I have an Hp a813w. Since I have opened the box, i have had this problem. (before and after the pc was connected to the internet.)
I will turn on the computer and browse search or what ever i am doing nothing specific has to be happening. About an hour after start up it freezes and if music is playing it will stick on what ever note the music is on. then it will unfreeze then freeze multiple times until the computer is restarted then process restarts also. but when it freezes i lose all audio after the initial freeze up. I have all updates that are available. I have norton antivirus and spysubtract. all are ran as soo as the computer is started. HP has been of no help to me. They just keep teling me to reformat the harddrive with the ten cd's they sent me. This still does not work. If anymore info is needed please advise.
Thank you in advance.
(not very computer literate but know basics.)

Just to clarify this is a brand new computer that never worked properly?

What are the terms of your warranty?

To sum up my rant this is HP's problem: not yours! I would demand a new computer that works! That being said you can search for errors and troubleshoot but you shouldn't have to.

Are you saying that you reinstalled XP and the issue is the same? If so it is most likely a hardware problem.

HP Pavilion a813w Desktop PC

Also: look in your Event viewer: rt. click My Computer then click Manage then Event Viewer.
Or: Administrative Tools/Event Viewer or Start/Run/ eventvwr
Open the system as well as the application tabs & look for X errors. Click error line for details.
Post back the source & event id & Description especially of errors that seem to coincide with this issue.
Also check the Information lines that might coincide with this issue.

How to view and manage event logs in Event Viewer in Windows XP

Also view your Error Log via:
[1] Start Menu
[2] Help and Support
[3] Pick a Task
[4] Tools
[5] Advanced System Information
[6] View the Error Log

I have windows xp home edition with service pack 2. I have had problems with it since it came out of the box that hp cannot fix. My main concern is that when using the computer for about 15 minutes it starts freezing periodically. the only thing to stop the sporadic freezing is to restart the computer, and that only works for another 15 minutes. I have seached this forum and found out how to check my event viewer. I have found that when the computer freezes these errors are shown:

ERROR event 12 plug and play manager The device 'IDE - DVD Rom 6116 (IDE\CDROM IDE - DVD_Rom_6116________________hd22____\5&d21a16f&0&0 .1.0) Disappears from the system without first being prepared for removal.

Error Event 12 plug and play manager The device 'Lite-On DVDRW SOHW - 1633s (IDE\CDROM LiteON_DVDRW_SOHW-1633s______________BPSA_____\5&D21a16f&0&0.0.0) Disappears from the system without first being prepared for removal.

Error CDRom - The driver detected a controller error on \Devise\CDRom0

Error Atapi - The Device \Device\IDE\IDE port0, is not ready for access yet

I also lose all audio after the first freeze up.

I have reformatted the hardrive, I have removed and reinstalled drivers. I have done everything I know of doing.

Please help me HP could not even fix this problem. I have tried returning the computer but they send it back without fixing anything. Please don't tell me to send the computer back casue it won't work and it is well out of warranty at this point.

P.S. Never buy an HP

Please post back this scan for that computer:

http://www.d-a-l.com/hardware-scan.php

I see that is has onboard graphics unless you added a PCI_E card.

It is unclear how much RAM was included.

Is your hard drive a SATA drive?

Check your Device Manager for IDE ATA/ATAPI controllers. Any yellow !

As a first test I would remove the CD/DVD drive cable from the motherboard.

Remove all RAM but one stick in the first slot.

Remove the PCI_E graphics card if you added or have one.

Run with the case open and monitor all fans.

If you are unfamiliar working inside computers please read this:

ESD - What can I do to avoid damage

it does have on board grafics. nothing has been added to this computer.
It has 504 MB of ram
I'm not sure what sata meens but it is a maxtor 6y160m0
There is no yellow in the device manager.
When I looked into my device manager for event viewer it did state that one of the errors could be casued by a faulty cable that connects the device to the mother board. All of the fans are operating properly. Have ran with case open with a box fan running on it jsut to verify it wasn't overheating and found that all my fans are operating as they shoudl to my knowledge at least.

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

OS Information:
PropertyValue
OS Name Microsoft Windows XP Home Edition|C:\WINDOWS|\Device\Harddisk0\Partition1
Service Pack 2.0
OS Manufacturer Microsoft Corporation
Windows Directory C:\WINDOWS


Processor:
PropertyValue
Current Clock Speed 2800
Description x86 Family 15 Model 4 Stepping 1
Manufacturer GenuineIntel
Name Intel(R) Pentium(R) 4 CPU 2.80GHz

Current Clock Speed 2800
Description x86 Family 15 Model 4 Stepping 1
Manufacturer GenuineIntel
Name Intel(R) Pentium(R) 4 CPU 2.80GHz


Memory (RAM):
PropertyValue
Bank Label BANK1
Capacity 268435456

Bank Label BANK3
Capacity 268435456

Total Memory Deteced in Hardware: ~512 MB
Memory Reported to Operating System: 503MB

Disk Drives:
PropertyValue
Description Disk drive
Manufacturer (Standard disk drives)
Model Maxtor 6Y160M0
Media Type Fixed hard disk media
Size 160038789120 (~149 GB)
Number of Partitions 2

