Hey all,

Before I get into my issue, let me give a quick background on my Computer background. I am currently a high-level network security consultant / installer for a large firm in Atlanta Georgia. When it comes to networking, Security Hardware (Hardware based Firewalls, Intrusion Detection Systems, Custom AV monitoring, etc..) I consider myself a pro. Sadly to admit, when it comes to basic hardware on my hope laptops and desktops, I'd consider myself a "newbie".

About a week or so ago, my computer has been RANDOMLY freezing out of nowhere, forcing me to reboot AT LEAST every 45 minutes or so. It will freeze at the most random tasks including URL surfing, VPN connecting, or simple MSN Messenger Convos. My CPU usage, Memory, and software are totally up to par. I am 101% sure I have no malware, spyware, or any other type of malicious software, processes, or other files on this particular laptop. It's an older laptop I use strictly for remote consulting from home, and is locked down like fort knox. I have ran every Diagnostic tool I can think of, and everything comes back clean. I finally went to HP Help & Support, and ran an ICDE Internal Memory Scan, and it says failed: do a BIOS system hard disk test. I do the BIOS system hard disk test, and everything comes back perfect. One thinjg I do notice (via having speedfan running 24/7) is that my internal temps are semi-high:

HD: 107(F)
Temp1: 144(F)
Core: 122(F)

So my first though, sys-tempature is causing the freeze. Had a techie at work check fans, working fine. Temp is high, but not high enough to cause physical damage.

Any suggestions what are causing these CONSTANT freezes?

System Specs:
Time of this report: 7/17/2008, 23:04:56
Machine name: JOHN
Operating System: Windows XP Home Edition (5.1, Build 2600) Service Pack 3 (2600.xpsp.080413-2111)
Language: English (Regional Setting: English)
System Manufacturer: Hewlett-Packard
System Model: Pavilion ZV6100
BIOS: Ver 1.00PARTTBL
Processor: AMD Athlon(tm) 64 Processor 3200+, MMX, 3DNow, ~2.0GHz
Memory: 510MB RAM
Page File: 448MB used, 797MB available
Windows Dir: C:\WINDOWS
DirectX Version: DirectX 9.0c (4.09.0000.0904)
DxDiag Version: 5.03.2600.5512 32bit Unicode

-----------------------------------------------------------------

Memory type is DDR
Module Rows : 2
Levels : 2.5V
Parity : NO PARITY
Refresh Rate : 7.8us
Total Size : 256MB
Decoding DIMM #1
Memory type is DDR
Module Rows : 2
Levels : 2.5V
Parity : NO PARITY
Refresh Rate : 7.8us
Total Size : 256MB

__________________________________________________
Any help would be GREATLY appreciated.

Most freezes are heat related. 144F/62C is not too hot although it is hot. Assuming a fairly good load.

If you are idling at 60C + that is quite different.

You can test this further by running stress software.


Second suspect would be RAM.

MemTest
--------------------------------------------------
Try running MemTest.


HP failed your RAM: let's get a second opinion.




...

Hi, since your memmory test failed you could try replacing the RAM or at least running a decent diognostics tool for your RAM. however,

I would first consider getting a proper hd diagnostic tool (spinrite or something) and doing a full diagnostic check. The first thing to die on a laptop is its HD (and battery ofcourse) since the heat generated by notebooks (being so compact with all componets stuck on top of and next to eachother) is usually slowely roasting your HD. Most laptop experts would reccomend switching to new HD every 2 years on a laptop, to ensure maximum performance.

Actually laptops are severly flawed pieces of engineering with short lifespans. Using a laptop for anything that uses a lot of system resources (like gaming) also severely shortens the lifespan of a laptop (due too exessive heat generated from running at its maximum mostly). If the HD is fine i would suggest running a RAM diognostic tool (cant think of a name atm)

If your ram is fine try making a backup of all your important files to an external drive, and make a clean install of xp, but this is only worthwhile if you are sure the drive is not damaged, otherwise the same problem will start reoccuring after a number of days or weeks.