Desktop pc freezes when using either Win XP or Win 7 OSs

[BingBangBop]

Bottom line - does this convince you that the CPU is working properly?

I have really never had any doubt that the CPU is working properly. It's the MB and to a lesser extent the PS that I suspect has a problem. I just had issues with the reliability of process that you were using to test the CPU and the major components.

As to the temps, they are quite good. Nothing to be worried there. By the way, the way you phrased TJ max being at 50C is incorrect. You still have 50C yet to go to reach TJ Max which is actually 100C. i.e. you've got lots of temperature head room.

If you want good validation of your CPU then how about Intel's official CPU diagnostic test tool

 

[apairofpcs]

I strongly suspect that the amount of work and aggravation involved in replacing your motherboard will be lower than continuing to troubleshoot an issue that will in all likelihood lead to you replacing your motherboard.

Funny thing about my patience and willingness to accept anything in life only after there is no doubt in my mind that it is true. I am not convinced that it is the MB. If I was as quick to replace parts as most of you here, I would not have learned anything in life that matters. Stubornness is the way I deal with every possible cause of a problem. Although the work and aggravation are undesireable side effects of my tactics, I have all the time in the world, plenty of patience and the willingness to deal with every option nefore I order a MB. I get the feeling that with most of you here, the saying that "time is money" is what drives you. I can understand how working people or just very busy people will want to optimize their time and effort in a way that will get them maximum returns.

But I definitely like how you expressed my method of handling the problem, telling me that no matter how hard I try NOT to replace my MB, I will eventually have to do so. However, it was your expression "in all likelihood" that prevents me from replacing the MB at this point in time. You see, nobody here is 100% sure which of my core components is failing. This is MY dilemma.....

 

[Handruin]

I don't know if it was mentioned, but if you want to help rule out the concern of hardware problems and also the concern if safe mode is an adequate test, can you do a clean install of the OS or use a spare hard drive (if you have one) and do a clean install with all drivers and then load the system for some stress testing to see if it handles it?

 

[BingBangBop]

I agree that under no circumstance in the running of a pc, should the CMOS lose it's settings, unless the CMOS backup battery is missing or dead. My battery is only two months old. The glitchy power failure even bypassed the positive role of the battery. How did it do that?

I don't know. My best guess and it is just a guess is that there is a short somewhere.

 

[apairofpcs]

I have really never had any doubt that the CPU is working properly. It's the MB and to a lesser extent the PS that I suspect has a problem. I just had issues with the reliability of process that you were using to test the CPU and the major components.

As to the temps, they are quite good. Nothing to be worried there. By the way, the way you phrased TJ max being at 50C is incorrect. You still have 50C yet to go to reach TJ Max which is actually 100C. i.e. you've got lots of temperature head room.

If you want good validation of your CPU then how about Intel's official CPU diagnostic test tool

OK, so the CPU is working well. I thank you for the education on the accurate definition of TJ Max. I was thinking that a 50 C reading was AT TJ Max. This is new to me, so I stumbled a little. I now see that the 50 C value is how far the CPU's temp. has to rise to reach Intel's maximum temp. for that model. Indeed, if the CPU rose to 100 C, we would have one more piece of hardware to worry about. So far, so good.

Next, I'm going to acquire Memtest86 and run it as specified. Do you have any recommendations you can make to a first time user? If my 4 GB of RAM comes back clean, then the MB or PSU are suspect, maybe both according to a few of the posters here.

 

[Handruin]

OK, so the CPU is working well. I thank you for the education on the accurate definition of TJ Max. I was thinking that a 50 C reading was AT TJ Max. This is new to me, so I stumbled a little. I now see that the 50 C value is how far the CPU's temp. has to rise to reach Intel's maximum temp. for that model. Indeed, if the CPU rose to 100 C, we would have one more piece of hardware to worry about. So far, so good.

Next, I'm going to acquire Memtest86 and run it as specified. Do you have any recommendations you can make to a first time user? If my 4 GB of RAM comes back clean, then the MB or PSU are suspect, maybe both according to a few of the posters here.

Prime95 can be another tool to test both CPU and memory for problems. There is a stress test option where you can specify the amount of memory to use and then it will run for as long as you let it, preferably 24 hours to weed out any instabilities.

