Help w/ computer problem...

[ragiepew]

Ok here's the deal... Whenever I try to open up any major application (especially graphic stuff.. Fireworks, Flash, UltraDEV, Freehand (can you tell I like Macromedia?), Photoshop, even IE and some games... my computer just freezes, no messages... just freezes.

At first I thought it was a software problem so I uninstalled all the apps and reinstalled them... no luck. Next I thought maybe it was an OS problem... reformatted my drives, reinstalled both win2k and win9x... no change. When it freezes, it doesnt even post anything in the event viewer...

Next I thought maybe it was a hardware problem (celery 366 @ 550, ABIT BM6, 128 MB micron pc100 ram, v3 3k...) so I started messing w/ different configurations... I replaced the vid card w/ an old ATI rage pro... no change. Then i tried swapping the ram and sticking it in different banks... nothing. Next i tried replacing the CPU, still no change. I also tried replacing the HDD's... again nothing. The only thing I didnt fiddle w/ is the MOBO... and that is where I am now, I suspect that something is wrong w/ the mobo. I also suspected the OC'ing so I lowered the CPU back to 366, still kept locking although not as much... I could actually play games but still could not use any major apps (MS Office stuff works fine). I even went into the BIOS triple checked all my settings all w/ no help.

If anyone else has had this problem, please let me know and if anyone else has any possible suggestions those are greatly appreciated. I really dont want to purchase a new system... grr.

thanks in advance...

alin

 

[whizler]

Well, you've pretty much eliminated most of the hardware and all of the software possibilities. I would start looking at the memory and the power supply. Both can cause random lock ups like those you described.

 

[ragiepew]

yea, I was suspecting maybe the powersupply but dont have another case/PS to try. I already tried swapping the ram, no luck there. Thanks for the input...

if anyone else has any suggestions feel free to comment...

thanks again

 

[lowtech1]

It sound like one of your program is causing the fault...could be that the offending program Virtual Device Driver (VxD) over writen critical path/or VxD drivers that others program needed.

 

[ragiepew]

thats what I thought at first but I have also formatted my HDD's clean and reinstalled OS and bare essentials. When I hover over an HTML file when using "web style" viewing in win9x and 2k it locks up my computer as it is trying to put a thumbnail in the left side of explorer... even on such a simple thing. I have tried all I know... its pissing me off now =P...

 

[Lurch]

I would say that you should find a friend that hopefully doesn't mind and try using his power supply (hopefully he has an extra one). If that doesn't help, I would say it's your motherboard. You can always try reseating it just in case it is shorting someplace, but more than likely, it's time to find a new one.

 

[ragiepew]

unfortunetly this is the same conclusion I came to... I was hoping this setup would last me until DDR came out w/ some force but it looks like I'm going to have to go w/ plain vanilla SDR... need a working system ASAP... :/

Anyway, thanks for the help, and if anyone has any other insight, I will be listening...

alin