[Mekismo]

Hi all,

I am working on a pc right now and its being a pain. The PC keeps locking up totally (requires reset), it seems to be happening when accessing a cd, although its totally random, yesterday i installed Doom 3 on it no problems, today i played an avi movie (off cd) and it froze after 10 minutes. Installing Office 2003 it froze on autoplaying the cd.

The PC came in first of all because it wasn't booting into windows (missing systems file) and the customer wanted the PC to be formatted, so i did a full format, re-installed XP and the PC froze a number of times installing software and drivers the customer wanted putting back on the PC. So i tried new RAM and it seemed to fix the problem. A week later PC was back again with the same error (missing system file c:\windows\system32\config\system), so i repaired the mbr this time and now its running into windows fine but still freezing during cd access.

System spec:

Windows XP Pro
Athlon 64 3000+
1 Gig Crucial Ram
Maxtor 160 GB SATA Diamondmax
Gigabyte K8VT800 Pro
Sapphire Radeon 9600XT 256mb
Cobra Gaming Case with 450w psu

There seems to be no CPU overheating issues (43oC).

Not sure what to try next, any ideas?

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To check for a couple of things, click start, all programmes, accessories, system tools to run disc clean up, then from system tools, run disc defragmenter.

Click start then run, type sfc /scannow then press enter, you need the XP CD and get a blue bar, after the bar goes, reboot.

Click start then run, type chkdsk /f /r then press enter, type Y to confirm for next boot, press enter then reboot.

This will take an hour, it will appear to load normally then either the monitor will show progress or the screen will go blank, do not disturb this.

When it gets to the desktop, the system files and the hard drive will be as they should

[Retired Tech]

To check for a couple of things, click start, all programmes, accessories, system tools to run disc clean up, then from system tools, run disc defragmenter.

Click start then run, type sfc /scannow then press enter, you need the XP CD and get a blue bar, after the bar goes, reboot.

Click start then run, type chkdsk /f /r then press enter, type Y to confirm for next boot, press enter then reboot.

This will take an hour, it will appear to load normally then either the monitor will show progress or the screen will go blank, do not disturb this.

When it gets to the desktop, the system files and the hard drive will be as they should

[Mekismo]

Thanks, I'll give those things a try and will get back here when they are done

[Mekismo]

Ok after doing the sfc /scannow command the PC turned off!
I wasn't watching what happened so i am not sure if something went wrong. Anyway, i switched PC back on and while booting into Windows it froze on the XP loading screen, reset and now its back into windows.

Should i run the 1st scan again or move onto the 2nd?

[Retired Tech]

Run the 2nd one then run sfc

Beyond this it's check the video adapter drivers from the manufacturers site

You can download Everest Home here

http://www.lavalys.h...p?pid=1&lang=en

Run it then click + next to computer then sensor, in a few moments it will show the main temps so you can see if any are high

[Mekismo]

Ok,

I did the 2nd scan, then re-did the first, completed ok. Tried that Everest thing and all temps seem to be fine (around 40oC)

Already has the most recent graphics drivers, so now i am going to run some programs etc to see if the machine with freeze, will be back to let you know the results.

Thanks

[Mekismo]

Well, I am still having major problems with this PC, it was fine for 24 hours i left it playing an avi movie from a cd overnight no problems. Figured everything that had been done may have fixed the problem, so as a last test i tried Doom 3, played it for about 10-15 mins then the system froze, had to reset.

After the reset while booting into XP the system gave me 1 long continuous beep, checking the manual it reveals either a Power supply or DRAM error.....well i changed the ram already so surely this can't be a problem and i very much doubt this is a power problem. Anyway, after messing around a few times and swapping ram i got it to boot into windows again, another test of Doom 3 and again it froze, this time after resetting the PC it loaded into windows with an error about the registry and that it had been repaired (PC had then froze again).

Now after another reset, i am now back to the start with the error:

Windows could not start because the following file is missing or corrupt
c:\windows\system32\config\system

Please can anyone suggest something going mad here!

Many thanks in advance

[Retired Tech]

The warning can be down to a corrupt registry

http://support.micro...kb;en-us;307545

[Mekismo]

It has given this error before and after a full format, so i cannot see how it is the registry.

[Retired Tech]

As you have checked the drive and most things, have you considered the copy of XP might be corrupt

[Mekismo]

I guess it could be a possibility. Is there anyway of checking?

Although the original install was around 5 months ago, and the system was running fine. The customer only had this problem 2-3 weeks ago after trying to install norton 95/98 on XP (sigh).

And since then the same error has cropped up after a full format and after repairing the MBR.

[Retired Tech]

Try copying the files from another XP CD

http://support.micro...kb;en-us;307545

Edited by Keith, 01 September 2005 - 03:54 AM.