Topic: PC Troubleshooting...

[E_Look]

Ah, so!

Just wondering, why is the FSB doubled and why is there a multiplier?  I'm sure if I spent four hours on the 'Net, I'll find out, but that doesn't look so inviting...

DDR memory.  DDR = Double Data Rate.  Your 333 FSB is really half that but functions as if it is 333 because the DDR RAM can be accessed twice each clock cycle. 

Thank you... very much, actually, as I knew that!  Really!  What was I thinking??  There are days...

Since you just assembled the system you should go through the Motherboard manual and set all the options to your requirements.  If you are not using the old serial and parrallel ports for example you may wish to disble them in the BIOS to allow the IRQs (which are relatively high priorty IRQs)  to be used for more important devices that would otherwise be forced to lower priority IRQs.

That I DIDN'T know!  But I have this nagging worry that as soon as I do that, some use for either port will come up.  I guess this is due to the necessity to connect printers, scanners, external drives, etc., to the available parallel and serial ports.  But this is something I will seriously consider.

[toasty0]

Is there a reason this thread is pinned?

Jerry

[E_Look]

Are you objecting?

[toasty0]

Are you objecting?

Does asking equate to objection or curiosity?

[E_Look]

Heh.  You're crustier than me.  (I wouldn't consider this a desirable condition!    )

Seriously, two or three of us on the thread, and that includes myself and the mod who stickied it, thought it may be a good source of basic PC tech questions and troubleshooting for those of us who are not PC, general computer, systems, or programming professionals, or engineers.

Shoot, I even forgot that DDR meant DOUBLE data rate and was somewhat confounded for a couple of days, until Barabbas and several other folk straightened me out.

I think this is going to be quite a handy reference or help resource for more than just a few of us.

Given your expert background, please, do contribute to relieving others' computer miseries.

Do you think I should rename the thread to more accurately reflect its intentions?

[toasty0]

Tough call, imho. I'm concerned that we'll get pin-clutter like some other forums that require a page scroll because the first 20 subjects are pinned and inactive threads.

Otoh, if so many other members and at least one mod (super member?) feel it is warranted whom am I to disagree, right?

Jerry

[E_Look]

Because of this thread, I went back and checked the BIOS of my own computer.  But I forgot that it is a Athlon 64 3000+ (socket 754) based system: the multiplier is locked on these CPUs... just as well in my case, as I'm not an overclocker, and the native 2.0 GHz +/- 10% is way good enough for me, and really, many others.

But that's not what I wanted to post about.  In so doing, I went through all the headings in my BIOS menu again and in the one colloquially, but aptly, named, "PC Health", I saw that my CPU temperature was around 53 C or so, and the system (case insides) temp around 35 C.  However, usually of late, in Windows (XP), the motherboard utility reports the chip temp as 60-61 C and the system temp around 44 C.  Is this due to each program (BIOS firmware one as opposed to the mobo software one) using a different SENSING technique or CALCULATION technique?

If the CPU temp is really around 55 C instead of 60 C, I am going to postpone my planned redrilling of my case to put in yet another fan (a third system fan, or move one of them which seems to be doing nothing where it is), as I am skittish about spraying metal dust all over all my installed components.

If it is really around 60 C, I just might go and cover the insides with plastic or something and drill another hole on top of the case.

(Only partly tongue-in-cheek: maybe all I have to do is uninstall some Norton software components; they ARE somewhat invasive and as such, most likely uses lots of clock cycles.  I think I might want to keep the Norton Utilities, though Symantec has stripped to bare bones and really are sort of redundant, given the scandisk, defrag, system restore, and system info functions now available in most varieties of Windows... )

[Nemesis]

However, usually of late, in Windows (XP), the motherboard utility reports the chip temp as 60-61 C and the system temp around 44 C.  Is this due to each program (BIOS firmware one as opposed to the mobo software one) using a different SENSING technique or CALCULATION technique?

The thermocouple used to read the temperature is not directly against the CPU so there is an "offset value" used to correct for the distance of the probe from the CPU.  If the BIOS uses one offset value and the software uses another then they will disagree.

