Summary:
My computer crashes whenever I stream Flash video content. The system freezes, a sound like it’s about to blue screen then I have to reboot using the power button in order to continue using my PC. Been running Far Cry 3 with no issues, so I don’t think it’s my graphics card. I’ve recently updated my BIOS and installed SP1 for the first time. Any help/inspiration will be greatly appreciated!
I’m having a relatively weird issue with my computer which started a few days ago. I built the system from scratch almost 18 months ago, and everything has been working perfectly fine since then. Three days ago I decided to install a few drivers/utilities for my motherboard, but the BIOS was out of date. I updated the BIOS, and decided to perform a clean installation of Windows, using my (new) Windows 7 x64 Home Premium disk with SP1 included. I can’t remember if I was using SP1 before, I don’t think I was.
Since then, every time I’m streaming flash content for any length of time my system locks up, it sounds like a blue screen of death is about to happen (looping sound), then the system just freezes. The lopping sound disappears after a few seconds, the fans continue to run like everything was normal but I am unable to use the mouse or keyboard in any shape or form (e.g. Ctrl + Alt + Delete). I have to hold down the power/restart button and force a reboot in order to use my computer again.
I’d like to think I’m relatively good at problem solving, but this is a fairly complex issue by the looks of it as I’ve done quite a bit to diagnose the problem and I’m unable to find the cause. The issue isn't very easy to replicate, and doesn’t happen under the same conditions every time. For example, I was watching a Twitch.tv stream for 45 minutes before my system crashed, but the same thing happened after watching a YouTube video for only 15 seconds. I’ve been playing Far Cry 3 on high settings non-stop over the past few days with absolutely no issues; in fact I’m playing it right now. I haven’t had one error in the entire 30 or so hours I’ve been playing it.
What I’ve done so far:
• Reformatted hard drive, installed a fresh copy of Windows 7 x65 w/ SP1.
• Installed/uninstalled sound card drivers.
• Installed/uninstalled graphics card drivers.
• Downgraded graphics card driver to a previous version.
• Tried using a number of different browsers.
• PRIME95 Blend for about 2 hours, no errors.
• Use an older version of Flash.
• Restore the BIOS to a previous version.
What I’m going to do:
• Stream Flash content using my motherboards on-board graphics card.
• Install a non-SP1 version of Windows 7 x64.
• Run Prime95 for a few more hours, maybe overnight.
• Run Memtest86+ if you guys think it’s RAM related.
• Furmark, in the unlikely event Far Cry 3 wasn’t a good enough stress test.
• CheckDisk
(I’ll update this as I go)
I don’t have access to an alternative PSU, so I can’t test whether or not that’s faulty.
My Thoughts:
My gut is telling me that my hardware is fine; I’m just running all these tests to make sure. I’ve ran Far Cry 3 on high settings for the past few days with no issues, and my system seems to be working perfectly fine when I’m not running any Flash content. I thought after reformatting my hard drive the problems would disappear, but there’s definitely wrong.
I’m not sure whether it’s SP1, the BIOS, a faulty component, or a conflict between Flash and my hardware/driver configuration. I’m going to try fiddling around with all possible combinations to try and fix some issues; I guess I was just hoping someone out there may have experienced the same issue and might be able to save me some time, or point me in the right direction.
My computer crashes whenever I stream Flash video content. The system freezes, a sound like it’s about to blue screen then I have to reboot using the power button in order to continue using my PC. Been running Far Cry 3 with no issues, so I don’t think it’s my graphics card. I’ve recently updated my BIOS and installed SP1 for the first time. Any help/inspiration will be greatly appreciated!
I’m having a relatively weird issue with my computer which started a few days ago. I built the system from scratch almost 18 months ago, and everything has been working perfectly fine since then. Three days ago I decided to install a few drivers/utilities for my motherboard, but the BIOS was out of date. I updated the BIOS, and decided to perform a clean installation of Windows, using my (new) Windows 7 x64 Home Premium disk with SP1 included. I can’t remember if I was using SP1 before, I don’t think I was.
Since then, every time I’m streaming flash content for any length of time my system locks up, it sounds like a blue screen of death is about to happen (looping sound), then the system just freezes. The lopping sound disappears after a few seconds, the fans continue to run like everything was normal but I am unable to use the mouse or keyboard in any shape or form (e.g. Ctrl + Alt + Delete). I have to hold down the power/restart button and force a reboot in order to use my computer again.
I’d like to think I’m relatively good at problem solving, but this is a fairly complex issue by the looks of it as I’ve done quite a bit to diagnose the problem and I’m unable to find the cause. The issue isn't very easy to replicate, and doesn’t happen under the same conditions every time. For example, I was watching a Twitch.tv stream for 45 minutes before my system crashed, but the same thing happened after watching a YouTube video for only 15 seconds. I’ve been playing Far Cry 3 on high settings non-stop over the past few days with absolutely no issues; in fact I’m playing it right now. I haven’t had one error in the entire 30 or so hours I’ve been playing it.
What I’ve done so far:
• Reformatted hard drive, installed a fresh copy of Windows 7 x65 w/ SP1.
• Installed/uninstalled sound card drivers.
• Installed/uninstalled graphics card drivers.
• Downgraded graphics card driver to a previous version.
• Tried using a number of different browsers.
• PRIME95 Blend for about 2 hours, no errors.
• Use an older version of Flash.
• Restore the BIOS to a previous version.
What I’m going to do:
• Stream Flash content using my motherboards on-board graphics card.
• Install a non-SP1 version of Windows 7 x64.
• Run Prime95 for a few more hours, maybe overnight.
• Run Memtest86+ if you guys think it’s RAM related.
• Furmark, in the unlikely event Far Cry 3 wasn’t a good enough stress test.
• CheckDisk
(I’ll update this as I go)
I don’t have access to an alternative PSU, so I can’t test whether or not that’s faulty.
My Thoughts:
My gut is telling me that my hardware is fine; I’m just running all these tests to make sure. I’ve ran Far Cry 3 on high settings for the past few days with no issues, and my system seems to be working perfectly fine when I’m not running any Flash content. I thought after reformatting my hard drive the problems would disappear, but there’s definitely wrong.
I’m not sure whether it’s SP1, the BIOS, a faulty component, or a conflict between Flash and my hardware/driver configuration. I’m going to try fiddling around with all possible combinations to try and fix some issues; I guess I was just hoping someone out there may have experienced the same issue and might be able to save me some time, or point me in the right direction.
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