The Ghost in the Machine - no, not the anime

ufcrusher · 04-17-2002, 04:12 PM

Ok, so here is the story. I have a desktop which I built about 2 years ago for my sister which was actually taken by my mother. Now I had built systems prior to this one, and had trouble shooted my own and other peoples systems before, but this one has been nothing but trouble for a bit now. Since this was supposed to be for my sister, we agreed to skimp and accept certain "lower quality" parts.

By this I mean, we went to Fry's and bought a barebones byo system. It is a PIII 750 mhz, it has 256 mb of ram, and a 30 gig hd. Since it was a build your own system, the case and motherboard came together, it had on board sound, lan, modem, and vid card without the option to upgrade. (as I said we were skimping for the sake of saving my sister money...she just wanted to run simple programs and such). I can probably look up what the mobo/case is called if y'all need it.

So, if y'all remember awhile back the system crashed like a mofo when new ram was placed in it. Apparently the original ram (128mb) somehow failed and as such the computer wouldnt function. After I replaced the ram and some more smoke, it became apparent that the HD had now failed.....but that is rehashing the past. After replacing the HD and the ram, the system was back up and running, but there are several problems that I can not for the life figure out. So here we go:

1. System is freezing up all the time. You can just be doing simple word processing or using the internet when it will just completely lock up. Occassionally an error message comes up (or so I am told, and of course they havent been able to write it down for me) and if that happens you just hit any key and it resumes. If the error message doesnt appear you have to do a hard reboot to get it started again.

2. Screen size constantly changes. - NOTE: This sounds like a simple one to fix. But it is not the control + mouse scroll. You can be using the computer and it will suddenly (without you hitting any keys or the mouse) and go to the larger size. I have sat there and reset the computer, just to have it jump again a few minutes later.

Those are the two that I can think of from the top of my head. I know that there are a couple of other things but I think they are related to it locking up.

NullUnit2000 · 04-17-2002, 05:24 PM

This may be a simple case of "You get what you pay for." Judging from her past problems it sounds like you have a problem child on your hands. As long as the CPU is sound it might be worth getting a new (better) MoBo. That should fix the problems she's having and prevent future ones as well.

ufcrusher · 04-17-2002, 05:37 PM

Possibly. Problem is that they dont want to pay for another system and I dont have the disposable income to replace the mobo right now.

04-17-2002, 04:12 PM	#1
ufcrusher Admiral Join Date: Jul 2000 Location: Boca Raton, FL: By way of: Poway, CA; Gainesville, Fl; Penn Valley, Pa. Posts: 5,680	The Ghost in the Machine - no, not the anime Ok, so here is the story. I have a desktop which I built about 2 years ago for my sister which was actually taken by my mother. Now I had built systems prior to this one, and had trouble shooted my own and other peoples systems before, but this one has been nothing but trouble for a bit now. Since this was supposed to be for my sister, we agreed to skimp and accept certain "lower quality" parts. By this I mean, we went to Fry's and bought a barebones byo system. It is a PIII 750 mhz, it has 256 mb of ram, and a 30 gig hd. Since it was a build your own system, the case and motherboard came together, it had on board sound, lan, modem, and vid card without the option to upgrade. (as I said we were skimping for the sake of saving my sister money...she just wanted to run simple programs and such). I can probably look up what the mobo/case is called if y'all need it. So, if y'all remember awhile back the system crashed like a mofo when new ram was placed in it. Apparently the original ram (128mb) somehow failed and as such the computer wouldnt function. After I replaced the ram and some more smoke, it became apparent that the HD had now failed.....but that is rehashing the past. After replacing the HD and the ram, the system was back up and running, but there are several problems that I can not for the life figure out. So here we go: 1. System is freezing up all the time. You can just be doing simple word processing or using the internet when it will just completely lock up. Occassionally an error message comes up (or so I am told, and of course they havent been able to write it down for me) and if that happens you just hit any key and it resumes. If the error message doesnt appear you have to do a hard reboot to get it started again. 2. Screen size constantly changes. - NOTE: This sounds like a simple one to fix. But it is not the control + mouse scroll. You can be using the computer and it will suddenly (without you hitting any keys or the mouse) and go to the larger size. I have sat there and reset the computer, just to have it jump again a few minutes later. Those are the two that I can think of from the top of my head. I know that there are a couple of other things but I think they are related to it locking up. __________________ Welcome my son, welcome to the machine...Where have you been? It's alright we know where you've been....

04-17-2002, 05:24 PM	#2
NullUnit2000 Lieutenant Commander Join Date: May 2000 Location: SF by way of OC Posts: 586	This may be a simple case of "You get what you pay for." Judging from her past problems it sounds like you have a problem child on your hands. As long as the CPU is sound it might be worth getting a new (better) MoBo. That should fix the problems she's having and prevent future ones as well. __________________ ------------ -NU2K

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04-17-2002, 05:37 PM	#3
ufcrusher Admiral Join Date: Jul 2000 Location: Boca Raton, FL: By way of: Poway, CA; Gainesville, Fl; Penn Valley, Pa. Posts: 5,680	Possibly. Problem is that they dont want to pay for another system and I dont have the disposable income to replace the mobo right now.

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