PC Running "Weird"

[pc plodder]

Hi all

 

System is:

Advent P.C

Pentium 4 2.8Ghz processer

80 GB Seagate U seies hard drive

MS-6714 motherboard (MSI845GEM etc etc)

768Mb ram

XP Home edition SP3

 

Problem:

 

Some weeks ago my P.C suddenly crashed whilst i was on the net, it then went into constant reboot. I shut it down and restarted it but the same problem happened. I hanaged eventually to get into safe mode, did virus scans etc and other little things comparable with my knowledgr of P.Cs' whilst i was in safe mode the p.c rebooted itself and although it looked a similar graphics screen to safe mode i was in fact back to the desktop. The display was 4Mb graphics which was all that was available. I then managed to get back into safe mode and went to device manager which had the dreaded yelloow question mark against the graphics. I reinstalled the drivers (had a disc with 50,000 drivers for XP ...lucky) it the rebooted o.k.

 

The problem reoccured thye next day (rebooting not graphics) so as my P.C was clean of virus i thought maybe a clean installation of XP was needed. I did this with the rescue disc (OEM had to reformat the disc) and all appeared to be o.k

 

It has now started to reoccur again. I will be online and it will crash and start the reboot loop all over again. I switch off at the socket, wait 1 min and start again and it's o.k.

 

I burn a lot of dvds with ConvertX to dvd programme. On encodeing it will more than likely go into this reboot mode. Whilst encoding it usues 99-100% CPU....don't know if this is right?

 

The only other thing i've noticed is that when i play a downloaded dvd in windows media player or vlc player the sound synch is always out, no matter where the dvd was sourced. I have installed K-Lite codec pack so when playing from an Xvid sourse the little FFF & FDshow icons appear on the toolbar. I've never had this problem on the previous install. When windows would show a sound sych problem it would ALWAYS play o.k with vlc player.

 

Anyway, i don't know if somethings messed up (hardware) or what Below is the temps that everest programme monitors, don't know if it's any help

Don't know where to go from here. Done Chkdisc and the volumes are clear it says. No unknown noises from hard disc and i've make sure the P.C fans are clean and not dusty also make sure CPU heatsink was clear of dust etc

 

Anyone got any suggestions wher i go from here as i'm at a loss of what to do now. Everest log below

Field Value

Sensor Properties

Sensor Type Winbond W83627HF (ISA 290h)

 

Temperatures

Motherboard 27 °C (81 °F)

CPU 41 °C (106 °F)

Seagate ST380012A 34 °C (93 °F)

 

Cooling Fans

CPU 4219 RPM

 

Voltage Values

CPU Core 1.47 V

Aux 1.81 V

+3.3 V 3.30 V

+5 V 5.03 V

+12 V 11.92 V

-12 V -11.95 V

-5 V 3.55 V

+5 V Standby 5.04 V

VBAT Battery 3.25 V

Debug Info F 50 FF FF

Debug Info T 27 41 127

Debug Info V 5C 71 CE BB C4 24 E0 (01)

[Dalo Harkin]

Ok we seem to have a few issues here -

but our main concern here is:-

I burn a lot of dvds with ConvertX to dvd programme

I play a downloaded dvd

I don't want to go into the legalities of this but we cannot offer help on the above matters.

 

 

From what you have posted in regards to the other issues it sounds like your GPU (graphics card) is struggling to keep up, and your CPU is 'throttling' which basically means working at full load and maxing it's own Cache.

[pc plodder]

Thanks Dalo Harkin

It's not what you think. I am a tenpin bowling coach and some friends of mine in america send me dvds of tournements over there as well as coaching material. Yes we transfer them via a filesharing site but that's only for convenience. There are NO copyright issues here my friend, i would not even go that route, all my stuff is for my viewing and education of certain bowlers i coach and work with.

If this still caused a problem in answering my post then please advise and i'll get the Mods to delete it as would not want to post anything on this site that went against what it was for..

Again my kind regards

Steve

Edited July 23, 2008 by pc plodder

[pc plodder]

Re the above Dalo Harkin

 

I only have Intel845 onboard graphics (64Mb) and i can't update the drivers as Intel do not support this anymore. Is there a way around this to upgrade my graphics to a card. Somebody said to me once that if you had onboard graphics the only way to upgrade was to get another motherboard that had a graphics card slot. This P,C has slots but i don't know what they're for and can'r afford another P.C or motherboard as my pension won't allow foer that at present

 

Steve

[RandyL]

I don't understand pc:

 

You said

I reinstalled the drivers (had a disc with 50,000 drivers for XP ...lucky) What disk is that and why did you need it? The XP disk or your manufacturers disks should have all the needed drivers.

