# Computer freezing....



## Richard King (Mar 25, 2002)

My, what has been in the past, very reliable, hard working Pentium D based PC has decided to start freezing up while in use. This can be very irritating when working with audio or video. I notice that often the CPU usage stays very low. When doing some audio work last night it rarely went above 10% and, when it dropped out it would go to zero. I found a program which will monitor CPU temp and, while I am in the high range, I am a bit below what they say should be the max (63 degrees C). The program also monitors voltages and I notice that my 2.5V line is only at 1.56V. Is this a potential problem? Here's a CPU usage chart from last night. Notice the cycling of the usage, doing up and down. I don't recall seeing this kind of thing before. Is this normal? I took the picture last night, but the cycling is still there.


----------



## SayWhat? (Jun 7, 2009)

How old is it? When was the last time you did a Defrag or ScanDisk or any other kind of HDD maintenance?


----------



## Richard King (Mar 25, 2002)

I need to do that as my C drive is just about full up. I have to move some items to other drives to make room for defraging. The drive has been fuller in the past though without this kind of problem. I am using another drive for my video and audio applications and that drive has plenty of room (a 500G drive with 360 free).


----------



## SayWhat? (Jun 7, 2009)

Added any programs or utilities lately that might be creating a conflict?

Define 'freezing'. Does anything work? Does the mouse or keyboard work? Can you do a normal power off or do you have to do Ctrl-Alt-Del? Or do you have to do a hard power down with the button on the CPU?


----------



## Richard King (Mar 25, 2002)

By freezing I mean everything goes along just fine for a few seconds (about 15 or so, but it varies) and then if I am working with an audio track for instance, the audio stops for a second or so and then starts again. The same happens with video, except it will stop for a longer period. Just streaming audio to listen freezes every few seconds also. It may run for a second or two or up to 15-20 seconds. Playing back from my C drive, which is fairly full, or the E drive, which is fairly empty, yeilds the same results. I ahven't added any programs before the problem started. I did at the temperature program this morning after the problems started. Everything works fine, it just does a short freeze all the time. Powering down is perfectly normal.


----------



## Richard King (Mar 25, 2002)

Thanks for taking the time to look. The problem is that I have video and audio projects coming out my ears right now and can't do them


----------



## Richard King (Mar 25, 2002)

Oops. I did add Pinnacle Studio 12 last week (January 27) and deleted Studio 10, but I used it (and my audio programs) several times last week and this week and all was well.


----------



## SayWhat? (Jun 7, 2009)

Well, if it was coming over the web, I'd say a buffering issue, but since you're only using it locally, I give up. CPU problem? RAM problem? Does it happen even after a fresh boot, or only after the PC has been running for a while?


----------



## BattleZone (Nov 13, 2007)

Your CPU is running WAY too hot for the kind of work you are doing. You may well have a power supply problem or a motherboard problem, and you certainly have a cooling problem, because your CPU is overheating and locking up.

I would take a look at all of the capacitors on the motherboard and see if any are bulging or leaking.










All of these caps are bulging at the top, and some of them have brown electrolyte leaking from the top. That's always a bad sign...


----------



## Richard King (Mar 25, 2002)

Funny you should mention the caps. I abandoned another computer with bad caps about 8 months ago. That one was a Compaq. This one is a Systemax. Could the fact that the 2.5V power supply is only puting out 1.56Volts have anything to do with the problem? Any idea what the 2.5 volt line does?


----------



## Richard King (Mar 25, 2002)

SayWhat? said:


> Well, if it was coming over the web, I'd say a buffering issue, but since you're only using it locally, I give up. CPU problem? RAM problem? Does it happen even after a fresh boot, or only after the PC has been running for a while?


Starts right after a fresh boot. I'm going to be moving it in a few minutes to the house that I have on the market. It will be off for about 30 minutes or so, letting it cool a bit. I'll see what I get for processor temp when I get it over there. I won't be able to post again until I return at about 5:00 or so Eastern. Thanks for all the various suggestions, Mr. Say and Mr. Zone.

I had a location recording session last Saturday (four sets) and several mixing sessions on one song since then. All was well until yesterday at about 8:00, right after moving the box from house to house. Mixing went well until last night when I tried to pull up a set and it kept locking up (and releasing). Here's the one near complete mix: http://www.soundclick.com/bands/page_songInfo.cfm?bandID=818206&songID=8712324 It also won't play from the website all the way without freezing up.


----------



## Greg Alsobrook (Apr 2, 2007)

Richard... I recommend:

1. Moving more files off of your HDD to create some more space
2. Download and run CCleaner
3. Increasing the size of your paging file



> How to manually change the size of the virtual memory paging file
> You must be logged on as an administrator or as a member of the administrator's group to complete this procedure. If your computer is connected to a network, network policy settings may prevent you from completing this procedure.
> 
> To manually change the size of virtual memory, follow these steps:
> ...


