Motherboard, RAM, modem?...

Good Morning folks,

Ever since I put together my computer whenever I am online(Firefox or explorer) it will freeze. At first it will be a application freeze (still able to move the mouse) but if I click on the start button or task bar the system will lock up and a continuous beep, with no brakes, will sound from the MB speaker. Then I have to hard shut down.
At first it was at least once a week. Now after a reinstall (clean) it happens anywhere from a few minutes to several hours.
No other application or game freezes.

If I watch the little circle thingy at the top right corner of FF and notice it stuttering I can move the mouse back and forth on the screen and keep it moving until it completely locks up.

I took the modem out of and older system to use in this newer one.

I get no BSOD's, no dump log, no mention in event viewer and everything is fine in device manager.

Home XP sp2 all updated.

Any ideas so I can narrow this down? Does it seem like a MB issue or RAM? Or do you think it is most likely the modem?

Thanks
H

ps: it has never happened on my wifes user account.

 

I created a new XP user profile about 4 hrs ago and so far so good. Within the last 10 mins I copied over my preference from my old user profile.

What I find strange that out of the last 6 user profiles created that 3 of them, all mine, were corrupt. Would a hardware problem cause that?

Both have admin privileges.

Well, I'll see what happens and let you all know how things go.
H

 

I talked to my wife tonight..... about computers...... and she said lastnight that during her practice test the comp froze up as mentioned above.
Modem?

 

It seems related to the internet connection. Modem drivers maybe. Another main factor in internet connection is the firewall. Check that two firewalls are not running. You "put the computer together ", some motherboard manufacturers are offering a "hardware" firewall for their onboard networking, if you have one, you may not need to run a software firewall at the same time. Check here:
http://www.microsoft.com/protect/computer/firewall/faq.mspx

Matt

 

Good morning.

Well, last night before bed my user account froze up, the new one. So, this morning I shifted the modem up a pci slot. Hoping this will remedy the problem. I do have another modem, alot older, that I can try if the comp freezes again.
Time to feed the baby.


Thanks mattman. I don't think there is a hardware firewall, but once I put the baby down I'll look through the manual.

Heath

 

Well, after I moved it up a slot, it still froze.
Just updated the drivers again and reinstalled, hopefully it will work.

Very frustrating
Heath

 

Rereading,

Beeping from the M/B speaker indicates a (serious?) hardware problem. Since you can run Windows, up to a point, my first guess would be overheating. You will need to open the case, loosen any dust with a soft brush, take the case outside and blow the dust out (say using hair-dryer). Loosen any dust under fans with a straightened paper-clip. Check the vents at the front and back.

Run with the side off the case. Check all the fans are spinning freely (including the PSU and graphics card fan if it has one).

You will know the connections, pull out and reseat all the major connectors (including RAM modules).

The beep indicates a problem with major hardware, not just a PCI card [Edit: mmm...always related to the modem? Maybe the modem has taken a power surge (lightning strike) sometime in the past. The freeze and beep indicates the computer's BIOS is crashing to me].

Matt

 

Morning,
Well, it worked a while with the reinstalled drivers but then froze.
So, frustrating.
Thanks for the suggestions mattman.
Its a clean case. And all fans are working properly.
I have removed all componets, even taking the MB out and checking behind the MB for loose screws. GA-M61VME-S2 rev1

It could very well have been lightening we have a lot of it here in new mexico. I did try a old modem lastnight but either its way old or doesn't work. It would dial out then sit at registering username and password.

I wish there was a way I could check the pci slots. Iam going into town today to get a modem maybe I should try to get a external modem that plugs into a usb port. Or should I send the MB back? hmmmm?

This is where I get confused. Its not so much a beep its a continous beeeeeeeeeeeepppppppp with no breaks. Looking in the MB manuel for beep codes it says continous long beeps= DRAM error. Does that mean, I feel silly,
beeeeeeeeeep (break) beeeeeeeeeeep (break)beeeeeeeeeeeep............
Should I try and reinstall the bios?
aaaarrrggghhh
Well, I guess I'll get a new modem today and go from there.

Thanks
Heath

 

If you are installing the new modem, be careful to remove the drivers and software for the old modem first.

Look around for a phone line power surge protector (Radioshack?).

Matt

 

Hi
Yeah, I remembered to uninstall the drivers for the modem
Got myself a external modem that connects to a serial port.
Been 10 min and everything is good so far, fingers crossed.

Can anybody think of a way I can check the pci slots? Maybe a usb add on card?

Heath

 

Will, it happened again with the new modem, so I guess we can surmise that its not the modem.
So, Iam guessing something very bad happened to the MB. I called the company and they said to send it back, no questions asked.

So, Iam going to do a few other trouble shooting things and see if it helps.

Thanks for the help mattman Christer and PeteC
Going to post a HJT log in spyware forums just to cover my bases.

Heath

 

I'd recommend checking for video driver updates. Also, are you running the CPU at BIOS default values, or did you tweak a bit?

 

CPU running at default levels.

I may have found out what the problem is. It will take another day or two to nail it down but it is either one bad stick of RAM or the slot closet to the cpu is funky. I removed the RAM from the slot closet to the CPU and haven't had a freeze. Going to let it go until tomorow and then move that RAM to the slot closet to the CPU and see if it freezes. And then start the process over again with the other stick of RAM. Repeating the process. Iam pretty sure its the MB and not the RAM.
But, we'll see.
At least its under warranty...RAM and MB.

Cheers
Heath

 

Well, so much for my awesome theory. It froze up this morning. Still going to move the memory around but Iam not expected much to happen.

I do have another observation. It seems to happen when the internet connection starts to fizzle out. Watching the connection icon the far away server is active, but my side of things isn't responding and then it will freeze. Could it be a faulty controller on the MB? Iam not sure the path the info follows, or is it the modem that control and displys the info. Does that make sense?

The mystery continues.
Heath

 

A little follow up:
Well, the pueblo has finally started hooking up non-tribal members to there wireless broadband network! And I was the first
Ditched the modem and dial-up.
I have a built in ethernet card/plug and haven't had a single freeze.
Iam wondering if the pci slots got toasted?
Anyways, thanks for reading and helping out. Iam sure I'll be back

Heath