Contour Enthusiasts Group Archives Forums General Common Interests whats the deal? CPU locking up

Okay I've just about had it with my computer, I bought 1 1/2 years ago to do alot of web design and to get on the internet. So far, I can barely ever get anything done because it locks up so much.

The damn thing came with Windows ME which sucked beyond belief so I switched to 98. That sucked just as bad so I switched again to 2000 the week before last. Now it sucks worse than ever before, it locks up after about 5 minutes of browsing and I don't even dare going into photoshop or flash. Is there something I can do to make this thing run better or should I take it to a shop? Here's the specs

Compaq Presario 5000 Series
900 Mhz AMD Athlon
192MB memory (upgraded from 64 originally)
40 Gig HD
32MB graphics card (upgraded from pathetic 8mb card)
DVD/CDRW Drives

I'm thinking I'm going to do the smart thing and build a new computer considering the wealth of information I learned from kraftys post today. But I was hoping to get this one in better running condition so I could sell it on Ebay or use it as a workstation at my company. I know we got some smart guys on here so any help would really, really be appreciated. im dyin over here lol :rolleyes:

Try taking out your newer memory chip and seeing how it does. It could be a little flaky and causing some problems.

most likely a hardware issue.
my experience w/ 2000 is suprisingly positive /* I use professional @ work and server on my newer machine @ home */

it does not necessarily have to be memory, but I'm guessing the reason Perry brought this up is that normally OE parts are tested to work together, while whatever you are adding may bring in new issues.

another problem is that ME and 2000 are completely different animals. what was supposed to work w/ ME does not have to do so w/ 2000. in other words lots of things may be going wrong.

You might want to try and get the newest drivers for whatever hardware you are using, but be aware that messing up w/ them may be dangerous. if 2000 driver is n/a use NT one.

and one more thing, if you decide to upgrade from your current motherboard to something better it's not gonna go as you might expect. stupid windoze saves information about your hardware in the registry, so once you change your motherboard it refuses to boot up. don't ask...

when you switched OS's, did you reformat the machine? ive had problems with that, not doing a clean install, under 2000 in particular. i recommend reformatting computers every half a year or a year, that usually helps me out. check for heat issues too, those can be a b**ch.

I know how you can eliminate ALL pesky windows lockups

www.sun.com

TB

If swapping memory don't work, remove the heatsink (but be carefull) and check the processor chip to make sure it isn't cracked or crushed.

Go to http://web14.compaq.com/falco/sp_list.asp and enter information for your computer. It will list all available diags and drivers and BIOS upgrades.

CPU lockups are one of the most difficult problems to trouble shoot.

You might have a software or hardware conflict (usually the culprit. loaded any new software lately?), your memory chip might suck, your processor-mobo-or hard drive even could be overheating (do you have a case fan in addition to CPU fan?), your disk drive might be fragged (try defragging), are you good on disk space? (you should be with a 40g), last but not least...when was the last time you restarted your machine? I can usually go for 3-4 days without restarting if I'm not hammering the machine. After that the system resources start dropping too low and performance starts to suck.

I'm running Win98, 450 k6-2, 256ram, 8g hard drive so I have to be on top of all those above things to keep the box running right. Plus I have all kind of peripherals attached so that saps resources too.

Heat can be an issue with lockups as well.

Could be something as simple as the CPU fan is toast.

TB

O.K. my recommendation is to check all the fans in the case. I know that particular series is either Slot A or maybe a Socket A. Compaq didn't include a Fan on the CPU for the Slot A processors and they are prone to overheating. If this is the case with yours (the CPU will be a long rectangular Box standing up right in the Case, much like a Pentium 2-3 Slot 1) I would reccommend buying a new CPU or just replacing the system.

Remove the power cord form the back of the system!!

You open the case by undoing the the thumb screws on the(If staring at the front of the case) left side and sliding it off. Next lay the system down so that you are staring into it. Then there are two large screws on the top back at either side of the back case that you remove to swing the PSU and the top half down to access the CPU and expansion slots. look to see if the CPU is a socket a or slot A if Slot A don't touch the damned thing it'll burn your finger! If socket A (It will look like a small square heatsink with a fan on it.) plug the power back into the PSU and push the power button. See what fans spin up. They all should so if one doesn't then it needs to be replaced. Hold the power button in until the system shuts off and cycle the system a few more times. Sometimes movement will free a fan to spin for a small amount of time but it will stop working shortly. Then report bacl to us with your findings.