 

You said

i thought maybe a clean installation of XP was needed. I did this with the rescue disc (OEM had to reformat the disc) What are you talking about? Is this OEM disk for your model? Why did you have to format the disk and what did you use to format it?

 

You said

I burn a lot of dvds with ConvertX to dvd programme and when i play a downloaded dvd...

 

Is this installation of Windows legal? Is the other software you are using to accomplish your tasks used for illegal purposes?

 

Extreme Tech Support - Free PC Help does not offer assistance for illegaly obtained software or for software that can be used for illegal purposes.

 

Correct me if I'm wrong and supply the needed information please. Such as make/model of your pc. What exactly does it say on the disk. Etc.

[Dalo Harkin]

I did not mean it in the fact that you have to explain yourself Steve, please understand that we do not give advice on software like this for the specific reason in that 'it is/can be used for illegal activities'

we can help on other matters -

 

If you are getting a constant audio sync problem then try reinstalling windows media player and see if that cures the problem - other than that as I previosly posted try and limit the amount of programs you use when using the media players as they use lots of CPU and GPU power.

[Dalo Harkin]

Re the above Dalo Harkin

 

I only have Intel845 onboard graphics (64Mb) and i can't update the drivers as Intel do not support this anymore. Is there a way around this to upgrade my graphics to a card. Somebody said to me once that if you had onboard graphics the only way to upgrade was to get another motherboard that had a graphics card slot. This P,C has slots but i don't know what they're for and can'r afford another P.C or motherboard as my pension won't allow foer that at present

 

Steve

 

some onboard graphics motherboards do have slots for add in GPU cards - but as you say yours is old I very much doubt it.

you will need to invest in a new MOBO.

[RandyL]

Can you install SP3 and WMP 11?

[pc plodder]

RandyL

Seems i have stirred up a hornets nest here, beginning to wish i'd never posted the question.

First and foremost, i have nothing illegal on this P.C. Never had and never would have, it's against my principles Period

 

The P.C is Advent bought from P.C World in 2002

The Disc that came with the P.Cs manual(if you can call it that) says on the front

"Quote"

EiSystem

System recovery CD Rom

Then blah blah blah then For distribution only with an EI |SystemP.C C1985-2001 Microsoft Corperation p/n 093.064 Ver 3.0 XP

I had to do a complete reinstall as the repair option "Advent System Recovery" didn't work. Niether did the next one "System Recovery no format" so i had to use the last option "System recovery Quick format" which wipes all data from your hard disc and reinstalls windows XP

Seial number registered with Micropsoft *removed by Dalo Harkin this is a unique key to you - Never share it with anyone!!

YES it's a legal copy

ALL the stuff on my P.C is either trial i.e Eset of paid for ConvertX to DVD which i downloaded form vso software and paid for over the net so it's a legal programme with a license . The only software on this P.C that is not paid for is Hijack this and spyware blaster also everest free home edition

Now if the memebers can't or won't help for legal reasons plaese advise and delete this post but free siet or not i will not have my integrity called into question by anyone regardless of who they are or how technically minded they are.

Regards

pc plodder

Edited July 23, 2008 by Dalo Harkin

[Dalo Harkin]

We are not questioning your integrity Steve -

as I have previously posted please do not take it the wrong way when we refuse to offer advice on certain programs we do this for a reason and the same rules apply to everyone at FPCH.

 

Have a read of my replies to your posts and let me know if there are any other issues.

[RandyL]

I'm sorry if I misinterpreted anything pc but we do get a lot of it.

 

ConvertX to DVD can be used for illegal purposes so we have to question support on it or anything it can be used for. Just because it can be purchased and downloaded does not mean it's primary use is legal.

 

Please be patient with me but I really do have to ask if you have installed SP3, The latest version of WMP which is 11 and have you upgraded to IE7 too?

 

WMP11 can play many different formats. MPEG, AVI, DVD ETC.

 

Don't take offence please but these are all pertinent questions to resolve your issue.

