6 months ago I left a perfectly normally functioning machine at home to go travelling and now that I am back and using it again I have problems where by the computer freezes randomly. It was randomly restarting, then I did a re-format of the main HDD and the 3 partitions on it and reinstalled XP. Now it randomly freezes a few times a day and requires a restart.

How can I find and fix this problem?


Operating System
MS Windows XP Professional 32-bit SP3

CPU
Intel Core 2 Duo E6400 @ 2.13GHz 63 °C
Conroe 65nm Technology

RAM
4.0GB Single-Channel DDR2 @ 340MHz (5-5-5-13)

Motherboard
http://www.abit.com.tw/ AW9D-MAX (Intel i975-ICH7) (Socket 775)

Graphics
BenQ G2400W (1920x1200@60Hz)
BenQ G2400W (1920x1200@60Hz)
256MB Radeon X1300/X1550 Series (Sapphire/PCPartner)
256MB Radeon X1300/X1550 Series Secondary (Sapphire/PCPartner)
CrossFire Disabled

Hard Drives
245GB Western Digital WDC WD2500YS-01SHB0 (SATA) 40 °C
977GB SAMSUNG SAMSUNG HD103SJ (SATA) 38 °C

Optical Drives
TOSHIBA DVD-ROM SD-M1712

Audio
Realtek High Definition Audio

Code:

More CPU Details

CPU
Intel Core 2 Duo E6400

    Cores 2
    Threads 2
    Name Intel Core 2 Duo E6400
    Code Name Conroe
    Package Socket 775 LGA
    Technology 65nm
    Specification Intel(R) Core(TM)2 CPU 6400 @ 2.13GHz
    Family 6
    Extended Family 6
    Model F
    Extended Model F
    Stepping 6
    Revision B2
    Instructions MMX, SSE, SSE2, SSE3, SSSE3, Intel 64
    Virtualization Supported, Enabled
    Hyperthreading Not supported
    Bus Speed 272.1 MHz
    Rated Bus Speed 1088.3 MHz
    Stock Core Speed 2133 MHz
    Stock Bus Speed 266 MHz
    Average Temperature 63 °C

        Caches
        L1 Data Cache Size 2 x 32 KBytes
        L1 Instructions Cache Size 2 x 32 KBytes
        L2 Unified Cache Size 2048 KBytes
        Core 0
        Core Speed 1632.2 MHz
        Multiplier x 6.0
        Bus Speed 272.1 MHz
        Rated Bus Speed 1088.3 MHz
        Temperature 64 °C
        Thread 1
        APIC ID 0
        Core 1
        Core Speed 2176.3 MHz
        Multiplier x 8.0
        Bus Speed 272.1 MHz
        Rated Bus Speed 1088.3 MHz
        Temperature 62 °C
        Thread 1
        APIC ID 1

More Motherboard Details

Motherboard

    Manufacturer http://www.abit.com.tw/
    Model AW9D-MAX (Intel i975-ICH7)
    Chipset Vendor Intel
    Chipset Model i975X
    Chipset Revision C0
    Southbridge Vendor Intel
    Southbridge Model 82801GB (ICH7/R)
    Southbridge Revision A1

        BIOS

            Brand Phoenix Technologies, LTD
            Version 6.00 PG
            Date 09/15/2006

        PCI Data

            1. PCI Available

The problem with a format and reinstall is nothing is learned and they often don't fix the problem. This is why those are always last resort options.

Freezing, reboots, and sudden shutdowns can be caused by all sorts of things, which is why troubleshooting them is difficult. I would want to start by ensuring the interior is clean of heat trapping dust and dirt, all fans are spinning, and there's good front to back flow through the case. I note your "average" temperature is 63°C. I get nervous when I see CPU temps touch 60°C. For that to be your average, it must have been higher. Heat could be your problem.

I also would want to verify the power supply is working correctly - swapping in a known good one is often the easiest way.

6 months ago I left a perfectly normally functioning machine at home to go travelling

Do you mean it has been turned off for 6 months? Could have a nice spider web clogging the vents.

Originally Posted by Digerati

The problem with a format and reinstall is nothing is learned and they often don't fix the problem. This is why those are always last resort options.

Freezing, reboots, and sudden shutdowns can be caused by all sorts of things, which is why troubleshooting them is difficult. I would want to start by ensuring the interior is clean of heat trapping dust and dirt, all fans are spinning, and there's good front to back flow through the case. I note your "average" temperature is 63°C. I get nervous when I see CPU temps touch 60°C. For that to be your average, it must have been higher. Heat could be your problem.

I also would want to verify the power supply is working correctly - swapping in a known good one is often the easiest way.

Do you mean it has been turned off for 6 months? Could have a nice spider web clogging the vents.

Thanks for the reply!

I have cleaned the inside of the PC as well as possible, without compressed air though. I bought a new power supply a year or so ago.

My CPU usage is always around 16% and just opening Firefox puts it up to 60% for a short time, before dropping to 15-20%.

My PF Usage is 800MB right now, and normally quite high I feel.

Edit: When I load up some programs that I often use the PF Usage climbs to 1.03GB and CPU usage hangs around 20-25% after flying up when opened.

The temperature is 56 throughout, sometimes going to 58/59 max.

Does this tell us anything more?