Odd problems with PC

[SoND]

PC has been quite unusual in the past couple of days and I have no idea what is going on.

Process list in the task manager doesn't update properly, specifically the Mem Usage. Normally the figures are jumping about and changing constantly but now they're pretty much fixed and sometimes the process doesn't clear after I exit a program and it won't let me end it manually.

The CPU and Page file graphs under the performance tab haven't worked ever since I upgraded my ram to 4gb, I've put this down to windows being pissy with it's 32-bit wall.

I think firefox updated yesterday and now cookies and sessions won't save. Every where I would be automatically logged in I'm logged out and need to log in manually when I open the browser. Usernames and some passwords are still saved in the textboxes in the login menus. Everything in the options looks set ok and hasn't changed from before. It managed to hit over 1,000,000K usage last night somehow with less than 50 tabs open, I'm not sure I have seen it go that high even with 300 tabs open. Google suggested finding the cookie file in the profile and changing the extension to .tmp, didn't help.

Got a random BSOD and restart when I booted up today. Wasn't doing anything in particular, hasn't happened before and hasn't happened again just yet.

Some programs 'encounter a problem' and need to close. Windows media as soon as I open a file, you could move the error and it worked properly, this has stopped though. Fallout 3 is completely random when it does it can happen after several minutes or several hours. 3dMark06 everytime I click to view my results, reinstalling did not help. This has been happening longer than the task manager problems.

Have ran Memtest86 and OrthosPrime95, passed both no problems. Tried windows system file checker and that didn't reveal any problems.

AVG, Spybot, SuperAntiSpyware, Avast, Malwarebytes are all updated and finding nothing except the odd tracking cookie.

The 500w power supply I have at the minute is borderline for my system but everything was working fine for a few weeks, a new one is on it's way.

Do my problems sound familiar to anyone? Googling hasn't found me anything.

Specs

XP Pro SP3
E5300 2.6ghz OC to 2.9
9800 GTX+ standard clock with latest drivers
4gb DDR2
3x SATA Plenty of space left

https://img.photobucket.com/albums/v612/SoND/taskman.jpg

https://img.photobucket.com/albums/v612/SoND/cpuzscreen.jpg

https://img.photobucket.com/albums/v612/SoND/3dmarkerror.jpg
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Go back to bed - You have no rights - "Streetfighters ~ Mainstream motorcycling's crackwhore sister."

[The Artist]

Looks like its time for a fresh install of xp...

[UnknownStuntm...]

^^^lol^^^

Anyway, it's most probably your memory - try taking a chunk of it out and see if the problem goes away. Memtest doesn't stress test the ram, it only writes and reads it, and I've read a fair few cases where it hasn't reported errors but they're definitely there. I'm fault finding similar with the techies at Crucial at the mo, they said take a stick out and try it. Then swap sticks about to see if you can id a duff stick.

[The Shaggy D.A.]

[GodzGift]

conficker virus has got you, the only solution now is for you to burn your PC.
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Bike Level: Amateur | CBT Passed

[SoND]

[Flip]

If my pc gets that fubared I back everything up and go back to factory settings. Yet to have a problem not fixed by this.

[WildGoose]

No idea im afraid, but just thought I would empathise, as I got my first BSOD on XP this evening for no apparent reason, then it rebooted without giving me time to read the blue screen.

Got a services.exe running under 'owner' in the task manager processes, which I don't recognise, and think it is some sort virus trojan thing.

Comp has been getting steadily slower for months, music jumps and skips quite a lot, and it will hang for ages sometimes with no obvious excuse.

Hate this stage in the microsoft cycle.
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So in other words, he stopped you for being flagrantly in posession of a motorcycle in direct contravention of the Hippies, Darkies and People Whose Face I Don't Like The Look of (Police Powers) Act. 1976

[WildGoose]

Quick update, just spent the latter half of the day formatting the bastard , was up until 3am last night trying to get rid of the virus and getting nowhere, meanwhile the PC was slowly dying and chugging slower and slower.

Binned F-secure as I now have no faith in it , and brought in Kaspersky instead . Rather impressed, it has found over a dozen dodgy things in files i've had downloaded for ages, that f-secure didnt even blink at.

First proper full format, and it wasn't as painful as I was imagining, except thousands of loading bars, nice to have that fresh install feeling again, got 3 years out of it without major issue, think thats pretty good for windows. Partitioned it differently this time, the way I wanted to when I first built it but for some reason didn't. So hopefully should run better this time round.
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So in other words, he stopped you for being flagrantly in posession of a motorcycle in direct contravention of the Hippies, Darkies and People Whose Face I Don't Like The Look of (Police Powers) Act. 1976

[The Shaggy D.A.]

[WildGoose]

God you must have been seething to actually time it, but yes thats probably the most noticeable difference.

