Hi,

Sorry to be vague but I don't really know where to begin with this one.

Rather randomly my PC has taken to 'hanging'. When this happens, the screen 'distorts' diagonally, and any music which was playing (CD in drive, streamed radio etc) starts to make a horrid digital buzz through the speakers.

The only way out is to power of the PC, and restart it. Usually, on the first attempt the system won't restart (the BIOS screen doesn't come up and there's no beep).

I've checked the XP error logs in the event viewer, but there are no warnings in there.

Please advise what information I need to provide to help diagnose my problem.

Many thanks.

Please post back this scan:

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

The first suspects would be your graphics card or else your RAM.

MemTest is a good RAM tester.

Let us know if you need help setting it up.

Cheers Jephree,

Here is the result of the hardware scan.
-------------------------------------------------------

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 2210
Description x86 Family 15 Model 79 Stepping 2
Manufacturer AuthenticAMD
Name AMD Athlon(tm) 64 Processor 3500+


Memory (RAM):
PropertyValue
Bank Label Bank0/1
Capacity 536870912

Bank Label Bank2/3
Capacity 536870912

Total Memory Deteced in Hardware: ~1024 MB
Memory Reported to Operating System: 959MB

Disk Drives:
PropertyValue
Description Disk drive
Manufacturer (Standard disk drives)
Model Maxtor 6E040L0
Media Type Fixed hard disk media
Size 41101724160 (~38 GB)
Number of Partitions 1

Description Disk drive
Manufacturer (Standard disk drives)
Model EPSON Stylus Storage USB Device
Media Type
Number of Partitions


Installed Printers:
PropertyValue
Name PrimoPDF
Port Name PrimoPort:
Default False
Driver Name PrimoPDF

Name EPSON Stylus Photo R300 Series
Port Name USB001
Default True
Driver Name EPSON Stylus Photo R300 Series


Motherboard:
PropertyValue
Manufacturer Gigabyte Technology Co., Ltd.
Model
Name Base Board
Part Number
Product GA-M55PLUS-S3G
Serial Number Tue May 23 07:13:11 2006
Version x.x


BIOS:
PropertyValue
Manufacturer Award Software International, Inc.
Name Award Modular BIOS v6.00PG
Release Date 20060509000000.000000+000
Version GBT - 42302e31


Monitor:
PropertyValue
Description Default Monitor
Name Default Monitor
Screen Height 768
Screen Width 1024


Keyboard:
PropertyValue
Description Standard 101/102-Key or Microsoft Natural PS/2 Keyboard


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


Sound Card:
PropertyValue
Manufacturer Microsoft
Description Unimodem Half-Duplex Audio Device
Device ID MODEMWAVE\0\{9BF15B48-E014-4C70-AE8E-ED30B148B6DE}

Manufacturer Realtek
Description Realtek High Definition Audio
Device ID HDAUDIO\FUNC_01&VEN_10EC&DEV_0883&SUBSYS_1458E601& REV_1000\4&1AE47217&0&0001


Video Card:
PropertyValue
Adapter Compatibility NVIDIA
Adapter RAM 268435456
Description NVIDIA GeForce 6100
Installed Display Drivers nv4_disp.dll
Driver Version 6.14.10.8198
Driver Date 12/09/2005 19:06:00
Video Mode Description 1024 x 768 x 4294967296 colors


DirectX Installation:
PropertyValue


Modem:
PropertyValue
Model Intel(R) 536EP V.92 Modem
Name Intel(R) 536EP V.92 Modem


Network Adapters:
PropertyValue
Description MAC Bridge Miniport - Packet Scheduler Miniport
Description Packet Scheduler Miniport

External Ports:
PropertyValue
External Reference Designator
External Reference Designator
External Reference Designator
External Reference Designator
External Reference Designator
External Reference Designator
External Reference Designator
External Reference Designator Detected
External Reference Designator

Expansion Slots:
PropertyValue
Slot Designation PCI
Slot Designation PCI
Slot Designation PCI
Slot Designation PCI
Slot Designation PCI Express
-------------------------------------------------------

I'm just about to download MemTest too, I'll let you know the result.

Thanks once again.

I've just run MemTest, and it reported no errors.

However, would I be right in thinking it doesn't test the area of RAM which is reserved for my graphics adapter?

Thanks once again.

I would load new Graphics card drivers.

Download this and Save to your Desktop:

http://www.nvidia.com/object/winxp_169.21_whql.html

Then go to start > Control Panel > Add or Remove Programs

Select NVIDIA and Remove: Display Drivers Only

After rebooting click on the download on your Desktop to install the new drivers.

Apologies for the delayed reply.

I've done exactly as you suggested, and everything now works fine (and it's been really used hard too).

Thanks loads for your help.

N.

No problem. Thanks for the update! Glad all is well.

Let us know if we can help further in the future.