[Rusbel]

Hello,

I have been having an issue with my computer whereby it will crash semi-frequently, around 5% of the time, when I watch videos. It doesn't matter whether it is something I am running off the hard-drive or streaming online, it will crash just as often. This can be especially frustrating since a lot of websites will play video ads even when there is no video content on the page. The crashes always happen the moment the video loads, so this can be very frustrating when watching a playlist of videos as there is just as good of a chance of a crash with each video that plays. It will not crash by simply having a video on a webpage if it is not playing, but the moment I click play I am essentially rolling the dice.

Below is a picture of the screen I get when my computer crashes in this matter. This problem seemingly solved itself with time, but after reinstalling everything it has reared its ugly head once again. I thought maybe it was a driver issue or other update so I waited until I was able to get everything updated and smooth out all issues over time, but it has been 2 months and I am still having this problem. I can go into further detail about my experience with this issue, but the rest of the story gets kind of murky because I had a bad stick of RAM and a bad Ethernet driver which have been fixed, but those issues were causing an array of problems that make analysis of this situation difficult beyond what I am currently experiencing.

One last thing. Following a crash the computer will often have trouble starting up. It will make the normal noises you hear during start-up won't get to the bios beeps and simply shut down and try again. Yesterday I actually had to reset the bios to get it past this issue, but every other time it simply took a few tries and the computer would boot like normal.



This screen appears instantly and hangs for about 5 seconds and then the goes blank and the computer stalls there until I force a restart.

Thank You!

[Advertisements]

Hello Rusbel

Can you test your video card memory for us and let us know the results please http://www.technibbl...ry-stress-test/

[phillpower2]

Hello Rusbel

Can you test your video card memory for us and let us know the results please http://www.technibbl...ry-stress-test/

[Rusbel]

Here are the results of my first test. I will run a test overnight to be sure.



I forgot to mention that my computer also makes a dull clicking sound every once in a while. It doesn't seem to matter what I am doing and the sound kind of reminds me of the noise a floppy disk makes when its slider is opened except it is much more quiet and dull sounding. When this happens the computer hesitates for a second. It is a very solid lag with no movement and everything frees up and runs perfectly outside of that moments hesitation.

Also should I run the test with "ignore colors bit mark" off and/or "use onscreen buffer" on?

Edit: Here are the results from leaving it running overnight. I also ran it with the buffer on for a pass and found no errors.



I am going to run a hard drive test now

Edit #2: Ok I ran Seatools to test my system drive, I did a long test and a short test and it passed both tests but when I did the acoustic test I was able to identify that it is the source of the sound. I am not sure that the sound is linked to the crashing but it is definitely something that I need to address so when I get the time I will move the installation to another drive and remove this drive from the system. Ironically the only reason I have this drive in is because I suspected my SSD of causing problems, but it would seem that this drive was just adding to the problems.

Edited by Rusbel, 27 November 2012 - 01:19 AM.

[phillpower2]

Thanks for the test results which as you can see are ok.

Good troubleshooting regarding the HDD

Please refer to the attached link and see if any of the failing HDD sounds are the same or similar to what you have heard http://datacent.com/...rive_sounds.php

Next;

Download Speedfan and install it. Once it's installed, run the program and post here the information it shows. The information I want you to post is the stuff that is circled in the example picture I have attached.
If you are running on a vista machine, please go to where you installed the program and run the program as administrator.


(this is a screenshot from a vista machine)

To capture and post a screenshot;

Click on the ALT key + PRT SCR key..its on the top row..right hand side..now click on start...all programs...accessories...paint....left click in the white area ...press CTRL + V...click on file...click on save...save it to your desktop...name it something related to the screen your capturing... BE SURE TO SAVE IT AS A .JPG ...otherwise it may be to big to upload... then after typing in any response you have... click on browse...desktop...find the screenshot..select it and click on the upload button...then on the lower left...after it says upload successful...click on add reply like you normally would.

Depending on the results we may need to run further software for comparison.

Screenshot instructions are provided to assist those that may read this topic but are not yet aware of the “how to”.

[Rusbel]

I couldn't find the sound on that link you provided but it was definitely dying and causing my computer to lag and possible fail to boot so I removed it.

Here is the image you requested and I also posted another which provides much more detail on voltages.





Also as you can see in this next image some of the the minimum voltages start to register very low after the computer has been running for a while. I am not sure if this is normal, but it has always done this.

[phillpower2]

Hello Rusbel

The Min readings are rather odd, has the system ever been overclocked.
Regardless of the system ever being O/Cd or not please go into the BIOS and restore the MBs default settings in case the values have been changed.

Before your update yesterday your last reply was on November 26th so can you tell us what if any changes you have made and if the crashing issue is still the same.

Can you also provide us with the brand and model name or number of the PSU.

[Rusbel]

I removed the bad drive and had to reinstall everything, that is why I was away for a few days. Since doing that I have had no crashes, however that doesn't mean much because the issue is sporadic. I ran through videos for about 10 minutes just now and didn't get a crash so that is somewhat promising, but I will have to set aside some time to really put it to the test.

