My computer freezes almost every day. Sometimes twice.

[GiantBuddha]

So I have a chronic problem with my PC which has been intermittently occuring since I got it four years ago. Obviously, it's something I should have found a solution to earlier, but I didn't.

Anyway, my computer frequently just freezes up and I have to reboot it. This was always annoying, but not such a big deal until I started playing around 25K hands a week. Having the computer crash while I'm playing twelve tables is not so cool. It's gone weeks at a time without freezing, but lately it happens a couple times a day. It's to the point where I'm considering just buying a new machine or reformatting and reinstalling on this one.

Here's some specs and such:

OS: Microsoft Windows XP Home Edition
Dell Dimension 4600
BIOS Version/Date: Dell Computer Corporation A06, 10/08/2003
SMBIOS Version 2.3
RAM: 1 GB
Hard Drive space: 186GB
Graphics Card: ATI Radeon 9550
Two monitors: Planar 20" and Dell 17"

I used to get a blue screen which said something about the BIOS, but now the mouse pointer just gets stuck and I can't do anything. The tables sometimes still keep going, though. I'm fairly certain this isn't a problem involving the poker client since it happened before that and still happens when I'm doing something other than playing poker.

Any help would be immensely appreciated.

[EscapePlan9]

Because of how often this is occurring, I think the problem can be narrowed down to either

* problems with cooling systems. The system is over-heating.
* problems with your memory. You might need new memory sticks.

Shut down your computer, unplug the PC, and open up your case. Buy an air-duster-thingy (forget what they're called) to blow out all the dust, hair, etc. you find inside your case, ESPECIALLY on your fans. Sometimes this alone will fix the cooling problems.

After you do this, carefully remove your memory sticks and then make sure you re-insert them properly. You should not see any pins sticking out and it should be even with the motherboard.

Now put the case back together, plug it back in, and reboot. If this doesn't fix it, and your fans are still working (it's normal for them to fluctuate in speed, but if they stop spinning for more than five seconds, there's something wrong), then it's very likely the problem is with your memory sticks.

There's a free program called MemTest86 that tests your RAM for any problems. You can find it here: www.memtest86.com

Give it a try.

[GiantBuddha]

Thanks a lot for the response. Overheating sounds right on the money. My computer has always gotten very loud at times (kinda like an airplane taking off). The fan on my old graphics card actually melted and fell off so I had to get a new graphics card. I'm off to get one of those air blower cans and check that out. I'll take a look at the memory, too.

Thanks again.

[Beavis68]

My old HP was doing the same thing, when I opened it up I saw that all of the vents were clogged. Vacuumed it out and all is good.

[EscapePlan9]

sup beavis

[im_not_1337]

It really could be anything and its pretty hard to tell from just a description although overheating does jump out at me. It seems your pc has more than enough raw specs, so thats not the problem.

Have you checked to see if you have the latest version of your bios? Often this can fix a number of errors.

Also, it could be anything from as the above poster mentioned, cooling problems, is your computer clean and well ventilated? To bad memory, to viruses/spyware etc.

My advice to you would be to:
1) go to dell support downloads and make sure you have the latest version of their bios for your computer as i suspect that you don't
2) go to windowsupdate.microsoft.com/ and update all available updates, reboot, revisit windowsupdate.microsoft.com/ and make sure you have everything (this is very important)
3)clean your computer, make sure the fans inside of your pc are working, and make sure your pc is in a well ventilated area.
4) Take the above posters advice, make sure your memory are connected properly, and run a memory test to make sure your memory sticks are both still good.
5) Run a full online antivirus scan with kaspersky antivirus, www.kaspersky.com/virusscanner post the results here
6) Run a fully updated (important!) spybot search and destroy scan
7) Run hijackthis and post your log here, and i and others will check your log and make sure nothing looks wrong or out of place that may be causing these problems.

If you do all of that, im almost positive we will be able to , if not eliminate the problem, at least identify it and give you steps to fix it. Let me know how it goes, good luck.