Crashing/Freezing HP Pavilion

Agent Arr said:

I'll drop some further information in a post in a little while - I noticed in one of your other posts you said to identify any changes since you'd been experiencing problems....

Click to expand...

I brought the computer to work with me today, so I'll crank it up now to see what can be done with the events log. Meanwhile here are some other thoughts which may or may not be helpful:

Although the error message that I have already recorded has been the most regular error message, I have received at least two other messages. Unfortunately I didn't have the opportunity to write them down. One was very similar to the one already described (blue screen, very similar message, but instead of referring to a process or thread unexpectedly exiting or being terminated, it read "Kernel_Data_Inpage_Error".)

On another occasion I was presented with a black screen, which was saying something about "Ethernet". (Unfortunately by the time I rushed for a pen and paper the messages had gone.)

If I leave the computer to do its own thing, it boots up again then freezes again very shortly after returning to the desktop. The error message comes up, then it re-boots and goes through the same cycle. I end up having to manually shut it down.

For a few days I just left it switched off overnight, then it would work the next day, at least for a few hours. By Sunday I couldn’t even get it to boot up properly, so I'm not sure whether it'll work this time...

Perhaps the error message and system stats might be enough to be able to tell what is wrong and what to do to fix it (if it can even be fixed now) but I wouldn’t know how to tell if software was installed properly, and I’m hesitant to start experimentally deleting newly installed programs or messing around with BIOS settings until I’ve had a second opinion! I’d consider myself fairly computer savvy for an amateur, but at the end of the day I am still an amateur...

I have had Panda Antivirus installed since purchase, and have installed Xsoft recently in the hopes that it may have been spyware or something.

The last thing I might mention is a power-supply problem I had a month or two ago. The power supply just died one day. I bought a replacement (they didn’t have the exact part though the numbers [current voltage and power] seemed fine.) It ran fine for some weeks until the shop ordered in the “proper” part. I had my first problem just a few weeks after using the “proper” Hp/Compaq part. I’m not sure whether this is a red herring though....

Oh boy. The computer is really refusing to boot up. When I switch the machine on, it displays the usual creen (black screen with HP logo in the centre) which swiftly disappears. It then sounds like something is spinning up (perhaps the DVD drive? Or an internal cooling fan??) and then it seems to give up. No noise, nothing on screen (though the power switch stays lit up).

So I press CTRL-ALT-DEL briefly, and the creen comes back very briefly before disappearing again. Eventually I managed to press F10 or something while the screen was up, and it took me to the "PhoenixBIOS Setup Utility".

I'm not sure what to do from here, but at least it's responding. I ran both the Short and Long HDD self-tests. The result was a Pass for both. Which I guess is good news?

There should the option for default set-up or even something like safe setting. Try that for starters.

There is an option under "Exit" to "load setup defaults". I select the option, press enter, a window appears saying "Setup Confirmation - Save configuration changes and exit now?" I select "yes", and we go through the old routine again. (Black screen with HP logo appears v. briefly, then the screen goes blank again.) Nothing further happens unless I CTRL-ALT-DEL then I have to hit F10 when the HP logo screen is up, which takes me straight back to the BIOS again.

hi like u i also have an hp pavillion also purchased in july 2004 , i have the pavillion t550 uk intel p4 but my problem is slightly different from yours.
it all started about a week ago , i would turn the computer on and id be able to work on it for a couple of minutes sometimes half an hour would pass with no problems and then the computer completely freezes up and wont respond to anything so i have to manually turn it off.
Then when i turn it back on the screen is black and reads pc entering power saving mode and the monitor turns off.
ive checked all the connections inside and i have reset the 512mb memory module in the second slot then i turned it back on it works for about half hour then freezes again.
im not sure what the problem is as the TFT monitor has started flickering on and off and then it just goes off completely. im not sure what the problem is but i think it may be the graphics card.
any advice appreciated many thanks

Well I guess that serves us right purchasing the big brand name! It seems there are a few of us out there with similar pavilion strife - though I have absolutely no idea whether the problems are connected.

My problems have gotten no better. I finally figured out a way of getting it to boot up though, which was good because I've started to back up my data, and I checked the event log which showed about a half dozen different errors cropping up on a regular basis. It took me so long to make a record of them I just couldn't even motivate myself to post them!

Anyway, here are the recurring ones. (I hope SNGX1275, or Iron Duke or someone out there with expertise is still paying attention!)