Description Disk drive
Manufacturer (Standard disk drives)
Model Generic USB CF Reader USB Device
Media Type
Number of Partitions

Description Disk drive
Manufacturer (Standard disk drives)
Model Generic USB MS Reader USB Device
Media Type
Number of Partitions

Description Disk drive
Manufacturer (Standard disk drives)
Model Generic USB SD Reader USB Device
Media Type
Number of Partitions

Description Disk drive
Manufacturer (Standard disk drives)
Model Generic USB SM Reader USB Device
Media Type
Number of Partitions


Installed Printers:
PropertyValue
Name Microsoft Office Document Image Writer
Port Name Microsoft Document Imaging Writer Port:
Default False
Driver Name Microsoft Office Document Image Writer Driver

Name hp psc 1310 series
Port Name USB001
Default True
Driver Name hp psc 1310 series

Name Fax
Port Name SHRFAX:
Default False
Driver Name Microsoft Shared Fax Driver


Motherboard:
PropertyValue
Manufacturer ASUSTeK Computer INC.
Model
Name Base Board
Part Number
Product Grouper
Serial Number X312345678
Version 1.xx


BIOS:
PropertyValue
Manufacturer American Megatrends Inc.
Name BIOS Date: 09/06/05 17:46:49 Ver: 08.00.10
Release Date 20050906000000.000000+000
Version A M I - 9000506


Monitor:
PropertyValue
Description Plug and Play Monitor
Name Plug and Play Monitor
Screen Height 1024
Screen Width 1280


Keyboard:
PropertyValue
Description HP PS2 Keyboard (2K - 3)


Pointing Device:
PropertyValue
Manufacturer Microsoft
Name Microsoft PS/2 Mouse


Sound Card:
PropertyValue
Manufacturer Realtek
Description Realtek High Definition Audio
Device ID HDAUDIO\FUNC_01&VEN_10EC&DEV_0880&SUBSYS_08800000& REV_0905\4&13C70683&0&0001


Video Card:
PropertyValue
Adapter Compatibility Intel Corporation
Adapter RAM 134217728
Description Intel(R) 82915G/GV/910GL Express Chipset Family
Installed Display Drivers ialmrnt5.dll
Driver Version 6.14.10.3889
Driver Date 8/21/2004 6:26:00 AM
Video Mode Description 1280 x 1024 x 4294967296 colors


DirectX Installation:
PropertyValue
Version 6.03.01.0148


Modem:
PropertyValue
Model Agere Systems PCI Soft Modem
Name Agere Systems PCI Soft Modem


Network Adapters:
PropertyValue
Description Realtek RTL8139/810x Family Fast Ethernet NIC - Packet Scheduler Miniport
Description RAS Async Adapter
Description Packet Scheduler Miniport
Description WAN Miniport (L2TP)
Description WAN Miniport (PPTP)
Description WAN Miniport (PPPOE)
Description Direct Parallel
Description WAN Miniport (IP)
Description Packet Scheduler Miniport
Description 1394 Net Adapter

External Ports:
PropertyValue
External Reference Designator PS2Mouse
External Reference Designator Keyboard
External Reference Designator USB1
External Reference Designator USB2
External Reference Designator USB3
External Reference Designator USB4
External Reference Designator USB5
External Reference Designator USB6
External Reference Designator
External Reference Designator
External Reference Designator
External Reference Designator
External Reference Designator
External Reference Designator
External Reference Designator
External Reference Designator

Expansion Slots:
PropertyValue
Slot Designation PCIEX16
Slot Designation PCI1
Slot Designation PCI2
Slot Designation PCI3/PCIEX1
-------------------------------------------------------

The upper pointer points to the IDE/ATA slot. Are both your hard drive and DVD/CD drive on this cable?

The lower slots are SATA/RAID.



I would try replacing the cable. Any computer or office supply will have them for a few dollars.

If your hard drive and DVD/CD are on the same cable and a new cable doesn't work try removing the DVD/CD connection.

Also remove all (if any) USB drives during this testing process.

Do you know what this cable is called or should I remove it and take it to best buy or somethin. If not best buy where would be the best place. I am not sure if the hardrive and the dvd drive are both on this cable. I won't be able to let you know unless I tear it apart, then I wouldn't be able to tell you casue this is the only computer that i have personal access to. I am going to try what you said and also replace the cable. I will report back when the computer is up and running again. (hopefully)

On the left is an IDE/ATA ribbon cable. On the right is a SATA cable.



You are simply opening the case (not tearing it apart).

Please read the following as to working inside the case:

ESD - What can I do to avoid damage


See Step 3: Open the case:

http://h10025.www1.hp.com/ewfrf/wc/d...cname=bph03886

And Best Buy should have these yes.

ok i replaced the ribbon cable. Everything was going fine until today. I think this is acctually a separte issue. When I go to play any type of video the computer freezes and will not unfreeze until the computer is rebooted. once it is rebooted it works perfectly until a video is tried to play. When i first started it today about 6:00 today there was a message that stated that the system had recovered from a serious error. It stated to try and update my intel video driver. I am going to try that first but do you think it is my video card going bad. If so could you point me in the right direction on which one to get. I am not a gamer at all if that helps any. Just a big fan of ebaums world and their video section. Thanks again for your help.