How to find Hardware related problem in computer? 9

[sqladmin99]

Hi all,

I have been using this computer for last 6 months (Win 2k Pro) without any problem but since last 2 weeks it is freezing 5 to 6 times a day. First, I thought it is software related problem so I uninstalled every single software I had on this computer but I did not see any change. So I formatted my hard drive and re-installed clean copy of Win 2k Pro but it still freezes 5 to 6 times a day. Freezing process is also very instant. It will freeze even if I am moving mouse on my desktop and after that you can't do anything except rebooting the computer. I talked with computer vendor and he said it looks like this computer has hardware related problem. He also said it can be memory related, heating fan related, motherboard related or hard drive related problem.

Now, Is there anyway I can know which part of the hardware is causing this problem?

We have about 2o to 25 computers in our company and I just want to learn how to diagnose hardware related issue with computers.

Are there any tools available in the market that checks all hardware in the computers?

I really appreciate any kind of help regarding this matter.

Thank you,

Rajan

 

[Xemus]

You might want to look into Sisoft's Sandra. They have some burn-in wizards which test the stability of components in your system. There is also a sensor to tell you the current tempurature of your motherboard and processor.

http://www.sisoftware.net/

Let us know what you temp is. MCSE, A+

 

[floormatt]

If you have the spare parts for testing, the process of elimination. Start replacing parts for test purposes, i.e. video, memory, etc. Eventually you will get to the problem. Or just buy the software.

Matt

 

[wolluf]

Agree with process of elimination approach. I've often known software which checks components to give clean bill of health to item, which when later replaced using elimination approach has proved to be the culprit (so, I'd run the software first to see if it finds anything, but...). Also, can be combination of hardware (eg, 2 good memory sticks cause a problem when used together, good memory & mobo just incompatible etc).

But don't know of any magic wand!

 

[paparazi]

Process of elimination but start with the bare minimum connected and build up from there untill you find the culprit. Martin Replying helps further our knowledge, without comment leaves us wondering.

 

[jamzm101]

let me ask you, do you have lots of little icons next to your computer clock on the bottom right hand side of you computer? If so these are programs that are running in the background taking up your resources! remove them throught MSCONIF and reboot. Delete all you temp files in your WINDOWS temp folder and run a defrag on the Hard Drive.

If that doesn't work than it may be a virus on your boot sector, I know you reformatted but that doesn't always work unless you write zeros to the Hard Drive or restore the boot sector, Good luck.

let me know what you do

 

[WheeDoggy]

Let me throw a few ideas out there.............

Long Shot? - Check power cord - saw an incident of old PC power cord w/ slightly loose wire - everytime user's leg hit it cord caused freeze.

Is the PC on a good grounded surge protector or UPS?

Check fans.

Try reseating RAM, then swapping.

Try alternate PSU.

Is PC located near sources of static electricity discharge?

 

[oldbear]

My thought would be the RAM first...saw a system a friend had that would lock up at different times until one piece of ram was removed....she had two pieces of different sizes...sometimes the RAM slots have a problem with dissimilar metals...maybe the ram was bad..maybe a bad RAM slot that one of the terminals pulls away from the chip when it heats...could be a number of things..

 

[01726]

Well well! I too have the very same problem at the moment and would be delighted if you have found the answer cause right now its driving me crazy. Im not really that technical with pc components and until this problem, i had very little to do with the inside of a computer as i dont really understand!!

my pc is crashing very regularly too. i took it to a local pc repair firm, they said it might be bad sectors on the hard disk or something like that. Corrupt files which windows accesses on a regular basis. anyway they replaced the hard disk. and guess what! its still happening. i tried (before taking it to the pc firm) taking the RAM out and re-seating it - that did nothing. i tried taking graphics card out and putting it back in again and that just caused me more problems. the graphics card seems to be very tempremental and would not boot up for a while. Anyway once that was back in its correct position - it did nothing to solve my problem. I move my pc unit to a cooler place and so avoid any potential overheating problems - still no joy. does anyone know what this might be?

I suspect that it might be my graphics card. im only guessing really and would hope that the "experts" at the local PC firm would know better but then maybe not. After bringing my pc home on a long journey recently, it would not boot up and (as i say) i had to continually take the graphics card ou and put it back in again. Only after about 10 attempts did it work. Maybe something wrong with the grapics card ?? trouble is - i cant afford to just go replacing every component until its ok again. can anyone shed any light on this situation??

 

[dcwtechmech]

I have found this to be a HDD problem. Fdisk with the switch /mbr to replace the master boot record. This should work. Other wise process of elimination is the very best way to troubleshoot any problem. The suggestions about using MSCONFIG is a great idea in any case before starting with hardware. Rarely does a computer freeze sporadically and it's a harware problem (minus over heating then it's like clock work.). I use troublshooter as self booting hareware diag. program.
Hope this helps. Let everything that have breath praise the Lord.

 

[sqladmin99]

Hi All,

Thank you for your support and suggestions. I took my trouble maker computer to one my friends place. He replaced video card and problem is fixed. It does not freeze anymore.

I had run all kind of hardware check software on this machine. None of them gave me any error report. In my opinion "process of elimination approach" is good way of solving hardware problem.


Once again, Thanks for your overwhelming support.

Rajan