PC Problems

[happynoodleboy]

My GFX card crashes under any heavy load. Everything else on my PC is acting up now... Getting missing dll messages etc. Done complete virus and spyware sweeps (Norton and AVG, spywareblaster, ad-aware & spybot S&D). Did a system restore to a few days ago... Initially it worked but then 10 mins later after doing nothing but browsing suddenly the dlls stopped working again.

Any geeks tell me if this is related to a duff GFX card? Sending it back monday anyway...

[the Adster]

Sounds a bit daft Noobs, but are the GFX drivers installed properly? You could try some form of detonator destroyer (provided you are using an nVidia card), reboot, then re-install the drivers. Otherwise, try a different GFX card if you have one to hand (I have one in my draw for emergencies, a GF2 MX. Not pretty, but it does the job).

[happynoodleboy]

Yes I tried uninstalling the gfx drivers and sticking new ones on. Also did a driver destroyer sweep. I'm slightly worried that may have deleted some of these dll's.... Its weird anyway because sometimes the dlls work sometimes they dont.... In safe mode they do anyway so theres always that.

Don't have a spare gfx card. Sending it back monday anyway.

[Kermit The Fr@g]

Check in msconfig (via RUN command) to see if theres anything odd starting up with XP. Also check wether crashes only appear when online applications are open. If the latter is the case then your prolly being hacked or youve got a faulty networkcard.

Good luck m8-ie

[Gazaridis]

Only way to tell if its a duff gfx card is to replace it. It could be a memory, cpu or even motherboard error. You could try checking your memory with www.memtest86.com and searching on google for a similar CPU checking utility. You may be able to find a similar thing for gfx card, I dont know. But tbh replacing it is the only way to know for sure. Got anyone you can borrow a card from?

[happynoodleboy]

Checked msconfig and there's nothing sus there. I keep it very minimal anyway. My adsl is always on- but add/remove is the first thing I check on boot and I still get same error report.

Re spare gfx card- I dont have one. I'm almost 100% sure it is duff. I'm just trying to figure out if this dll problem is related.

Kermit you dont think my mobo is fooked do you? My network card is built in... Oh please no no no....

[Kermit The Fr@g]

I'm not implying anything m8, just trying to rule out possibilities as per Gaza.
Can u give me word on wether it only happens when online applications are used (and i mean not the default connection, but actually using cs or msn or whatever that will open UDP/TCP ports)?
And is it intermittent or can u predict it....

[happynoodleboy]

I think I have found the problem. I uninstalled Norton but there seem to still be symantec processes running. Bastard mofo Norton fucktards! I terminated these processes and hey presto everything worked... fora bit... then it stopped again.

So how can I eradicate this symantec shite?

[Frank (odense)]

You should be able to remove all the symantec ¤%#" as you call it in MSCONFIG under the "start" page.

If it turns out Norton was not the problem anyways, then I would try look at the CPU heatsink - or at least check out the temperatures of various components. Earlier I had no problems... not until I installed a new Graphics card which really produced some heat. This resulted in many odd failures, but mainly freezes and auto-restarts. So I eventually found out it was the CPU overheating due to raised system temperature. After cleaning the heatsink problems dissapeared. Since then I have fixed my cooling and haven't had a single lock-up, odd error message or unintended restart.

It doesn't hurt to take a quick look if the heatsink is all full of dust or use some software to see if system temperature has become higher than usual.

[happynoodleboy]

I run Asus Cool & Quiet which manages the settings etc. Monitoring the temp now it's a cool 33 degrees which is fine. My case has 2 temp senses built in anyway and they are not showing any problems.

Unfortunately (or not) I dont think this is the problem...

[Gazaridis]

Uninstalling norton -

http://www.symantec.com/techsupp/consumer_cs.html

Look around there for specific uninstall instructions on your version of Norton whatever. Some versions need you to actually download programs to completely remove it. Make sure you choose the right version though. Good luck.

[happynoodleboy]

OK I just ran CSS and kept a temperature monitor running and recording. The CPU temp went from the 30s to about 45 when it crashed. This isnt high though and it CSS does put a heavy load on the cpu so I dont think this is out of the ordinary.

Must be the GFX card.

[imp]

The main problem with PC's are the PSU's try changing it and see if that helps your problem...
A bad PSU could do anything from crash your PC to windows error messages

If you can look for cheap ATX 2.0 good luck

[happynoodleboy]

Yeah I'm sending the PSU off along with the gfx card for checking.

Sad state of affairs. I bought a 400 Watt one because I was worryig about having enough power. MAX POWER!!! :D Oh well if it is that I may ask them if I can get a refund and upgrade to a 550 Watt PSU or something. Nothing like a bit of overkill!

[imp]

If you want a BETTER PSU then look at the ATX 2.0 or 2.2
550 Watt is not going to help...