PC Freezes and makes Buzzing Noise when Running Programs

writhziden said:

sjc1138 said:

I think I sort of have an answer. I've been using my computer in my conservatory completely fine now for a week without problems. I think it must have been overheating.

Thank you for posting back with the cause. What steps did you take to prevent it from overheating?

I replaced the battery on my motherboard which seemed to make the fan run faster, so maybe a low battery.

writhziden said:

sjc1138 said:

I replaced the battery on my motherboard which seemed to make the fan run faster, so maybe a low battery.

The battery on your motherboard does not affect the fan speed directly. Removing it and replacing it may have cleared the CMOS (see How To Clear CMOS (Reset BIOS)) to fix any BIOS related issues. BIOS issues can cause thermal management to be less than optimal leading to overheating components.

Did you touch anything else while you were inside the system? Dust can also cause overheating.

It wasn't dust, I regularly clean my PC.

It just did it again... back to square 1

writhziden said:

Did you determine what the cause was? How is your PSU?

PSU was fine, I'm quite sure it's overheating that's causing this. It's fine now as long as I don't use it for more than 3/4 hours at a time. Just as well, I've been playing a lot of games where I've been really hoping for it to stay alive when I forget to save!

Edit: Just read a similar thread below called "Complete freezes and loud buzzing noise? no idea how to fix" where they suggested the sound might be an issue. I keep hearing the odd buzz every so often. (In fact it just did that). This doesn't happen often, although would you suggest I try unplugging my speakers like it suggests in that thread? I usually wear headphones anyway. Thanks for all of your help!

writhziden said:

You could try unplugging the speakers. You could also try disabling the sound for your graphics card. That sometimes fixes audio issues.

I haven't done anything since I posted yesterday, but it has bluescreened 3 times since I turned it on today. Once in MS Word, once on the logon screen and once on a web browser. It wasn't bluescreening before, just making that noise, but because it has bluescreened, I was able to get the error message 'Driver IRQL not less or equal'. I have seen this on other forums and do not want to do anything that could potentially damage Windows without being sure it will work.
Also, if it makes any difference, I don't have a separate sound card.