Windows ME freezes

[Leftyizme]

I am having trouble with my pc freezing up, I am not sure if the problem is in the mobo, the processor, or my video card. I have a Delhi III mobo,AMD K6-2 500mhz processor,N-videa mx400 64mb pci video card,2-128mb pc133 DIMMS,120GB Maxtor 7200rpm hard drive,24x12x48 CDRW,16x DVD,10/100 pci lan,56k v.90 isa modem, new 300w power supply,Logitech Wingman Interceptor joystick,Lexmark X75 usb printer,wireless keyboard and mouse. I am running Windows ME Upgrade version (fully updated) From a clean install.It was fine for 2 months, I have ran PC Bug Doctor,EZ Trust Armor Antivirus,Ad Aware,& Spybot S&D and have found no problems. It freezes at random, Sometimes at startup, sometimes after an hour or two. The image stays on the monitor, all the tower fans stay running, the cd & dvd drives will open and close,but the mouse,keyboard,and the power switch all cease. I have to turn the tower off by turning the surge protector off, I found that the fan on the video card wasn't working, I don't know for how long, It was installed on 03/02/04, The dielectric grease under the heat sink had melted and ran into the fan, gumming it up. I removed the fan and cleaned it with electronic cleaner and it is working normally now. I have 2 case fans, 1 fan on the processor, 1 on the video card,& 1 in the power supply. Any help would be great as I'm stumped. Lefty

[Strider]

Hi Lefty,
This may be tedious, but... disconnect or remove everything except the video card, one stick of RAM, and the keyboard and see if your computer freezes. If not, then add one thing at a time and retest.
Did you replace the thermal paste under the video card heatsink?
HTH,

[Leftyizme]

Hi Strider, O.K., here's the deal. I rebuilt this thing from scratch after my power supply (200w) crapped out, It originally was a Cyrix MII/333 with a 6.4GB drive and 32mb ram, 4mb video onboard,a single 40x cd rom,and in a beatup old E-tower case. I bought a CDRW and a DVD drive from E-bay, the case, an ATX mid-tower, was one I had lying around, a fresh coat of black spray-paint made it like new again, the processor (500mhz),floppy,cables,10/100 lan card,56k modem,& fans (3) came from donor towers I had. The memory (256mb) I purchased from Crucial online, and the power supply (300w), hard drive (120GB), & video card (64mb) I bought new from Comp USA.The 17in monitor I found at the thrift store for $20.00 and it was in perfect shape. I assembled it on 03/02/04. Total outlay was less than $200.00, and the difference was amazing!!. In this one, the video card mounts with the fan/heatsink mounted upside down, the pci slots are vertical. When it got hot, apparently the compound they used melted enough to run through the mounting screws for the fan and got into the motor. When it first started freezing up, I first thought it may be an overheating issue and checked all the fans while it was turned on. I found the video card fan wasn't running and removed the card and carefully removed the fan. I cleaned it with electronic cleaner and let it dry overnight then I applied a drop of 3 in 1 oil to it and re-installed it with new compound (thicker, and a little less of it). So far it is doing O.K., I was able to use it last night for about 2 hours of gaming without a lockup, but a couple of times the video was choppy. The fan still doesn't sound right though, speeds up and down, so I plan on replacing the whole video card this weekend. As I think this one may still have been damaged. If it still acts up then, I'll have to dig a little deeper for the problem.Thanks again, Lefty

[Strider]

Hey Lefty, I think you're on the right track. The video card would be the first suspect, since it may have taken some damage from heat.
Sounds like you built a nice system for a great price.

[Leftyizme]

Strider, Last night, just out of curiosity, I removed the video card and re enabled the onboard video (ati rage IIc 4mb) and hooked my monitor to it. then I left the computer on all night and all day today while I was at work. When I got home it was still happily humming along (I had left a DVD playing in endless loop mode to tax the system). So it looks like the video card is the culprit for sure. Hopefully I can get it replaced this weekend. Until then I'll just have to use it for web surfing. Thanks, Lefty

[Leftyizme]

I thought I would post a last update on my problem with the computer freezing up. I replaced the overheated video card (free courtesy of Walmart:pleased: ), and thougt I had it solved. Alas, the problem remained. A friend of mine came over and after noting the AMD K6 processor, suggested I raise the core voltage by .1v-.2v , he said that the K6 was known to be slightly unstable at the recommended 2.2v and that it should be more stable at the higher setting. Well, I tried it and so far it hasn't froze in several days, not even once!!:D , as a "side benefit" the higher voltage made my NFS-Porshe Unleashed game much smoother! Apparently the processor was struggling under the lower voltage and by raising it, it is better able to process the commands with far less strain. Thanks again, Lefty

[Strider]

Thanks for the follow-up, Leftyizme. We all learn when you tell us what works.