New
#1
System hangs "randomly", locks out CTRL+ALT+DEL
Hey guys. I've done a ton of Google searching and troubleshooting on this, to no avail. At first I thought it was Flash (using Firefox), but have since had problems outside of Firefox, using basic things like Windows Explorer, Google Chrome, whatever.
The computer hangs, programs become unresponsive, sometimes gray out. If I wait 10-30 seconds, it comes back and is fine. This happens probably once every 10-20 minutes.
Here are my specs (via CPUz):
CPU: Intel Core 2 Duo E6600 2.4GHz 32-bit
Mobo: Gigabyte P35-DS3L Rev. A2
BIOS: Award Software International, Inc. Ver. F9 Date 6/19/2009
Memory before upgrading: Kingston 2GB (2 x 1GB) Hyper DDR2 KHX6400D2LLK2/2GN
Memory after upgrading: G.SKILL 4GB (2 x 2GB) 240-Pin DDR2 SDRAM DDR2 800 (PC2 6400) Dual Channel Kit Desktop Memory Model F2-6400CL5D-4GBPQ
GPU: Radeon X1950 Pro Rev. 9A 512 MB
I've done all the virus/adware/defragging/Windows upgrading. I was reading about the BIOS updates on my mobo, and noticed one mentioned fixing PS2 keyboard support. I was using a PS2 keyboard, so I swapped to a USB keyboard and was still getting the hangs. I flashed the BIOS anyway, to see if the newest version helped, which it hasn't.
I then thought it might be the memory, and I could use the upgrade to 4GB anyway, so I bought the G.Skill memory which was highly recommended on NewEgg. It's not on my motherboard compatible memory list, but I thought I'd take the risk since it has a ton of great reviews. Put the new memory in, and it hasn't helped the hangs.
It doesn't seem to be a software thing, since it happens in different software, and I tend to take pretty good care of my computers and don't get a ton of viruses or spyware. My other thought is that it's the motherboard, but I want to see if it's something else before buying a new mobo.
I can run whatever scans that helps people identify problems, just have to show me where and give me some directions. Any help on this is very much appreciated.
Edit: I ran MemTest86 with no errors on the first set of RAM, too. Also, if this should be in the "Crashes and Debugging" forum, feel free to move it there, sorry about that; new to these forums.
Last edited by bccarlso; 06 May 2010 at 21:07.