The old install wasn't shutting down for over 6 months it would just log out and hang, nice to be able to shut down and restart and be back to the desktop ready for work within 60 seconds.

Won't last, but at least I know how to format this time, it wasn't as bad as I was imagining, like removing an engine, or any other of those males rites of passage.
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So in other words, he stopped you for being flagrantly in posession of a motorcycle in direct contravention of the Hippies, Darkies and People Whose Face I Don't Like The Look of (Police Powers) Act. 1976

[JonB]

Jesus. Imagine if you had a 7200RPM HDD.

I know you all hate me for it, but one of the things I have found to be one of Vista's biggest selling points is the fact that it doesn't slow down over time.

I remember one of my old computers, it was getting so clogged up, I literally used to cry in anger when I installed a program and it would tell me to restart the computer, it used to take about 10 minutes. No kidding.

I do love a fresh install though. Used to do it every 3-6 months when I used XP, generally don't bother anymore.
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Be careful whose advice you buy, but, be patient with those who supply it. Advice is a form of nostalgia, dispensing it is a way of fishing the past from the disposal, wiping it off, painting over the ugly parts and recycling it for more than it?s worth.

[SoND]

Good to hear you've got it sorted again. Did you do any general maintenance before it started slowing down?

I really can't be assed with formatting and reinstalling anything right now, not sure if it will make much difference. Everything seems to be running quick enough, just random program crashes and errors are getting on my tits. Will sooner try some new ram and the power supply, if that doesn't work then I'll do the reinstall. I've convinced myself the psu is a problem so hopefully it will be here tomorrow and shut me up.
____________________
Go back to bed - You have no rights - "Streetfighters ~ Mainstream motorcycling's crackwhore sister."

[JonB]

It is no way going to be the PSU. The PSU is exactly what it says on the tin. A Power Supply Unit. It doesn't involve itself with software at all. If you have any issues with the power supply you notice other hardwares failing first.

It's just your current install of XP. 100% guarantee it. IF it is hardware it is going to be RAM, not PSU.
____________________
Be careful whose advice you buy, but, be patient with those who supply it. Advice is a form of nostalgia, dispensing it is a way of fishing the past from the disposal, wiping it off, painting over the ugly parts and recycling it for more than it?s worth.

[SoND]

Current PSU is rated 20A on the 12v+ and it's recommended I need 26A for the graphics card. Also the fact that I can't run the RAM at higher speeds with both sticks makes me think it's on the edge without needing a lot to push it over.

https://extreme.outervision.com/PSUEngine - When I calculate it using this it's pretty borderline. I'm upgrading the PSU anyway for SLI so if it doesn't make a difference it's no loss to me, just one less thing to worry about.

If I end up doing a reinstall I'll probably do a dual boot with vista. Thinking about 64-bit but don't know if my 32-bit games will play on it, not concerned about them making use of the 64-bit, it's the dx10 I'm after. Want the 64 for 3d modelling. What do you think?
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Go back to bed - You have no rights - "Streetfighters ~ Mainstream motorcycling's crackwhore sister."

[GodzGift]

How old is your PSU? generally speaking if you have it for a few years its a good idea to upgrade it, and I have seen PSU fail on many PCs before.

You can also get your PSU tested but if you planning on running SLI having a top spec PSU is a must.
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Bike Level: Amateur | CBT Passed

[JonB]

Typical, I am just about to sell a year old OCZ GameXstream 850w SLI ready PSU. Cost me £120, was gonna sell it on for £50.

I decided to downgrade to a 520W modular PSU as I no longer use my PC for gaming.
____________________
Be careful whose advice you buy, but, be patient with those who supply it. Advice is a form of nostalgia, dispensing it is a way of fishing the past from the disposal, wiping it off, painting over the ugly parts and recycling it for more than it?s worth.

[The Shaggy D.A.]

[SoND]

[SoND]

Got 2x new 1gb sticks of RAM to try last night and it looks like everything is sorted now. Can set its speed to the full 667 and can overclock the CPU to 3016mhz now, up from 2964.

3dMark stopped giving me errors so I bought the advanced version to really stress the card. Could turn the memory on the card up to 1370 and run all tests except 1680 x 1050 with 8x anti-alias and 16x af. When the pixel shader test was repeated temps hit 68ºC and it froze. Had to scale it back to 1317 and it worked fine and temps didn't go above 61.

Haven't ran 1680 x 1050 overclocked without aa or af or 8x aa 16x af on default.

Overclocking the cpu made a big difference but it still runs 100% in a lot of the tests.

Card is a Inno3D 9800 GTX+

https://img.photobucket.com/albums/v612/SoND/rivatunersettings.jpg

https://img.photobucket.com/albums/v612/SoND/excel.jpg
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Go back to bed - You have no rights - "Streetfighters ~ Mainstream motorcycling's crackwhore sister."