locking up

[Jonesy82]

Help with this problem i have this pentium 3 computer and at time it freeze
up on me and cannot do anything not even ctrl-alt delete can bring it back
would like to know from someone with computer expert is this a software or
mach. problem i'am running window 98 second edition.please help.

 

[William R. Walsh]

Check to be absolutely sure that all fans are functioning, that the system
is relatively clean, and that the power supply is working correctly. Also be
sure that the system is not infected with a virus.

I'd say you have a fan that isn't running or a power supply that's not quite
right. Check that first before assuming its a software problem.

William

 

[Steve(JazzHunter)]

Check to be absolutely sure that all fans are functioning, that the system
is relatively clean, and that the power supply is working correctly. Also be
sure that the system is not infected with a virus.

I'd say you have a fan that isn't running or a power supply that's not quite
right. Check that first before assuming its a software problem.

William

Software, time to reinstall. However first of all check the memory.
Quite a lot of the memory made in the late 90's became defective. A
bad power supply doesn't cause lock uo problems though it would cause
problematic boots.

. Steve ..

 

[Steve(JazzHunter)]

Software, time to reinstall. However first of all check the memory.
Quite a lot of the memory made in the late 90's became defective. A
bad power supply doesn't cause lock uo problems though it would cause
problematic boots.

Oh and of course check the 1000mfd or 1500Mfd capacitors on the MB for
signs of swelling or leaking.

.. Steve .

 

[Steve]

Ah, well... with the wealth of information you've given us it should
be easy to diagnose the problem. I have two suggestions... but I
accept no responsibility for your actions!

It's a hardware thing. There's this partly squishy, partly hard and
boney thing attached to the keyboard and mouse, and staring at the
monitor with a empty look on it's face. This is causing all your
problems. It's simple to overcome, you need to make sure that the
computer and this "hardware" don't interface any more. Here's how;

1 Shutdown the computer
2 Stand up
3 Turn around
4 Walk away
5 Don't look back

Else, it's software; it's that windows 98 thingy... get rid of it,
you don't need it.

Oh, and should you choose to ignore my fantastic solutions, here's
some tips:

1 Use the appropriate Usenet group next time.
2 Supply as much info as you can about your problem.
3 Don't beleive everything you read.

....and just to rub it in;

I'm SOOOO glad I have a Mac.

The human equivalent of a Mac virus is
Pneumonoultramicroscopicsilicovolcanoconiosis.

Incredibly rare and only nerds know about it.

I've NEVER re-installed ANY software on my Mac.

The mobo is NOT assembled by Phil Wang from "Chans Discount
Electronics" in backwoods China. No nasty aluminium electrolytics to
worry about.

 

[William R. Walsh]

Hi!

A
bad power supply doesn't cause lock uo problems though it would cause
problematic boots.

It *might* cause lockup problems. Power supplies don't always have a
"rational" or "correct" style of operation when failing. I've seen supplies
that could start a computer but not maintain normal operation afterwards. A
flakey power supply will show problems at boot and/or during normal
operation.

William

 

[William R. Walsh]

Hi!

It's simple to overcome, you need to make sure that the
computer and this "hardware" don't interface any more. Here's how;
Cute.

Else, it's software; it's that windows 98 thingy... get rid of it,
you don't need it.

What do you suggest replacing it with?

1 Use the appropriate Usenet group next time.

People post computer related questions here all the time, or at least some
of the time.

I'm SOOOO glad I have a Mac.

You like banging your head against the wall that much? Doesn't hurt as bad
when it becomes a habit I guess. Although--to be fair, Mac OS X is a VAST
improvement.

The mobo is NOT assembled by Phil Wang from "Chans Discount
Electronics" in backwoods China. No nasty aluminium electrolytics to
worry about.

Who knows that? Last flat panel iMac I looked at was, in fact, Made In
China. ("Better machines" are least assembled here though...although so are
a LOT of PCs.)

Nasty electrolytic capactors are a breeze compared to a failing analog
board, which is a complete pain to resolder or just replace.

William The >>PC<< & Mac Guy With A Preference

 

[Steve(JazzHunter)]

Hi!


It *might* cause lockup problems. Power supplies don't always have a
"rational" or "correct" style of operation when failing. I've seen supplies
that could start a computer but not maintain normal operation afterwards. A
flakey power supply will show problems at boot and/or during normal
operation.

William

Yes but actually my point is that most of the time lockups are
software, resource conflicts, sound card drivers, etc, and a
significant portion of the time when talking about a computer made
between 1998 and 2001 the problem is memory. If it's 2000 to 2003 I'd
look at capacitors, (though these bad capacitors were used back in
1999 I guess.) The Power supply would be next on the list but usually
it doesn't cause intermittent problems.


My dedicated XP sstem, a Pentium III-1000, which runs for weeks on end
without being shut down, recently started freezing. Before looking at
memory or anything I checked software. It was a .dll that had been
replaced by an installation of Nuendo. I ran .sfv to restore the
cached .dll's and now the system is back to being ultra-stable.
That's a thought ..., run sfv.exe on the win98 system that's locking
up, also regclean.exe, those might resolve the issue.

