System crash while posting in mod comment page.

[Aliera Caine]

@OakRain: Have you checked your task manager for any processes that might be causing spikes in your CPU usage? I myself had to disable a few processes from the boot menu because they were causing my computer to freeze up. I had just installed a new program for a Seagate external hard drive, and I theorize that it was in competition with my firewall/virus protection. I can't know for certain. All I do know is that my problems went away when I disabled them from the boot set up. (Before that, I used task manager to end process, which also worked long enough for me to identify the troublesome programs.) Don't know if this helps, but do let us know how you fare with your own computer detective work.

[blove]

I recently had a couple of dozen tabs opened on an unmentionable website that had some flash(y) banners going and when I looked down my CPU usage was at 70%. My system will run my memory at 1600MHz+ all day long on any torture test. But load up one bad Flash movie and it hardlocks. So much for XMP profiles. So what I am saying is that maybe you had something else running in another tab?

 

On another occasion, a forgotten website I visited had a hidden BitCoin miner script with a really nice multi-threaded implementation...8threads@4GHZ+==!@#$. That site made the HOSTS file.

[OakRain]

Aliera Caine - I keep Task Manager on task bar and it is one of the first things I check when things go wrong - I haven't spotted any thing out of the ordinary yet but I shall keep a closer eye on it.No new programs installed for a couple of weeks.The only new content on my system would be the Hearthfires download and perhaps a couple of dozen mod files downloaded and placed in an internal HDD (from Nexus - I don't get mods any where else).Not forgetting some windows updates as they become available.There is a BIOS update available for my motherboard but I have not upgraded.

 

blove - no other tabs open on other sites at the time of crashes.

 

 

Thanks for the suggestions - I shall see how the system behaves today....

[bben46]

Most likely cause of complete powerdown is a power supply failing. However any thing (hardware) that causes the +5volts to drop can cause the computer to reset.

 

FIRST: power the system down, unplug it - open the case and look to see if there is dust clogging anything inside. look especially at the heatsink and fan on the processor. the heatsink and fans on the video card, the fans and air intake on the power supply - use LOW pressure air (less than 50 psi/350 kPa) and a narrow paint brush to clean out any dust - before replacing the cover make sure all of the fans are working properly.

 

If that doesn't work, unplug the power again, unplug each board and clean the socket with the paint brush. Be careful with the video card as they usually have a latch at the back of the connector. DO NOT use any chemical or cleaning product. Wipe the board connector with a dry paper towel - again do not use any cleaning product - and especially do not use an eraser to clean the contacts as this can remove the extremely thin gold plating making the problem worse. Gold plated contacts are typically around 7 millionths of an inch (0.000007) or 0.0001778 mm thick. So don't scrub too hard when cleaning them.

 

If cleaning doesn't work, you likely have a failing component - it could be anything including the mother board, a ram chip, processor, power supply or add on board.

[OakRain]

Update - experienced another crash at 12:30 - 20 minutes ago,was able to restart in safe mode so I could investigate the Event Viewer - lots of error codes to google.I was able to save the contents of the admin event window to file so I have it for reference.No BSOD though.

 

bben46 - I think I have the cleaning covered - took the case outside yesterday removed side panels and spend a good 10 mins with an air line (15 psi) blowing dust out from every angle.This is also something I do every fortnight and there was not a lot of dust to remove.I have not tried to strip down and clean contacts but I do have the appropriate equipment to do so if needed - none of the components have been in place for longer than 3 months however ie they are all new.Motherboard has GPU and 4 RAM sticks - no other boards or attachments other than required wiring components.

 

Edit - just checked your troubleshooting blog - How to clean a Computer - my keyboard did suffer a drenching with unsweetened tea last week but it is functional - no sticking keys - perhaps it could do with a wash.

 

Briefly here are a few of the error codes - going to google them next;

 

WMI 10

Service Control Manager 7001

DistributedCOM 10005

Winint 11

Kernel-EventTracing 3

 

There are heaps more but not sure if posting limited details like this is of much help in diagnosis.

 

 

 

Edit 2 ; two more crashes since last update.Tried a system restore using a back up made on the 7th oct and system crashed again within 10 minutes of rebooting.I am guessing that rules out anything software related.

 

Going to strip the system down,check contacts and rebuild.

 

Any suggestions to help narrow down hardware problems?

[Georgiegril]

I think Bben's suggestion about cleaning the connections is really worth pursuing. An air blast would not address that. You might also check for bent pins.

 

If you have NVidia Cards, you might try a clean re-installation of your graphics driver as described here. Updating through the Windows Driver Update or the Steam Driver update will cause a corrupted save. Among the possible effects of this is unregulated fan/temp, erratic clocks (overclocking randomly even though you haven;t ever overclocked) and power disregulation. So that might cause what you are describing.

 

To run general stability tests, something like OCCT might be what you are looking for.

 

Hopefully everything is still under warranty.

[OakRain]

Update - followed bben46's suggestion of stripping down the entire system,cleaning and re assembly.While nothing was found to be loose or dirty things seem to be running smoothly upon restart- 3 hours and counting and no system failure - hooray!

 

I did discover my earlier system restore had not been successful but I have since been able to restore the system using system image from 7th Oct.Windows then wanted to download and install 17 'urgent' updates - which I allowed,followed that up with a reboot.Since then all has been running smoothly.Even managed an hour of crash free Skyrim before exiting normally - max possible yesterday was 20 minutes.

 

About GPU drivers - my card is an Asus so I have been using the catalyst control center to check for updates - currently up to date.I got caught by the Steam driver update option a month ago or so and vowed never to do that again.Also using the Asus AI Suite to monitor cycles,temps and fan speeds.Using Asus GPU Tweak to monitor GPU.

 

Most of the gear I have been buying and using is OEM so warranties are very limited but most items are still under warranty at the current time.

 

When investigating the error codes online the most common suggestion seemed to point to the PSU - currently using an 850 w unit.

 

 

Overall the action which had the most benefit seemed to be the strip down,clean and rebuild.Perhaps it is possible that the Windows updates carried out in the past week had been un successful.

 

 

I will follow up on the OCCT link and check it out.

 

 

Thank you for the advice folks,I appreciate the assistance.

[OakRain]

Back with a final update - it seems all my troubles were down to a dodgy PSU.Two days ago it finally failed and took the motherboard with it.Thankfully the mobo,CPU and RAM are still covered by my suppliers warranty.At this point I still do not know if my GPU was fried as I am waiting for a new mobo to arrive.The company I sourced the GPU from seem to have ceased trading.So I may be looking to replace that completely if it was damaged.

 

The moral of this tale seems to be - do not skimp and by a low cost PSU when building a pc. :whistling: I won't be making that mistake again.

[Aliera Caine]

Glad you figured it out, OakRain. Like all the rest of us who have endured fun computer issues, hopefully now you can begin to regain your sanity. Not that you ever lost it. I was just projecting. ;)