MicronPC Millenia Max Constantly Freezing -- Help Needed.

[IronMentality]

Hi. My MicronPC that's a little over three years old has been constantly freezing as of late. The motherboard in it could very well be the factor causing these problems. I am going to share my System Specifications, the history of my PC, in hopes of solving this problem.

This computer has given me a damn near heart attack, when it started to get bad (freezing multiple times while I was typing a research paper for Sociology).

Specs of Computer:

- 1.2 Ghz Athlon TBird with 200Mhz FSB PGA (Socket A)
- 2 128MB DDR SDRAM (256MB Total)
- Seagate Snowmass 60GB ATA100 7200 RPM Hard Drive
- NEC 12x/40x DVD-ROM Drive
- Sony 8x4x32x CD-RW Drive
- Creative Labs Annihilator 2 NVidia GeForce2 Ultra 64MB (DDR) Video Card
- Creative Labs Sound Blaster LIVE! Sound Card
- Modem 3Com V.90 PCI Modem (Condor)
- 3COM 3C905CX 10/100 Network Interface Card
- Tiger 250W Power Supply
- Aurora - Gigabyte 7DX Motherboard with Integrated Components (Millennia® Max XP)
- Aurora - Gigabyte 7DX Motherboard with Integrated Components (Millennia® Max XP) Additional Sound Card

The reason why I bolded the items in the list is due to the history of my PC.

About a year and a half into operation, one of my fans stopped working, and my system was suffering from overheating. On top of this, my original SeaGate Hard Drive completely burned out. UNDER WARRANTY, these items were replaced On-Site the next day.

As recent as a couple of weeks ago, the original Tiger 250W Power Supply burnt out. A local PC Repair Shop reinstalled a new PowerAge 300W Power Supply. (I've searched all over the site and the internet and have found no information on this PS).

They also replaced another fan that burnt out in the process. (I believe the system fan, the one that is encased in the back of the computer).

My computer when it came back to me, with the new PS, was VERY VERY VERY VERY VERY!! slow. The first thing I did was reformatted the hard drive and then reinstalled Windows XP Home Edition.

I noticed my computer started to freeze a lot. It mostly seemed to happen just as I was Word Processing. Then, it started to freeze while I used the internet, talked on AIM, and then evantually started to freeze as I played Starcraft: Brood War. (my fav PC game, and not exactly graphic intensive)

Anyways, I've been told and read that these are my possible problems:

- Originally when the PS burnt out, it ruined some parts on my motherboard
- Originally when the PS burnt out, it ruined some parts on my motherboard, making it sensitive to heat, and my computer is freezing due to overheating (NOTE: My CPU temp is around 120-130 degrees and my System Temp is around 75-80 degrees)
- My motherboard is shot, and needs to be replaced
- There is a item in my computer possibly draining more power than it should, causing a problem
- The Power Supply put into my computer by the local PC repair shop plainly is of horrible quality and should be replaced
- The Power Supply put into my computer by the local PC repair shop is of poor quality and despite replacement would not fix anything due to the motherboard being shot

I am trying to get my PC back up and running ASAP. If anyone can provide clear, precise help -- or useful information I would appreciate it. Thank you very much...

Brett

EDIT: I also forgot to add the SeaGate HD they replaced, I thought was the problem again. So I installed myself a Maxtor 80GB Hard Drive. It has a ATA/133 Hard Drive and my motherboard has a ATA/100 Controller. However, I doubt that is the problem causing all of this freezing.

[IronMentality]

If anyone has any advice, I'd greatly appreciate it.

[IronMentality]

Ah, no one has any advice?

[Cricket]

From what you described, it could be a number of things causing your problem...but with the original power supply going out on you it could have taken other components with it when it died. The chance that the motherboard or even the CPU now is faulty is very possible.

Are you still getting the one good BIOS beep when you boot up the computer?

Do you have access to other parts you can swap in to test with?

When the computer freezes, does it just lock up or are you getting any error messages? If it locks up, the only way to get out of it is by resetting the computer?

One thing you can check is the jumper setting on the hard drive. If you're using a 80 wire IDE cable, the drive jumper should be set to CS (cable select). The blue connector goes to the motherboard. The hard drive should be on the black connector and the grey connector is for a slave drive.

Cricket

[glc]

It could also be any one of your expansion cards. I've seen a bad card bring a computer to its knees - especially modems and network cards.

[IronMentality]

Originally Posted by Cricket From what you described, it could be a number of things causing your problem...but with the original power supply going out on you it could have taken other components with it when it died. The chance that the motherboard or even the CPU now is faulty is very possible. Are you still getting the one good BIOS beep when you boot up the computer? Do you have access to other parts you can swap in to test with? When the computer freezes, does it just lock up or are you getting any error messages? If it locks up, the only way to get out of it is by resetting the computer? One thing you can check is the jumper setting on the hard drive. If you're using a 80 wire IDE cable, the drive jumper should be set to CS (cable select). The blue connector goes to the motherboard. The hard drive should be on the black connector and the grey connector is for a slave drive. Cricket

Sometimes I get the one good BIOS beep and the computer loads Windows. I do not have access to other parts I can test it with. My computer just locks up with no error messages. The Hard Drive is a basic 3.5" that I believe is a IDE, ATA hard drive. It just plugs into the motherboard...

If you can elaborate any further based on this reply, I'd greatly appreciate it.

[IronMentality]

Originally Posted by glc It could also be any one of your expansion cards. I've seen a bad card bring a computer to its knees - especially modems and network cards.

The thing that makes no sense is, we had a new network card installed for our DSL, and it worked fine for 3 months beforehand. Then the PS blew out, and it got replaced -- and since then my computer continues to freeze more and more and more to the point it is useless.

Otherwise, all of my parts inside the computer are the same they've always been. And they did work fine for a little over the 3 year mark.

[Cricket]

It's going to be hard to figure out what part is bad without spare parts to swap in and out with. And guessing which part is the cause of the problems doesn't do you any good if the wrong part is replaced. Plus that shop didn't do you any favors by not troubleshooting your system more to find out why it was running slower.

Do you happen to know anyone with a similar computer or who can troubleshoot for you?

Cricket

[IronMentality]

Originally Posted by Cricket It's going to be hard to figure out what part is bad without spare parts to swap in and out with. And guessing which part is the cause of the problems doesn't do you any good if the wrong part is replaced. Plus that shop didn't do you any favors by not troubleshooting your system more to find out why it was running slower. Do you happen to know anyone with a similar computer or who can troubleshoot for you? Cricket

No, I do not. However, if I just took the parts out one by one and then kept booting my PC I'm sure I could also solve the problem? It would just be a big pain to do so...

[Cricket]

Originally Posted by IronMentality No, I do not. However, if I just took the parts out one by one and then kept booting my PC I'm sure I could also solve the problem? It would just be a big pain to do so...

Well, like I said...trying to guess which part is causing the problem is going to be hard without doing any kind of troubleshooting.

Cricket

[IronMentality]

Originally Posted by Cricket Well, like I said...trying to guess which part is causing the problem is going to be hard without doing any kind of troubleshooting. Cricket

Maybe I can just ship it off to Micron...