I need help before contacting technical support/paying for nothing but a check up on my computer. Anyways, for some reason recently my computer has been randomly crashing. I can't determine if it's hardware or software because each crash/shut down happens at random times. I thought before it was a virus, but my computer isn't detecting anything. So I assumed it was hardware. Since I have been working with heavy graphics/3D material lately, I thought my graphics card was to blame. So I have been working lightly as of late. However, today, I was just browsing the Internet, and it crashed. After an initial crash (completely shuts down out of nowhere), it takes a few tries to get it to completely load on my computer. What makes me believe its software is I can load a default User, but when I load my own User profile, it crashed. Can anyone help me identify the problem/give me some probable reasons this is happening? It only recently begun happening when I started working more with heavy graphics, and anything 3D related, or large seems to crash it. I assumed perhaps it was a memory problem, but that can't be. I have sufficient space on my computer, so that shouldn't be the reason either. Help, anyone?
What os? How much RAM? Graphics Card? What graphics program? (c4d, 3ds, maya?) How long since last install of OS?
Windows XP, 256MB of RAM, NVIDIA GeForce 4 MX 440, various different programs and... It was installed when I got my computer put together... Which was a few years ago. Not sure how many, around three or so. So far, no crashing, but it usually happens in episodes. Still not sure what's causing it. :\
My guess is either malware or XP is simply crapping out and needs to be reinstalled. Download Ad-Aware from http://www.download.com/Ad-Aware-SE...045910.html?part=dl-ad-aware&subj=dl&tag=top5 Install and run it. Remove anything it detects. This is the single best scanner and remover for malware and anything else that may be affecting it. Next, try the online virus scanner at: http://housecall.trendmicro.com/ Also, if you use IE, that may have something to do with it. Try using another browser like Opera or Firefox to minimize the risk of malware. Make sure you have a resident virus scanner, AVG Free from http://free.grisoft.com If nothing above helps, you need to reinstall XP. I usually reformat every 4 -5 months at the latest, because the longer your system has an OS installed, the more fragmented and slowly corrupted it gets.
Okay, well I tried to reinstall Windows, but I am now sure that it's not software. During installation, my computer crashed unexpectedly like before. Does this mean something could be loose in the system or something needs to be replaced? I'm trying to spend the least amount on this as I can, so if I can fix it on my own, I rather do that. Any help would be appreciated.
Check your memory. I know when I had memory that was bad, or incorrectly installed [I don't remember which one it was] on my old computer, my computer randomly crashed.
You might have a loose PCI card. That happens sometimes. Make sure that your RAM and processor are all the way in as well as your video card.
Yeah, what you could do is take out all your parts, then put them back in and make sure they're properly in. If there's any dust, make sure you clean it too, while you're in there.
Yeah, I decided to take it to a professional... I'm hoping they can figure it out... I had a busted fan I replaced which wasn't the problem, so the only thing I think could be a problem is something is loose, or the power thing (can't remember what it's called at the moment) is no good or something. Either way, to avoid the chances of me breaking my computer, I thought it'd be best to take it to a pro instead of tinkering and eventually doing more damage than good. But thank you to those who took the time to try and help me. Much appreciated.