 

[BingBangBop]

I agree that under no circumstance in the running of a pc, should the CMOS lose it's settings, unless the CMOS backup battery is missing or dead. My battery is only two months old. The glitchy power failure even bypassed the positive role of the battery. How did it do that?

I'm not sure you understand, even if the battery is missing or dead the reset switch should not affect CMOS for in a normally working MB it will still be powered by the MB. The only time the battery matters is if there is not enough power being supplied by the MB as when you physically pull the plug out of the wall.

I know someone that has for years had a dead battery that he has never replaced. I have told him to replace it repeatedly but he always ignores me. He just doesn't care for he never unplugs his computer. The only time it gets reset is upon the occasional power failures and he just re-configures it when that happens.

 

[apairofpcs]

I don't know if it was mentioned, but if you want to help rule out the concern of hardware problems and also the concern if safe mode is an adequate test, can you do a clean install of the OS or use a spare hard drive (if you have one) and do a clean install with all drivers and then load the system for some stress testing to see if it handles it?

This is a tall order to fill, even if I had a spare hard drive. The word "clean" is the operative word when wanting to solve my problem. Surely, a reliable drive with a virgin OS and the proper device drivers working in a system of hardware that is questionable, is the way to eliminate the drive, the OS or the device drivers as the culprit. Unfortunately, I'll have to pass on your idea due to lack of a spare drive.

 

[apairofpcs]

I'm not sure you understand, even if the battery is missing or dead the reset switch should not affect CMOS for in a normally working MB it will still be powered by the MB. The only time the battery matters is if there is not enough power being supplied by the MB as when you physically pull the plug out of the wall.

I know someone that has for years had a dead battery that he has never replaced. I have told him to replace it repeatedly but he always ignores me. He just doesn't care for he never unplugs his computer. The only time it gets reset is upon the occasional power failures and he just re-configures it when that happens.

I stand corrected. Since I have been working hard to get rid of the freezes, I no longer turn the PSU's rocker switch to the OFF position after I go to hibernate or shut down. Since my modem and router are plugged into the surge protector and so is the PSU, I keep the Master switch ON and turn OFF the PSU so that I can still use the modem/router with my laptop. Therefore, the MB is always energized although the drives and fans have stopped spinning! On this basis, I should NEVER lose my CMOS settings.

 

[apairofpcs]

Prime95 can be another tool to test both CPU and memory for problems. There is a stress test option where you can specify the amount of memory to use and then it will run for as long as you let it, preferably 24 hours to weed out any instabilities.

I will definitely do whatever is necessary to eliminate the CPU and RAM as possible culprits. BingBangBop is happy with my temp. result. But I'm sure that more has to be done to test the CPU. Intel's Processor Diagnostic Tool seems to be the way to go, but it is a tedious program for a guy who hasn't had the need to evaluate a CPU before now. This incident is the most serious one I have had, considering that I've owned 4 distinct desktop pc systems since my 1992 maiden voyage. I will take a look at that program and Prime 95 anyway.

 

[BingBangBop]

Rocker switches on power supplies are equivalent to pulling the plug out of the wall. It will cut all power going to the MB.

 

[apairofpcs]

Rocker switches on power supplies are equivalent to pulling the plug out of the wall. It will cut all power going to the MB.

Yes Sir, I knew that. But what about this little tidbit of news.....
With the pc shut down, I pulled the power cord out of the back of the 1992 vintage Kensington MasterPiece Plus surge protector and plugged it into the six socket 1997 vintage Kensington Model K62152 SmartSockets surge protector on the floor. It is rated at 125V 16A 60Hz 1,875 watts, with a suppressed voltage rating of 330V. I haven't had a freeze for 7 hours since, which included all kinds of normal usage but mostly idling at the desktop. Is it possible that after 19 1/2 years of continuous service, the surge protector is getting tired and is NOT functioning normally? Does anybody have the phone number or email address to Ghostbusters?

I seem to remember an even longer stretch of normal pc function without a freeze, the last time I used CPU Burn-In for a 6 hour run, That joy lasted a day or so.

