[Bershka]

Hi,

I need to fix my old computer, it has been broken for about a year now, just didnt have time to look into it. Its an old AMD 1.6ghz processor with 512mb ram. When it hasnt been used for a while it boots up just perfectly and runs smoothly for about 30minutes or so ( its always a random amount of time ) and then crashes, blue screen of death. After that it wont even boot up anymore for some time. So my idea was that it gets overheated but after i ran some tests it shows the gpu was at 50 degrees C when it crashed, so overheating shouldnt be the problem. Aint so good with this so my question is what hardware could most likely cause this problem and how to test it without another desktop pc? Oh and yes im pretty sure its hardware problem since it runs on fresh formated windows xp. My ideas are that the HDD is somewhat broken since sometimes when I try to boot it after it crashed ( blue screen of death ) it manages to get into the win xp loading screen then freezes again, reboots and an error "A disk read error occurred", quite obvious acctually but maybe it can be caused by something else also and how can I test it?
Thanks in advance.

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How good are you with computer? I'm only asking because you could rule out the hardware side (well all except the hard drive)of it in one foul swoop by downloading a Linux (ubuntu or linux mint) livecd and booting up to that. Run it for about 40 or so minutes and see if it crashes if it does its the hardware. If it doesn't its windows or the hard drive thats at fault.

By mounting the hard drive you can test it in linux plus pull any of you data off it if its not at fault.

[asmo]

How good are you with computer? I'm only asking because you could rule out the hardware side (well all except the hard drive)of it in one foul swoop by downloading a Linux (ubuntu or linux mint) livecd and booting up to that. Run it for about 40 or so minutes and see if it crashes if it does its the hardware. If it doesn't its windows or the hard drive thats at fault.

By mounting the hard drive you can test it in linux plus pull any of you data off it if its not at fault.

[rshaffer61]

Run hard drive diagnostics: http://www.tacktech....ay.cfm?ttid=287
Make sure, you select tool, which is appropriate for the brand of your hard drive.
Depending on the program, it'll create bootable floppy, or bootable CD.
If downloaded file is of .iso type, use ImgBurn: http://www.imgburn.com/ to burn .iso file to a CD (select "Write image file to disc" option), and make the CD bootable.

NOTE. If your hard drive is made by Toshiba, unfortunately, you're out of luck, because Toshiba doesn't provide any diagnostic tool.

Thanks to Broni for the instructions

[happyrock]

after testing the hard drive as rshaffer61 instructed

Bad computer memory is one of the three main reasons for random system failures.. the other two are heat (usually caused by fans or heatsinks being blocked with dust) or power issues...
first...unplug case from the wall...open it up and clean out all the dust bunnies...be sure to clean the cpu heatsink fins up real good.....guide is here..

then lets make sure its not your memory going bad...get memtest + here....
the lowdown is here..

if you have a floppy drive you can get the 6th one down ...set the bios to boot from the floppy drive A:

first...then the cd drive then the Hard drive C:
or you can get the 2nd one down and burn the ISO file to a cd and then boot it from the cd drive...

if you don't have a burning program that will burn .ISO files go here and get burncdcc ..a small FAST no frills iso burning program...

NOTE...do not put a blank cd in until burncdcc opens the tray for you
1. click on BurnCDCC.exe
2. Browse to the ISO file you want to burn on cd/dvd ....in this case its memtest86.iso
3. Select the ISO file
4. click on Start

make sure in the bios the cd drive is the first boot device....put the cd in the cd drive..boot your computer....
let memtest run for at least 2 hours...if it starts showing any errors during that time then you will have to replace the RAM...no errors after 2 hours just press Esc to end the tests and we will try some other tests

go here and get everest home...install and launch it...click the + by computer...click on sensor...get a screenshot and post it so we can check your temps and voltages...

Edited by happyrock, 25 February 2010 - 09:06 AM.

[Bershka]

Thanks all for great replys, I will try ubuntu first and see how it responds since I only need the computer for minor things. If that wont help will try other suggestions, im sure i can figure this out now If not ill let yall know. Thanks

[asmo]

Just for interest Memtest is included on both Ubuntu and Linux Mint LiveCDs as a boot option. For hard disk diagnostics you'll need to install something like smartmontools.

[artm12]

Hello Friend,
It would be better if you discuss with tech support people according to your computer hardware problem. I am sure tech support people will guide you properly for solve your computer problems.

Thanks,
James

[123Runner]

To James
We are working with the OP to determine if it is hardware or software.

Bershka
Continue with what was suggested and get back to us with what you find.

123runner

[Bershka]

After trying to install ubuntu and several disk errors it was obvious that the problem was the hdd. Thank you all for useful replys. Finally fixed

[123Runner]

I guess that you tried to install Ubuntu to the hard drive and it failed.

What you did to fix the problem could help others?
Can you share with us what that was?

123runner

[Bershka]

Yes while trying to install ubuntu the partitioning failed. So I dug out my old old old computer from the attic and got its harddrive and then installed ubuntu on the other harddrive and voila easy as that.