Computer Locking Up?

Buchanan0204 · 31 May 2011 at 23:12

Hi have a computer here that just locks up randomly. When I say locked up... it literally freezes everything, the cursor freezes, it doesn't respond to key presses etc. All you can do is hold in the power button.

I have checked for shorts and can't find anything at all. I've also tried a fresh install of windows to no avail.

There's no error messages... nothing!

Anyone got any suggestions, other than replacing hardware components one by one to single them out.

N.B. Passed memtest

Pohly · 31 May 2011 at 23:17

i had the same problem turn out to be the powersupply have you got another powersupply that you can test it with?

honosuseri · 31 May 2011 at 23:18

Only locking up in the OS is it?

Could you try booting linux off a cd/dvd? I would probably run my spinrite software to check the HDD for errors.

Not sure what else you can do other than the standard component swap troubleshooting hell

Buchanan0204 · 31 May 2011 at 23:20

Pohly said:
i had the same problem turn out to be the powersupply have you got another powersupply that you can test it with?

I thought about that. However, I thought surely it would either cut the power or show some other signs. It doesn't power down... just stays on the desktop.

I was thinking it could be some sort of hard drive stuttering issue. Going to check the HD for errors with seatools.

So yours was definitely the same symptoms and it was the psu? I'll stick another one in. This is where that overpriced antec PSU tester may come in handy

Buchanan0204 · 31 May 2011 at 23:21

honosuseri said:
Only locking up in the OS is it?

Could you try booting linux off a cd/dvd? I would probably run my spinrite software to check the HDD for errors.

Not sure what else you can do other than the standard component swap troubleshooting hell

hell haha... it isn't half. It appears to be just the OS at the moment. I'll try ubuntu just now. Don't know why I never thought of that, that's usually my idea

. Cheers.

honosuseri · 31 May 2011 at 23:23

Oh I just remembered. I had a laptop in the other week doing the same. The keyboard and mouse cursor locked as soon as th OS booted. It was fine if booted in safe mode though. With the battery removed it resolved the issue, i let the client have it back and said they could buy a battery if they felt it necessary.

Now i know you dont have a laptop but it could point towards a power issue. Still delving into troubleshooting hell though! Hope you find out the cause sooner rather than later

Pohly · 31 May 2011 at 23:27

Buchanan0204 said:
I thought about that. However, I thought surely it would either cut the power or show some other signs. It doesn't power down... just stays on the desktop.

I was thinking it could be some sort of hard drive stuttering issue. Going to check the HD for errors with seatools.

So yours was definitely the same symptoms and it was the psu? I'll stick another one in. This is where that overpriced antec PSU tester may come in handy

yeah althought mine only did it underload ie burning a dvd or playing games (however saying that it did happen once or twice at just idle) the screen would just freeze and had no response so i swapped it out for an xfx 850w and it works fine now and has done for over 1 month (touchwood)

Buchanan0204 · 31 May 2011 at 23:32

Pohly said:
yeah althought mine only did it underload ie burning a dvd or playing games (however saying that it did happen once or twice at just idle) the screen would just freeze and had no response so i swapped it out for an xfx 850w and it works fine now and has done for over 1 month (touchwood)

Cheers... worth a shot. I'm now running ubuntu 11.4 off a flash drive. I'll see if it locks up in this. Anyone know any good disk testing tools for linux? I don't know how in depth the disk janitor utility is in linux.

honosuseri · 31 May 2011 at 23:34

Sorry fella, I'm not a bigger lover of penguins

Like I said I use the Spinrite software which has never failed me. I can honestly recommend it

Buchanan0204 · 31 May 2011 at 23:40

honosuseri said:
Sorry fella, I'm not a bigger lover of penguins Like I said I use the Spinrite software which has never failed me. I can honestly recommend it

Cheers for that. It doesn't look like an HDD problem. It reports back fine in Linux disk management which is also pretty accurate and good at spotting failing drives.

Green ticks at all the checkpoints. It's looking more and more like the PSU now. Strange.

honosuseri · 31 May 2011 at 23:43

Like I said that laptop certainly was power related. Maybe pull the molex plugs from the DVD and remove any unnecessary components to take the load of the psu.....unless u have a spare one to test in it's place.

I do feel for you mate......welcome to my world/living hell