My computer likes to die

AxeBlind · Posted: Fri Jan 02, 2009 2:45 am Post subject: My computer likes to die

Ok so before Christmas I got a nasty RAM virus and had to take the computer in. It kept shutting down every 15 minutes and gave the the whole blue screen until it finally just died. This was fixed as everything was wiped.

But now just weeks later it is randomly shutting down again(though sometimes it just freezes and I have to reboot it). It always boots right back up without me doing anything extra. Funny thing is that I have not downloaded anything in the past week except for bfp stuff. I have Norton running and it finds nothing. The Windows firewall is up. I have this program called drivesentry for spyware and it finds nothing or freezes midscan, they kind of alternate. It has to be a virus/spyware because I get popups here and there despite the firewall. Norton won't let me enable its protection, but as I said the scan finds nothing.

I am running Windows XP by the way.

Can anyone offer advice? I'm debating getting another PC as mine is ancient, but I am a bit short on cash so I want to fix this one if possible.

As I said I downloaded nothing but bfp stuff during the week before this happened. My other downloads came well before my problems.

Thanks in advance for advice if any comes.
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Wang Chung · Posted: Fri Jan 02, 2009 2:59 am Post subject:

Lemme just clarify, what the fuck is a RAM virus?

Sounds like shit has really hit the fan. I am swamped with PC work ATM, but I will try to get in touch with you on xfire or what not to work out some more details.

In the mean time, google this program: SpeedFan

Install that and monitor your temps for now.
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Messy Recipe · Posted: Fri Jan 02, 2009 3:22 am Post subject:

Usually if it shuts itself down and restarts it's actually bluescreening. XP has it set to auto-restart when something causes a BSOD by default. Go to System Properties (right click on My Computer and select Properties), go to Advanced tab, and open the Startup and Recovery settings. If "Automatically restart" is checked under "System Failure," uncheck it and save. Then if it bluescreens, write down the error code and post it here.
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Atomiktoaster · Posted: Fri Jan 02, 2009 11:50 am Post subject:

My friend had pretty much the same symptoms with his older machine last spring. I DL'd speedfan and found the core temps were 60+ at idle. Inside the cpu heatsink was absolutely FILLED with dust, a half inch layer at least right under the fan and a lot of shit in the fins. It would start up fine, but as soon as you tried to do anything it would overheat and shut itself off to avoid melting. Cleaned it all out and it worked fine.

massive · Posted: Fri Jan 02, 2009 12:22 pm Post subject:

All good advice. I would check the dust first and clean it out and make sure the CPU fan is actually spinning fast.

Beyond that most likely culprits: BIOS set wrong, try the defaults settings in BIOS (hit me up if you don't know how), RAM may be bad or just need to be re-seated (unclip the DIMM(s) and pull out and re-insert them), or even power supply.
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AxeBlind · Posted: Fri Jan 02, 2009 1:15 pm Post subject:

[quote="Wang Chung"]Lemme just clarify, what the fuck is a RAM virus?
quote]

That's what the repair guy said it was, I couldn't understand him too well, he seemed fresh out of Africa and had a huge accent.

I'll try each of these in succession and see if they work. I did clean my fans out before I took it in last month, but I'll check them again, thanks guys.
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SupaFly · Posted: Sun Jan 04, 2009 3:18 am Post subject:

ive had random resets caused my a few things

could be shitty vid card drivers, nvidia has a couple recent ones my comp fucking hated

generally though, the culprit is a bad stick of ram

id try new drivers, and if that doesnt fix it, get yourself some new ram... the shits so cheap these days it really isnt even a biog deal... if the new ram does the trick, wipe your ass with the old one & flush it... wait, youre in texas... even better, shoot the shit (ive tanked both axe & gun to a computer before... i must say, its kinda cathartic)
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Brutus · Posted: Mon Jan 05, 2009 6:06 pm Post subject:

LOL "RAM virus". You cant have a virus live in RAM. It would die as soon as you lost power. OR, theoretically ALL viruses are RAM because they use it to run... Get a new tech. Very Happy

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