Win XP has a mind of its own?

[DJShocker]

I am reallllly confused, nervous, and actually kinda scared because either my computer has a mind of it's own, or I'm losing my mind?!?! I know how evil Microsoft is...but this is getting ridiculous! HAHA anyways....


I have a Dell Dimension 4600 upgraded it about 3 months ago when I acquired this PC
upgraded it to 1GB of RAM and a 150GB SATA HD. Everything else is regular...nothing fancy cause I use this for broadcasting. everything was going OK until...my computer reboots, and/or randomly freezes up until I hold the power button in. Every now and then i get MACHINE_CHECK_FAIL and/or MACHINE_CHECK_EXCEPTION can't remember...
I know this is hardware related...but here's the catch.....I have tested each stick of RAM, even disabled the onboard/integrated video card and tried one in the PCI slot. Still does it.

What is weird is (not sure if this means ANYTHING) is that when i play sound/music using any media player it reboots. Im thinking it might be the integrated sound card (SoundMax). Which I've tried updating the drivers, but the dell website doesn't really have any. Tomorrow, I am going to try and get another sound card and disable the integrated one and running on the other.

If anyone has ANY suggestions before I spend high money on replacing the entire motherboard, please share. :-\ this computer is vital to my radio station!

Thanks!

 

[raybay]

Sounds as if the memory was damaged or defective.
The Dim 4600 is normally a pretty stable machine.
Go to Start->Control Panel->System->Hardware->Device Manager and look for yellow, red, or black flags by any of the devices. If so, replace the drivers from the Dell Website for that Service Tag, or replace the hard ware item.
First I would download and run (if it will run) Memtest or Memtest86, and run it four four hours or seven passes, whichever is longer. That will confirm or rule out a memory problem.
Then sometimes it is always good to reinstall Windows XP from scratch using your Dell Recovery /Restore disk.

 

[ultragrey]

Well, It's time to get out of XP hazards fast. I switched to win 7. By the way, vista was the worst possible OS I have ever seen.

 

[DJShocker]

I've tested the RAM as I have said, no problems found. Also, all drivers have been checked for updates. there's no hardware that's malfunctioning, or with yellow marks.

I love Windows XP. I dunno why. I'm afraid to even try Windows 7. I have tried Windows Vista, i did like it, and didn't have the problems most people had with Vista.

But, I just need this desktop up and running.

 

[superty12]

RAM

1 GB of RAM!? Get it up to at least 2 gigs and report back.

 

[DJShocker]

ummm this thread is kinda old?
Sorry, but...yeah why did you dig this up?

And while I'm at it, ultragrey i did get a brand new system. A Sony Vaio All-In-One PC with Windows 7 Ultimate and LOVE IT!!!

 

[superty12]

And while I'm at it, ultragrey i did get a brand new system. A Sony Vaio All-In-One PC with Windows 7 Ultimate and LOVE IT!!!

Well, that's one solution.