Vista - Ahh! Point me in a direction?

Hey all,

If I leave my computer sit overnight, it will completely freeze, and I have to hard-shut it down. The only program that was running was Firefox (with a few pages open). What would cause this?

Overheating?

Memory issues?

GPU issues?

I have had freezing before while browsing on the internet, but it has happened only once, and I had tons of Firefox windows open. It will, however, freeze almost every time I play Company of Heroes Gold, and sometimes freezes when I play FarCry2. In addition, I can benchmark it over and over, but if I let it sit for an hour AFTER I benchmark it, the system will freeze.

I have all updates...64 bit drivers, BIOS, etc...

These issues aside, why would it freeze when sitting idle overnight? My system specs are pretty good...if I was overheating I would be shocked. Any thoughts?

Thanks,

Sal

Sounds like corruption. Scan/clean your system here-you may have malware and/or Reinstall Windows.

Really? I've only had my rig up and running for less than two weeks, and I have updated, brand new Norton AV...I'll give anything a try tho, thanks for the advice rive0108

Did you remove the bloatware off your system? These programs cause conflicts, overide and shut down Vista programs, corrupt files when uninstalling, and waste system resources. Try this to scan/fix your pc: free Microsoft PC Advisor

If I were you I would do a fresh Windows install (not a OEM Factory restore), and then create a disk image. free Paragon drive backup

No, all I did was install my OEM ultimate disc. Unfortunately this is my first system build, so I'm a bit green.

I've heard a lot about 'bloatware'...obviously software that bloats Vista. (My buddies were amazed that Vista was like, 20+gb, when XP is apparently only 3gb)...My only question is simple: How will I know what 'bloatware' is? Besides the endless googling, etc, I'm not really sure how to find out what I REALLY need installed.

I'm starting to want to do a clean re-format of my drives and begin fresh. I might also run XP on my 1tb and vista on my RAID0, and simply go with what works.

Once again, thank you for the advice. I'll try and locate the bloatware with the pc advisor.

bloatware is software installed by the OEM. Multiple toolbars, junk programs, etc.,
If you built your own system there is no bloatware. Do you use registry cleaners? Its possible you may have defective/incompatable hardware/drivers, but id bet its software corruption/conflicts, and reinstalling Vista SP1 may fix your issues. Advisor can help you with the driver/software issues.

To me, it sounds like a memory issue.

Have you run memtest with Vista?

Some memory modules are not compatible with certain mobos. You should check the mobo's manufacturer's website and double check with them about compatibility.

Ahh, I see. Yeah, I built my own system, and was somewhat selective on what I installed with it. However, I cannot honestly say that I did not install bloatware.

I have not used registry cleaners. I'd imagine I could gooogle it, but would you have a recommendation on a good Reg cleaner?

Hey satchmo, welcome to my personal hell, lol

Yeah, I ran MEMTEST86 (2.5 hours) and MEMTEST86+ (10.5 hours), along with Vista's own memory tester (.5 hour), all with no errors. I have NOT checked with Asus to see if my memory is compatible...I didnt even know that was a problem to be addressed. Its brand new tri-channel ddr3, so I would be SO P***ED if Asus didnt support it. Like, SO P***ED.

Thanks for your time

Sal

And DON'T use these so-called "Registry Cleaners". Too many of them "clean" parts of the registry that shouldn'tbe touched, and wind up causing more damage than they are attempting to solve.