Computer always freezing after random periods of time. No errors listed.
- by Wesley
Hi, all. Here are my specs beforehand:
AMD Athlon XP 2400+ @ 2.00 GHz, 160GB IDE HDD, 128MB GeForce 6200 AGP, 2 x 512MB PC3200 DDR RAM, CoolMax 350W PSU, 1 x CD-RW Drive, 1 x DVD-ROM Drive, FIC AM37 Mobo, Windows XP Pro SP3
My desktop freezes after random periods of time but there are no errors listed in the Event Viewer after a forced shutdown and restart. A couple months ago, I found that when it froze, the floppy was being accessed at the same time. So, I disconnected the floppy (since I never used it anyways) from the power supply and motherboard. Everything was working fine and the computer never froze. This past Christmas break, I left for a Conference and when I got home, the computer kept freezing again. So, this time, I just disconnected the DVD reader (from mobo and power) and started it up. Still, it froze almost right away. Then I found some older sticks of RAM (2 x 256MB PC2100 DDR) and swapped them in. Everything worked fine again after that. I even swapped the 2 x 512MB PC3200 DDR RAM back in and everything worked okay. Then it started freezing again, and I tried all possible RAM combos, still freezing within 5-10 minutes of startup. One thing I've realized is that the floppy drive is still listed in My Computer and I uninstalled it from my Device Manager already. There were no software errors, and I uninstalled the most recent software, with no effect. Still, I have no idea what is wrong because everything ran fine before that. Any suggestions?
EDIT: Still have yet to buy some blank CD media to use Memtest86+. However, would a lack of virtual memory cause the computer to freeze?
EDIT2: So after a long time, I ran Memtest86+ and all is well. Turns out though, after removing my original DVD reader and replacing it with a DVD-ROM drive, there is no freezing whatsoever! Thanks for all your suggestions!
