Monitor goes blank, pc locks...

[cloak777]

Oh great ones of this forum...I need your help. Every once in a while when I'm logged onto my pc (primarily when I'm surfing) my monitor goes blank and my pc locks. I get nothing when I hit Esc, the Num Lock light stays lit, moving the mouse does nothing and the three finger salute doesn't even work. I either have to power the pc off (when I'm frustrated and tired of it) or reset the box. Either way it's really getting on my nerves. I recently built the pc and thought everything was okay until recently. Here are the specs:

Gigabyte GA-8ISXT FA mobo
Pentium 4, 3.2 GHz Northwood H/T
Radeon 9700Pro
1GB Corsair memory (512x2)
Sound Blaster Audigy2
120GB SATA Seagate B.
Windows XP SP2

Let me know what you all think or if you need more info....Thanks!

[Cricket]

Have you scanned for viruses, trojans, spyware and hijackers yet?

Are all the drivers up to date?

How's your case cooling setup?

What brand is the power supply?

Do you have another video card you can swap in to test with?

Cricket

[ktkendall]

Sounds like it could be vid card/driver related.. Check event viewer system and applications and see if you can not get a clue there. Look for red X errors that coincide with the times of these lockups. You may at least get a clue what is causing it. Pretty frustrating to have such current hardware and have this kind of problem isn't it... Could also be something running in the backround that is causing conflicts.. Check device manager for conflicts, task manager to see what all is running that does not need to be, and msconfig utility to clear out some of the things that do not need to run all the time..

[cloak777]

Cricket,

I'm sure there's no viruses, trojans, spyware or hijackers because I installed antivirus software and had my firewall/router setup before I even attempted to put my box on the Internet.

I'll double check to see if all my drivers are up to date.

Cooling is good. 1 intake fan on the side of the box, factory Intel heatsink/fan, and blow hole on top of case. Ave. Processor Temp = 30 degrees.

Power supply: Aspire 350W (came with my case)

I'll get another video card to swap because I'm leaning toward that being my problem. A co-worker of mine said he was having issues with his Radeon 9700Pro. I'll ask him exactly what he was experiencing tomorrow at work.

Thanks!

[cloak777]

ktkendell,

Yes it is very frustrating to have my new box act like this, but with a little support I'm sure I'll be able to resolve this. I'm really leaning toward it being a vid card/driver issue, as you stated. I've checked the system and applications event logs and they are good. As far as I can tell I don't have any conflicts and task manager doesn't appear to show anything running that may be causing a problem. I looked at the msconfig utility and I'm not sure if I should use the normal, diagnostic, or selective startup. If startup, which selections? Before I got online tonight I powered on my pc (with my monitor off) came back powered my monitor on and it just set there blank. I waited for a while, moved the mouse and nothing. The Num Lock light wouldn't even come on...the system was hung! I had to hit reset, then it came up okay. I'd have to go with your first shot with it being something with the vid card/driver. I did just update the driver using the driver CD that came with the card, I'll reset my pc and see what happens.

Thanks!