Note my parts list in my original post. The MasterPiece Plus surge protector has been in service since July 1992. Just saying!!!!!

 

[apairofpcs]

I will definitely do whatever is necessary to eliminate the CPU and RAM as possible culprits. BingBangBop is happy with my temp. result. But I'm sure that more has to be done to test the CPU. Intel's Processor Diagnostic Tool seems to be the way to go, but it is a tedious program for a guy who hasn't had the need to evaluate a CPU before now. This incident is the most serious one I have had, considering that I've owned 4 distinct desktop pc systems since my 1992 maiden voyage. I will take a look at that program and Prime 95 anyway.

I probably confused you in my post above. I meant to say that I used to turn the PSU OFF before the freezes started. But now that I am diagnosing the problem, I leave the PSU ON. This, along with the surge protector's Master switch being left ON, keeps the MB energized and should retain the CMOS settings.

 

[Bozo]

You said your RAID array failed. Is the RAID controller on the motherboard?

 

[time]

You know that I won't buy ANY high tech. device in used condition.

While I agree that you would be taking a risk buying one off Ebay (or from NewEgg for that matter), buying something proven from someone trustworthy is a great way of avoiding problems.

If I was as quick to replace parts as most of you here, I would not have learned anything in life that matters.

You really have no idea how we came to acquire the knowledge that you're now asking us to share with you. Thousands of hours of relentlessly chasing down bugs to the bitter end in order to garner facts, not just vague superstitions. But you have to learn from this and pick your targets:

Anyway, life's too short for motherboards that could be replaced and RMA'd.

Whereas your own personal philosophy is only masquerading as wisdom. I recommend a less quixotic approach to life - especially when you're relying on the goodwill of others.

 

[time]

BingBangBop, lost CMOS settings are not necessarily anything to do with the condition of the backup battery. Many modern motherboards try to support overclocking by reverting to 'safe' (or default) settings when they think they've detected a failed overclock. Last year, a bunch of Gigabyte socket 1155 boards had immature BIOSes that would wipe your settings when the PC crashed for some other reason altogether.

So unfortunately, it doesn't mean anything other than that the OP's system is halting unexpectedly.

 

[time]

apairofpcs: CougTek pointed out that a hard drive can also cause your problem. I had considered it, but thought that among the reams of text that you have posted, you had changed hard drives. Try physically disconnecting all except the latest Windows 7 drive before ruling out your drives.

 

[apairofpcs]

You said your RAID array failed. Is the RAID controller on the motherboard?

Before I acquired the Samsung drive and installed Win 7 on it, I had a mirror RAID array linking the 2 WD drives with XP that I bought for the new pc build in Apr. 2009. The array failed right after I interrupted the last phase of a system restore, when it took forever for the desktop icons, taskbar and systray to appear. I didn't know I had to wait! It hasn't worked since then. I have been using one of the WD drives as my boot drive for about 2 years, with the other drive serving me as a backup drive.

I am not sure where the RAID controller is, but in order for the pc to boot to any drive I had to change the RAID entry to IDE in the CMOS setup section.

 

[time]

Do you need help downloading and running Memtest? I think you should give that a try before we spend any more time on this.

 

[apairofpcs]

While I agree that you would be taking a risk buying one off eBay (or from NewEgg for that matter), buying something proven from someone trustworthy is a great way of avoiding problems.



You really have no idea how we came to acquire the knowledge that you're now asking us to share with you. Thousands of hours of relentlessly chasing down bugs to the bitter end in order to garner facts, not just vague superstitions. But you have to learn from this and pick your targets:



Whereas your own personal philosophy is only masquerading as wisdom. I recommend a less quixotic approach to life - especially when you're relying on the goodwill of others.

I know of no "trustworthy" person from whom I can buy a "proven" MB. If I did, and I was sure that I needed a MB, I would jump on it. Do you believe that a manufacturer is by nature "not trustworthy?" If you/we did, we would live in empty domiciles. Bottom line, I'm up for anything to stop the freezes.

Being a pc hobbyist and NOT a person who makes a living off pcs, I have always done what you and the others have done, but without the income. This is why I mentioned being stubborn and rarely surrendering. What you term "vague superstitions", I term "remote possibilities."

