Got a new pc together, AMD Athlon 64 X2 4800+, with 2gb ddr, running XP pro, and it seems to crash alot.

I've only got a small selection of prgrams so far:
Office 2007
MOzilla Firefox 2.0.0.14
VSO Convert to DVD 3
Spyware Doctor 5.5
and utorrent 1.7.7

It only the last three that seem to be the issue.

They are all newer versions of what I had running ok on my last machine.
utorrent says on its website that there are compatability issues when using spyware docotr 5 and above. Their fix is to remove spyware doctor, or get an older version. I'd rather not do that but I cannot find an older version of utorrent anyway. The admin on their forum says they do not support it or finding an older version.

I suppose I should just get rid of utorrent. But how can I be sure its that that is causeing issues and not my new hardware?
What checks can I do?

 

remove just one of them at a time and see if it makes a differance ?
OR try spybot or adaware or super anti spyware (free version) instead of spyware doctor ?
I find it very annoying when new versions of spftware are released and then cause more problems.

Richard

 

I could do that. Thing is, it only seems to cause a problem when they are all active.
utorrent is active when I am downloading, the spyware doctor I use whenever I'm connected to the net, and VSo is for converting avi to DVD, so I leave that running while all of the others are.

 

could be a hardware problem, such as memory. if you have multiple sticks take one out (if it will still work!) and if it crashes still try the other one on it's own.

 

Could be hardware
Could be software

I'd start with software - removing one by one as someone said. Then if you end up with all of it removed and its still crashing, start looking into the hardware.

You're not having much look recently, are you ?

 

Thanks guys.
No, not been lucky

When I say crash, its not like an instant crash. First the program I'm using just hangs, then its stops responding and I can't actually bring up task manager or any windows related stuff. For example, the windows button doesn't bring up the start menu, windows button + Pause/Break key doesn't bring up system properties.
Reason I'm thinking its utorrent is because once I've had to reset my machine, all the utorrent setting are completly gone. Even the torrents themselve don't show and I have to add them again.

I'm not sure if it is hardware, beacause everything is fine if I am just surfing the net with spyware doctor on.

I've recently installed an older version of the VSO I had on my other hdd.
Started converting a film, with SpyDoc off, and utorrent off. and it crashed when it got to burning to disk. Thats the furthers its got so far. Other times it hasn't even managed to convert the film.

 

This may sound odd, but my new build PC use to randomly lock up completely. Turned out to be the wireless network card (was a Netgear WG511 card). Didn't think it could be that as it worked fine in my old machine. Sometimes it would lockup after 3-4 hours, other times 30 mins.

Since you've got it crashing using VSO, try going into your device manager and disabling your wireless network card (assuming you have one) and see if you manage to burn a disk.

Since buying an unbranded wireless card, my system has been completely stable, and the signal strength is permanently excellent to boot

Good luck with sorting it, these problems can be a pain in the *** to track down.

 

not got any wireless hardware, but checked device manager any how. Nothing wireless to diasble.
I have noticed there is a VSO devices section Patin Couffin engine is under that section.

 

joey

Could it be that the crash is happening whenever the CPU is under heavy load ? Have you checked CPU & System temps to see if they're OK ?

Also, check your motherboard manufacturer's website to see if there's any issues and BIOS updates available.

 

I thought that, but when I ge the task manager up, there are two cpu performance histories, as its a dual core. only one of them is ever high when all of this is going on, but not much more than 50%.
I've removed another one of the programs in question (Spyware doctor). Hopefully that might have sorted some of it out.

 

Have you updated all the chipset drivers along with the IDE/SATA drivers, could be a related problem. Maybe a BIOS update wouldn't go a miss. Also re-seat the heat sink, scrape off the standard heat transfer pad and put some Artic Silver on it.

 

ive had this with utorrent where it just seems to hang the system. Usually happens if I am seeding. I have gone back to an earlier version, if you google search you can find plenty of early versions. Think I am using 1.5xx

 

Thanks, I will check for a bios updated, but tbh I think its the utorrent, which I have now removed and gone for an older version.

 

mmmm nvr had any issue with any version of utorrent, but this rig isnt dualcore. Related? I doubt it. I expect u will still have an issue. Freezing of that sort, sounds like a hware issue to me.

 

mine was dual core when I started experiencing probs with utorrent. Happened on both my desktop and also a laptop (both intel dual core)

 

Had similar problems so have now switched to BitTyrant which is super quick and works superbly.