.. Steve ..

 

[Steve]

Else, it's software; it's that windows 98 thingy... get rid of it,

What do you suggest replacing it with?

Anthing but. Depends if you're a browser or a power user I suppose.
If all you do is surf and send emails (lets face it, there's a lot of
people like this), buy an iMac and uninstall all the iCrap you'll
never use. A Mac running Safari, Mail and Quicktime (and nothing
else) would be ultra-stable and more user friendly than anything I've
seen.

XP isn't bad I suppose... if you must have Windows. But this requires
virus software to be updated constantly, and every few weeks there's
an update for IE...

People post computer related questions here all the time, or at least some
of the time.

That doesn't make it right.

You like banging your head against the wall that much? Doesn't hurt as bad
when it becomes a habit I guess.

What do you mean exactly? My computer does everything I want it to do
and more, and it doesn't crash, and it's help files are actually
helpful, and I could go on but I won't...

Who knows that? Last flat panel iMac I looked at was, in fact, Made In
China.

Yeah, but China is a bloody big place with a hell of a lot of people!
I was refering to the smaller companys that tend to do a shoddy job of
it.

("Better machines" are least assembled here though...although so are
a LOT of PCs.)

Where's "here"?

niftydog

 

[William R. Walsh]

Hi!

Depends if you're a browser or a power user I suppose.

System 10 improved a lot about the Mac...I'd have to say that much. For a PC
guy such as myself who has always been frustrated by the "hey that's cool
but why can't I do more" aspect of the Mac OS before System 10, it is a vast
improvement.

XP isn't bad I suppose... if you must have Windows.

Eck. XP is the epitome of everything bad about Windows. The bloat, the
exploits, "activation", updates that don't work...etc...it's a wonder that
it is legal to sell a computer with Windows XP...

A Win98 or 2000 system is just about the way to go. W2000 is about as close
to "right" as I think Microsoft has ever come with Windows. I'd almost say
that it "rocks". 98 works well if you don't install every sort of crap out
there in the Internet world, and it runs on old and new pretty well. Part of
the problem is that Windows is so common and almost everyone (whether they
should or not) can write software for it...when you keep a Windows system
clean it's actually pretty well behaved.

That doesn't make it right.

Dunno. Guess it's a matter of personal taste about the purpose of the group.
I've always considered a computer instrumental in the repair of electronic
devices, if not just a glorified "electronic device" itself. Things that
cause problems with most consumer electronics also exist in computers.

What do you mean exactly?

A lot of this is pre-System 10...
My main beef with any Mac has always been inability to do things the way
*you want to* on the computer, or being able to do them in the first place.
I don't like the concept of everything being so doggoned "hands off" or "you
don't need to know, don't ask!" With System 10 being backed by a Unix, you
can pretty well do anything you want, even if you really shouldn't. But it's
still too simplistic in spots...and I don't have the Unix background to know
how to do something via "the back door" if the GUI and its apps won't allow
such a thing to be done.

In a sentence: It's my computer; I'll break the software on it if I want to!


Even though Apple did do a nice thing for their new users with System 10, I
feel the UI changes are drastic enough to be a disservice to their loyal
users on previous systems.

I have to see after (read: administrate) the Macs at my place of work. This
is an unnatural pain. I don't think they're good business computers. Good
home computers, but not really business computers...

As far as hardware goes, I never could understand why Apple could not find
it in their budget or plans to put a simple network link LED on their
integrated Ethernet adapters. But they can put an illuminated Apple logo on
the back of the Powerbook screen...that's hard for me to understand, even if
does somehow make it look nicer.

My computer does everything I want it to do
and more, and it doesn't crash, and it's help files are actually
helpful, and I could go on but I won't...

So long as the computer does everything you want it to--that's the main
thing above all else. It just always seemed to me like the PC was the more
flexible alternative in that regard...it would let you do more, even if it
was harder to do it, and you weren't locked into any one OS, despite what
some big corporation in Washington might like you to think... Other
operating systems still don't quite exist for the Mac...but some are very
close...

I had a devil of a time getting anything helpful out of the Apple help
system. The searching feature didn't seem to work well for me. But when I
did finally find something, it was helpful...I've got to be fair and say
that much.

As far as "doesn't crash" goes, I have to disagree. At my place of work it
is excellent if any Mac makes it through the day without being rebooted,
even the system 10 "boxes". The NT4 and Windows 2000 systems just stay up
for weeks. Both are used about equally.

Where's "here"?

The good ol' home of Apple--the US of A.

And please--don't get me wrong--I'm not a Mac "hater" by any definition.
I've just always had this feeling after using a Mac that I was somehow left
without something, that the experience was decent but lacking in depth if
you wanted to go farther...maybe that's just because I've used many a PC and
many an OS over time and my opinions of "how a computer should work" have
been shaped by that experience.