My "personal philosophy" is not "wisdom", but rather the "acquisition of wisdom and truth." I am seeking "truth" here, and so are all of you who cannot state with any level of certainty that I need to replace my MB.

A forum is a place where volunteers step forward to share their goodwill with others....."unreservedly." I am here to share my goodwill as much as receive yours. I will demonstrate this as I become acclimated to this forum.

 

[apairofpcs]

apairofpcs: CougTek pointed out that a hard drive can also cause your problem. I had considered it, but thought that among the reams of text that you have posted, you had changed hard drives. Try physically disconnecting all except the latest Windows 7 drive, before ruling out your drives.

I can surely disconnect the 2 WD XP drives and leave the Samsung Win 7 drive intact in the case. Jtr1962 suggested this when I first started getting freezes, but I didn't see the logic it is. What is the logic in it, anyway? If I do this and still get a freeze, does it mean the drive is failing? Or will I still have to consider that the MB is failing?

 

[apairofpcs]

Do you need help downloading and running Memtest? I think you should give that a try before we spend any more time on this.

Thank you, I can handle Memtest myself. Let me get this straight, if Memtest comes back with a clean report on my memory, then what will be my next plan of action?

 

[time]

Just in case some sage heads here are doubting my sanity in listing the CPU as a possible cause, I have actually seen "freezes" due to a faulty i5. The problem manifested when the CPU tried to disable unused cores to conserve power. You could actually stop the hangs by keeping the PC busy.

Having said that, there must be 50 failed motherboards for every failed CPU. Although, I wonder if some slightly problematic CPUs are never correctly identified when they are replaced along with the motherboard?

I have a 4-5 year-old AMD system here that freezes every couple of days. I could swap the CPU from another system to see if that's the root cause (I've thrown out all my spare AMD CPUs), but you know what? I'm not going to waste my time, because knowing the truth in this one instance won't help me diagnose the next 49.

 

[time]

I can surely disconnect the 2 WD XP drives and leave the Samsung Win 7 drive intact in the case. Jtr1962 suggested this when I first started getting freezes, but I didn't see the logic it is. What is the logic in it, anyway? If I do this and still get a freeze, does it mean the drive is failing? Or will I still have to consider that the MB is failing?

I may have misunderstood what you meant here:

The Win 7 drive is my most recent one. A month after the first XP drive started having freezes, I started using the Win 7 drive.

I got the impression that the drive was new to the PC since you started having your problem. If not, you can still eliminate the drives, but more tediously. If it still freezes, you will need to disconnect the Win 7 drive and reconnect the currently bootable XP drive.

The object is to eliminate the drives from the equation. If you have just the Windows 7 one connected and your freezes really disappear, then hopefully they will reappear when you swap to the XP drive as a cross-check, or vice versa.

It's an uncommon problem but not unknown.

 

[apairofpcs]

Just in case some sage heads here are doubting my sanity in listing the CPU as a possible cause, I have actually seen "freezes" due to a faulty i5. The problem manifested when the CPU tried to disable unused cores to conserve power. You could actually stop the hangs by keeping the PC busy.

Having said that, there must be 50 failed motherboards for every failed CPU. Although, I wonder if some slightly problematic CPUs are never correctly identified when they are replaced along with the motherboard?

I have a 4-5 year-old AMD system here that freezes every couple of days. I could swap the CPU from another system to see if that's the root cause (I've thrown out all my spare AMD CPUs), but you know what? I'm not going to waste my time, because knowing the truth in this one instance won't help me diagnose the next 49.

Do you mean the sage heads, besides you and I? Haa haa! I want to be a sage head and aspire to become one when I grow up.

You're making me nervouse with your newest "CPU From Hell" scenario. Once I get a handle on MY freezing pc, I would be happy to assist you in stopping YOUR freezing. If I knew what I don't know about pcs, I would be brilliant! I like this line!

I am writing this with only the Samsung Win 7 drive spinning. CMOS settings are accurate. Yes, I disconnected the power and data cables from each drive. How I hope that I have a failing drive and not a failing MB, even though statistics in this thread firmly say "NO!"

