I have had issues as of late with the computer. It's a 1.9 AMD Athlon that's about five years old. Recently I have had issues with sudden restarts, etc. Blue screens, etc. Even times when the computer would freeze the power would have to be unpluiged to shut the computer down. The restart button and the off button would not respond. I keep a pretty cleen computer and run Bit Defender. I tested the memory with the Microsoft memory tool. Both sticks of 256 memory came up clean.

So I figured I would just rebuild the computer and start clean. I could not get through copying the XP files for the install without a freeze. I swapped drives and still had the issue. So I thought maybe other hardware was a issue and removed everything but my Radeon vid card and the CD drive that worked better. I also tried removing one stick of memory at a time. I did at that point get to where the install files copied and loaded XP. But would eventually freeze again. So ai got no where. The last blue screen error I had actually suggested replacing the video adapter. So I ordered one and never did get it to start up. I attached the power connector to it and just got no where.

So my question is: Could all of these issues be related to the power supply or could it be the mother board has just gone bad?

The power supply is bout 1.5yrs old but is a little noisy. Not quite like bearings gone bad but noisy. Once in a while you hear a loud bird chirp out of it. But it's running including fan, etc.

Any help would be appreciated.

Thanks!

A faulty PSU can cause all sorts of apparently random issues.

Because of your RAM reference I would try MemTest which is a bit stronger than the Microsoft version:

MemTest
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Try running MemTest.

Next I would test your PSU with a tester such as this:

PSU Tester

........................................

FrozenCPU ATX 2.0 Ultimate LCD Power Supply Tester (20/24 pin ATX, SATA, P4, Xeon, PCI-E, Floppy, 4 pin) - FrozenCPU.com


If you receive future errors please post them verbatim as that makes them easily searchable.

This is certainly a hardware issue. PSU & RAM are the first suspects.

That helped Jephree. I went to load the memtest cd I made and in the process of starting up the power supply gave up. So I'm assuming that's the issue. It was a UIltra 330. I have had Antec in the past. Is that considered to be a decent brand these days?

Again thanks for all the help over the last week. Hardware issues are hell for the layman.
Dennis

I only have personal experience with Thermaltake and Enermax but Antec is certainly a recognized brand.

I would suggest allowing for further upgrades at least a 400 Watt if not 500 Watt model.

Especially if you envision upgrading your graphics card and hard drives.

Here is a general Newegg search for 400 < 500 W:

Newegg.com - Computer Parts, PC Components, Laptop Computers, Digital Cameras and more!

Jephrey, I picked up a Antech 430 hooked it up, installed the new video card and everything fireed up okay. When installing windoiws I still get hungup when copying files. I did try memtest and memory checks out okay. So with using a clean windows disk, a new power supply, and a new vid card, and a good cd rom, I guess that means I probably have either a processor or mother board problem right?

Also one time the computer hung up when installing windows the restart button would not work. Also the off button would not work. I had to shut the power to the computer to break the freeze.

So does all this point to junking the board and processor and starting over with a new computer?

Thanks, Dennis

So you still have the basic same power issues? That is strange.

What is the make and model of the motherboard? Does it have the latest BIOS?

What is the make and model of the hard drive. The manufacturer will have a diagnostic you can run to test that.

The board is a Gigabyte GA-7DXE. I have not flashed the BIOS in many years. I'll see if the motherboard disk has a app for this. The harddrive is less than a year old and is a Seagate Baracuda 7200. I believe it's 250GB. I'll look on their website for a hard drive test as well.

I through I would borrow the keyboard and mouse from this computer and give it one more try. It's the last two pieces of hardware not replaced.

Thanks for the help.

As far as updating the bios that may be an issue if Windows is not running right?
I have found the Sea Tolls diagnostic tool. I'll download it and give it try.