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Things that can crash your PC |
| Written by Michael D. | |
Here are the main reasons your system could become unstable or even halt.
1. You have a hardware conflictEach device communicates with the other parts of your computer using intrerupt request signals. These are marked by IRQ numbers. FOr this to happen, each device must have an unique IRQ value. (ex: a floppy disk drive had the IRQ 6 normally). If you have many devices installed to your system, some of them can start share the same IRQ number. When you try to use both devices the same time, a crash can occur because Windows cannot handle the data. See your device status in Control Panel - System - Device Manager. Search for components with a yellow exclamation mark next to them. You can select the device and click Properties to see it's assigned IRQ. If it's written twice, two devices may be using it. A normal behavior in IRQ sharing is when an IRQ value is assigned to the device and to something called "IRQ holder for PCI steering". This not leads to system instability. To resolve an IRQ sharing problem, reinstall the device (hardware ans software). 2. BIOSThe Basic Input/Output System (or BIOS) is the chipset that controls what happens with your hardware. If you get it's settings mixed up, you can have undesired effects. The worst case scenario is when your computer won't start anymore. If this happens, you must reset the BIOS's memory (CMOS). TO do this, you need to reset a jumper on your motherboard. See your motherboard's manual for this. Resetting the jumper can wipe out a BIOS password too. If you computer starts but it doesn't act normally, enter the BIOS (press the key indicated for Setup at power on - usually Del or F2) and select the Default settings. These are the Factory settings that come by default with your motherboard. This kind of error occurs usually when you modify RAM parameters or video card settings. 3. Bad RAMThe RAM (random access memory) is a temporary memory used by your computer to make a fast data swap. Memory allocation problems lead usually to the Blue Screen of Death saying a Fatal Exception error occurred. This kind of errors appear when an application is not working properly and uses unaddressable zones of your RAM or if there is a hardware mismatch. Use RAM chips that are the same, in latency and frequency. Check for ECC and non-ECC and select all modules to have the same. Place the highest capacity module closest to the processor and always consult the motherboard's manual or vendor's website to see what's the compatible memory for your configuration. 4. Hard disksInformation is written continuously on your hard drive. This means that if you have a 10Mb file, it will occupy a 10Mb space, not 5 spaces of 2MB let's say. Now if you write a 10Mb file and then another 20Mb file and delete the first, you have a 10Mb gap of free space on your disk. You can write there a file smaller or equal to 10Mb, and no more. This is called disk fragmentation (free space is scattered across the disk). Once in a while, its good to do a disk defragmentation (not very often, it causes disk fatigue; every 6 month let's say it's ok for medium usage). To do this, go to Start - Programs - Accessories - System Tools - Disk Defragmenter. Another good tool is Scan Disk. You can find it in the same place. This will scan your hard drive for write errors, like cross linked files or bad sectors (physical damage). This operation can be done once in a month as a precaution. For both you should use Task Scheduler to start them at night; it's not a good idea to work on the computer while the hard drive is under maintenance. Another tip is to empty temporary folders from time to time and delete unneeded files. Try to keep at least 1GB of free space constantly on your hard drive for best performances. 5. Viruses and malwareViruses can make your system unstable or crash it. Try to update your antivirus (AND USE ONE) as often as possible; a daily update is the best of course if possible. Keep it enabled and do a full system scan once in a while as a precaution. Use spyware detection tools. Spyware usually slows down the computer until it becomes unusable in the worst case. Spyware uses your computer to send sensitive and private data to marketing companies or hackers. Also use a firewall to prevent applications from downloading data without your knowledge. A firewall also blocks network exploits that can crash your computer. As a security precaution, update your operating system. Use it's auto update feature. 6. OverheatingThe Central Processing Unit (CPU) is equipped with a fan that blows the heat away from it's radiator. The fan is a mechanical device that can fail due to fatigue. If this happens, your computer may restart often or crash. If you don't change the fan, it could finally harm the processor. This is your applicable to your power supply to. It's fan can fail too, but this is indeed more rare. Fans usually start making loud noise when their lifetime is about to end. 7. Power supplyBe careful what power supply you use with your computer. If it's overloaded (simply can't provide enough power for your components) the system will not start or halt and restart often. If this happens, get a higher capacity power supply. A power supply can fail due to a spike on the electrical distribution network. A spike happens when the voltage goes higher than it should be. The best precaution against these kind of events if using an UPS with a surge protector.
written by Jac Laz , July 22, 2007
Help please XP not loading on 2002 Dell 4400 dektop... Win Updated regularly No viruses Was playing AOL radio when it failed. No sign of fatigue or any stress. No other windows were open and no new downloads or software downloads for sometime. Win XP did reaappear after a day but quickly left when trying to go back to an earlier pre crash state, forget what that is called on XP... Screen goes to White letters on black background when first boot up.. "Missing or corrupt file..... System32Driverspci.sys" "Start Win SetUp use Set Up CD Select "r" at first screen" Can't get the CD to run? Pessing F2 brings up Dell 4400 set up.. bios? But nothing here to help me.... No repair wizard or anyway to laod the Win XP reinstallation CD which came with the Dell by the way is that the Win Set up CD mentioned above? Can you help?
