2x Windows 7 32 bit systems crashing

Kurgen · 21 Jan 2019 at 16:34

My Dad has 2x PCs 1 i5 650 and 1 AM3 system not sure which CPU triple core i think. they run some legacy software which means i cant upgrade the OS; at some point they will have to face its new pc and software time. anyway... they both keep crashing, and need a full reset to get back up and running, they are patched up to date and both running Malwarebytes Premium. I recently replaced the network switch which was about 20 years old thinking that might help, if its some kind of packet loss. but still does the same thing. There are 2 other PCs in the office both on windows 10 and they are completely fine. Is there anyway to track down whats causing the crash. I dont want to rebuild the windows 7 OS as its a pain in the bum to get their legacy software running again

mattyfez · 21 Jan 2019 at 18:26

What's the nature of the crashes?
Do they just crash when apparently idle or under certain loads?
Do you get BSOD? Any code?
Check taskmanager for any processes causing 100% usage
Monitor temperatures?

Kurgen · 21 Jan 2019 at 20:05

computer freezes then cant do anything and have to reboot, not idle but no particular task, no BSOD ,cant get task manager up at the time. I will see if can get the temps

ED209 · 21 Jan 2019 at 20:10

I would also check event viewer to see if there is any further information on the crashes.

When did the issue start? Maybe check windows update and see if any updates where installed around the time of this starting.

mattyfez · 21 Jan 2019 at 20:15

Specs of the PC's?
It could be 100% disk usage by an app that's locking things up..

Had an issue with disk thrashing with my Nana's PC, Windows update was using up all the disk bandwidth. (spin drive) . Low ram and short 'uptimes' meant it could never quite complete so it became a vicious cycle.

CuriousTomCat · 21 Jan 2019 at 21:49

First you need to rule out a hardware issue.

Check the fans are all working and free of dust.
Do a hardware test - First try and get hold of Eurosoft PC Check. Failing that, test the memory using Memtest86+ and test the hard drive using SeaTools for DOS.

If the hardware is good, it's probably a software issue. What happens when it crashes? Do you get a blue screen? If so, you need to examine the BSOD dump files. Do this using WhoCrashed or BlueScreenView. If the computers are just restarting without a blue screen, check that it's not set to restart during a crash.

Or are they literally just freezing without a blue screen?
Does the issue happen in safemode?

Let me know how you get on and we'll go from there