I offer no warrenty on my advice. If you kill yourslef it's not my fault.

It's all OS issues. It sounds like you didn't do clean installs when you went back from ME to 98 (not good) then from 98 to 2000. Your PC sounds fine hardware wise. Unless these lock up's accured AFTER you upgraded your memory. Miss-matched memory WILL cause lock ups. Did you check your manual for memory compatabilities?

I would remove the memory you aded for a while and run your system, does it lock up?

If it's not the memory, first thing I would do is Format and fdisk that HDD, Install a clean copy of 2000 and you will be fine.

I would NOT JUMP in and start messing with your chip, fans etc just yet. Start at the begging and work up the ladder. There are MANY things that could be causing this, the CPU is one at the end of the list (only because it either works or it doens't. There is no way, if it was cracked or "crushed", which I have no idea HOW that would or could happen, that it would even boot, never mind working in Windows, it just wouldn't work at all).

You have to try and establish WHEN the lock ups started. WHAT CHANGED? That will help you find out what is wrong.

Simon, Not to knock your advice but CPU can still function even when they are overheating they just loose stability. I think you've been wandering around in the Intel world for a little too long. The either works or doesn't idea is just plain wrong.

I argee with about the Memory alot of times the miss matched memory will cause problems especially if it's from a second or 3rd tier manufacturer.

Also there shouldn't be any remnants of his 98 install on the 2000 system since you can't do a straight upgrade from 98. If it where Xp this would be a different story. The only thing that might be a concern in this part is that he may have left the old file system intact and had a virus or two on the system when he did. Therefore infecting the new OS like it did the old.

My recommendation is still to look at the system and check the fans. If they are fine and you system still does it after pulling out the ram then look at downloading the VIA Drivers from viatech.com The VIA chipsets have some PCI compatiliblty issues with Windows 2K. Also have you done the Service Pack updates to 2000?

incredible advice so far guys and I really appreciate it. I will spend this weekend checking the things mentioned and we'll see where we're at. I'd still like to use this for my home CPU if I can get the bugs out so I hope everything works out. thanks again for the advice though, I'll report back in a few days.

You may be able to get CPU temps from the BIOS. So you could check this without opening the case.

I somewhat agree that a cracked CPU generally is a it works or doesn't. But in servicing computers, I've seen where broken solder joints don't manifest themselves until the reach certain temps. At that temp, the circuit is open. When it cools back down, contact is restored until it heats up again.

FWIW,

TB

There was a scam last year where Compaq was putting chips slower than they were advertising and turning up the clock speeds on them, after awhile they would overheat and lockup all the time. I had a girlfriend that this happened to, she contacted the company where she got the computer and they replaced it for her through Compaq free of charge....

Ryan

The Athlon die on the CPU will break if you use the wrong heatsink. (And it will not work if that happens!) Athlon's also produce great amounts of heat so if you CPU fan didn't work your CPU would have burned up in about 5 min. after the fan died! I had memory problems with mine. (Also an Athlon 900) The don't like Micron! I know that's a big name in memory but that was the first question the tech people asked me. "What brand of memory are you using." I switch to Kingmax modules as they suggested and boom problem solved! Athlon's are fussy. I think that a clean OS install is a good idea too! I think AMD's website has info on known memory conflicts. Did it run fine before you upgraded the memory? Plus getting to the memory modules is easy so I would start there.

i'm being good...

There's your problem. I build all my own machines, I like to know exactly what's in them. I used to work in an electronics shop when I was younger and every time we sold a HP or a Compaq, half those people would bring it back in less than a week. Not to mention the crapload of useless software that comes on them and the fact that their almost impossible to upgrade anything on (Pretty hard to upgrade the video card when there's no AGP slot!), doesn't make them a good buy in my mind.

I had numerous and repeated lockups on my pc from the day I got it, ~1yr ago. I had Win98SE with 256MB ram.

I downloaded a program called Cacheman which helped a LOT. There are settings for 95/98/ME

You may want to try it.

One more reason to not use AMD. Flame away !!!

Good luck.