[E_Look]

Boy, I'd like to know the proximity, position, and mode of contact for that thermocouple.

But all thermocouples are well known quantities; there are tables for all sorts of compositional formulations.  I.e., the "offset value" or conversion from potential to temperature should be the same!

[Tus-XC]

well i hate to ask for help but this has been bugging me for nearly a week.  My work machine has been restarting randomly (several times and only when its inactive) during the course of the day.  i have yet to catch the bloody thing doing it and am have tempted to just start recording it or somthing.  anyways this didn't happen until i installed my new vid card, a 6800 gt, which has worked flawlessly since purchase (need to upgrade its heatsink for better performance but nothing really all that important).  I'm halfway thinking that i might have a driver problem but i'm really unsure at the moment.  I know its not any of my power setting as my computer is set to always on.  And I know for a fact that i'm not having any heating issues as it idles at around 30 C (proccesor and mb). The vid card is around 45C but it also has i much higher peak temp than the processors (somewhere neard 100 c) and as said before it only shuts off while idling (and i'm on my lappy surfing the web).

It really starting to bug me because i found out that locking the computer prevents these restarts but after a period of time the computer locks up and gives me a black screen (i'm on a kvm so i only see one computer at a time).  I've pretty much troubleshot as far as i can (checked all my hardware connections which apear to be good and seated) so any help would be greatly appreciated

[Nemesis]

Of course with a system that is acting flaky there is one thing to do FIRST.  Backup your data DO IT NOW! and keep it current at least until you solve the issue and know that the system is reliable again.

I sent a PC to a friend on indefinite loan and recently got it back.  He claimed that it was overheating and crashing 15 minutes after he turned it on.  I checked and the crash was true but the overheating was not.  I then spent the next 4 hours in safe mode (Win98SE) defragging the 17gb hard disk.  It has worked without a crash for up to 3 weeks at a time since then.  Defragging may not help you but it definitely won't hurt.  A scandisk would also be a good idea as you could have a bad sector that windows is using.

You didn't mention your OS but I have found with Windows that not only the defragging is important but also that just booting into safe mode and rebooting again seems to enhance stability.  While in safe mode it might be wise to check your device drivers, at times I have seen duplicate copies that only show up in Safe Mode and which once fully removed and reinstalled again improved reliability. 

Exporting your registry lets Windows clean it up and then reimporting the registry seems to help at times too.

Another thing is just how many things do you have in your start group?  I have seen machines so loaded down that they were crippled by "utilities" that people were loading everytime they booted.

Finally there is a utility build into Windows (98 and 2000 at least) called System File Checker (SFC.EXE) that can be used to check system files for corruption.   It can allow the reloading of corrupt or questionable files.  Have your install CD ready.

[Tus-XC]

i actually have a pretty good idea why its unstable as it was stable before my new vid card.   However why its unstable is what i do not know, and is drving me insane.

I'm running xp pro, have run a defrag (no scan disk, will do that next).  I've done a quite a bit to ensure i have everything correct on it.

only thing that is confusing is the reason.  Its not like it shuts down every 15 mins, its the exact opposite.  It only shuts down when i leave it idle for a period of time, what the period is i don't know.  this in it self is really wierd to me as it doesn't make a bit of sense.  When i'm doing stuff cpu intensive it runs great, when i let it idle for to long it restarts... wierd.

[Nemesis]

i actually have a pretty good idea why its unstable as it was stable before my new vid card.   However why its unstable is what i do not know, and is drving me insane.

I'm running xp pro, have run a defrag (no scan disk, will do that next).  I've done a quite a bit to ensure i have everything correct on it.

only thing that is confusing is the reason.  Its not like it shuts down every 15 mins, its the exact opposite.  It only shuts down when i leave it idle for a period of time, what the period is i don't know.  this in it self is really wierd to me as it doesn't make a bit of sense.  When i'm doing stuff cpu intensive it runs great, when i let it idle for to long it restarts... wierd.

I refuse to put up with Microsofts activation nonsense and so have very limited experience with XP.