[pc plodder]

Dalo Harkin & Randy

 

I appologise if my post was abrupt but i am of the old school which beleives in the law etc, i didn't think the software i had could be used for illegal purposes. I originally had Nero 7 installed on here by PC world (before i became a little savvy about P.Cs but that wouldn't resolve the synch problems i had with the files. Although they'd convert them the synch was a mile out even though at that time they would play perfectly in VLC player. I went for Convert X because it had more features on it and converted the formats so the synch was o.k when i played the dvd to my students or myself. I downloaded the trial version first to make sure it worked before paying for the license. I have sold Nero 7 to friend who wanted it and therefore it's not on this p.c anyway. This seems to have gone off the point of my original question. I Only included Convert X and the problems as i wanted to give you guys every bit of info possible so that it might have helped you guide me into what might be wrong with my P.C. I already belong to the VSO forum, so posting a question about it here would have been pointless as that would have and is my first port of call in a situation such as synch/cpu usage problems. I only included it for diagnostic purposes as with the Everest Temp reading, again giving as much info as is possible.

That said, Yes i do have SP3 installed (the original disc only had SP1 so it took a long time to download and update to SP2 then again with SP3)

I do have Windows media player 11. Again when i did "reinstall" the disc only had Windows player 9 on it so that has been updated too.

I have all current updates from windows (my system has been configured to auto update) and i have checked manually to ensure there are no more.

 

No i do not have IE7. I operate IE6 which i am satisfied with. Some people i know who have P.Cs have included IE7 in their updates and had nothing but trouble with it.

All have since uninstalled it and reverted back to IE6 until Microsoft get all the bugs ironed out

 

I think that's about all i can cover at the moment. If you require any additional info please advise. Keep it fairly simple though, it might sound as if i'm more advanced that i really am.

Regards

Steve

P.S The site keeps me logging me out even though there is a cookie on my system.

every time i post a reply (longish one) it says i don't have permission and please refresh page and log in. Dunno what's up there

[maynardvdm]

P.S The site keeps me logging me out even though there is a cookie on my system.

every time i post a reply (longish one) it says i don't have permission and please refresh page and log in. Dunno what's up there

 

Did you tick the box next to Remember Me? Try that. :)

[Dalo Harkin]

encoding programs use lots of resources - how much RAM (memory) do you have in your system as this will alleviate some of the stress on the CPU

[pc plodder]

Thanks maynardvdm will try that

[pc plodder]

Dalo Harkin

 

I have 768Mb Ram. When encoding the cpu is at a tad under 100% but the Ram is nowhere near max according to task master.

Today i took the sidecover off the P.C and directed a 20inch fan at the side of it to provide extra airflow and so far it has not gone into reboot loop mode. The page did freeze just now and i had to end the programme via task manager but it seems o.k now.

Hope this helps

[Dalo Harkin]

It seems that you are suffering from lack of airflow to some of the components - is the CPU fan working (turning) and as your Motherboard is quite old I am guessing the southbridge is actively (fan) cooled also - can you take a pic of the inside of the pc so we can have a look please :)

[pc plodder]

Dalo Harkin

Yep CPU fan is turning well. Acording to Everestsensor it's 4216 rpm

I haven't got a digital camera i'm afraid so can't upload a pic of the motherboard.

Below are details of motherboard. The only fans in this P.C are cooling fan for CPU heatsink and PSU cooling fan. Hope this info helps

 

Field Value

Motherboard Properties

Motherboard ID 04/26/2004-i845G-6A69VM4VC-00

Motherboard Name MSI 845GEM / 845GLMS / 845GVM / 845GVM-V / MS-6526G(L)

 

Front Side Bus Properties

Bus Type Intel NetBurst

Bus Width 64-bit

Real Clock 100 MHz (QDR)

Effective Clock 400 MHz

Bandwidth 3200 MB/s

 

Memory Bus Properties

Bus Type DDR SDRAM

Bus Width 64-bit

Real Clock 133 MHz (DDR)

Effective Clock 267 MHz

Bandwidth 2133 MB/s

 

Chipset Bus Properties

Bus Type Intel Hub Interface

Bus Width 8-bit

Real Clock 67 MHz (QDR)

Effective Clock 267 MHz

Bandwidth 267 MB/s

 

Motherboard Physical Info

CPU Sockets/Slots 1

Expansion Slots 3 PCI

RAM Slots 2 DIMM

Integrated Devices Audio, Video

Form Factor Micro ATX

Motherboard Chipset i845G/GE/GL/GV

 

Motherboard Manufacturer

Company Name Micro-Star International

Product Information MSI -- MICRO-STAR INT'L CO.,LTD.

