2007-08-03, 15:39 | Link #1 |
Junior Member
Join Date: Jun 2007
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Computer crashes from watching videos
My PC works great except when I try to use a site like Veoh or Youtube. There's a chance it will randomly crash, freeze or reboot anytime during a video. As you can imagine this random crashing can be quite frustrating. There are a lot of possible solutions and I've tried several with no luck. If this has happened to anyone before I'd be grateful to know how you fixed it.
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2007-08-03, 19:39 | Link #5 | |
Gregory House
IT Support
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2007-08-04, 05:59 | Link #8 | |
Junior Member
Join Date: Jun 2007
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2007-08-04, 07:34 | Link #10 | |
Senior Member
Join Date: Dec 2004
Location: Portugal
Age: 44
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You say videos in those site. Does it happen to with videos you have in your pc ?
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2007-08-04, 08:05 | Link #11 | |
Gregory House
IT Support
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2007-08-04, 16:53 | Link #13 | |
Junior Member
Join Date: Jun 2007
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I'm not expecting a solution to magically appear especially the only information being these vague details but if I'd like to know how other people solved these sort of problems if they had them. |
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2007-08-04, 19:47 | Link #14 |
Love Yourself
Join Date: Mar 2003
Location: Northeast USA
Age: 38
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If it were corrupt RAM I'd think that it'd result in a blue screen (a memory dump in WinXP). Did these problems only start to occur after you upgraded your RAM? If yes, then we'll need to have you run MemTest86 to test for RAM corruption - it's possible that you've received a bad stick of RAM. Most companies will let you exchange for a new stick.
Otherwise, knowing that the system is four years old, it is possible that the PSU is dying. This is extremely likely if you frequently turn your computer on and off, and somewhat likely if you have essentially had it running for four years straight (especially if the PSU is a stock one - in other words, one that came with your computer). Sites like YouTube don't really take that much processing power - especially not compared to playing clips on your computer. I immediately thought that it was a heat-related issue at first, but it seems a bit less likely given that regular video files won't trigger it. It's possible that your version of Flash needs a reinstall (someone feel free to correct me if YouTube and Veoh don't use flash-based players), or that your browser is suffering corruption. Does the system freeze/reboot regardless of which web browser you're using? Another potential issue is that it's related to your network card/software. However, given that you've only changed the RAM recently, that's the most suspect component at this point.
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2007-08-04, 19:51 | Link #15 | |
Gregory House
IT Support
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Be careful. My experience indicates that random variations, in and out, of power can get as far as burning a HDD. I'd say you take a look at the PSU and tell us what brand is it and how much power capacity it can handle. Also, full PC specs should help, too.
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2007-08-04, 19:58 | Link #16 |
Love Yourself
Join Date: Mar 2003
Location: Northeast USA
Age: 38
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I thought that he was just giving his PC specs with regard to the 2 hard drives, and that the RAM was the only new thing. If the HDs are new, then it could indeed be putting a strain on the PSU.
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2007-08-04, 21:04 | Link #17 |
You could say.....
Join Date: Apr 2007
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corrupt ram n my experience = BSOD galore but randomly not in specific apps. (though that may just be me). Still though depending on the type of HDD (WD Raptors are AFAIK are the exception) HDD's are fairly low power devices, and ram isn't a major wattage eater either. But if you were already at the limits well you know what happens.
Simple diagnostic test, remove some optional hardware. like your secondary HDD if possible, bluetooth etc etc. See if your system runs any better. But yeah give us a detailed list so we can at least do a rough calc on wattage requirements 1. your CPU (P4's, Celeron's are more power hungry than some other processors) 2. RAM config is it a 1gig stick or 2x512 sticks? 3. No of HDD 4. No of CD/DVD drves 5. No of fans 6. USB powered devices 7. Video Card and type 8. Other PCI slot devices 9. detals of your PSU. There should be a sticker on it saying what the voltage is across all the rails. All these have to be accounted for. AFAIK very very few premade PC's had decent powersupplies from 3 or so years ago, they were mostly generic jobs with generally 250w-300w PSU's |
2007-08-05, 06:29 | Link #18 |
Junior Member
Join Date: Jun 2007
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I reinstalled flashplayer and some other online stuff, no random rebooting online for some time now. Perhaps it was a fluke but the chance of rebooting and freezing seems to have gone down. Now to fix the videos on the actual computer. Windows Media Player and Nero video player suffer from the same video lag and Quicktime refuses to even open. While I was typing this I downloaded bsplayer, a small video player meant to put very little strain on processing power. All the videos work 100% fine on it. I checked WMP again, same lag.
Sorry hobbes but I think you're expecting a miracle with those questions. >_>; At most I could answer 1 or 2 of them. *Tries to think of other stuff* Hm. Well, I did get blue screens from trying to play games so perhaps Ledgem is right about corrupted ram. When I went to see a guy to fix this problem he gave me a new video card and I picked up another 512 stick of ram with it. If anything it made the problem worse. Either he gave me a faulty video card and/or stick of ram or the comp is just too old (it's premade btw). And like you thought Ledgem the hard drives aren't new. I've been using them for a couple years now but I only partitioned one last week. The guy I saw did it so he could store all my data in one area while he completely reinstalled Windows on the other. I'll be able to give more details in a few days, my father is on a business trip and he's been in IT for almost 30 years. He's more knowledgeable with software than hardware but he knows a lot more than me in both fields. I'll ask him about the specs when he gets back. |
2007-08-05, 06:58 | Link #19 |
You could say.....
Join Date: Apr 2007
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to rule out ram corruption d/l and run a program called memtest86. Let it run for an hour or so. Any errors should be shown up by this utility.
He gave you a new video card? What is it? Is it different to what you had previously? (gfx cards are the most power hungry devices in your PC) |
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