Computer starting to lock up

Goose

Goose

Goose

Soldato
Joined
18 Oct 2002
Posts
4,773
Location
Kent
I went out to the cinema last night and left the PC on as I always do. When i came home and tried to use the computer it locked up as soon as i clicked on something. I could still move the cursor but do nothing else including ctrl+alt+del leaving me with no choice but power off the computer by holding the power button down.

After rebooting i played Far Cry 3 for about 30 minutes before it too froze. After pressing ctrl+alt+del it almost reached the screen where i can have opened task manager but instead it said 'checking security devices' (or something along those lines) and went no further so again i had to fold the power button in order to shut the computer off.

Today after browsing the web a little I went for lunch again leaving the PC on. When i came back i could not wake up the monitor (it goes on standby after 10 mins or so) no matter what i did again meaning i had power off the PC.

I'm looking for any help in troubleshooting this problem as I've no idea if its the CPU, RAM, GFX card, Mobo, SSD etc. thats the problem or how to go about finding out which one's the culprit.

Thanks
 
Sounds pretty weird indeed.

Sounds like a power issue maybe...?

1. Possibly try to swap out the PSU and check for the same symptoms?

2. Next would be to keep a close eye on the CPU temperatures, and whether there is a high reading when it freezes up. Check the seating of the heat sink on the CPU.

3. Try all the obvious stuff like Malware scans, spyware scans and clean the registry with CCleaner.

Your PC will be the cleanest thing in the history of man :eek:
 
I'm pretty sure its not malware as i'm pretty good at keeping things tidy with CCleaner, Spypot etc.

CPU temps did come to mind as things have been running a bit hotter since i swapped from case from a CM 690 II to to a Corsair 550D. That was several months ago though so it'd be kinda funny to start now. Plus the PC was idle for two of the three times it locked up.

Unfortunately i dont have another PSU to test against.
 
Could you get it to stay on for long enough to get some CPU and GPU temperature readings, it sounds like it could be overheating problems
 
Update.

Removed panels from case and fitted an extra exhaust fan. Played Far Cry 3 for about an hour and the temps seemed to be ok (CPU barely went above 50, ditto GPU) the game then started to 'judder', both frame rate and sound went funny. I tried to exit to desktop and it locked up and ctrl+alt+del just made the screen go black.

So far thats 4 lock ups since last night, two when the computer had been idle for some time and two playing far cry 3.

I'm no expert but it sounds like its not overheating to me.
 
I'm running prime95 now and all fans are spinning and running at 100%. Its only been going for 10 minutes and CPU is at 57c.

Is it ok to do other stuff while Prime is running? This is my only computer so leaving it alone for hours and hours is extremely inconvenient.
 
I have to say i'm getting really worried now.

After about 40 minutes of running Prime and temps not getting above 57c is sort of locked up again.

I was browsing these forums and listing to some music via winamp and after clicking on a link on the forums Firefox locked up and everything else followed.

Oddly though my music kept on playing without any problems and i could still move the mouse cursor but ctrl+alt+del did nothing.

I put this system together myself and have never had any problems so im absolutely clueless about what to do.
 
To me it sounds like one of a few problems.

1 - If your i5 is overclocked then put it all back to stock speeds and test again. An Overclock that's stable initially doesn't always stay stable unless the components are absolutely solid.

2 - Faulty RAM, take a stick out and retry then swap the stick around if it happens and retry again.

3 - You may have unstable drivers installed, most commonly it's sound or gfx drivers but it's also keeping motherboard chipset drivers up to date so a trip to the mobo's download page may be in order.

4 - Software causing problems, what Antivirus do you use? I don't think it's PSU related but it's always worth considering too!
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top Bottom