BIOS Download MSI -- MICRO-STAR INT'L CO.,LTD.

[Dalo Harkin]

If it is constantly rebooting without the 20" fan then its a heat issue from somewhere - how many case fans do you have?

have you checked the CPU heatsink is still tight? - don't yank it :eek: - just give it a very gentle waggle and you will see if its properly attached

[pc plodder]

Hi Dalo Harkin

The state of play is as follows:

 

I do not now have a reboot issue. Since i took the side cover off it has not happened.

I bought the 20inch fan into play as i wanted to keep the cpu as cool as possible when i encoded a 20 min file to burn to a dvd .

I have monitored things over a period of time since my last post. These are the results of my observations.

a) The CPU is at a constant temp when there is nothing using any of it's recourses

this is 44 degrees C. When i encode anything this rises to 55C but is constant bar the odd fluctuation of +or- 1 degreeC

 

b) The motherboard temp is constant. 32C

 

c The hard drive temp is constant at idle at 32C If i am burning a cd or dvd it rises to 39C but is constant there as well.

 

All the above readings are with or without my 20Inch fan running.

 

I conclude that you were right when you said something was overheating as since the side cover has been off the P.C has not dropped out at all.

 

I have done some research on the web as i was curious about temp of the CPU. From what i can gather from 3 sites i visited a Pentium 4 processor is not "cooked until it reached 100C it is considered running very hot at 90C and not recommended. As mine is running at 56C max i conclude that if the info i have gathered is correct then it is within what could be termed "normal" range (perhaps you could give me your opinion on this)

 

I have done the same excersise with the motherboard and hard drive. I can't find anything on the motherboard but a site i visited had the view that max temp on a hard drive was 60C (again your views are welome on this)

 

By doing the above (visiting sites from my search criteria) i am not in any way trying to Take anything away from the most helpful work and comments you have done for me in recards to my post, i just believe in the old adage god helps them who help themselves. It would have (in my opinion) been lazy of me to post a question and sit back and let you guys sort it out for me, so i hope you don't mind that i am using the internet to try and assist in this problem.

 

I did however omit to say in my original post that when my P.C dropped out and went into constant reboot mode it made a little "tick" sound as it dropped out. Is this a thermal protection thing built into P.Cs? That again would lead to an overheating conclusion if it's true.

 

The only 2 problems i have now are that occasionally i get the page i am looking at on the internet freeze up. I then press Ctrl-Alt-Del to get taskmaster up but that freezes too. I then have to switch the P.C off at the mains for the magic 30seconds (dunno why that is) and reboot it again, then all is normal again.

 

Problem 2 is that when i open internet options-general tab to clear history the egg time stays on and i get a not on the blue bar of the General box "programme not responding" i close it via task manager, open it again and it's o.k I then get the error repost to send to microsoft which is:

C\Documents LOCAL\WERb72q dir00\rundll32.exe.mdmp

C\Documents Local dir00\appcompat.txt

Dunno if that's any help

I would be grateful if you could comment with your views on the above

 

I now have a question.

 

I was considering adding some more ram to this P.C At present i have 2 sticks 1x256Mb and 1 512Mb

I only have 2 ram slots and was considering of either putting 2x512Mb in or maybe 2x1Gb

I do not do any gaming so i wondered what your advise would be. Also i have noticed that the ram sticks come as either 200Mhz or 400Mhz as i have no idea what this means i would again welcome your advise. At present both my stcks of ram are 200Mhz (can you mix them up or must they both be the same.) On the label of My P.C is says Intel pentium 4 2,8Ghz 400mhz FSB has the 400Mhz anything to do with the ram?

 

Thanks for you time in trying to resolve my problem (also all the others who have posted) I DO appreciate it.

 

Regards

Steve

[Dalo Harkin]

Ok - in regards to the ticking it can be 1 of 2 things:-

Hard drive dying -

or the fans just coming to a halt -

 

Are you 100% sure that BOTH the sticks of RAM that you have are the same speed?

This is very important because if they are not then both will be running at whatever the slower stick of RAM is.

