Question Computer keeps freezing.

[boing]

My dad's computer has developed a habit of freezing completley over the last few months, mouse doesn't move, no response from any keys or key combinations (CTRL SHIFT ESC/ CTRL ALT DEL etc) sometimes it runs for half an hour sometimes it freezes in seconds from boot. It has frozen on boot at the pre-BIOS loading splash screen which indicates to me that it's not a driver or windows issue, I've cleared CMOS after which it seemed to work but eventaully started freezing again and I've upgraded the BIOS to latest spec with the same result.

My mum has a habit of switching his machine off at the power socket if he leaves it on standby, would this cause any problems? any other ideas anyone? I don't want to start replacing hardware randomly if possible.

 

[VirtualLarry]

It has frozen on boot at the pre-BIOS loading splash screen which indicates to me that it's not a driver or windows issue, I've cleared CMOS after which it seemed to work but eventaully started freezing again and I've upgraded the BIOS to latest spec with the same result.

That sounds like a hardware problem. Is this a Core2-era machine, or something newer?

My mum has a habit of switching his machine off at the power socket if he leaves it on standby, would this cause any problems? any other ideas anyone? I don't want to start replacing hardware randomly if possible.

It can cause havok with the Windows OS drive being corrupted (But not modern versions of Windows like 10, that have "Hybrid sleep").

But that likely wouldn't cause the problems that you are seeing, with it freezing mid-POST. That indicates a hardware problem, and simply shutting the PC off at the mains, even if in Standby / Hybrid sleep mode, shouldn't screw up things to cause that.

So, first things to check, are temps, power, and if you have any bulging or dis-colored capacitors or burn marks on the board (most likely near the VRMs).

Also, please give us full hardware specs, and vintage of machine.

Things like HDDs and PSUs tend to fail after around 3-5 years, maybe longer if lucky.

CMOS batteries need to be replaced, around 5-7 years. If this is a Core2-era PC, could try that.

But before that, give it a good cleaning, remove the dust bunnies, if the PC is overheating due to a layer of dust on everything, especially the CPU heatsink or PSU internals, that could cause it too.

Also, consider simply re-seating the RAM, after doing the dust clean-out.

Edit: If this is a really old PC, like a Core2, or even older, like a P4-vintage, it could just be the mobo giving out. They can do that starting at the 5 or 10 year mark, depending on quality, and how hard they've been utilized (temps, power-draw, etc.)

How's the power in the house? Do the lights ever flicker or dim?

 

[VirtualLarry]

So, I would:

1) Clean dust bunnies out of PC, paying attention to CPU heatsink and PSU. (Using a Can'O'Air or similar, or a painters brush on the CPU heatsink if stuff is really caked-on.)

2) Re-seat the RAM. (Remove and re-install. Made sure system is completely unplugged from power, USB hubs, ethernet, etc., and push the front power switch several times to drain latent power in system.)

3) If system is more than 7 years old, consider replacing CMOS coin battery, should be a CR2032, available at most drug stores or even dollar stores sometimes.

4) Consider replacing the PSU, if it's 3-4-5 or more years old, it might be failing. Try to borrow one from another PC, or someone you know that's into PCs, just to test. If a known-good PSU doesn't help the freezing, then it's more serious, and it's probably the board.

 

[boing]

Brilliant, thanks for the feedback, I'll have a look and get back with the specs and try all your suggestions too.

 

[boing]

Haven't had a chance to get over to my parents place to check the hardware but I found the specs on my old order history, all purchased in 2014.

CPU - Intel Core i3 4130 s1150
MB - MSI H81M-E33 V2 H81 MoBo s1150
PSU - XFX 450w P1-450S-X2B9 PSU
RAM - HyperX KHX1600C10D3B1/8G

 

[VirtualLarry]

Huh, i3-4130 is Haswell, that's slightly old, but not THAT old, that components should be failing.

Maybe make sure to clean out the dust, and consider swapping in a new PSU? And/or re-seating the RAM (with power off).

Does that mobo have solid caps? (Hold on, I'll look it up for you.)

Yeah, all of the pictures they show, have solid caps. Those should have at least a 10-year longevity.

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Edit: You didn't mention what type of storage that your Dad's PC has. Does it have a regular HDD, or an SSD?

After you clean out the dust, if it doesn't have an SSD, here's something to try. Consider buying a smaller (128-256GB SATA SSD, should be under $40), plugging it in (and unplugging the HDD), and do a fresh installation of Windows 10 on that PC, from a USB drive.

To prepare the USB drive with the installer, go to

Download Windows 10

www.microsoft.com

and click on "Prepare Windows 10 installation media", and it will download a program to your Windows PC, the MS Media Creation Tool.

Plug in your flash drive, run that tool, and accept the license, and then click through the options, to download and install for another PC, and select USB Drive, and then select the drive letter of the USB drive that you just installed.

It will then download Windows 10 from Microsoft and put it on your USB drive to install.

Once that's done, you can unplug it from the download PC, and plug it into your Dad's PC, and try to install it to the SSD.

If it installs successfully, and runs without freezing, then the problem could be his HDD.

Reason being, they tend to last maybe 5 years, unless they're a WD Black or Enterprise-grade HDD, and when they start failing, they can cause system freezes, and long pauses during POST.

 

[boing]

Thanks again, I should have mentioned it has an SSD, I think a Samsung Evo 850 but it was only installed a couple of years ago so I would hope it wasn't failing, I did run a RAM test which came up OK (memtest I think).

I will add an SSD test to the list though.

 

[mindless1]

"It has frozen on boot at the pre-BIOS loading splash screen which indicates to me that it's not a driver or windows issue "

I very much doubt it is an SSD problem, for it to otherwise boot and run windows for a while, unless the SSD cable itself is loose or generic, ill-fitting. I have had the latter happen.

First thing I would check is the capacitors in the power supply. I mean sure, look around in the case for bad caps on the motherboard, make sure the heatsink is on good, etc, then take the PSU out and pop it open, cleaning the dust out while its open.

As far as it getting shut off while on standby, I would consider setting it up to a very short time out period before going into hibernation. SSDs boot fast but hibernation can not only be faster but also leave the system state the same, applications open, etc.

 

[boing]

I tried blowing the dust out of the PSU but nothing really came out, didn't open it though, hopefully will get a chance to check all of this stuff this weekend.

Thanks.