[steffismith]

Hi, all. New to the site. I can't believe you all do this for free - it's amazing.

Now, on to my problem. For the past 3 years, our Compaq Presario 5424H has been randomly shutting down and giving me various blue screen error messages. It seems to have started when we first connected to a high speed internet service. It's getting worse, now to the point it shuts down at least 10 times every day. I'm trying to follow your steps to generate a Hijack This log, but I can't complete a virus scan on my Avast software or online with Panda or Trend Housecall. The computer locks up then shuts down before it's even a quarter of the way through the scan. After it shuts down, if I try to restart it within 15 minutes, it shuts down every time. I have to let the computer sit, then start again. I can run AdAware in smart scan mode, but not after making the changes you recommend and attempting to run a custom scan. When it shuts down, I send in the Windows Error Report, and the online crash analysis page comes up and says the shutdown was caused by an unknown device driver. I've attempted to delete and reinstall certain drivers, but there are so many, and I don't know what most of them do!

I e-mailed Microsoft support about 2-3 months ago, and they told me I need to reset my factory settings. Unfortunately, my CD writing software is corrupt, so I can't back up anything. When I try to reinstall the Roxio software, it says it's incompatible (it wasn't in 2001, I don't know why it would be now!). A friend told me to try your site before I restore factory settings and lose everything.

Our system is so unstable, it's basically useless for all of my home business functions, our photos, music, or any worthwhile tasks. We can't keep flash player installed or it kicks us off the internet. IE shuts down on us a dozen or so times a day even without flash player. I'm really at a loss here.

I'll follow any steps you recommend to generate log files, lists or anything else that will help in troubleshooting. Thank you so much for reading this and for helping so many people!
Stef

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Turn on your computer and push F8. Go into Safe Mode. Do a complete virus scan in Safe Mode. Hopefully, this should help.

Also, download a spyware removal program and run that.

[b man]

Turn on your computer and push F8. Go into Safe Mode. Do a complete virus scan in Safe Mode. Hopefully, this should help.

Also, download a spyware removal program and run that.

[steffismith]

Thank you for the suggestion. It still won't work. The virus scan locked up my computer again. So then I tried Trend Housecall again, and it scanned through 21,673 files, only to lock up completely. I had to manually reboot.

Any other ideas? Thanks!

[Jack123]

Look at CPU Temp . . . Go into Bios setup during boot-up mode
Press arrorow key to Monitor panel
look at temp eadings. . . .if lurking near
80 degrees C . . . . .check CPU block & fan
for excessive dust & clean . . . .check fans
for proper operation / air flow

check Power supply fan for proper operation

[Jack123]

Look at CPU Temp . . . Go into Bios setup during boot-up mode
Press arrorow key to Monitor panel
look at temp eadings. . . .if lurking near
80 degrees C . . . . .check CPU block & fan
for excessive dust & clean . . . .check fans
for proper operation / air flow

check Power supply fan for proper operation

[steffismith]

Here's an easy one.... How do I check the BIOS settings? I know I'm supposed to press a key during boot up, but I'm not sure which one. Thanks!

[Jack123]

I am not sue for Win XP . . . . I run Win2K Pro . . . .mine is Delete key

Might be F2 or ALT F2 for XP . . . . .there is a message script at bottom of screen that tells you to press XXX to enter BIOS Setup

It is there for only a short time . . . . appears right before MEM Test while booting up

Jack123

[gerryf]

the bios key is unrelated to the Operating System.

common keys are DEL, f1, f2

I think heat is a good place to start....Open the case and clean the dust bunnies. Also, try blowing a small fan (on low) across the motherboard.

your drivers are here:
http://h10025.www1.h...4&dlc=en&os=228

I suspect malware is a very large issue, too, given the age of the machine

If you cannot run a complete virus scan, just run a hijackthis log and post it in our malware forum with an explanation that you cannot complete all the steps....they will do some emergency triage to get you up and running enough to run a scan

[steffismith]

Thank you very much. I'm printing out your reply and will work on this today. The heat issue makes a lot of sense - the gradual worsening of the shutdowns, the need to wait before restarting, and the fact that the longer we use it during the day, the more frequently it shuts down. I clean the back of it frequently, and it gunks up pretty quickly, so the inside is probably in desperate need of a good cleaning. I'll take these steps and proceed as directed.

Thanks again!
Stef