[SixBanger]

My computer which I had built by a co-worker back in Oct of 09 has been crashing at least once a month. I had a close friend get rid of some crap that I dont need and some malware about 2 weeks ago. He also installed Microsoft Essentials Security to use as my scanner. Since then it's been running great until tonight, while I was watching a movie on Itunes it crashed. No blue screen, just froze up and that was it. Can I get some help as to what I should do next?

[yakev724]

Sorry but you won't get much love here. It takes some advanced understanding of how a PC works (specifically windows) to keep it running perfectly. Otherwise you'll have minor things consume/modify your computer's available processing capacity until it slows considerably and/or crashes. Especially if you download bunch of stuff from random places.

I've got absolutely no experience with anti-virus software (never used it and only got viruses when I went to Russia), but my recommendation would be to back up your vital info/photos/files, format your hard drive, re-install Windows, make sure all drivers are properly installed (important!), then the first thing you should do is install a reputable anti-virus (such as NOD32 or bitdefender) and then carefully scan and reload your backed-up files.

Good luck; try a mac

[abisson]

Could be anything from your Ram to your PowerSupply... Do you notice what you are doing when it crashes? (aside from tonight) Might help...

[SixBanger]

Originally Posted by abisson

Could be anything from your Ram to your PowerSupply... Do you notice what you are doing when it crashes? (aside from tonight) Might help...

I pretty much the same thing on a day to day basis on my computer. Itunes, check email, check facebook and buy stuff online. I only know the basics to computers and I'm thinking of bringing it to COMPUSA and hopefully they can help me out.

[TimZ]

List the exact comp specs and number of harddrives and on what hard drive the operating system is on.
I've had similar issues, figured out that it's a failing 1tb storage drive.
Could be a failing harddrive that is causing this problem

[E90SoFlo]

Sorry to hear about your PC. You do have to have a very solid knowledge of them to keep them "clean"

Thats why I like my mac. Take it to a computer store and hope they can fix it.

[jpsum]

Backup your files, reinstall windows. If it happens again, it's your hardware. If it doesn't, it was a malware or some sort.

I would stay away from bringing your computer to a "professional" like CompUSA (didn't know they were still in business) because they rape you on fees and they tend to be a bit nosy about looking thru your files.

[UltimateBMW]

My guess would be Ram, Malware, or possibly over heating. Check how much dust is inside your computer. (Start here since it is the easiest fix)

If it is over heating you may see some severe graphic degradation before it shuts off. For Malware, get Malware bytes. Over of the best detection software there is for minimal cost. Ad-aware is decent but might not find some of the more nasty inhabitants.

Also, just my own opinon here but if you don't know enough about the parts and selection to build your own computer I would just buy from a boutique. There are plenty of great ones with reasonable prices. But having a friend build it will be a nightmare scenario for you. Since he won't always be available or won't want to be on call 24/7 to be your own personal tech support.

I bet now you wouldn't mind paying the extra $200 to have all these issues go away.

[UltimateBMW]

Originally Posted by E90SoFlo

Sorry to hear about your PC. You do have to have a very solid knowledge of them to keep them "clean"

Thats why I like my mac. Take it to a computer store and hope they can fix it.

You might find this link interesting. As Mac tech support is instructed not to help with Malware attacks...

http://www.zdnet.com/blog/bott/apple...e-malware/3362

[kyleb350]

Could be hardware. I remember back in the day where you had to configure which IO ports your components used. These days I think the only thing you have to worry about is the type of RAM you put in your computer.

[Grail05]

FORMAT

[jpsum]

Just from my experience, if the memory is bad, windows will usually blue screen and reboot.

[GT3 Tim]

My Win7 laptop fricken freezes all the time.....fricken pos.

[pittsy]

Get a Mac, i'm doing a lot of programming and only using windows for that. Mac is a much more stable system.

[SixBanger]

I finally brought my computer into COMPUSA and they updated drivers and did a stress test. Nothing happened and they gave it back to me and when I got home after 2 hours of messing with it, guess what happens? It freezes, when I get the computer running after freeze a box comes up and says "Windows has recovered from an unexpected shutdown" Gave me all these numbers and these two files:
C:\Windows\Minidump\071011-22620-01.dmp
C:\Users\Myles\AppData\Local\Temp\WER-43539-0.sysdata.xml

[scollins]

Did you have Norton before Security Essentials? Is it fully uninstalled? That error appears to be related to Norton based on a google search.

I'd download Revo Uninstaller and run it looking for Norton. Then use the most aggressive uninstall option that Revo has on it. Run it on everything you don't want/use any more too.

[SixBanger]

Originally Posted by scollins

Did you have Norton before Security Essentials? Is it fully uninstalled? That error appears to be related to Norton based on a google search.

I'd download Revo Uninstaller and run it looking for Norton. Then use the most aggressive uninstall option that Revo has on it. Run it on everything you don't want/use any more too.

I had Mcafee. The thing crashed whenever I'd wanna use it. So make sure Mcafee is all out with Revo?

[DarkRider23]

Originally Posted by TimZ

List the exact comp specs and number of harddrives and on what hard drive the operating system is on.
I've had similar issues, figured out that it's a failing 1tb storage drive.
Could be a failing harddrive that is causing this problem

A failing HDD would cause a blue screen most of the time. I've had 3 HDDs fail on me and each one that failed had my computer crashing with a blue screen.

[jpsum]

Originally Posted by SixBanger

I finally brought my computer into COMPUSA and they updated drivers and did a stress test. Nothing happened and they gave it back to me and when I got home after 2 hours of messing with it, guess what happens? It freezes, when I get the computer running after freeze a box comes up and says "Windows has recovered from an unexpected shutdown" Gave me all these numbers and these two files:
C:\Windows\Minidump\071011-22620-01.dmp
C:\Users\Myles\AppData\Local\Temp\WER-43539-0.sysdata.xml

How much did they charge you for updating the drivers?

[jpsum]

Originally Posted by SixBanger

My computer which I had built by a co-worker back in Oct of 09 has been crashing at least once a month. I had a close friend get rid of some crap that I dont need and some malware about 2 weeks ago. He also installed Microsoft Essentials Security to use as my scanner. Since then it's been running great until tonight, while I was watching a movie on Itunes it crashed. No blue screen, just froze up and that was it. Can I get some help as to what I should do next?

Did you try to do a system restore and revert back to a date prior to your friend messing with it?

[BTM]

Originally Posted by DarkRider23

A failing HDD would cause a blue screen most of the time. I've had 3 HDDs fail on me and each one that failed had my computer crashing with a blue screen.

Yea just went through this shit with my work computer...sounds hardware related. I'd back up and restore to factory (or original, since your friend built this for you) and if it's still acting up you got a hardware problem

[Freakazoid]

Originally Posted by BTM

Yea just went through this shit with my work computer...sounds hardware related. I'd back up and restore to factory (or original, since your friend built this for you) and if it's still acting up you got a hardware problem

this, it's probably your hard drive.

all of my harddrives have lasted literally decades at this point and no problems, but more than likely that's what you're seeing. clean it up to the original state and see if you still have the problem.

More than likely it's the harddrive.


and would people stop saying that the MAC is more stable? They're just as hit or miss.... the kitchen slave's MAC freezes and crashes more than any of my 4 windows 7 machines combined.... and it's on 1/4 as much (all 4 windows machines are on 24/7)