[pc plodder]

Thanks Dalo Harkin

 

The "tick" noise i experienced was a single tick, it happened simultaniously when the P.C shut down, like swithching a light off so to speak, that's why i asked if it could have been some type of thermal protection.

 

All seems to be well with the original problem Dalo, i have run the P.C all weekend with the big fan on and off and it seems only to make 1 degree C difference to the temps of motherboard CPU and hard drive. It has not played up at all, so i think that problem can be put to bed now. I am going to keep the sidecover off for now as i intend to add a couple of fans to the case. The ventilation slots are clean as is the inside of the P.C but looking at the setup in light of the recent events it bothers me that there doesn't appear to be sufficient air circulation inside the P.C especially across the Hard Drive which is slotted at the front of the P.C and away from the air intake ducts.

 

Regards the RAM chips. Everest tells me that they are both running 200Mhz.

Both are PC3200. I have 1x256Kb and 1x512Kb. The 256k is the original that came with the P.C (swissbit) and the other i added last year 512Kb (kingston)

If i decided to upgrade the ram would it be better to opt for just 1 stick of Kingston 1Gb or could i go for more? and what speed should i buy. PCW have 1Gb Kinston stick 400Mhz at £39. Btw why the difference between 200 and 400Mhz, don't understand that part of it. If i did upgrade do i have to start messing about with the BIOS thing, i know absolutely nothing about BIOS apart from " if you don't know exactly what you're doing keep out!!"

 

Regards

Steve

[RandyL]

Hi again pc;

You're in good hands with Dalo. He knows his stuff.

 

On another note I admire your "old school" way of thinking. Your honesty and sense of fair play is indeed honorable.

 

Not trying to get something for nothing is not only old school but is also wise as this eliminates a lot of issues as you well know. Malware etc.

 

You are to be commended for your sense of honesty and fair play as well as your wisdom. I salute you.

[Dalo Harkin]

The click then as you are referring to is probably just the PSU.

 

In regards to the RAM and the amount of RAM you can run - 400Mhz is faster than 200Mhz - I would have a look in your motherboard manual and see what is the:-

Maximum amount of RAM the motherboard can handle

And the maximum speed it can handle (I would have thought 400Mhz is max)

and then base your decisions on that.

 

In regards to the Case and cooling - if there are no front intake fans - I would highly recommend upgrading the case to one that has some - do not worry about never have done it before I am in the middle of doing a Build your own PC article which will be from scratch ;)

[pc plodder]

Thank you very much RandyL for your most kind and generous comments. The old school approach was instilled in me by my parents ( they say we are a product of our parents and the values we are bought up with) so they did a good job if your kind words are anything to go by. Again thank you.

 

Dalo, thanks for all your efforts with my problem, i am now older and wiser for your help. I will look on the net for my motherboard specs and see how much Ram it can handle. Your point is noted re the case, PCW had some cases on display when i went there for some air duster yesterday, so i will see how they work out price wise and maybe consider upgrading that part of my equipment.

 

I look forward to your article that you mentioned Dalo, as long as it's written in idiot proof language that newbies like myself can understand then it should be interesting.

 

I found when i started on the internet about 10 years ago (when dail up was the fastest) that forums like this one kept me away, as when i read some of the stuff posted i considered it way above my head and didn't consider joining as i thought it was full of "techies" but if something was posted as a sticky, with instructions that someone new to P.Cs could follow then i think this would encorage more people to join (just my view from experience you understand)

 

Going on from that statement (and bearing in mind i have not read everything on this site) I would have liked to see a sticky on P.C security. How to keep your P.C clean and safe from potential intruders, virus/maleware etc etc. You could post recommended software and tools that you should have on a P.C together with the best online scanner (link) etc etc Also basic "how to" section i.e how to defrag your hard drive etc etc (you'd be surprised how many people don't know!!!)

 

One last thing and i address this to anyone. I browsed with interest, the post about the latest maleware and how you guys are finding it more difficult to clean up infected computers during the last could of months. Am i as safe as i can be with ESET NOD32 and should i consider purchasing Superantispyware as an extra tool or would they conflict with each other. I am paranoid about the security of my P.C content (credit card details etc etc) so i need to have the best i can afford to protect my system. Your comments please gentlemen.

 

Well that's about it. Thanks again for your help Dalo and if you would be good enough to advise re the ESET/Superantispyware issue then i think you can call this thread "resolved" Thanks again gentlemen

Regards

Steve