Computer Freezing . Shuts off when start up . etc . etc. What's the problem?

[Mfoehrkolb]

I built this computer about 2-3 years ago. I honestly don't know how long, but around that time.

AMD Athlon 64 4000+
Asus A8N-SLI Mobo (Stupid Chip set fan is bad, tried removing it. IDK how it pops off though)
Corsair XMS Ram 1gig
XFX 7900gt
WD 80g SATA
WD 180g ???? (Got it for free from a cousins computer. It was larger than mine, and it just needed a reformat)

If computer is off:
I hit the power button, the computer goes on for a second, and shuts off. The longer the computer is left off, the longer it takes for it to actually boot up fully. My power went out and so i just left it off for like 3 days. I got in an argument with the wife, so i just walked over to the computer and began hitting the on button. It took me literally 45 minutes of back to back to back on/off...on/off... on/off... The power went out again about 2 days ago because of the 5 air conditioners we have running in the house and stupid old house wiring on 1 breaker. Took me 10 minutes of trying until i got mad, my wife walks over and tries. 2 times, it goes on for her. It's like something has to warm up in order to start working.

If computer is on:
I don't have much on my computer but pictures and music. When i try to open my documents and view my pictures. It only partially loads some of them. If i try and go deep into a bunch of folders, the computer freezes and can't do anything. If i try to view pictures in the folders with a lot (gigs) of pictures. It will freeze and i'll get the preview part. It will never load the pictures. Then if i try and view pictures out on my desktop, it will do the same. If i restart the computer, and just look at pictures that are on the desktop from recent, it loads them fine. It's just once i enter the "My Documents" of DEATH, it messes up.

I was reading up online, and im thinking it's my hard drive.

I also copied my entire hard drive over to that ghetto 180gig hard drive. To see if i can view the files that way. Still freezes up. So i don't know what it is. What is wrong? Can it be my OS? I will gladly copy everything over to that 180gig and reformat my WD 80gig.

The 80g is freezing when viewing My documents and folders with large amounts of data. I copied it over to other hard drive, it also froze. Are both hard drives going bad? Is it just the OS and time for reformat?

How do i get this dang fan off, so i can WD40 it!?

WD80gig = Running OS (Music, Pictures, Main Files, XP OS)
WD180gig = Running Nothing (Videos, Torrent Downloads, Torrent Uploads)

Everyone please give me your information on what you think is going on.

Here are a few pictures of what shiz looks like.

 

[Atomic Rooster]

It really sounds like you have a bad power supply. It can cause many of the problems you are experiencing due to a low power output.

To remove the bad chipset fan from your motherboard, you will have to first remove the board from the case. The fan is held on by plastic pins that need to be compressed from the bottom before they can be pushed out.

 

[amp27]

dont use dw40. that is a instant lube. ill dries up in a day. you waxed based oil or any low weight oil.

 

[Mfoehrkolb]

It really sounds like you have a bad power supply. It can cause many of the problems you are experiencing due to a low power output.

To remove the bad chipset fan from your motherboard, you will have to first remove the board from the case. The fan is held on by plastic pins that need to be compressed from the bottom before they can be pushed out.

--- I have only started recently getting these problems. Last couple of months really. I do have a low wattage power supply though. I think it rec. like 550+ for my computer set up and i have some POS Rosewill case w/ 350w (I THINK).... I just checked. Says 400w MAX on the side of the power supply. I got the case because it was cheap with 5 fans. Case works great IMO, just this problem i stated above.

How would i check to make sure it was the power supply? What options do i have?

(This is the current Temp. This room has no AC and is about 87f in here.)

dont use dw40. that is a instant lube. ill dries up in a day. you waxed based oil or any low weight oil.

--- I have some "Hoppe's 9" Lubricating Oil - High Viscosity and Penetration, for firearms, fishing reels and all mechanisms.

 

[Atomic Rooster]

The only real way to find out if it is the power suppky is to swap it out with a known good one.

 

[xxtavexx]

have u oc'd lately?

 

[Mfoehrkolb]

The only real way to find out if it is the power suppky is to swap it out with a known good one.

--- I don't have a extra one laying around haha.

have u oc'd lately?

--- I haven't done anything like that. I just put it together, and ran it how it is.

 

[Mfoehrkolb]

Well i was thinking it was my power supply.... I unplugged everything. All my fans, my 2nd hD, my minidisk reader thingy, all usb plugs, and both cd drives. all that was runnign was the main harddrive and video card... Still did it.

BUT..

Now that i had virtually no extra noise from my computer. I can hear my hard drive clicking when its booting up. I turn on the power, and then it begins to boot. AS SOON AS the hard drive makes that clicking sound. The computer shuts off. It took a couple times still to get it up and running, but what is the cause of the clicking? What does that mean really? If my hard drive is failing, if i transfer everything to a new hard drive that i would buy. Would that information be corrupted? Or still usable/viewable?

 

[Atomic Rooster]

from the sounds of that, you just may have a bad drive. You can go to the drive manufacturer's website and download a utility that will throughly test the drive. If it's still under warranty, you can apply for a replacement from the manufacturer. The only problem with that is you have to send them your drive first.

If you do buy a new drive the information you transfer from the old drive to the new should be fine as long as the old drive is still working properly.

 

[Mfoehrkolb]

from the sounds of that, you just may have a bad drive. You can go to the drive manufacturer's website and download a utility that will throughly test the drive. If it's still under warranty, you can apply for a replacement from the manufacturer. The only problem with that is you have to send them your drive first.

If you do buy a new drive the information you transfer from the old drive to the new should be fine as long as the old drive is still working properly.

--- I just downloaded the stuff from western digital to check my drives. Everything came out fine. I did the thorough check too, that took like 3 hours. Said everything was fine.... WTF do i do now. What can be the cause of all this ruckus? Can it be because my chipset fan isn't running at all? i really want to fix it, but im too lazy to rip my mobo out and redo everything... I guess i can do it now while im doing absolutely nothing.

GIVE ME SOME MORE IDEAS GUYS! IM STUMPED!