Unpredictable P4!!

[chickens1997]

Please can someone help. I have a P4 2.8Ghz,40G HDD, ASROCK motherboard, 512Mb RAM, GE Force 5200, O/S=XP Pro)SP2. All drivers are up to date,and XP updates are OK. My machine will hang any time it fancies! Its not cooling (i have a desk fan blowing on it, CPU=39deg, MotherBoard=30deg, HDD=31 degrees). It will hang from startup, it will hang when viewing pics, when typing in word, when using photoshop. Has never hung in a game mind you (ie DOOM3, Splinter Cell, MSFlight Sim) Sometimes it wont hang, somedays it will do it 10 times in a row. No error messages. Have tested HDD with seagate tools, all OK, I have tested memory using Windows Mem Diagnostics, have ran anti spyware etc, have Norton AV, all clear there. Have dusted out the PSU, MB and chassis, reconnected all leads. XP tests fine with no problems. I have about 330Mb of available memory free. And still it hangs,why??? A few months back our house was struck by lightening, although the PC was not plugged in, my screen was damaged by electro-magnetism and I had my graphics card replaced. Please can someone help me! I am desperate. Its made worse by the fact we got this PC from my girlfriends brother so we have some friction in this house!!! Thanks in advance
James

 

[Techy Geek]

I can't help you much, but you said you were desperate.
I had pretty much the same problem, the computer was slow, and hung as well. I suggest backing up all files (that you need, you don't want to transport a virus if there is one) format the harddrive and reinstall windows. The temps are fine and you seem to have done some good checking to make sure it isnt anything else. Mebbe the hard drive or mobo is broken in a way that you wont notice, I dunno

 

[lhuser]

ASRock mobos suck. There's your problem. These build are ASUS srap and they build ASRock with it. ASRock aren't well designed to handle games...Is yours a P4S61 with a chipset of SIS 661FX?

 

[Giancarlo]

Now, now, Asus is a good motherboard series. Asrock is a budget line typically intended for budget computers. However, my dad has one in a third computer in his house and it has operated pretty well (just for the guest room).

He mentioned that lightning struck his house.. it could of possibly caused minor/moderate damage to other components.

 

[Osak]

More ram will help to with thee photoshop and other demanding programs i suggest anoutheer 512 stick.

 

[DarkBlade1]

Actually, this could be a BIG problem. The primary SSE instruction sets may be corrupted in the L1 Cache.. If that is the case, the P4 may be beyond repair.... however, you can purge the cache on the L1 and see it fixes it.

REMINDER TO YOU AND EVERYONE:

This is not something you do anytime you like. This can cause problems if not done correctly. Do not do this for fun. Now, the Intel command code is 101000111000111010. To activate the L1 purge, in the BIOS, hold down CRTL, ALT, A, and then hit enter once while holding those and dont let go. then type in that Intel purge command. Then hit enter again, and release the ctrl alt and A buttons. Then reboot. If that doesnt fix it, it may be something else.

ONCE AGAIN, this is not for everyone to do. This can cause serious damage if even one key is pressed incorrectly, so please highlight and copy and paste and print my instructions and follow them to the letter. I am NOT liable for damage caused if you mess this up.

 

[Giancarlo]

Now that's a bit overstating what it could be.. it could be physical damage done to other components after the lightening strike. It is quite a jump to say the primary SSE instruction sets are corrupted.

 

[DarkBlade1]

Actually, that is the normal cause of what he is talking about. It is either that, or the volt controller is corrupted on the motherboard. The SSE instruction sets are not used in games for the MOST PART, which would explain why it doesn't hang in games. However, the interesting tid bit here is that the SSE instruction sets may not be corrupted, but rather "stucked" (and no that isnt a typo, its geeky term). When ISs get stucked, they get literally lodged into the transistor pack nearest the L1 Cache. Stange phenomena, but what I stated above will fix it.

 

[Giancarlo]

How can you say will fix it? My friend has a Intel computer that hanged for no reason but not in games, and I changed the ram and it fixed it. I don't think it is right that you say "will", because there could be numerous other possibilities. The interesting thing is this: You don't know about what the problem is.

 

[DarkBlade1]

I have a good idea of what the problem is Giancarlo. Why instead of attacking my idea that is simple to fix, give your own idea on what to do... I mean, try not cutting other people down for once and state what you think. Of course I don't know the problem, but at least I am trying my VERY BEST to give possible solutions to issues while you just degrade my ideas rather then setting up and voicing your own ideas on how to solve the problem. Please....