 

[time]

Let me get this straight, if Memtest comes back with a clean report on my memory, then what will be my next plan of action?

http://www.storageforum.net/forum/s...eezes-when-using-either-Win-XP-or-Win-7-OSs#9

In other words, borrow a power supply (and ideally a graphics card and maybe even a network card) off someone and try swapping them. You also have the drives to be going on with.

These are all candidates for causing the symptoms you described. We just gave you probability estimates to help speed up the process. Unfortunately, software tests are not very helpful in your case and swapping out subsystems is the main way to identify the problem.

 

[apairofpcs]

I may have misunderstood what you meant here:


I got the impression that the drive was new to the PC since you started having your problem. If not, you can still eliminate the drives, but more tediously. If it still freezes, you will need to disconnect the Win 7 drive and reconnect the currently bootable XP drive.

The object is to eliminate the drives from the equation. If you have just the Windows 7 one connected and your freezes really disappear, then hopefully they will reappear when you swap to the XP drive as a cross-check, or vice versa.

It's an uncommon problem, but not unknown.

Is a drive installed in Apr. 2011 considered to be "old?" I am also up for disconnecting the Win 7 drive and returning the primary XP drive into service. But why not disconnect the primary XP drive along with the Win 7 drive, and boot using the secondary XP drive which I hardly used as a boot drive after the RAID array crumbled. It has a fully bootable XP OS on it. It needs some updating TLC, but otherwise it works. Wanting to stay with Win 7 from now on, anything I do with the XP drives will be strictly for experimentation.

I like the way you are using a "controlled" experiment, to solve my problem.

 

[apairofpcs]

http://www.storageforum.net/forum/s...eezes-when-using-either-Win-XP-or-Win-7-OSs#9

In other words, borrow a power supply (and ideally a graphics card and maybe even a network card) off someone, and try swapping them. You also have the drives to be going on with.

These are all candidates for causing the symptoms you described. We just gave you probability estimates to help speed up the process. Unfortunately, software tests are not very helpful in your case, and swapping out subsystems is the main way to identify the problem.

My dilemma is that I don't know anybody who has these spare parts in the arsenal. Anything I do from now on will have to be out of pocket with the added risk that it will not help. I'm OK with this, though. But I still want to proceed with baby steps, until only one component is left standing. I hope you can accept this.

 

[time]

Once I get a handle on MY freezing pc, I would be happy to assist you in stopping YOUR freezing.

I was trying to show you that the symptom is not that uncommon, and that we practise what we preach. It's the second oldest of my 9 PCs, so not exactly a high priority. I'll be upgrading the motherboard and CPU rather than wasting time and money completing the diagnosis down to the last component.

 

[Handruin]

My dilemma is that I don't know anybody who has these spare parts in the arsenal. Anything I do from now on will have to be out of pocket with the added risk that it will not help. I'm OK with this, though. But I still want to proceed with baby steps, until only one component is left standing. I hope you can accept this.

Use BestBuy as your friend and when done borrowing their components, return them. First inquire about their return policy in your area to make sure you will not be hit with restocking fees.

 

[apairofpcs]

I was trying to show you that the symptom is not that uncommon, and that we practice what we preach. It's the second oldest of my 9 PCs, so not exactly a high priority. I'll be upgrading the motherboard and CPU rather than wasting time and money completing the diagnosis down to the last component.

It makes me feel less isolated, knowing that freezing pcs are here to stay. The reason I don't order a new CPU, MB, PSU and RAM, video card and network card, which would be the easiest way to get around a misbehaving pc, is that I have the system that JTR1962 and another guy built for me, barely 3 years. It disturbs me knowing that the parts were handpicked by people who have built pcs before, and in order to keep up with the trends in technology I cannot just replace one faulty part. It's more a matter of principle than economics, for me.

So when the time comes for me to want a better system, which is not now, I will get everything new, just like I did in Apr. 2009. This was my first hand built pc, and all my future ones will be the same.

 

[apairofpcs]

Use BestBuy as your friend and when done borrowing their components, return them. First inquire about their return policy in your area to make sure you will not be hit with restocking fees.

My, my, what a suggestion! I won't end up in Heaven doing what you say. But I won't get any more freezes. This is a more immediate need for me! There is a BestBuy 1 1/2 miles from me, and that is where I bought my Toshiba laptop.

