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XP intermittent crashes

Flak999

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Posted May 8, 2011 at 1:00PM

My Xp sp3 installation is six years old and has been running perfectly. It is fully patched and updated and is free from any sort of malware.

The problem which has only just started is that roughly every day at some point the system just locks, no blue screen no error messages it just locks. This could be during first boot in the morning or in the middle of an application running. It also happens when the system is idle.

When this occurs the system is locked nothing works the mouse is frozen and key inputs do not work either, the only solution is to do a hard reset and allow the system to reboot, this works and I can carry on without a problem.

I have a maxtor HDD and have run the manufacturers error checking software on the disc, which reports no problems. So I am at a bit of a loss as to what action to take.

Anybody any ideas on this?

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buteman

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Posted May 8, 2011 at 1:06PM

Old computer check the Airvents are not blocked by dust and fluff if so inside may also need cleaning. It may be some of your drivers needing updated and although device manager may show no drivers needing updated it is not always the case.

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woodchip

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Posted May 8, 2011 at 1:09PM

Also check out the CPU heatsink is not full of muck, if its a Laptop its going to need stripping down to clear it

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Flak999

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Posted May 8, 2011 at 1:35PM

Thanks for the quick replies, l24 Unfortunately I don't have a Spare PSU to swap my one with. As to the failing capacitors or dry joints, I guess this could be the problem but how could you test for this? My mobo is an Asus A8N-Sli deluxe, I have been to the Asus website and there don't appear to be any problems with this board other than the mobo chipset fan failing. (mine is Ok)

I have a fan speed controller on my system already which monitors CPU, HDD and overall system temps and this seems to be reporting correct temps for these components.

buteman and woodchip I regularly clean the dust and muck from the system case so don't think that's the problem and my drivers are all pretty much up to date. My system is a desktop so I have relatively easy access to it.

Thank you all for your suggestions though!

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spuds

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Posted May 8, 2011 at 1:38PM

Not saying this is the answer, but I had a similar problem on an old XP installation, and a new time consuming reformat solved the problem?.

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Flak999

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Posted May 8, 2011 at 1:44PM

spuds I take a regular monthly disc image with Acronis so could reinstall that and I have the whole of the my Docs folder backed up to large capacity USB thumb drive which I update daily as changes occur.

I do feel though that this is a hardware problem not software given the circumstances of the lockups.

perhaps it's time to bite the bullet and buy a new system?

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woodchip

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Posted May 8, 2011 at 2:01PM

I think its a Hardware problem, rather than Windows. It could be a Faulty ram stick, if you have more than one try removing one at a time, and test

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