PLEASE HELP! comp freezing/crashing/bluescreening

[Snakebyte]

Ok. I have had this computer for close to 6 months. Basic specs:

Shuttle SB95P V2
P4 3.2Ghz
1GB RAM
X800Pro 256MB
2x 180GB HDD (Striped RAID Array)
WinXP Pro

I had used it for a couple months at college with almost no problems.
I have been home now for a few months, and starting about a month ago I started having problems with it. It has started blue-screening, freezing, and crashing randomly. It started off happening only once a week at most, but gradually became more frequent. Eventually it got to the point where it would almost always happen within a half-hour of booting up (sometimes after just minutes). After one reboot it said the windows system folder was corrupt, and I was unable to do anything to fix it. I was forced to take it into the local store I had bought it from. This is the description I gave them of my problems:

- For the past month it has been blue-screening/freezing/crashing randomly

- When it blue-screens/freezes/crashes the orange HDD light stays on until it reboots

- Sometimes after a reboot it freezes w/ orange light on Windows loading screen

- Sometimes the RAID screen says the array or the first disk of the array failed. It would ask if the HDDs are part of an array, and when I chose “yes” it would continue to boot up like normal.

- Several times, immediately after Windows loaded, it would pop up a small window saying one of the HDDs had errors and may fail. When I checked the RAID status window it was always the first HDD with the problem.

- I had tried chkdsk and defragmenting several times each (also had McAfee VirusScan and MS AntiSpyware installed and scanning), and for a while the problem went away. However, yesterday it started blue-screening and freezing again. It got to a point where I could load Windows, but after a few minutes it would blue-screen/freeze again.

- After one restart, it started saying \WINDOWS\SYSTEM32\CONFIG\SYSTEM was missing or corrupt and it could no longer load Windows.

- I tried using the Restore Console to chkdsk, but it said the HDD had problems and wouldn’t scan.

- I downloaded and made a bootable CD to run Seagate SeaTools. After doing a full scan it said the hardware appeared to be ok but that there were file system errors.

Well, they were able to fix the corrupt files and restore the array. When I asked why they thought this problem occurred, they said it was most likely due to overheating. It is a small case, so the current cooling might not be sufficent. They recommended water-cooling (which is not really an option for me, too expensive).

Fine. So I get my computer back, and it works good as new for a couple weeks.

Now I am having the same exact problems as before. It is happening frequently again, and I don't know what to do. Last time I took it in it cost me $100 just to get the array fixed. I don't want to take it back just to be told again that it is overheating.

I'm not convinced that it is overheating, however. For one thing, I had it running 24/7 for months in my dorm room (which was warmer than it is in my house here) and had never had a single problem there. Since the problems started again I have been trying everything I can think of to prevent it from overheating. I have tried turning it off overnight; I stopped running Azureus and other programs in the background; I even installed ATI Tray Tools and raised the fan speed on my X800Pro. The area around the case is much more open than in my dorm room. It's even near a vent in my house that blows out cool air some of the time. The air coming out of the case vent next to the gfx card's fan is warm, but never hot. All the other vents and fans are blowing out cool air.

The strange thing is that it rarely crashes or freezes when I'm running a game. Most of the time it happens when I'm watching a video or just using some app like Dreamweaver. Once in a while even just sitting on the desktop with just regular programs like Trillian and mIRC running.

I can't possibly think of a reason it would be overheating now if it never did in my dorm.

Please, if you have any ideas what might be causing this or what I could do about it, let me know asap. Sorry that this post is so long, but I wanted to make sure it was thorough enough.

Thanks in advance.

 

[15357]

Try using a different HDD to load/run windows.

Try keeping the case open.

Try not doing the array thing.

 

[AmishSlayer]

Well to make sure you're not overheating check out your mobo and cpu temps with a program like SiS Sandra.

Have you tried formatting your computer and starting over?

If you have...then lots of the freezing and crashes and the occasional blue screens sounds an awful lot like overheating or (now that I know about it because I have this problem) a crappy PSU. Maybe your power supply is going bad or something if your comp isn't overheating.

 

[sinkoman]

System file corruption makes me think that it could possibly be bad ram.

Do a check with MemTest (http://www.memtest86.com) and if you get ANY errors, then that's the problem right there.

The raid array failing makes me think that your PSU has gone bad though.

Take it to a friends house and unhook everything in it, then hook everything back up to his PSU. If it solves your problems, then you know you need a new PSU.

And running your PC 24/7 for months is a VERY bad idea. For one, it's a good way to kill your PSU (get that checked out) and it's a good way of killing your PC components via overheating (heated ram has a significantly shorter lifespan).

EDIT: A bios based memory check is also a very good idea.

 

[Snakebyte]

- Haven't tried formatting yet. I was hoping to solve the problem without needing to, but I will if necessary.

- Don't have an extra HDD to try at the moment.

- The PSU is the 350W one that came with the Shuttle... I have no idea if it would be good quality or not. ( http://global.shuttle.com/Product/Barebone/SB95P V2.asp )
I will see about testing a different PSU. Tomorrow, maybe.

- Memtest showed no errors

- These were the temps according to Sandra:
Board Temp: 44.0 C
CPU Temp: 52.0 C
Power/Aux Temp: 48.0 C

I opened up the case and turned my room fan on max, and Sandra is showing approximately the same temps. Everest shows the same as well.

 

[Shodan]

Sounds like AmishSlayers favourite problem, the power supply isn't powerfull enough, what size is it?

 

[Snakebyte]

Power supply is the 350W that came in the Shuttle.

What I want to know is how the temp can be the same with the case totally opened up and a big fan blowing on it...

 

[AmishSlayer]

Sounds like AmishSlayers favourite problem, the power supply isn't powerfull enough, what size is it?

I do love that problem...

My 420W psu that came with my case isn't cutting it for my rig:

AMD64 3200+
1gb pc3200
Leadtek 6800GT pci-e(HUGE heatsink on that badboy hogs even more power)

Maybe your 350W was able to handle the load barely before but it's getting old and dying or something.

 

[sinkoman]

Power supply is the 350W that came in the Shuttle.

What I want to know is how the temp can be the same with the case totally opened up and a big fan blowing on it...

It isn't that the psu is too small, generally, Shuttles are built extremely well and cover much more watts than their rated too.

It's that you BLEW it, as in BLOKEN. Q_onfused is having the same ish atm. It most likely went out from all those months of running nonstop.

And the temps are MUCH too high. Having a big fan blowing on everything isn't going to really help much if it's just creating heat pockets.

 

[Da-Muffin-Man]

Try keeping the case open.

Opening the case would actually cause the parts to heat up, as there would be less air circulation.:|

 

[Asus]

Most shuttles come with a 250 or 300watt PSU. A 350Watt should be enough. I would give the format a go and see if that fixes things.

 

[duffers20]

I would give the format a go and see if that fixes things.

Same here, also do as sinkoman suggested and run a memtest86 check on your ram. If it still craps out on you when you have installed windows on teh disc array, then try formatting again and using a single disk (Don't plug the other one in, power and IDE/SATA). If it does it after that, then try the other one! Could be a hd on its way out. My drive gave me BSOD's before it died.

 

[holydeadpenguins]

Blowhole.