 

[jtr1962]

Another suggestion here-try removing the TV card as time suggested earlier and see if you still get freezes. If not, that's your problem right there. Even if the software isn't installed for it in Win7, the card might still be interacting with your system in ways which make it unstable.

 

[MaxBurn]

Do you not rely on this computer for work or personal? If it is a second or third machine in the home/office I can see putting up with it being down but if this machine had any importance I would simply move my future upgrade plans ahead whatever they might be.

As a matter or "principle" how much you feel your time is worth is pretty important, if you want to undersell yourself and spend a bunch of hours on it go ahead but it doesn't sound like you are getting anything out of it. I can't imagine you are having fun and myself in your shoes when I had problems it certainly wasn't. Mostly in the past when I have fixed something it wasn't elation and triumph I felt it was more of a relief that was over. At skilled labor rates if you added it up you might already have passed half or more of the upgrade cost so really how little is your time worth?

Lastly many of us here don't view SSD as a "luxury item" any more. After getting adequate system memory it is the single biggest difference in speed you can get in an upgrade. Not even a CPU bump trumps these two things. I am sure if you haven't used a more recent computer that if you moved up to even an i5 with 8GB of memory and an SSD you would be floored and not think that was money wasted at all.

 

[apairofpcs]

Another suggestion here-try removing the TV card as time suggested earlier, and see if you still get freezes. If not, that's your problem right there. Even if the software isn't installed for it in Win7, the card might still be interacting with your system in ways which make it unstable.

I can do this, since I only started using the Samsung drive after the XP drive started getting freezes. It doesn't have the tuner card software installed, which means that I am not that enthusiastic about watching TV on my desktop.

It's listed in Device Manager, with the message "this device is working properly." It states there is a device driver installed. It shows the memory address it's occupying. There is no installed software, though. Is this a Plug and Play situation, where the brilliant OS detects and readies the hardware for action?

I'm waiting for my first freeze, after disabling the 2 WD drives in my case. I will take no other action before this! I want to know which action ended my ordeal.

 

[apairofpcs]

I feel it necessary to inform all of you of an incident that happened about 2 years ago, concerning the inside of my desktop case. I was tired of seeing microdust accumulate on every surface of my components, so I used a can of compressed air to blow the dust away. My big mistake was to do so while the pc was ON. I know that I aimed at the CPF fan, the exhaust fans, the two RAM cards and many areas of the MB. I also aimed at the side of the tuner and video cards facing me. Since I can wipe the dust from the 3 hard drives with a cloth, they didn't get blasted. At the time, it seemed like the right thing to do, and it would have been if the air in the can was just air and not air driven by a super-cooled propellant. I should have known better, based on the temperature differential of a warm/hot component and a super cooled blast of air. Other than that I was acting like a fool, can you see any correlation between this heinous act and my current problem? The incident was so long ago that in my mind, this act would have lead to an immediate problem, not one that started 2 months ago.

 

[apairofpcs]

Do you not rely on this computer for work or personal? If it is a second or third machine in the home/office, I can see putting up with it being down. But if this machine had any importance, I would simply move my future upgrade plans ahead, whatever they might be.

As a matter or "principle", how much you feel your time is worth is pretty important. If you want to undersell yourself and spend a bunch of hours on it, go ahead. But it doesn't sound like you are getting anything out of it. I can't imagine you are having fun, and myself in your shoes when I had problems it certainly wasn't. Mostly in the past when I have fixed something, it wasn't elation and triumph I felt it was more of a relief that it was over. At skilled labor rates, if you added it up you might already have passed half or more of the upgrade cost, so really how little is your time worth?

Lastly, many of us here don't view SSD as a "luxury item" any more. After getting adequate system memory, it is the single biggest difference in speed you can get in an upgrade. Not even a CPU bump trumps these two things. I am sure if you haven't used a more recent computer that if you moved up to even an i5 with 8GB of memory and an SSD you would be floored and not think that was money wasted at all.

