Computer locks up

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LakeyDaKidd

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Hey guys I have this computer that seems to lock up every night. This is the computer that I use at work. So anyway the computer works fine through out the day while I'm using it. But I leave my computer on eveynight cause I have a backup thats scheduled to run m-f at 9pm. So when I come back to work in the morning my computer is always froze and I would have to do a hard boot. I already tried swapping ram. Wait I left something out, before I swapped the ram the computer starts but I was not getting any picture on my monitor and that was why I swapped ram. Then after I swapped ram the picture was working again but this time I'm having the lock up problem. Any ideas on what I could do from this point?

Here are my specs:
Motherboard: Asus P5K3 Deluxe Rev.1.xx
CPU: Core2 Duo 3.0
Video card:Nvidia GeForce 8600 GT
Hard drive: 40gb with 3 gb left of free space
OS: XP sp3
Anti-virus: CA antivirus version 9.0.0.190
 
Asus boards are very well known for being very picky about the RAM installed. Does the memory you have installed recommended by ASUS for your particular motherboard model?

*** Also, you might want to consider freeing up some space on your harddrive or getting a much bigger harddrive.
 
I just checked the memory QVL (qaulified vendors list) for my motherboard and discovered that the brand of the ram that I used is not even on the list. Come to think about it I never even heard of any of the brands on that list except for nanya. I am currently using OCZ ddr3. Another thing, yesterday I tried a little experiment and increased the page file size from 2048 to 3069 just to see if it would stop the lock up and so far this morning I came into work and the computer was fine. But I'm gonna let it run like this for a few days and see what happens. But about the ram, you think using a non recommended brand of ram would cause the computer to crash even if the ram is perfectly fine?
 
If you have more than one RAM card, ensure that they are of the same brand and same speed, i.e, you said you are using OCZ DDR3, DDR3 has three speeds, 800/1066/1333 Mhz. For example, if you have one 1066Mhz, make sure all of them are 1066Mhz. Use Memtest to diagnose RAM or if you have Vista, use the built-in memory diagnosis but I prefer memtest.

It might be your power supply as well!!! What PSU do you have?

You might also consider changing Malware Protection.

I recommend:

Antivirus: AVG Free or NOD32 Internet Security

Spyware: Spybot S&D and Malwarebytes Antimalware

Firewall: If you are using AVG Free, Use Windows Firewall ( I am serious)

And Like Route44 said, free u space, its useful.

P.S Dont use Spybot's Teatimer, its resource consuming in some cases.
 
OCZ is a major memory maker. I use it myself. I would be suprised that Asus doesn't recommend it for your board unless it is particular about which OCZ models are acceptable. As for being picky, again, Asus is notorious for this and I've read of this happening quite often.

It seems your increase of the page file did the trick.

I agree a lot with what Jawshh has posted. First, memtest is many people's preference though it isn't 100% perfect in that bad RAM has been known to pass on occassion Still, it is free and quite safe.

I would check the BIOS and see if the memory voltage is set correctly as per manufacturer's specs.

Second, there are better security options avaliable and believe it or not some of the best are free. I am a proponent of the layered method, as are many but certainly not all, whereby your security measures are a combination of different vendors. Here are a few:

$ Antivirus - NOD32 and Kaspersky

Free Antivirus - Avira Antivir and Avast (also have $ versions). Seriously, they are very good.

Free Firewalls - Comodo and Online Armor with HIPS (Online Armor also has a $ version).

Antimalware/Antispyware - Malwarebytes (is free for only the first 30 days but is an excellent product) and SuperAntiSpyware ( both free and $ versions).

My Main Rig - NOD32, Online Armor, SAS and all are the $ versions

Second PC - Avast (updates twice daily), Online Armor, and SAS (all are the free versions; SAS needs to be updated manually).

* All of the above give resident protection and none are resource hogs.

* All have very active communities.

* Where I strongly disagree with Jawshh is the Windows XP firewall. It is very poor.
 
Many people think the Built-in Windows Firewall is ineffective. But by personal experience, I think it is a good firewall.

It doesnt allow external intruders to access your system, as long as you do not open lots of ports or have a lot of exceptions. Thus, your lan is protected if you don't have NAT firewall on your router/modem. It allows what it feels is necessary outgoing traffic and asks the user whether to block or allow connection attempts. It is the least troublesome to use which is perfect for online gamers and the average home user.

But anyways if you do a lot of p2p or file sharing, i said a lot, then you could use third party firewalls, the comodo and ZoneAlarm are the top notch.
 
IF your computer is in a work environment, then there should be an IT responsible for software changes.

I am at a loss where the recommendation for malware changes came from. I don't see any logs. But if by chance you DO decide to make any changes, wait until the system is stable and consider the recommendations of Route44.

As for AVG being recommended, sorry, most of us stopped using or recommending AVG when it went to v8. And as for using the Windows Firewall, don't bother. It only listens at incoming ports. The third party firewalls are bi-directional. Should malware get into your system and try to call home, a bi-directional firewall would stop it- the Windows firewall would not.
 
You might also check if you have power-saving of any sort that kicks in after a considerable period of time. Even a screen saver can have this effect if it is a non-standard thing. Look at control panel - power options. Disable power-saving on everything (especially HDD) and restore items one by one until you find the cause.

If increasing the page size affects a cure - well, I would be surprised. Mismatched memory is quite likely - as per Jawshh
 
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