written by Mihai Dobos , July 22, 2007
Hello The winntsystem32driverspci.sys missing or corrupted boot failure appears usually when you either catch a system32 virus or you shutdown your computer by powering it off directly (skipping the Shutdown operation). Other reasons may cause this as well. You can find a step by step guide on this problem on Microsoft Support, http://support.microsoft.com/default.aspx?scid=kb;en-us;319136 The article is based on an older Microsoft Windows 2000 problem, but works well on XP too. Hope this will fix your problem. Best regards.
written by sam , August 23, 2007
click www.hdrconline.com Your solution is there. good luck ! Note : sorry i'm in rush at the moment.
written by Robert Falck , September 15, 2007
Hello! I've got an Windows xp pro and my computer often crash and my programs lock down VERY often, maybe TOO often... I'm sick and tired of this and I wondred if you knew whats wrong? Is it that my cpu is too warm? or something.. cause, I'm a moviemaker and when I render movies my cpu works very hard.. and sometimes it just lockdown and restart.. IF you know whats wrong or think you know, E-Mail me please. This e-mail address is being protected from spam bots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it Thank you, From Robert Falck
written by Tyler S , October 11, 2007
Any answers? A few days ago i brought my computer to my buds house. Its fairly new.. i think it was purchased around 2003-2004, Windows XP. but when i plugged it in over there... The light on the power supply at the back was flashing.. as well as the light on the power-up button on the front. Would this indicate a power supply problem? Or maybe even a main board problem? any help would be appreciated.
written by Mihai Dobos , October 11, 2007
Hello If your power supply's light is flashing, it is best first to consult the technical manual of the vendor's power supply. It should contain some error codes and their description. The flashing could mean ESD damage; unplug everything from your PC ( power cord, monitor, keyboard, mouse) and press the power button for 5-10 seconds. Release it, connect everything back and try to start it. If that's the case, it should start normally now. This depends on the vendor, the model of the power supply, etc. It could mean anything from "System standby" to "Powersupply failure". Try researching for some info on the manufacturer's website. Mihai D.
written by Patrick , October 16, 2007
My pc has begun to crash at random times. It seems to only happen when I am online. It doesn't happen consistently. More often then not, it is when I am on myspace or click on an item to load a new page. The screen just goes to blank as if I hit the power button and restarted the PC. The PC boots up and then states (sometimes) that it is recovering from a fatal error. This is the error signature; BCCode : 100000d1 BCP1 : BACC8000 BCP2 : 00000002 BCP3 : 00000001 BCP4 : BAC8AE34 OSVer : 5_1_2600 SP : 2_0 Product : 256_1 Any ideas on what is causing this or how I can possibly fix this? Thanks for any help you can provide.
written by Rusty , November 12, 2007
My PC is having a really bad problem that I cant see how to fix. When I boot up my PC it would start making a really loud constant BEEEEEP sound. It would also just show a white and red Compaq screen. It wont load anything or do anything else. UNLESS!!! i put some kind of USB keyboard into the FRONT ONLY bottom USB plug. Then it will boot up and say. Could Not start up because the following files are missing or corrupted. system32 toskrnl.exe Please reinstall this the above file (something like that) So i figured that since i couldn't get into my computer to install this file i was just going to do a system restore. I put in the restore disk and on startup (f the keyboard is plugged in) it brings up. press 'R' to standard restore press 'f' to reformat ALL DATA WILL BE LOST!!! press 'q' to quit All seems good doesn't it? Well not quite, the only problem is the only plugs on my computer externally that work are the two USB on the front. my USB mouse will only light up when in the front, and same with my keyboard. When i use that the keyboard wont work. i hit keys and nothing is typed. Iv tried 3 different keyboards and one of them was a normal purple plug in the back, but that didn't work either. So i have do idea what to do. I forget what i was doing to cause this. I think i was just finishing another system restore and i found a new keyboard to use. My mouse started acting up and same with my keyboard. But every once in a while it would go back to normal. Now every time i turn on my computer this happens. Please I really need to fix this problem because I'm not sure i will be able to get a new computer until like another year. Think of not having one of life's needs the computer for a whole year!!!
written by Subarna , November 24, 2007
Why monitor blinks time to time? every an hour automatically changes monitor's resulation properties.after changing its properties i used to change resulation but it doesnot work. why can i fix it problem?
written by Yash , December 05, 2007
Its been just 7 months that i bought my computer and its the fourth time that it crash ? Can you please tell me what may be the main problems ?
written by mcfred villegas , March 09, 2008
i have a pc and i can't open it. i heard constant beeping from the mother board. i tried to transfer all the hardware to my other p4 mb and its all working.. what is the problem with my m-board.. thanks for your time.. mcfred
written by doriann , March 26, 2008
how do you clean a hard drive
written by Sharon , April 25, 2008
My computer crashes for no reason. I recently changed the power supply to take care of the issue but it still happens. When it shut down unexpectedly, I cannot return it on by the power button - it won't work. I have to disconnect the power and then the power button will work. Any ideas what this is? Do you need more help? Ask now!
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| Last Updated ( Wednesday, 04 July 2007 ) |