From here: http://support.microsoft.com/kb/308417/


----------



## Richard King (Mar 25, 2002)

Greg.. I need to do all of that regardless of this problem. I THINK I found the problem....

My "soundcard" is a Presonus Firestudio. I can set up my own buffer sizes, etc. One of the settings is called "Safe Mode". I have 4 choices there. I just changed the "Safe Mode" to 2 and haven't had a freeze for about the last 3 minutes. Hopefully that will solve the problem and I will get some things done today. I'll try to do a full mix of a song this afternoon and that will be the true test.  Thanks everyone for the tips. I REALLY need to do some maintenance on this thing. The song just played all the way through flawlessly.


----------



## SayWhat? (Jun 7, 2009)

Hmmmm, I'm considering a Systemax.


----------



## Richard King (Mar 25, 2002)

All was well all day today (I took the computer with me). This wasn't the fault of the computer. It was my fault as I get used to some relatively new equipment. It's been an OK computer for me since I got it quite some time ago. I have STUFFED it with goodies, which probably explains the temperature situation.


----------



## harsh (Jun 15, 2003)

Check the CPU cooling situation.

If something says it needs 2.5V, it isn't getting it from any ATX power supply.

ATX voltages available are: 0, +/-3.3VDC, +/-5.0VDC and +/-12VDC

http://www.helpwithpcs.com/courses/power-supply-basics-inc-pinouts.htm


----------



## Marlin Guy (Apr 8, 2009)

Separate the software from the hardware.
Assuming the obvious stuff like making sure it's clean of dust and there are no bulging caps, memory is properly seated, etc.....

Run a live CD with Linux on it or run a bootable CD with Diagnostics for CPU. Memory, etc.
http://www.ubuntu.com/
http://www.ultimatebootcd.com/


----------



## houskamp (Sep 14, 2006)

60c sure sounds hot for idle..
I'd still pop the cover and see if it's full of dust and if CPU fan is working..


----------



## scooper (Apr 22, 2002)

60C is WAY TOO HOT for an idling CPU. Do you have a WORKING CPU cooler on it ?


----------



## kevinwmsn (Aug 19, 2006)

Another thing to try besides the temp, is temporary disabling the antivirus and spyware programs while you are doing the editing and see if the problem stops.


----------



## Richard King (Mar 25, 2002)

The inside is clean. I blew it out a couple of months ago and it's still good. I'm going to be out the rest of the day, but I'll post an inventory of what I have in the box when I get back. I suspect I have too much attached and am making it work too hard. I have many hard drives, etc.


----------



## Richard King (Mar 25, 2002)

Back to this overheating computer problem. I have resolved the original problem that I posted about (freezing audio), however, I was unaware of the overheating problem until it was mentioned here. I have a bunch of hard drives on the machine, internal and external. Internally I have a raid array (Y Drive) made up of 2 250G drives, a drive partitioned as C drive (250G) and E (250G). Externally I have an "F" drive (750G), and a 
"T" drive (1T). Could I be overtaxing the power supply causing too much heat to be genereated there? Or could the fact that the raid is inside the case be causing the heat problems? Is there a cooling system that is reasonably cheap that could solve it.


----------



## neomaine (Feb 3, 2003)

RK,

Sounds like you have quite the rig for only a Pentium D. Time to upgrade dude!!

Baring an upgrade... Your external drives, assuming they're self powered, will mean little to nothing to your PCs power usage.

What do you have for a power supply? Wattage? With what you're describing, I'd say you'd need a well built 450w or better.

And yes, check that CPU fan! :eek2:


----------



## harsh (Jun 15, 2003)

Most modern computers have two or more cooling fans. Make sure they are all working and if any of them are adjustable, turn them up.

Most hard drives consume less than 10W when active.

Inefficient power supplies are also a great source of heat. Some aren't more than 65% efficient.


----------



## dpeters11 (May 30, 2007)

Richard King said:


> Back to this overheating computer problem. I have resolved the original problem that I posted about (freezing audio), however, I was unaware of the overheating problem until it was mentioned here. I have a bunch of hard drives on the machine, internal and external. Internally I have a raid array (Y Drive) made up of 2 250G drives, a drive partitioned as C drive (250G) and E (250G). Externally I have an "F" drive (750G), and a
> "T" drive (1T). Could I be overtaxing the power supply causing too much heat to be genereated there? Or could the fact that the raid is inside the case be causing the heat problems? Is there a cooling system that is reasonably cheap that could solve it.


What model and wattage power supply do you have?

Personally, I've always been a fan of PC Power and Cooling Turbocools. Not sure about them since they were bought by OCZ though.


----------