Could be that your power supply is on the weak side for the system as updated.    You might try the link below to calculate the wattage of your system and compare it with the powersupply you are using.  Link provided by Darth Lyr (obviously;) )

Here is the link:http://www.jscustompcs.com/power_supply/

You might also try an alternate video driver newer preferablly older might still be worth a try in case it is a bug in that precise driver version.  In addition you might wish to look at your video settings in the system BIOS and see if perhaps they are a little too agressive.   Even testing at lower performance levels might reveal more precisely where the problem is.

You might want to review your power management settings.  Specifically tell it not to power down the monitor when not in use.  The video driver may be having trouble reactivating it.

If it runs fine at full CPU usage ... run SETI @ Home it keeps the CPU at 100% and for most usages gets out of your way when you go to do things with the system.    It might be worth a test anyhow.

Good luck.  Let us know how it works out.

[Tus-XC]

hmm, suppose i should gve my system spec and not just the problem

P 4 3.2 ghz
1 gig (2 512 mb) PC 3200 (kinston) (slot1 and slot 3)
WD 120 gig HD (100 and 20 gig partitions)
e-GeForce 6800gt (EVGA)
Asus P4P800 motherboard (agp 8x compatable)
550 watt Antec power supply (power is not an issue)
Soundblaster Audigy 2 ZS
TV card
Linksys wireless lan card

I have 5 fans running in the case, and a cool master Aero 4 (copper heatsink) on my processor

edit:  just used that site, 244 way under what my ps can produce

oh and as for seti, wish i could, that computer doesn't have internet as i don't feel like having USAFA comm sqaud installing anything onto my computer

[toasty0]

i actually have a pretty good idea why its unstable as it was stable before my new vid card.   However why its unstable is what i do not know, and is drving me insane.

I'm running xp pro, have run a defrag (no scan disk, will do that next).  I've done a quite a bit to ensure i have everything correct on it.

only thing that is confusing is the reason.  Its not like it shuts down every 15 mins, its the exact opposite.  It only shuts down when i leave it idle for a period of time, what the period is i don't know.  this in it self is really wierd to me as it doesn't make a bit of sense.  When i'm doing stuff cpu intensive it runs great, when i let it idle for to long it restarts... wierd.

This sound every much like an electrical short. It is almost impossible to recreate or track down without diagnostic equipment. Pull out your new vid card and reinstall the old one and see if the crash occurs. If not it is a pretty safe assumption it is the card causing the issue and not any software conflicts.

Jerry

[Tus-XC]

looks like i will be bumming a neighbors card then, sold that one already lol

[toasty0]

looks like i will be bumming a neighbors card then, sold that one already lol

Make sure the drivers work...hmmm...

wait a minute...hey, just take out the card and run it with the window driver. Everything will look crap, but you wanna see if the behavor is recreated. If not, then it's your vid card...or........


You could install the card on your friend's 'puter and see if it does it on his/her box.


Jerry the cat skinner

[Tus-XC]

think i figured out what the problem was (as it hasn't shut off in a day and half).  my screen saver wasn't working correctly and was crashing my computer (somting i dled).  Finally caught it w/ an error message which pointed back to that.  hopefully its as simple as that, other wise i'm going to be annoyed lol

[E_Look]

Hey y'all (who can help at all), I installed some document viewer I needed for a very short time and it came with some Installshield Installer program that acts like a virus/adware.  I pops up every so often and tells me this or that program needs to be updated, programs I don't care about.  So I deleted the viewer.

But the Installshield Installer won't go.  I can't even delete some of its files.  This tells me it's viruslike or adware.

Suggestions?  Specifically, I'd welcome effective uninstallation advice.

[The Bar-Abbas Anomaly]

 

Check your Add//Remove programs for something that looks like this program and if you find one, remove it.

If you don't see it there, check Start --> Programs --> Startup and see if it loads from there.  If so, right-click and delete it.

Also run regedit and go to HKey_Local_Machine --> Software --> Microsoft --> Windows --> Current Version --> Run and see if you seen it loading from there and if so, delete it.  While you're there, you can also delete tkbell (unnecessary RealPlayer associate) qttask (unneccessary Quicktime associate) and anything else you find there that you don't need....