Help With My Comp Please

[lb7and8]

hi there im pretty crap with the technical side of comps so im hoping someone here will be able to help..

my comp seems to be fine one minute then next it switches stright off and restarts itself backup.. i was searching the internet and seen someone was told to take the sidesoff the cover i have done and its still happening.. alot of the time it happens when i try to open a program like photoshop or dreamweaver..

has anyone got an ideas and/or solutions to my problem please id be most grateful....

cheers in advance

 

[scooter6139]

we need more specs from your computer to help you out.

the solutions you are trying is for a an overheated system when you want to cool it down. try cleaning off the mobo and getting all the dust and crap that has collected in the pc. (a can of air will do the trick, plus a vacuum!)

after that, try blowing a fan drectly into the case, see if that stabalized your system. remember, these options will only work if overheating is your pc's issue.

are all the componenet driver new and updated?

 

[lb7and8]

as i saidb4 im ****e with tech stuff hope this helps

1.70GHz and 248MB RAM if ye need anything else let me know mate and sorry to be so fukin thick but wats a mobo

 

[lb7and8]

mother board

 

[lalaji]

Since this is happening when you open programs like Photoshop or Dreamweaver im thinking its an OS issue. Im hoping you are running either Win2k or WinXP to make this diagnosis a bit more solid. What I think is happening is that something is causing a BSOD (Blue screen of death) and these two OS's are by default set to just restart when that happens. Try turning off the feature and see what happens (what the BSOD says) and post the info. Heres how to turn off the feature if you decide to go this route...

Win2k: Right click on My Computer and select Properties. Click on the Advanced tab and then click the Startup and Recovery Button. In the System Failure section, uncheck the box for Automatically Reboot. Hit ok and restart.

WinXP: Right click on My Computer and select Properties. Click on the Advanced tab and then in the Startup and Recovery section click on Settings. In the System Failure section, uncheck the box for Automatically Reboot. Hit ok and restart.

Hope this helps!

 

[lb7and8]

ok mate cheers ive unchecked the box as im running on windaes xp ill just go now and restart.. i will post back here when the BSOD comes up and ill tell you wat it says..

cheers for your help m8 its appreciated so much

 

[lb7and8]

b4 i go just a question...

how serious is the problems when u get a BSOD as it sounds rather nasty

 

[Mystic]

can you restate your problem b/c it sounds like something similar to a problem I recently had.

 

[lb7and8]

can you restate your problem b/c it sounds like something similar to a problem I recently had.

well one minute the pc is running fine without a problem and then it randomly runs slow and switches off and restarts itself back up... most of the time however not all the time its when im using a program such as photoshop or dreamweaver and alot of the time b4 i have time to save my work

did u sort ur problem and how did u solv it?

 

[zellyman]

Sounds like bad ram, do a google search for memtest86, and follow the instructions for putitng it on a CD and running it. ESPECIALLY since it happens when you run memory intesive progs like photoshop or DW. I had a similar problem with some new ram i bought for my Dell. See how far the Ram test goes with that program i told you about, It should not freeze for more than a few seconds, and if it does, you found your problem. Try going into your bios (but hitting either F1 or Delete while the computer boots) and find an option that says somethign about Memory frequency(you may have to consult your manual). try setting it 333 and see if that helps. It solved my probalem right away.

--Jers

 

[lalaji]

The Ram diagnosis sounds good. As zelly said run memtest and see what happens. Also if you get any BSODs along the way write down what caused it and let us know.

 

[lb7and8]

lalaji the unticking the auto-restart thing didnt work.. still has done it..

on the README.txt also on the memtest86 it says "installation (linux only) even tho i choosed the windows version.. ill make an attempt at makin it.. and post back when i have more

 

[zellyman]

There should be an .iso file that you download. The documentation was never made for windows, thats why it says linux only. download that .iso and burn the image to a cd using a Nero or somethign like that. Just drag and drop XP burning wont work.

 

[zellyman]

here is the file you need.

 

[lalaji]

Did it show a blue screen or did it still just shut down and then back on as if you had hit the reset button? Let me know and post about what happens with memtest. That should shed some more light on the subject.

 

[ChineseTechie]

It sounds more like a RAM problem to me too. But when RAM is used up, it will switch to Virtual Memory and when VM is low, it will have a balloon saying that your VM is low and ask you to close some programs. Does it not??

cT

 

[zellyman]

Virtual memory is used all the time, not just when the RAM is used up (unless you have usememoryconservative = 1 or whatever that command is in the ini) And while that bubble does indeed do that, its very unrealiable, as its suppoed to pop up when your EXTREMLY low on VM, and it needs VM to even process the graphic to make the bubble pop up (Nice one MS) And if he's running games when it happens, it may very well be there without him knowing, as it doesnt take focus away from a full screen program.


But all this is not the point, seeing as the problem would be BAD ram, or RAM set to go too fast in the BIOS, not the amout of RAM. run that test, then change those memory frequencies and post the result and we'll go from there.

 

[lb7and8]

rite got that memtest it came up on a blue screen talkin bout doin tests or something but basically i didnt have a clue WTF it meant.. ANYWAY in the bar the other day a man i was talking to said that takin the cover off and using a fan to blow air in would soon tell me if it was over heating or not.. so doin this after failing to understand the memtest thing (yes anno thick as pig ****e) anyway the fan blowing air i has seemed to have helped so far.. however iv been advised to buy a cheap fan or else i will "fry my motherboard"

so do u think my fans arent working??
clogged with dust and dirt?
or do i jus need to buy an extra fan in which case will any fan fit and would it be easily installed??