Not used for work, since I am a retired AutoCAD drafter. But rather hobby interests. I bought a laptop 2 1/2 years ago as a backup pc, in case the desktop died. I assure you that as stubborn I am, if the desktop was part of my profession, then I would have built an entirely new one STAT. I admit that the frustration level is increasing and the excitement level is decreasing as my attempts prove fruitless. It's getting old faster than it did in the last 2 months, during which I was sure I would find the cause. Here I am, with a bunch or pc based professionals, and the problem is still here. Mind you, it's no worse than when it started, but annoying nonetheless.

I had no future upgrade plans, hopefully for many more years. My Dell Dimension 4100 system lasted 8 years. Even if the freezes stopped right now, I would want to upgrade in a year or 2. I don't like falling too far behind the latest technology. I am not a power user, something that ages pc parts quickly. To be honest, anything pc related is timeless for me because I enjoy pcs. I know that it's hard to understand a life where the clock is not observed when a person is having fun. This is MY life.

Good salesmanship on an upgrade, including an SSD. It's an exciting prospect. Everything is doable, just not now.

 

[apairofpcs]

Per my post #75 above, you know that I disconnected my two XP drives and disabled the TV tuner card from within Device Manager. The Win 7 drive was working alone without a freeze for many hours, when I got the idea that I should reconnect the XP drives for the sole purpose of doing a major copy of my sensitive data from the two drives to the Win 7 drive. I am planning on keeping the Win 7 drive as my boot drive, if it proves to be without fault. Before I reconnected the drives, I shut down, took a soft bristle brush and brushed inside each SATA data cable and power cable. I also brushed across the contacts on the sockets of the two drives. I rebooted. Everything was working as before. I did the data copying without a hitch....or a freeze. The three drives were purring along. Rather than disconnect the drives again, I left them connected just to see if my removal and return of the connections to the drives would have any impact on the freezes. From 2PM yesterday afternoon until 3AM this morning, I didn't have a freeze. The 3AM freeze was preceded by an action I took, that may have brought it about.

In my CMOS setup, there is a feature where I can enable or disable the speed control of the case fans that have a cable connecting them to the MB. The default setting is disabled. I enabled it and chose the Turbo speed for maximum cooling. I rebooted. Shortly after this, I had a basic freeze, meaning that the hard drives and fans DID NOT spin down and the CMOS settings WERE NOT lost. I restarted with the case button and disabled the fan speed control feature in CMOS setup.

Going back in time with the fan control issue, probably a year after the pc was built I was messing with a few ASUS MB provided installed programs that tweak the RPMs of the fans in the case. At the times I did this, I was unable to complete the next restart, with a halt to the process showing a momentary white on blue screen flashing a hardware failure message and many strange error codes. I had to grab the screen with the Pause key on the keyboard to see this. My pc was inoperable, even after several restarts and shut downs. Once I made a change to the fan controls feature in setup, which I can't remember, the pc booted to desktop as usual. Being a risk taker, I once again messed with the ASUS programs months later, with the same result and the same solution. Anything I did with the ASUS programs was by the book, and there was no warning about repercussions as a result of choosing any setting. Naturally, I'm thinking the fan control must be disabled in CMOS, based on the above scenarios, and the pc will misbehave if it is enabled. As of now, there hasn't been a freeze.

Hey, for all those believing that my MB is failing, above is a tease. You should also consider how the CMOS setting has allowed me some peace and quiet. Can I get some feedback on the contents of this post and that of post #75? It's been a ghost town around here since my last post, yesterday at 11:11AM....

 

[time]

We've been waiting for your results.

Exactly how many case fans do you have running off that motherboard connector? Are they big or small, slow or fast?

Also, you promised: "I'm waiting for my first freeze, after disabling the 2 WD drives in my case. I will take no other action before this!" :nono:

Cleaning your PC 2 years ago doesn't sound like it's related to the problem that started 3 months ago. And in any case, I doubt that the <40C temperature difference would crack anything except maybe thin wine glasses.

The warning messages you saw in the past may have been low-speed alerts triggered by your changing of the fan speeds. Or it could simply be buggy Asus software thinking it's talking to a different type of PWM controller etc etc etc.

 

[Bozo]

Try flashing the BIOS. Even if it is up to date, a refresh might solve your problem.