Hi, i have a serous issue with this machine. The computer it self stutters and freezes during movement of the mouse or clicking on applications. It also locks up on occasion. I also quite frequently get complete black screens during any sort of "Full screen mode" where i am promted to restart the machine or hard reset it now i am not sure if both of these issues are related. It doesn't sound like it but i am not sure. I really hope this is not an CPU issue, but i have checked the temps and they seem to be find.
The graphics card on this machine is the only piece of hardware that is quite old, the rest of the stuff is pretty new. I just rebuilt the machine about a year ago or so. After my sister fried everything witih a power surge.
So with that being said, i ran a few diagonistics my self to rule out possible causes, such as a curropted windows. I used a linux OS in dual boot mode and the computer still stuttered and freezd well in linux. I also ran a MEMteset memory scan, for bout 4-5 hrs, it went throught bout 4 or 5 complete passes, no errors what so ever. So the ram does not seem to be the issue.
The only thing i can think of at this point is possibly a bad hard drive. I am not sure what scans to use that are safe. Alot of them are not that safe, so i would like to get some advice on this.
Viruses is not an issue considering it still stutters in linux. So if there is anything else you can have me to test this machine and find out whats causing the computer freeze or stutter, that would be helpful. Thank you!
I would suspect the video card since it is the only carry over from when you had the power surge, and the behavior you describe is typical of video problems.
Have you tried different drivers for the video card?
Wouldn't a video card cause like output issues and things. I didn't think a video card would cause stuttering and freezes. That sounds like more of a memory or harddrive issue to me. But yes i am reinstalled all new drivers, that is clearly not the problem. Besides like i said, i used Linux, which has there own drivers installed on it that are different then the ones used for windows.
Ah, true, I forgot about Linux. That leaves hardware so memory and hard drive are the likely causes.
What about the power supply (PSU)? Is it new also. If not it could also be a possible cause.
Memory test:
Download Memtest86+ (you want the 2nd one Download - Pre-Compiled Bootable ISO (.zip)). Unzip it then create a CD from the iso file using your CD burning software. There is a good freeware burner called ImgBurn which will do this easily.
DO NOT burn the .iso file directly to CD. It must be used as input to a program that knows what to do with it, like the one I mentioned above.
You can do this on any computer that has a working CD Burner.
You can also use a Flash drive instead of a CD.
Download - Auto-installer for USB Key (Win 9x/2k/xp/7) *NEW!*.
Unzip and run Memtest86+ USB Installer.exe.
It will format the flash drive if you tell it to. I used a small, 16MB flash drive and it had 8.5GB left when done.
Boot the CD or Flash drive and run Memtest86+ for at least 3 complete passes unless it shows errors sooner than that. An overnight run is even better.
Check the hard drive with the manufacturer's diagnostic tools. 7 Free Hard Drive Testing Programs Hard Drive Diagnostics Tools and Utilities (Storage) - TACKtech Corp. Bootable Hard Drive Diagnostics
I am sorry for the long awaited responce. But i have tried testing this machine with the MEMtest and i ran it for around 12 hrs or so, that should be sufficient enough. No errors were displayed. I even took out the ram cards and replaced them with different ones.
I then proceeded to run a hard drive test, again nothing abnormal came up. But i did for the benifit of the doubt purchase a new HD 1 TB so i am going to begin installing that now.
The only other thing i can think of is the video card. Let me show you what video card i purchase for this machine and what the compatability of the motherboard is. It is a very old card, but the motherboard does have the old slots for it to fit in.
