Timed regular computer crashes, nearly no changes made.


  1. Posts : 3
    Windows 7 Ultimate x64
       #1

    Timed regular computer crashes, nearly no changes made.


    Hello everyone,

    I've come here in a gasp for help, since i'm utterly scared of what may be happening to my computer. Enough talk, I'll talk you through the facts:

    Built computer, stable for over 2 years (specs at the end). Today, having arrived home tired, i went to play a few rounds in call of duty mw3. I do just that, playing with no problems for what i think was about 2 hours of gameplay (had firefox, mumble, mw3 opened). Then out of the blue, my monitor displays "no signal", as if the vga cord was unplugged, i stopped hearing all sound, and the computer continued running. So all the fans are working properly, the correct LED's are flashing, the temperature is no where near critical (the gfx card was the hottest at under 55C). No beeps, no warning signs, no logs, nothing at all.

    I am then forced to halt the computer by holding the power button. It does not work. Reset button neither. I can't do a thing at this point, except turn off the power supply. I do that, click the power button to release residual current. Turn on the power supply again, and turn on the computer. The computer turns on, no display, no sounds. I unplug it again. Open the case, reseat the RAM sticks, gfx card, unplug all except 1 hard disk, unplug all non esential peripherals. Turn on the pc, it works. I boot to windows normally, navigate to the event viewer, check the ID of a critical log i find, and it's EVENTID41 (guess it's standard and doesn't say much). At that time, the same crash happens. From then i cleaned some dust off the gfx card's contacts. Proceed to boot, and now the same crash happens while im in the BIOS, in the windows 7 boot logo, and in POST.

    I'm clueless as to what could be causing this. I highly appreciate any help i can get guys.

    Specs:
    Dual booting win7 ultimate x64 and x86.
    geforce xfx 8800gt
    gigabyte GA-MA790XT-UD4P
    amd phenom II x3 720 BE
    12 gb of ddr3 ram, 2x2gb + 2x4gb (all gskill)
    2 hard disks (IDE & SATAII)

    Keep in mind that this has been a stable build for a couple of years. Nothing is overclocked neither has been in the past.

    The ONLY change i made to the system in the last days was install the 295.83 nvidia driver, and a couple of msEXCEL addons.

    I'll be checking the thread regularly to supply with any information you guys may ask.

    Sorry for the large post.

    PS: Typing from a laptop.
    EDIT: It seems that the longer the pc stays off, the longer it prevails before crashing.
    Last edited by alexctwo; 10 Mar 2012 at 15:10. Reason: aditional info
      My Computer


  2. Posts : 28,845
    Win 8 Release candidate 8400
       #2

    If it is a 2+ year old HD, might be that. Run chkdsk to confirm

    A- CHKDSK /R /F:
    Run CHKDSK /R /F from an elevated (Run as administrator) Command Prompt.

    Do this for each hard drive on your system.

    When it tells you it can't do it right now - and asks you if you'd like to do it at the next reboot - answer Y (for Yes) and press Enter.

    Then reboot and let the test run.

    It may take a while for it to run, but keep an occasional eye on it to see if it generates any errors.

    See "CHKDSK LogFile" below in order to check the results of the test.

    B- Elevated Command Prompt:

    Go to Start and type in "cmd.exe" (without the quotes)

    At the top of the Search Box, right click on Cmd.exe and select "Run as administrator"

    C-CHKDSK LogFile:

    Go to Start and type in "eventvwr.msc" (without the quotes) and press Enter

    Expand the Windows logs heading, then select the Application log file entry.

    Double click on the Source column header.

    Scroll down the list until you find the Chkdsk entry (wininit for Win7) (winlogon for XP).

    Copy/paste the results into your next post.



    Disk Check
      My Computer


  3. Posts : 3
    Windows 7 Ultimate x64
    Thread Starter
       #3

    zigzag3143 said:
    If it is a 2+ year old HD, might be that. Run chkdsk to confirm

    A- CHKDSK /R /F:
    Run CHKDSK /R /F from an elevated (Run as administrator) Command Prompt.

    Do this for each hard drive on your system.

    When it tells you it can't do it right now - and asks you if you'd like to do it at the next reboot - answer Y (for Yes) and press Enter.

    Then reboot and let the test run.

    It may take a while for it to run, but keep an occasional eye on it to see if it generates any errors.

    See "CHKDSK LogFile" below in order to check the results of the test.

    B- Elevated Command Prompt:

    Go to Start and type in "cmd.exe" (without the quotes)

    At the top of the Search Box, right click on Cmd.exe and select "Run as administrator"

    C-CHKDSK LogFile:

    Go to Start and type in "eventvwr.msc" (without the quotes) and press Enter

    Expand the Windows logs heading, then select the Application log file entry.

    Double click on the Source column header.

    Scroll down the list until you find the Chkdsk entry (wininit for Win7) (winlogon for XP).

    Copy/paste the results into your next post.



    Disk Check
    Hello zigzag, and thanks for your reply.

    I've considered that, but i now cannot seem to get past the post screen before the crash happens. As such, i am unable to run chkdsk. I took the more brutal approach, disconnect completely both the hard drives and dvd drive. It didn't even give me the time to reach the BIOS, crashed as the Motherboard's logo was on the screen.

    Any other suggestions?
      My Computer


  4. Posts : 3
    Windows 7 Ultimate x64
    Thread Starter
       #4

    Does anybody know of any prejudicial effect resetting the CMOS may have on my computer if I decide to do it? I have never done that, and I'm clueless as to what side effects it might have, but some searches have led me to believe that it MIGHT help my problem.

    Anyone can pitch in on this matter? Or give any other suggestion, really. Thanks.
      My Computer


  5. Posts : 28,845
    Win 8 Release candidate 8400
       #5

    If it isnt under warranty try pulling all the ram but one stick

    CMOS battery doesnt usually cause any trouble and certainly might help especially if you have not replaced it in several years. Usually Failing cmos batteries will play havoc with the system clock.\

    As usual make sure you have a backup.
      My Computer


 

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