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TheBigCheese

TheBigCheese

TheBigCheese

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Joined
6 Sep 2005
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Hi guys

I've got a very strange Vista issue that I could do with some advice on.

Since yesterday afternoon the machine has suddenly started hanging, doesn't matter what I'm doing, whether it's loading Firefox, browsing the web, checking email, using Open Office...all of a sudden the PC hangs, there is a continual sound from whatever music I am listening to and the power is lost to the USB keyboard and mouse.

The only thing that's changed since yesterday is that a Windows update installed itself.

I tried rolling back to before the update was installed but it said it failed. So I booted into safe mode and rolled back to three days ago which was successful...but the problem is still there.

I haven't added anything new in terms of hardware and I have physically checked all the connections to make sure nothing is loose.

The specs are:

Intel C2D 6600
Asus PK5C motherboard
8GB RAM
Several HDDs
Nvidia 7300GT graphics card (it's a work machine).
Vista 64 Ultimate

I can't figure out what could be causing the behaviour as it isn't consistant with anything I'm doing...sometimes it's a few minutes after a reboot, sometimes over an hour, the programs running can vary though there has been nothing that's put it under strain.

I'm totally flummoxed on this one and would welcome any suggestions on causes or ways of diagnosing it further.


Many thanks :)
 
Actual power is lost to the Keyboard and Mouse?
That would suggest a hardware issue of some sort I would imagine.
 
Thanks for the posts. Yep the lights go out on the keyboard and mouse (G15 & G5 respectively)...don't know how USB devices work though, whether they are powered over USB automatically or whether they require the software to 'give' them power.

I'm not sure what the update was, auto updates are on, it just said in system restore that Windows did an update yesterday.

I've rolled back three days now though so that shouldn't be an issue I don't think. Where abouts are the logs?

Bit of an update, I've just tried uninstalling Kaspersky (on the off chance it could be something to do with that) and updating to the new version...the uninstall program stops responding as it's validating the uninstallation...doesn't get as far as removing it and it can't be removed in safe mode...I'm not having much luck over here! :(
 
Does everything hang in safe mode?
Could try running memtest but not sure if it's a memory problem.
 
Doesn't seem to hang in safe mode but then it's hard to tell as it can be going for a while without any issue and safe mode is such a pain to use lol.

I can give it a while in safe mode if you think it's worth a try.

Hmmm...every time it boots into Windows now it says that Kaspersky has stopped working...wonder if that could be anything to do with it...shame I can't uninstall the damn thing!

Hmmm (again)...I had to get on the internet a second ago (I've had it unplugged since the Kaspersky issues), as soon as I plugged the ethernet in it locks up and loses power to the keyboard and mouse...I don't know what, if any, significance this has, just reporting the errors as I find them.

Another thing I've noticed....when the machine locks and I have to reboot on POST it gives me the error message "overclocking failed" "Press F1...something about making changes in the BIOS", "Press F2 to load default values".

Now it doesn't usually say that if for any reason it's crashed before...don't know if that's important *shrugs*.
 
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Well if you are getting errors in the BIOS then I would suggest that is definitely a hardware issue since the windows software wouldn't have even started by then.

Run memtest and see if it throws up any errors.
 
id guess something to do with Nvidia card/drivers... in some way.

Must have been ninjaly changed some how.
 
Thanks for the posts guys...it's not exactly a BIOS error in itself, I think it's to do with the Asus cool and quiet feature as that's enabled in the BIOS.

If I leave everything at default it's still giving me issues with Windows booting...I think probably the only option is a scorched earth policy...I am madly backing everything up from C now.

Hmmm...is the Windows repair feature any good in Vista or is it better to just format, reinstall and be done with it?

If the repair is a viable option does it keep all your programs installed and ready to use again when the repair is completed as that's a huge pain having to sort those out again.
 
What PSU are you running and are you overclocking? If you are then try at stock and see if the problems go away.
 
I've been able to remove Kaspersky 2009 successfully and was in the process of doing updates for Kaspersky 2010 when it hung again...this makes me think that it's probably not the anti virus at fault.

I'm looking at running Memtest but I'm not sure what I should be running, there seems to be several versions, and a .com and .org address.

Ideally I'd like to run it off a pen drive...can anyone point me to the right thing I should be downloading for checking 8GB of Corsair DDR2 please.

Thanks :)
 
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