Need help please in identifying possible hardware issue.

face256

face256

face256

Associate
Joined
28 Sep 2008
Posts
18
Hey guys i have a problem with my pc constantly freezing and then going to blue screen. it can happen even though im not doing anything with nothing open. I seem to have about 20-30 mins before it freezes, before which everything is functioning normally with no errors or anything.
when it does happen every element on screen is frozen except for the mouse pointer which is the only thing i have control over. I cant even do ctrl+alt+del. I dont think its software issue since i did a clean reinstallation of windows but the problem remained.

It may be related to an issue i have had ever since i built the pc where the monitor wouldnt turn back on after i did a restart - i had to always shutdown and turn on. also when windows turns the screen off after being idle it very occasionally wouldnt come back on. in these cases i would have to turn power off and on from mains. This was a minor inconvenience so i just lived with it. but this prob happened (I THINK) after i had to switch power off from mains while in windows when screen wouldnt come on after powersaving turned it off.

I really dont know how to proceed from here in identifying and fixing the problem. I think it might be a hardware part thats become damaged but how do i find which one?

spec is:
windows 7 home premium 64 bit
Corsair Vengeance Blue 8GB (2x4GB) DDR3 PC3-12800C9 1600MHz Dual Channel Kit
Intel Core i5-2500K 3.30GHz (Sandybridge) Socket LGA1155 Processor - OEM
MSI GeForce GTX 560Ti OC Twin FrozR II 2048MB GDDR5 PCI-Express Graphics Card
Crucial RealSSD M4 128GB
MSI Z68A-GD55-G3 Intel Z68 (Socket 1155) DDR3 Motherboard
also have a normal 1TB hardisk attached for storage

thanks!
 
The Windows Kernel is clearly still running, but the User mode has crashed in some way (you've probably still got lights flashing for the network at back of PC showing activity). It could be any number of things, but at stock settings the usual suspect would be memory ime.

Download memtest86+ and make a bootable CD. Run for a couple of passes.
Download Prime95 to verify overall stability. Run for a couple of hours.
 
Hi thanks for the replies!

My MOBO has an overclock button that automatically OC's the CPU. I have had that on since i first built it last December. Anyway i have turned that off now. I dunno what a kennel is but yea i think when it crashes the lights n stuff are still on.

I will try those programs now
 
the kernnel is effectively the central process of the operating system, not something most people need to worry them selves with tbh.
 
I would be inclined to say that it is an operating system issue. My PC did that after a windows update once.
 
ok i tried both of those programs. I left the mem check thing on overnight, it had 10 passes and 0 errors when i came to it in the morning. Funnily enough, the problem i mentioned with the screen not comming back on after a restart seems to have gone - no idea why/how.

after that i tried the prime95 program, it was running a torture test for about 10mins and then i decided to open the task manager which then stopped responding and i could tell it was about to crash. Though before it did an error message came up about the task manager saying some jargon which mentioned memory a few times and something about I/O, i couldnt write it down in time because it went to blue screen after appearing.

I tried to recreate the error by opening taskmanager again during the test but it wouldnt crash this time, i even tried opening a gazillion windows and programs while the test was running but it was ok. After about an hour and half later it crashed(at this point it had successfully completed a 1024k, 8k and 10k tests - whatever those are).

I'm pretty sure the crashes are independent of the stress test. I really dont get this :S

also acme15 I thought it might be the OS originally but i have completely reinstalled it from scratch
 
Last edited:
is the SSD the problem??

Ok i think it might be the ssd. Now that my screen stays on after the blue screen restart (again dunno why it works now) ive noticed that it goes to a screen in the bios asking me to choose a boot device or insert a boot device and press any key. I think this screen may have been coming up everytime its been crashing and restarting - ive just never noticed it with my monitor off.
I then went into bios setup screen thingy (f2) and noticed my ssd was not there amongst the boot options. I then just switched the pc on and off from mains and it booted up as normal on the ssd.

Could this be the problem? is the ssd randomly failing in windows causing it to crash?

UPDATE:aha!!!! i think it is the ssd. Just found this from crucial forums about firmware 0009 which is what mine is using:

a condition where an incorrect response to a SMART counter will cause the m4 drive to become unresponsive after 5184 hours of Power-on time. The drive will recover after a power cycle, however, this failure will repeat once per hour after reaching this point.

this sounds a lot like what is happening to me. I downloaded a program called ssdlife pro and it says my work time has been 5272 hours so i think this fits. Ive never installed new firmware but im gunna try it, hopefully it will work
 
Last edited:
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top Bottom