Win 98 Freezes

[OldTimer]

I have a problem of system freeze up occuring more and more often. Am running Win98 SE on a Pentium III with 256 ram. I have to reboot to run. What is the problem and or cure??

[Dark Nova]

dose it reboot in safe-mode?, its probebly the PSU dying

[OldTimer]

No it reboots in normal mode and runs fine for a short time - maybe a few hours- and then freezes.

[Dark Nova]

i meant have you tried it in safe-mode and dose it re-boot there

[GaryRouth]

Hi all

If the system runs fine in Safe Mode - you can run programs for a long while with no freeze-ups - that will point to a software problem (this is why Dark Nova pointed you in this direction). You can run something that takes a long time, like ScanDisk "thorough", to test this out. To get into Safe Mode, start tapping the F8 key while your system is first powering on.

If the system freezes even when in Safe Mode, you likely have a hardware problem. The two most common culprits for system's hanging up are overheating & failing power supplies.

To test for overheating, you could:
1) Shutdown Windows, power off and unplug the computer.
2) Open the case, and leave it open.
3) Plug the power cord back in, and power on.
4) Check to see if the cpu fan is spinning or not. [or if it's covered in an avalanche of dust ]
5) While the system is first powering on, enter Setup by pressing the key mentioned in a banner message, such as "Press F1 (or F2, F10, or DEL, etc.) to Enter Setup". Look for a Bios menu such as "PC Health" or "Hardware Monitor" -- and check the temperatures and voltages listed there. A Google search will bring you the normal temp values for your processor. The normal voltage ranges are usually listed there in the Bios screen. *note* - most "OEM" computers (famous brand-name PCs, like Dells, IBMs, Gateways, etc) do not have the temp/voltage information in their Bios screens.
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If the cpu fan isn't spinning, it likely needs to be replaced (but you can first check that it's plugged in properly). If any other system fans aren't spinning, you may wish to replace them as well.

If you suspect the power supply, see if an aquaintance has an extra (of suitable wattage) that you can borrow to test. **IF your computer is a DELL - call Dell first before trying any other power supplies - one some models they've used proprietary connectors, and you must use Dell power supplies in those systems**. If you computer uses industry-standard connectors, about $25 can bring you a reasonably priced Sparkle supply that would do (depending on how much is in your system, a nice 300wt. model should cover it).

I wouldn't spend too much money on parts, though - some are getting rare & expensive, while newer machines currently in production offer more power for less cost.
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If it turns out to be software, do you have a Recovery Disk - or a Win98se full-version installation disk?

This should keep you busy for a little bit!
. . . Gary

[OldTimer]

Many thanx for the advice- I have some work to do. i'll give you a report

[glc]

It can also be defective ram or hard drive - and you can run diagnostics on both of those.

[GaryRouth]

Hi again

. . . glc brings up a good point - about also testing the memory & hard drive. If you have a Dell, you can boot to and use the Dell diagnostics. Most any machine can use MemTest86 to test the memory ( http://www.memtest.org) --- and the hard disk diagnostics from the hard disk manufacturer's website [you'd look for the drive information in either Device Manager - in the Control Panel's "System" applet, or actually look at the sticker information on the drive itself]. Maxtors use Powermax; Western Digitals use DataLifeGuard, Seagates use SeaTools, etc. . .

. . . Gary

[glc]

The Hitachi Drive Fitness Test (www.hgst.com) can test any brand drive if you can't figure out what brand you have.

[OldTimer]

The drive and memory checked out okay. When I checked out the fans I found out the cabinet fan was dead and the cabinet was load with dust including the cpu fan. Thank you all for the help.