

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Re: pc freezes all the time
by Shawn Gray Nov 22, 2004 7:48PM PST

To find what program is freezing you can try pressing and holding down on the Ctrl and the Alt button simeltaneously and then pressing the delete button - this should bring up a window showing which application is not responding. Another thing - you should have an antivirus program installed that is regularly updated as well as spyware catchers - check out www.download.com for some free utilites. 128 megs of ram (memory) is good - but Windows XP unofficially runs best when 512 megs of ram are installed. The price of ram is quite cheap nowadays and is an excellent investment. Like the old saying goes - Money cannot buy happiness - unless you're buying ram. Pop in at least another 128 megs of ram and see if it resolves the problem.

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Re: pc freezes all the time
by headache Nov 22, 2004 11:09PM PST

i have 512 mb of ram and when the pc freezes i can not do contrl alt delete i have to turn off the pc at the mains
thanks anyway

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Re: pc freezes all the time
by King31395 Nov 22, 2004 11:44PM PST

Absolutely!!
As soon as I started reading about your problem, I knew you must have minimal amounts of RAM (128M).
The spyware catchers are totally key too, they've helped me tons.

What I wanted to add is this...
When you're popping in that next 128Mb of ram, MAKE SURE its the same brand of ram (Kingston, Crucial, etc.). Besides getting the right "size", if you mix and match ram cards, it may not be as effective as it should.
Sounds silly, but trust me. The microchips don't line up properly if they're different brands and you've suddenly got a new bag of problems.
My friends and I have actually been through this ourselves (running XP).
One of us had a whole 1Gb of ram (1000Mb, 2.4Ghz proc.) and it was a disaster because he'd mixed brands and didn't realize that would be a problem. After trying absolutely everything else, as soon as the new ram was taken back out, problem went away.
The systems builders that we took it to advise at all times to stick with the exact same brand of RAM to avoid complications. They were right.
Its all about RAM.

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Re: pc freezes all the time
by Cursorcowboy Nov 21, 2004 10:04PM PST

I agree with Bob, but in order for you to talk coherently with anybody, be fully armed:

1. In order for us to analyze a potential problem and offer tips, we must rely only on the question content to attempt a qualifying response. A question should state the exact system error(s) - spelled, spaced, and capitalized just as it is shown on the display. Helpful perhaps is the window title in the colored bar of the report and any information when provided by a "Details" section also.

2. Most error messages:

? usually list and describe standard default error messages - written within the program code and usually recognized by most "Gurus"

? the troubleshooting techniques may be published and explained in the Microsoft Knowledge Base (MSKB) library for the Windows operating systems or elsewhere on the WEB and may be searched for with accurately reported information.

3. Correct and complete information is vital if informative help and answers are what you seek. You want that Guru who reads your plea to understand the question, to possibly know the answer, and to reply giving you their assistance.

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Re: pc freezes all the time
by cvchancie Nov 22, 2004 8:23AM PST

I have a Dell XP, and it does the same thing, if I am on the internet for a few minutes the heading at the top will double and it will not continue with anything. I try to log out and it will not, I have to shut down and start over. Help

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Re: pc freezes all the time
by headache Nov 22, 2004 6:26PM PST

just as an update to my problem
i have contacted compaq and it seems i need a floppy disc to wipe out the partition as the cd disc that i created and used to do a complete restore and format my drive doesnt seem to format the partion area of the disc
so there sending me a disc
i must admit it does make sence to me as i have said i have done loads of restores on my pc and nothing ever works

however i still have my doubts as i have done a restore from my cd disk and the options at boot up i get are R for a restore or F to format and after that it lets me choose to create a partion or not

and at the time of typeing this i dont have a partion on my hard drive?
or is the partion hidden from me?
any clues anyone?

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