I have never overclocked the computer and I went ahead and reset the BIOS settings back to default. Hardware Monitor is still showing the min voltages dropping out. The PSU is a Corsair TX850 V2.

This link shows all the information

I actually RMAed the power supply a while ago because when I told them what was happening they simply said to send it in. So it is unlikely that the PSU is the problem, but who knows maybe they were brothers separated at creation.

Also my browser lags quite a bit sometimes, but it has always lagged really bad during some quizzes on Sporcle.com like this one.

Sporcle Lag Fest

Looking at SpeedFan I noticed that one core was maxing out but none of the other cores were being used, and right when I tabbed away from the game the lag clears, I go back and it is jammed up again. Of course this could simply be bad script on their part but I felt I would mention it in case it gives any insight. It has done the same thing on other Sporcle Quizzes, and as far as I can remember they were all either that type with the animation when you get an answer, or their new type with buttons you can click for the answers, except on that type it has only ever been the ones with a ridiculous number of buttons. But I haven't seen that happen lately even on the biggest quizzes.

[phillpower2]

Thanks for the additional information

Corsair is my preferred brand of PSU due to their quality and it is good to see that you received an excellent after sales service from them.

I am not familiar with Sporcle but having looked at the site I feel that it may be the attached adverts (spamverts) that cause the lag.

Please Run the PCPitstop.com OverDrive Full Tests

Here's how:

You must use your Internet Explorer for this procedure. (doesn't work so well in Firefox or others). If your machine is running Vista or Windows 7, you must Select IE to “Run as Administrator”. After completing PCPitstop OverDrive you can close your IE browser and re-open it Normally so that you are no longer running as administrator.

Go to: http://www.pcpitstop...pit/default.asp
Click on "Free Computer Check-up" listed below PC Pitstop OverDrive
In the User Login - Click on "Sign up FREE!"
You'll need to submit a valid email address and create your own password, then click - Create Account(button)

Now enter your email address and password to Log in, Select - Scan this system Now!(button)
You will then be asked to download an ActiveX component and allow it to install.
It is safe and does not compromise your privacy.
Follow the on-screen prompts to install the ActiveX and to allow the Full Tests to be run on your machine.

The Full Tests take about 2 1/2 - 3 minutes on most machines.
When complete, a Results - Summary - Recommended Fixes will be displayed.

Please post the URL internet address, from your Results, back here into this Topic Thread so that we can review the configuration and present performance levels of your machine.

Note: During the graphics 2D and graphics 3D testing, your screen will display some rapidly moving objects.
If you are sensitive to visual flashing, it may cause dizziness. Therefore, look away from the screen during that portion of the testing.

After reviewing the results we will be more informed and may be able to provide better recommendations for you to work towards improving your machine's performance.

While PCPitstop does offer a variety of Paid Products, the PCPitstop OverDrive testing is FREE. Please ignore the references to Paid Products. We prefer to provide manual solution instructions that you can apply directly to your machine.

Thanks to rshaffer61 for the PCPitstop instructions

[Rusbel]

My PC Pitstop Scan Results

That took a few tries, IE really doesn't like me, or I guess I really don't like it and it knows. At least this time it ran the ActiveX controls. Last time I had to find a work around to run ActiveX on Firefox.

[phillpower2]

No issues of note reported, any more crashes.

As an asides, Pando Media Booster, I suggest that you remove this asap, such programs can ultimately do the total opposite to what they claim and more often than not the software will recommend that you purchase a product from the vendor to repair either non existent issues or issues caused by the so called booster or optimizer software, some further reading on the subject from a well respected author http://miekiemoes.bl...weaking_13.html

[Rusbel]

No crashes to report. At this point it seems most probable that it was the hard drive causing the issues. Not sure I will ever understand how something seemingly unrelated to a process can cause a crash only while that process is happening. I think it is because I install bigger programs on the backup drive. I do this because my main drive is a 120 GB SSD. So even though it was only video games, word processing, and imaging software installed on the bad drive it would seem to make the drive a larger component of the system and its errors were causing crashes in very isolated situations. So what likely caused this to go away on its own a while ago was that I decided to remove the SSD from the system in order to try and isolate the issue and the drive I replaced it with was bigger meaning I didn't have to install anything on the bad drive. Of course when I discovered the issue was bad RAM I reformatted everything into my usual drive arrangement, bringing the bad drive back into the loop of holding installations.

Anyways that is how I see it and I may be way off base, thanks a ton for your help and I will consider the issue solved for now and just wait to see whether the ghosts return. Thanks for the heads up about the Pando thing, not sure what it piggybacked on but I usually snuff that stuff out. Gotta keep the dojo tidy.

Who controls the past now controls the future
Who controls the present now controls the past
Who controls the past now controls the future
Who controls the present now?

Now testify

[phillpower2]

Thanks for the update Rusbel

Hopefully the issue will not return and by removing the problem HDD it appears that you resolved the issue yourself so well done

Any further problems please feel free to give us a shout.

NB: You are welcome BTW and additional thanks for the parting conundrum