Weird Pc lockup problems.

BKtje

Right ive been asked to ask around if anyone knows this problem.

p3 550.
(unknown mobo)
asus gf3 ti500 running 30.82 detonators.
256mb ram.
directx 8.1
windows 98se

Right the problems started today with no hardware added/removed and he deleted one game the day before. (the pc was running fine last night when it was turned off)

He's tried playing 2 games. Both of them lockup soon after running. In UT hes fine when hes in the 'desktop' but 30 secs after the round start it locksup. The music continues but the screen is frozen. (he on one occasion heard the console open and he typed exit but it didnt quit the game).
The rest of the time he has to ctr+alt+delete it twice to reboot the pc. One ctrl+alt+del doesnt work.
When he plays in window mode it doesnt hang as quickly but produces glitches. (see attachment)

On the other game he sees what he calls 'dots' in the graphics.
Tiny little dots of white/black/blue which flash for a sec.

Hes reinstalled nvidia drivers and tried other versions of the drivers.
(sounds like this gfx card error? )

Thanks for ne help.

He can't defrag/scandisk cos of a bug with 20gig hd's under win98se (??)

tman

He can't defrag/scandisk cos of a bug with 20gig hd's under win98se (??)

??? never heard of that one, starting up in safe mode is prolly the best option for defragging/scandisk...
cant help you on the rest tho

Matfinn

I have read your post and Ill put up some possible solutions to your problems.

1) You are seeing strange dots on the screen. This is ossibly because the video card may be overheating. Is it overclocked? If so, then reset it to its original clockspeed. The card will need adequete ventillation, so if there is another card located next to it in the PCI slot, then remove it and put it elsewhere further away from the AGP card. This should help.

2) The detonator drivers for your video card seem fine, as theyre the latest stable ones. If you like, you can download the 40.02 ( I think thats the number ) version of the detonator drivers. These are the beta drivers. Give them a shot, but leave this step until last. Try all other things I say.

3) My reccomendation for you is to get rid of windows 98SE and install windows 2000 or Windows XP. The windows 9x series of operating systems are the most unstable of the series, and should be replaced immediately. From fixing computers I can attribute most lockups to the operating system.

4) Visit www.windowsupdate.com and download all the latest software patches for your operating system, in order to keep it upto date.

5) Using a utility called WCPUID, you should be able to determine the chipset your motherboard uses. Im unsure at this time where this is, so do a google.com search for it and you will find it easily enough. A small utility called Si Soft Sandra should also be used. This can benchmark your system, and it shows information on the hardware contained within. Run its 'Burn in Wizard' test, to see if there is actually a hardware problem.

6) Once you can identify what motherboard you have, or even what chipset is in it, you should download the latest chipset drivers to make sure everything is ok.

7) Try to get the latest patches for the games that keep crashing frequently. This might help if you havent already done it.

I hope that helps. If you need any further assistance PM me or post here.

Matt

BKtje

Right the cause has been found. The fan on his gfx card has stopped spinning causing the card to overheat.
He's now put a large ceiling fan beside his pc to cool it.
Is there a place to send gfx cards to be repaired and/or would one of those pci fans cool the card enough?

Dooom

i dunno bout the grfx card repair place. altho i can think of one place (grfx card heaven ) your best bet is take it to some where that does repairs. however. i had windows 98 and i remember that bug >:( it stopped me aswell until i got this new computer and win2k pro (the best thing that happened to me). no matter what you do it doesnt go away. best bet is get win2k pro. its the best OS and you'll be MUCH happier.