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PC problem - please help

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  • snaver
    snaver Posts: 157 Forumite
    Part of the Furniture 10 Posts Combo Breaker
    No, Tarambor, I don't actually stream anything on it, dodgy or otherwise. The reason the other one kept failing was upgrading from Windows 8.1 to 10, which was a nightmare! Thanks all for your advice. I've changed the power options as EdwardB advised and it hasn't frozen yet, some 12 hours later, so I'm keeping everything crossed... though it can go for 2 days before crashing, so hopefully now it won't!
  • AndyPix
    AndyPix Posts: 4,847 Forumite
    Fifth Anniversary 1,000 Posts Name Dropper Photogenic
    Some good advice above


    Complete freezes are usually hardware in my experience.
    Especially if you can still see a mouse pointer but it doesn't move ..


    Its usually RAM too, so the first and easiest thing I would do is pop the case open, eject your RAM stick(s) and wipe the gold contacts with a dry non linting cloth . Then re-seat them firmly.


    If your rig is configured with more than 1 RAM stick then just put 1 back in, see if it freezes, then try with just the other one in - in an attempt to isolate the culprit.


    In many cases, simply re-seating them firmly will make the problem go away..


    Next I would be looking if there is any pattern to the freezes, ie are you always in the middle of the same thing when the system freezes ??


    Let us know how you get on
  • snaver
    snaver Posts: 157 Forumite
    Part of the Furniture 10 Posts Combo Breaker
    Just to update you... despite altering the power settings, sadly the PC froze/crashed at 08:56 this morning :( so it looks like it's back to the drawing board! I noticed there's an option to reset the PC, reinstalling Windows, while keeping the files rather than doing a total factory reset. Does this work and might it be a solution please? I'm still a way from backing up everything on this PC to the cloud and I really don't have the time to reload everything or be computerless at the moment. Any advice greatly appreciated.
  • snaver
    snaver Posts: 157 Forumite
    Part of the Furniture 10 Posts Combo Breaker
    edited 20 March 2017 at 12:18PM
    Thanks for your post, Andy, which I've only just seen. I put more RAM into the machine (doubling it) shortly after I bought it, as the usage with the preinstalled RAM seemed high and the computer slower, so now have 2 identical sticks. I will dust the connectors and reinstall them, as you suggest and see if this alters anything... fingers crossed and thanks again! There also seems to be no visible pattern with the freezes, it seems to happen at any point and after varying amounts of time.
    AndyPix wrote: »
    Some good advice above


    Complete freezes are usually hardware in my experience.
    Especially if you can still see a mouse pointer but it doesn't move ..


    Its usually RAM too, so the first and easiest thing I would do is pop the case open, eject your RAM stick(s) and wipe the gold contacts with a dry non linting cloth . Then re-seat them firmly.


    If your rig is configured with more than 1 RAM stick then just put 1 back in, see if it freezes, then try with just the other one in - in an attempt to isolate the culprit.


    In many cases, simply re-seating them firmly will make the problem go away..


    Next I would be looking if there is any pattern to the freezes, ie are you always in the middle of the same thing when the system freezes ??


    Let us know how you get on
  • grumpycrab
    grumpycrab Posts: 5,025 Forumite
    Part of the Furniture 1,000 Posts Name Dropper Bake Off Boss!
    snaver wrote: »
    I noticed there's an option to reset the PC, reinstalling Windows, while keeping the files.
    Yes might be worth a go but note.
    1. reset doesn't always work (its a bit flaky)
    2. you lose program installations (e.g. Firefox) - note your important programs (but a list is provided on the desktop after reset)
    If the PC wasn't only 6 months old I'd suggest a dodgy power supply; so that's unlikely - yes I'd give reset a go (make sure you tick the "keep data" option and backup your vital docs to usb stick -irrespective of cloud backup - just in case!)
    EDIT: try RAM fix first!
    If you put your general location in your Profile, somebody here may be able to come and help you.
  • AndyPix
    AndyPix Posts: 4,847 Forumite
    Fifth Anniversary 1,000 Posts Name Dropper Photogenic
    snaver wrote: »
    I put more RAM into the machine (doubling it) shortly after I bought it,.


    Seems more likely this will be the culprit then in that case.
    If not, you can always resort to the reset afterwards ..


    And thanks GrumpyCrab, i didnt know that W10 provided a list of programs in that way
    Schooldays :)
  • snaver
    snaver Posts: 157 Forumite
    Part of the Furniture 10 Posts Combo Breaker
    Thanks for all your responses, which are much appreciated. Just to keep you updated... The computer behaved for a while and I thought that cleaning the RAM connectors had worked. However, over the last week or so, it has frozen repeatedly :( Guess I'll be removing one of the RAM cards to see if that helps, unless there's anything else I should be trying instead. Will keep you posted...!
  • were
    were Posts: 632 Forumite
    agrinnall wrote: »
    Why aren't you returning it to the retailer to be repaired?

    I'm with this guy. Your laptop is too flakey. There will be times you need to get stuff done and it will fail you. Bite the bullet before warranty runs out.

    If you are removing ram, remove the ram that you put in, not what it came with.
  • Sicard
    Sicard Posts: 865 Forumite
    Ninth Anniversary 500 Posts Name Dropper Combo Breaker
    I did a reset and kept all data when my 4 month old HP Envy kept freezing. After troubleshooting all the malware routes etc the reset was fine and I was impressed. I guessed it was one of the insidious updates that caused the problem.
    You know what uranium is, right? It's this thing called nuclear weapons. And other things. Like lots of things are done with uranium. Including some bad things.
    Donald Trump, Press Conference, February 16, 2017

  • esuhl
    esuhl Posts: 9,409 Forumite
    Part of the Furniture 1,000 Posts Name Dropper
    snaver wrote: »
    Thanks for all your responses, which are much appreciated. Just to keep you updated... The computer behaved for a while and I thought that cleaning the RAM connectors had worked. However, over the last week or so, it has frozen repeatedly :( Guess I'll be removing one of the RAM cards to see if that helps, unless there's anything else I should be trying instead. Will keep you posted...!

    Have you determined whether it's a hardware or software issue yet?
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