System errors: (In order of how recently they've cropped up, but the most numerous are the "W32Time" errors by far. The most recent AND most numerous have been the "DCOM" and "System Errors")

Source: "DCOM" Category: "None" Event: "10010" User: "Rich" (that's me...)

Source: "System Error" Category: "(102)" Event: "1003" User:"N/A"

Source: "atapi" Category: "None" Event: "9" User: "N/A"

Source: "Service Control Manager" Category: "None" Event: "7031" User: "N/A"

Source: "W32Time" Category: "None" Event: "29" User: "N/A"

Source: "W32Time" Category: "None" Event: "17" User "N/A"

System warnings:

Source: "USER32" Category: "None" Event: "1073" User: "SYSTEM"

Source: "Dhcp" Category: "None" Event: "1007" User: "N/A"

Does this mean anything to anyone?

Anyway, so I booted it up once, then since I was going home via a bar I decided to switch off the machine anyway rather than let it crash of its own accord. Then when I got home I switched it on again and I received a SMART harddrive failure warning. You know how normally these error messages are all cryptic? Not this one! So I fiddled about backing up photos and documents for a while, and whilst rooting around trying to find where my Outlook emails and contacts were all hidden the damn thing crashed again.

So I reckon my problem may well be a hardware problem, but it might at the same time also be some form of virus or something embedded on the computer which Panda and Xoft are missing. Basically it looks pretty screwed, and although its within the warranty, because I live in the Bahamas I have to take it back to the states to get it done under warranty. (Assuming HP don't try to to wiggle out of the warranty....)

I can get it fixed here, but it'll cost me plenty. (As I say, I've already spent $125 on a new power pack...)

Can anyone suggest what might be wrong, what I can do to fix it? Pointers to other useful websites would also be appreciated.... :dead:

Hello Agent Arr,

I have the same issue currently and would like to know if you did fixed the problem if yes what was the solution.
Thanks

I managed to fix the problem after comet ( the shop i purchased the pc from)
completely refused to repair it.

I replaced the motherboard and graphics card at great expense to myself.
the motherboard i have used is an Asrock pvm8 and it has worked fine ever since i put it in over a year ago.

I think this is a hard drive related issue.

Experiencing Similar Problems

Hi,

I too have an HP Pavillion and am seeing the same problem. I have to admit I left it for a month due to a busy schedule and used computers at work or my laptop. But this one is my fav computer and it has quickly (for a reason I cannot discern) gone from bad to worse. Initially, I was at least capable of accessing the Task Manager and thus able to copy some files I needed. Most of my data is backed up save for my Favourites, some emails (though I did copy some of the dbx folders - I still use Outlook Express, sighhhhh - I do know better and have no good excuse as to why I still use it) and the so called "free" program - BodyWorks I think it was - and I thought (silly me) that I had time to copy these files before I formatted the drive. Big mistake since now I can no longer access Tak Manager either. I try typing F8 and select the Safe Mode only to continally find myself at the Blue Screen of Death with a small Windows XP loho toward to center right.

I tried to access it with a Windows XP CD and that failed - with the thought the Recovery Console coiuld help me move those wanted files. Alas, no success there. I am wondering about Bart's PE program. Anyone tried that???? (It was not an HP CD - the computer did not come with one tho I did dl the "floppies" from MS' site and have one for my laptop, a Dell so I don't know it that is the reason for my failure in booting. I placed the CD in the CD ROM drive after booting up but I arrived back at the same place. Is there something I am not doing correctly?

I hate to use F9 or F10 (why does HP have to be so unique - a rhetorical question at this point)????

Anyone have any ideas or have any success in fixing their own problems.

Thanks and I am sorry you guys are going thru this too. It really is frustrating!!!! Good luck with your computer!!!

Hi Okoudy,

Sorry I meant to reply to your post earlier but had to get a new password - it had been that long since I put that post up!

The problem was hardrive related - thankfully I was just within the warranty period so I sent it off to get fixed. Trouble was I live in the Bahamas and HP wouldn't accept a FEDEX from here. I had to send it to a friend in the US, and HP sent couriers to collect it from her. Ok, a gamble that the repair may not cost as much as the shipping, but I was glad I took the chance when it was returned with a new harddrive. That was until a dirty great hurricance landed on New Orleans where my friend lived, and my laptop got held up for months while she tried to get her life straight.

I called the HP helpline before I sent the machine off and they were quite helpful in identifying the problem, and if you live in the US you should therefore be fine if you are still under warranty. If not, you can probably source a harddrive in the US using the internet for perhaps one or two hundred dollars.

I wish I could help more with diagnosis.

Best of luck.