erratic running of PC, HJ logs been checked & OK

PC running slow, erratic and ocassional shut down of its own accord, mt logs have been checked for malware etc and found to be clean and now been advised to post here. Link below to previous posts with logs.

http://forums.whatthetech.com/Run_scans_no…gs_t103529.html

Hi Scudo…

Lets run some regular maintenance on your computer and see if we can find a problem…

Please read http://forums.whatthetech.com/Maintenance_…SD_t103649.html about some safety precautions and dangers of performing maintenance on your computer. You are going to want to remove the cover of your computer and clean out any clogged heatsinks or vents, and verify that all fans are spinning properly.

If your machine is older, you need to verify that you are not dealing with Leaking Capacitors on the motherboard. They are especially located right around the CPU where it gets hot.

After performing this basic maintenance please read http://forums.whatthetech.com/How_Test_Mem…ms_t103823.html about creating a windows memory diagnostic boot disk and verifying there are no bad connections on the components in your computer and no bad memory.

Lastly, read here http://forums.whatthetech.com/How_run_CHKD…XP_t102348.html about how to use chkdsk and make sure you check or use the options for performing a surface scan on the hard drive (locating bad sectors).

After all that, see if your machine still locks up.

Has taken me a bit of time but have now run all the tests and all is coming up ok, also cleaned the inside of the case and checked for any damage, everything appears to be good, including the extended memory test. The PC initially apppears to be more stable but the cursor has frozen on 2 occassions but that might have been before I done all the checking & cleaning above. The PC still runs slow though but that is not a real issue as it is litle used by my wife and mainly just for email, could the `slowness` be due to hardrive capacity under properties on C drive it has total 20GB with only 6GB used so in % terms plenty of spare. I will use the PC over the next 24 hours and report back on stability. thanks scudo

Yeah.. Its an older machine obviously. There are some things we can do to improve performance on the machine. But, the freezing is probably not related, and we need to sort that out first. Now that you have done everything that you have done, go ahead and use it for a while so we can know if the freezing has stopped. Did you find any bad connections with the memory that needed to be reseated? Or, how about any plugged heatsinks or fans?

All connections appeared to be ok but one of the `grills` below a fan had a fair bit of dust on it, probably around 33% covered. The memory was seated ok. and the memory test showed no errors. I will report back after some use of PC.

Were you able to identify what your capacitors look like and recognize how to tell if they are leaking? (i.e. bulged tops, orangish crust on top, leaning to the side w/ fluid coming out the bottom)

I'm assuming because your machine has a 20GB hard drive it is fairly old, and these are prime candidates for leaking capacitors especially if it is a name brand machine like Dell, or Compaq.

EDIT to include this great article: http://www.ehow.com/how_2162895_identify-d…e-computer.html – these bad capacitors are almost always found around sections of the motherboard where it gets very hot, usually around the CPU Heatsink.

I had previously used that link and checked the capacitors and all are looking ok. They all look clean and no apparent leaks. It is a dell PC, one of the flat type where you just press the 2 buttons on either side and it flips open, not sure of age but yes a good few years old. Its mainly used for email and a couple of forums by my wife so not used a lot but it does keep her away from mine :-) which is my main reason for trying to keep it alive. scudo

Ok the PC has been used quite a bit now and there is a good improvement it has not frozen since the clean up. It has on one ocassion had the menu windows jump around but one ocassion only. It runs slow taking just under 5 minutes to fully boot, by that I mean to get to the point of having loaded anti-virus/firewall and internet icon connection. It runs like a landline pay as you go speed rather than broadband. scudo

I'm very glad to hear that it sounds like the freezing problem has been resolved. This was definitely the most important thing to resolve before doing anything else.

Now, lets move on to tuning this puppy up.

I'm going to need some diagnostic information from you.

First, please export your Application log, and your System log, from Event Viewer. Create a .zip file from those two files and upload that .zip file to the forum as an attachment. Here's how:

How to capture an event log and upload it to the forum:

• First, open Event Viewer by clicking Start -> Run -> type eventvwr.msc and press ENTER.
• In the Event Viewer please right click the requested event log (i.e. Application, system, etc…) and click Save Log File As.
• Please save the logfile to your desktop and give it a recognizable name.
• Do this for each log that has been requested.
• When you are finished saving the necessary logs, close Event Viewer.
• On your desktop find the saved log files. Hold the CTRL key and click to select each event log.
• When all event logs are selected, right-click one of them, click Send to -> Compressed Zip Folder.
• A new .ZIP file will have been created on your desktop. Please attach that file to this forum in your next reply.

Now, lets download and CodeStuff Starter and get some information about the services and startup items on your computer. Here's how:

How to use CodeStuff Starter to view services and startup items:

• Please download and install CodeStuff Starter
• Run Starter by finding it on your start menu after it is installed.
• When the program opens, you will see three tabs on the main screen (Startup, Processes, Services)
• Please click the Startup tab and make sure that All Sections is selected on the left hand side under the sections view pane.
• Once the Startup tab and all sections is selected, please click the File menu and choose Save as HTML.
• Please save the file to your desktop and call it startup.html.
• Now, please click the Services tab.
• Once the Services tab is open, please click the File menu and choose Save as HTML.
• Please save the file to your desktop and call it services.html.
• Now that both files have been saved to your desktop, close CodeStuff Starter.
• Locate the startup.html and services.html files on your desktop. Both files can be attached to the forum, as is. Please do so in your next reply.

EDIT: Please tell me how much memory you have in your computer. You can find out several different ways, but the easiest is probably to right-click "My Computer" and click Properties (Or, go to control panel -> system if you have trouble with the previous instructions). Under the general tab, it will tell you what type of processor you have and how much memory you have. I just need to know how much RAM you have.

While doing the event viewer & CodeStuff Starter the cursor hung once and I rebooted, it may have `unhung` if I had left for few minutes but rebooted anyhow. Also got a popup message during this `window virtual memory low` and something about windows adjusting it. RAM Intel ® Pentium ® 4 CPU 1.80 GHZ 1.79GHZ 256 MB of RAM I have attached the logs scudo

I'm sorry, but the two event log files you saved are not in the correct format. They should've been saved in their native .EVT (event log) format. You have instead saved them as .TXT files and makes them next to impossible to manage efficiently. Please re-save those two logs in their native .evt file format (Select "Save As Type" = .EVT) and .zip them up. Attach the new .zip file to the forum. Thanks.

Is this the correct format? scudo

Yes, but I don't need to security.evt log file.. I need the application log file… The system one is in here. See if you can get the application log exported and uploaded please, instead of the security. You're doing good.

I think this is the correct one.

Hi Scudo.. Yes, you uploaded the correct one.

I'm not seeing a whole lot here performance wise. It looks like your biggest problem is that you only have 256Mb of RAM.

However, I am seeing several blue screen problems in your system log over the last several days.

I also am wondering why it appears this computer is restarted so much? Is this only because of the freezing? (it actually appears like the system is shutdown and restarted a lot) If the computer is being shutdown and started several times a day as it appears, it would be much better for your computer to just leave it on.

Anyways, let me get some of your minidump files so I can see if I can tell why you are getting a blue screen of death, which may also be related to the "freezing."

Open My Computer, and navigate to C:\Windows\Minidump. Locate the 5 most recent minidump files. They are labeled by the date they are created. Please hold the CTRL key and select each file. When all 5 are selected, right-click one of them and click Send to -> compressed zip folder. Please upload the newly created .zip file to the forum.