PC Keeps crashing.

[jaxter]

Ok so my pc is crashing loads lately on random occasions.
Ive formatted,virus scanned,spyware scanned etc.. When it crashes sometime the starter sound will just be constantly going "BEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEP" im starting to think that maybe my hard-drive's die'ing, ive had it for like 4 years , what do you think?

Cheers
Jack:toast:

[TamiyaCowboy]

hi jack.

first of we have too take away the basic cleaning of your computer. have you ever cleaned the computer from dust and other gunk that builds up. this can cause the rig too heat up beyond its safe point and cause a automatic shutdown. what programs do you have running when the crashes happen. have you installed any new software, sometimes software could be the problem.

my first sugestion would be too check computer is clean inside, remove dust gathered upon the computers cpu heatsink and a general tidy up internaly. also check the computers log this could give an indication of what is causing the shutdown too be forced in.

[jaxter]

Well ive gotta pretty good case with good fans etc, its not dusty at all to be honest, but ill clean it up and let you know if im still having problems

[Darv]

Sounds like it could be overheating. What are you're system specs and are you overclocking? Also when does it crash, playing games etc?

[Pug]

Could be a number of things.
I've just had my main rig doing the same lately and though I'm still testing it, I may have narrowed it down to a rogue stick of KingMax HardCore.

Best thing to do is start with the basics - strip down to essentials; m/b, CPU, RAM, PSU & GPU. Connect an optical or FDD and give it 24hrs of memtest and/or prime.

Hopefully, the problem will manifest itself here, otherwise you can move on to testing other components from there on in.


Before you get that drastic though, does Event Viewer show anything untoward?

[jaxter]

Sounds like it could be overheating. What are you're system specs and are you overclocking? Also when does it crash, playing games etc?

Well its all clean and not dusty at the moment. And yes, its mainly crashing during games.
Specs are : P4- 2.4ghz
1gb of corsair ram
windows xp. sp2 etc
Using a thermaltake soprano case, which is suppose to keep it nice and cool.

[Da_Rude_Baboon]

When it crashes sometime the starter sound will just be constantly going "BEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEP"

Your mother baord manual should tell you what the beep error codes mean. If its a constant tone, it normally does that when the CPU or RAM is not detected. I would reseat your RAM and give the socket a blast with a can of compressed air or some care full use of the hoover to make sure its clear. I would also suggest running Memtest86 to see if it picks up any errors.

[TamiyaCowboy]

Your mother baord manual should tell you what the beep error codes mean. If its a constant tone, it normally does that when the CPU or RAM is not detected. I would reseat your RAM and give the socket a blast with a can of compressed air or some care full use of the hoover to make sure its clear. I would also suggest running Memtest86 to see if it picks up any errors.

too follow on from DRB.

if you could find the make of your board and model number it could help everyone one with diagnostic help. some board have different beeps for problems.

what new hardware have you installed lately if any. by any chance the game is not BF2 ?. i have heard a few people getting probelms with the bf2 game not running and causing computers too shut down unexpected.

[Fibbles]

Your mother baord manual should tell you what the beep error codes mean. If its a constant tone, it normally does that when the CPU or RAM is not detected.

My 754 Soltek NF3 had a series of long *BEEP*'s when it couldn't detect my memory. Kinda depends on what board it is too, like TC said.

[jaxter]

too follow on from DRB.

if you could find the make of your board and model number it could help everyone one with diagnostic help. some board have different beeps for problems.

what new hardware have you installed lately if any. by any chance the game is not BF2 ?. i have heard a few people getting probelms with the bf2 game not running and causing computers too shut down unexpected.

My motherboard is - msi 651 962l
And no its playing Counter-Strike :thumb:

Ive given things a good clean, ill let peeps know if problems continue

[CandyKid]

Guys, the long beep where it doesn't detect memory, etc, is during POST. He's crashing out of a game and getting that noise which may well be the overheat warning and/or just a driver loop in the sound card due to the crash.

Check out the event viewer, then run Memtest86+ (www.memtest.org) overnight and see what happens.

PLUR
CK

[Da_Rude_Baboon]

When it crashes sometime the starter sound will just be constantly going "BEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEP"

'Starter sound' made me asume he meant at startup after a crash. :shrug:

[CandyKid]

I was thinking about it a bit more and I'm glad you did say that... the PC speaker only goes BEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEP when the command is issued by the BIOS... I don't think Win XP every messes with it or even tries to...

So it's got to be some trigger from the BIOS, as you were thinking... though all I can guess is heat...

PLUR
CK

[jaxter]

I was thinking about it a bit more and I'm glad you did say that... the PC speaker only goes BEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEP when the command is issued by the BIOS... I don't think Win XP every messes with it or even tries to...

So it's got to be some trigger from the BIOS, as you were thinking... though all I can guess is heat...

PLUR
CK

Its not the heat.
Ive done tests on sis sandra, my CPU is ranging between 36-39d And the board is at 35-37d.
Still crashing after cleaning up etc, ill go check some online motherboard manuals.

[MTJAPF]

This sounds like a problem I had recently and mine was a bad memory stick. To diagnose the problem I used MemTest86, as previously suggested and then used Prime95. RMAd the stick and got new ones in less than a week from Corsair.

[Greeny]

Proceed with the Memtest first, if the memory checks out please try using Prime95 to test the CPU from within windows under full load condition. Could possibly loop 3dmark over the top of the Prime test as well if you wan't to maximise heat and wattage.

Memtest 86:
http://www.memtest86.com/

Memtest86+ (use for AMD64):
http://www.memtest.org/

Prime95:
http://www.mersenne.org/

3dmark:
http://www.futuremark.com

12 hours of Memtest and 12 hours of Prime95 with no errors should be enough to assume stability.

I agree with the theory that the alarm is overheat warning.

[jaxter]

Ahhhh it was my RAM after all
took my 'new' RAM out and tryed my old stick. PC works fine
Ill get in touch with corsair and see if they'll sort me out a new stick
thanks for all help.