Frequent crash making pc un-usable

[jamesbrown]

Dear All,

 

some time ago (before i went on holiday) i posted this very same question and i didn't have much luck after trying out what was suggested by so many people.

 

Quite a few people said that it could be a problem with the RAM, well i run 2X 2GB DDR2 sticks of RAM, and they are seated really nicely.

 

Despite this, i still get a complete system freeze just after i log on. I can't work out why, it could be anything. I recently re-intalled windows, and it was fine for a bit. i then installed AVG, and then went on holiday. i come back, switch on, log on.....complete freeze.

 

I had just finnished building this machine before i went on holiday. Is it vista? or is it hardware? Everything freezes. Even the hd light. It's almost the system has been stopped in it's tracks by something. It was fine before i installed AVG.... could that be the problem?

 

Please please please help. I'm really sad that this is happening because all the parts for this machine were a present from someone, and now the god dam thing won't work.

 

Many thanks,

 

UPDATE:::::::

Started system in safe mode. No crashes in safe mode. Doing a scan using AVG. still waiting for results. One other thing, and this is second priority to my main problem. I have two disk drives, but only one of them shows up in "Computer" when i right click on the one that is there, and click eject, it opens both!!!????!?!?!?! when i go to device manager, it displays only one, and still is displaying only one now even though i've asked it to look for recent hardware changes. The reason why it thinks there is only one is because when i was setting the system up i only had one connected because i made my life alot more easier when installing software in the early stages, i have now connected the other one, but it won't show up.

Edited January 5, 2009 by jamesbrown

[Guest Wolfeymole]

One other thing, and this is second priority to my main problem. I have two disk drives, but only one of them shows up in "Computer" when i right click on the one that is there, and click eject,

 

You are obviously clicking on a Device with removable storage as that option is not available on main hard drives.

 

Post a screen shot similar to mine and let's have a look at what's going on.

[jamesbrown]

ooops

 

i cannot provide a screen shot because usb devices don't work in safe mode (i'm using my laptop to write this) and as i said before, the pc is unsable because it completly freezes shortly after log on (my desktop is the computer that is having the problems). I believe that my first problem is software related, because the pc has been behaving beautifully before i installed about 40 updates from windows. Which of these updates do you think is causing this? Is it one of my drives that is the problem because as you probably know, safe mode means that most drivers arn't being used, and if the computer isn't crashing in safe mode then one of my drivers is the culprit? yes? no? maybe?

 

thanks.

 

Please rimember, (this goes for anyone who is willing to help) i build this desktop myself, and therefore i'm perfectly happy to dive inside it if anyone comes up with a good sugestion. This also means that the problem could be hardware related, but because of the evidence above i think that it is software or driver issues that is causing the system to freeze shortly after log on.

[iwillbekingin2030]

just a suggestion

 

when i first got vista it would crash constaintly. Then i updated my sigmatel audio driver and no more problems. i'm not saying yours is the audio driver but it might be a driver for something. Try updating drivers for sound, video, and etc. just a shot in the dark.:p

[DirtyPolo]

I have two disk drives, but only one of them shows up in "Computer"

 

Hey James, I'm guessing by this you mean 2 CD drives and not 2 Hard Drives as I think Wolfey thought you meant.

 

Please can you post us the spec of your system and make sure to include both of these two CD drives, if that's what they are :)

 

Thanks.

[BeeCeeBee]

then one of my drivers is the culprit? yes? no? maybe?

A definite Maybe to that one James.

 

I am not sure why you feel you need your USB working to do a screenshot.

 

The very first thing I would try is to uninstall AVG and reboot normally. There have been issues and AVG is not a great choice. If that should resolve any or all of your problems then look to Avast or Avira as better choices if you want free AV protection.

 

I would also pay close attention to what services are running and what you are running at start up. I am not a vista user so I will not venture into making suggestions regarding msconfig but you may have to start a process of elimination.

[jamesbrown]

so far

 

Hi Everybody,

 

Thankyou for all suggestions so far.

 

Vista is resolved, and it's all down to the updates. I did a system restore and now it doesn't crash.....But my disk drives won't show up so i can't install any of my drivers.

 

Any advice?

 

thanks

[Dalo Harkin]

You have to get the OS to 'see' the drives - Control panel>Admin tools>Computer Management>Disk Management and the 2 drives should be listed - right click and then ACTIVATE

[jamesbrown]

Thanks

 

Thankyou