William

 

[Steve]

frustrated by the "hey that's cool
but why can't I do more" aspect of the Mac OS before System 10

I know where you're coming from. But for "vanilla" computer duties, I
find it's not lacking anything. If I'm keen for a bit of "back-door"
action (not the type you're thinking!) I break out my Linux
experiment!

Eck. XP is the epitome of everything bad about Windows. The bloat, the
exploits, "activation", updates that don't work...etc...it's a wonder that
it is legal to sell a computer with Windows XP...

Now that you mention it, the version I'm using is heavily modified by
the government dept. I work for. So all that stuff is quashed. I
certainly wouldn't like it for my home PC. I know I dissed it before,
but I have 98 on my PC because you can get heaps of engineering type
programs. I'll stick with that and avoid XP at home! (Besides, 98 is
free... isn't it!?!? :O )

I do a bit of hobby graphics and web stuff. (Photoshop, Flash,
Illustrator, Freehand etc...) The Mac seems born to do this kind of
work.

I always tell people about the first Mac I ever saw. (Not Apple -
Mac!) It was in High School, there was 1 Mac in the whole school, and
despite there being three whole PC labs, kids cued up out the door and
down the corridor to use the Mac SE. And I remember even further
back, playing Carmen Sandiago on a COLOUR SCREEN Apple IIe and being
absolutely blown away!

Even buying my G4 was exciting, and by then it was my fourth computer!
I've never had that feeling from a PC.

Guess I'm just weird...

 

[William R. Walsh]

Hi!

I know where you're coming from. But for "vanilla" computer duties, I
find it's not lacking anything. If I'm keen for a bit of "back-door"
action (not the type you're thinking!) I break out my Linux
experiment!

I'd like to get Linux going on my 68K Macs, but it isn't quite there yet. I
guess it's much better for the PowerPC machines, and I have a few that I'd
like to use Linux with, but I guess even then it still requires more
fiddling around than I'm willing to do. I'd really like to use a Mac with
Linux, but I can't find a good way to learn all that I need to know--and
what I need to have start to finish to get going.

I saw Linux running on a G3 iMac once and thought it worked quite well...

Now that you mention it, the version I'm using is heavily modified by
the government dept. I work for. So all that stuff is quashed. I
certainly wouldn't like it for my home PC. I know I dissed it before,
but I have 98 on my PC because you can get heaps of engineering type
programs. I'll stick with that and avoid XP at home! (Besides, 98 is
free... isn't it!?!? :O )

No longer supported at least. I think Win98 SE is the best for the home
environment...it runs well even on total "craputers" or systems of very
marginal quality...and it'll run just about anything.

I do a bit of hobby graphics and web stuff. (Photoshop, Flash,
Illustrator, Freehand etc...) The Mac seems born to do this kind of
work.

That's what I've heard, but I've never tried it. I always got along with
Photoshop and my extremely limited artistic talents just fine with a PC.
Maybe if I were a serious user or had any artistic talent whatsoever, I'd
use the Mac version.

I hate Flash with a passion. Not that Flash itself is bad...it's just
extremely hard to find a good use of it. Websites designed entirely in Flash
are not a good use of it. Web sites that make sounds are bad enough--Flash
only makes it worse as you can't really refuse the sounds if you have the
Flash plugin installed. I'd like to be able to refuse the Flash plugin
entirely, but that doesn't seem to be an option either. I have systems that
I will not install it on, and I'm tired of being prompted endlessly about
it.

Betcha didn't expect to hit that nerve, eh???

I always tell people about the first Mac I ever saw. (Not Apple -
Mac!) It was in High School, there was 1 Mac in the whole school, and
despite there being three whole PC labs, kids cued up out the door and
down the corridor to use the Mac SE. And I remember even further
back, playing Carmen Sandiago on a COLOUR SCREEN Apple IIe and being
absolutely blown away!

Yeah, I always thought those early "all in one" Macs were darn cool, but I
never got the chance to play with one until many years later, long after
their heyday. I have much of the early line "Classic" machines and most of
them work fine...and darn, are they EVER cool computers. For the time they
existed in and what they could do I think there is no other way to describe
them other than revolutionary.

I think the computer I enjoyed the most was my Grandma's hand-me-down Kaypro
PC/XT clone. I can remember sitting downstairs for hours in front of the
green Samsung CGA monitor and having the time of my life. That machine
absolutely transfixed me. I'd love to find another as a basement flood
killed it a while back. That was what started it all...

Even buying my G4 was exciting, and by then it was my fourth computer!
I've never had that feeling from a PC.

It has gotten a lot harder to buy a computer and be genuinely excited about
it. I can remember how "cool" moving from an XT to a 386SX and then to a 486
powered multi-media computer was. It was a real shift with a perceivable
difference--and there was a lot more computing power and therefore
possibility presented. After 200MHz it seems there just isn't as much you
can do that makes you say "wow!".

Guess I'm just weird...

Nah, I'm not sure I agree. You aren't the only one to have ever been excited
about the prospect of a new computer.

William