Forgive me I'm not 100% sure this is th right place to post

[Kiti]

Okay I'm fairly good with computers but I don't know where to go on this one.
My mom recently got a total re-haul on her computer. Upgraded a bunch of things and put windows 7 on it. Now she kept having problems, if it was left on over night the key board and mouse would stop working and sometimes a bios error would show up.

She bought a new computer and gave me this one if I could fix it.

Now I've had it plugged in and turned on for the last 2 days no problems with it all day yesterday but I left it up over night to see if i could begin to find the problem.

When I got up it wouldn't come out of sleep by moving the mouse or typing on the key board (it's a desktop) so i quick hit the power  button and all screens were running normally for about 5 min then the key board and mouse stopped work and the computer seized up.

Unable to properly shut it down I had to hold down the power button to turn it off. When turned back on was prompted for safe mode or normal windows restart, however the keyboard was still not working to allow me to select a choice. I turned of the computer and turned it back on, same problem. Turned it off un-plugged it and plugged it back in and wham bam thank you ma'am everything worked again, but no sign of the elusive bios error my mom told me about.

So here's my question, where do I start looking for the problem?

And I am sorry this is so little information, I know it's not much to go on and there are probably about 50 billion things that this could be I just need a starting point. A place to go to find the first step.

[Kiti]

New information, was going to go look up some of the specs on the computer to get more detailed information and wasunable to bring the computer out of sleep mode.

When I turned it off and back on a new screen appeared stating the following.

Choose and operating system to start or press tab to select a tool:
(use arrow keys to highlight your choice then press enter)

Windows 7

To specify an advanced option for this choice press F8

Tools:
Windows Memory Diagnostic

At this point the keyboard was frozen and when I turned it back on it returned to the safe mode prompt page but the key board was still not working so i was forced to unplug it again.

[patio]

Title of the Month Finalist...

[JJ 3000]

Have you tried another keyboard?

Are the date and time right in BIOS?

[hartbeatmr]

Good evening Kiti and welcome to CH

OK from what I am able to interpret the PC is a desktop and now has windows 7 am I safe to assume that it maybe had XP? but to help you any further we would need some more info because what is in the post is not enough.

The PC can be freezing from many different reasons this can be a hardware issue or software issue.
#1... What version of windows 7 32 or 64 bit?
#2... If the desktop was overhauled what is the motherboard model most after market MoBo's will have the numbers silk screened around the CPU or the PCI slots (i.e ms-7301 or 845PERL etc)
#3... What model is / was the desktop (i.e Dell C521 or was it always a custom built PC)
#4... If the whole PC was redone inside do you or what errors have you gotten or BSOD (blue screens of death)
#5... Is the keyboard and mouse original / old ones before the PC was redone. If the keyboard is freezing did you try another keyboard I have seen a mouse or keyboard make a PC freeze.

So if at all possible please let us know what parts were replaced.
Motherboard, Memory (how much was installed), Hard Drive, CD Drive, CPU (central processing unit) (i.e Intel Duel core 2.2 etc)
If you cant get into windows even in safe mode can you get into the BIOS? most aftermarket motherboards you would use the "del" key to get into it while you are booting the PC. When you are in there you will find a lot of the info out. That will be listed in system information or something similar.

Hope to hear from you soon, Mike   

[Kiti]

Good evening Kiti and welcome to CH

OK from what I am able to interpret the PC is a desktop and now has windows 7 am I safe to assume that it maybe had XP? but to help you any further we would need some more info because what is in the post is not enough.

Sorry was getting more information when I had to take kid to the dentist. I just honestly wasn't sure where to start. It had XP on it at one point not sure if it was before or after the switched out all the hardware though. It's not showing a previous version under the C drive properties, though I'm not sure if that's what you are looking for.

The PC can be freezing from many different reasons this can be a hardware issue or software issue.
#1... What version of windows 7 32 or 64 bit?

32 bit Home Premium Service Pack 1

#2... If the desktop was overhauled what is the motherboard model most after market MoBo's will have the numbers silk screened around the CPU or the PCI slots (i.e ms-7301 or 845PERL etc)

all i know about the motherboard is that it's an asus M4N68T-M, I'm happy to get more details but I can't find what I'm looking for I have all kinds of windows open regarding hardware properties and performance, but nothing shows specifically. At least to my what I'm beginning to understand as *completely forgotten everything I ever knew about computers eyes.* So if you have direction that it would be great.

#3... What model is / was the desktop (i.e Dell C521 or was it always a custom built PC)

It was an HP Pavillion 700 up until 3 years ago but it's been given a total new set of guts.

#4... If the whole PC was redone inside do you or what errors have you gotten or BSOD (blue screens of death)

That's the thing I have not seen thus far anything beyond what I've described above. I've only been told about the problems 3rd hand because my mom lives 300 miles away and i got this computer 3 days ago. I wanted to try and get a head start on figuring things out so that I wouldn't make them worse, but I don't get any errors other than the frozen keyboard and mouse (USB both) and the choose your operating system screen that appeared randomly the one time.

And the Keyboard and mouse don't appear to freeze up if the computer is active only when it is in sleep mode for extended periods of time.

#5... Is the keyboard and mouse original / old ones before the PC was redone. If the keyboard is freezing did you try another keyboard I have seen a mouse or keyboard make a PC freeze.

Different mouses and keyboards have been used but I bought brand new ones when I brought this home because she kept the old ones for her new computer. The problems existed with her old ones, and these newer ones. I did buy them second hand and the keyboard I have was supposed to come with drivers, and didn't I was able to contact the manufacturer and had the drivers sent to me so that I could download them.

Though I did just restart the computer to get the motherboard information I provided and a keyboard error popped up saying load dll failure, so that's completely new, but I just installed the drivers for this keyboard a couple of hours ago.

It's a V7 KN0B1 which they don't even have listed on their website anymore, I had to have the tech center send me the drivers in an email.

So if at all possible please let us know what parts were replaced.
Motherboard, Memory (how much was installed), Hard Drive, CD Drive, CPU (central processing unit) (i.e Intel Duel core 2.2 etc)

If you can bare with me I will go over the specs in the device manager now. I was told it's all new but I don't know enough about it to differentiate b/w the old and the new if that's not accurate.

And I don't currently have the casing opened up right now, and probably won't do it till tomorrow morning, it's to late now but maybe this will give you a starting point.

Ram is 4g
Processor is AMD Phenom9tm0 II x2 550 Processor 3.10 GHz

Battery - microsoft composite Battery.
computer - acpi x86-based PC
Disk Drives - st350041 8as scsi Disk Device
display adapters - NVIDIA GeForce 7025 / NVIDIA nForce 630 a
DVD/C-ROM drives - ATAPI iHAS124 Y SCSI CdRom Device
Human Interface Devices - HID-compliant consumer control device, HID-compliant device, USB input Device (x3)
IDE ATA/ATAPI controllers - ATA Channel 0, ATAT Channel 1, Standard Dual Channel PCI IDE Controller
Keyboards - HID Keyboard Device
Mice and other Keyboard Device - HID-compliant mouse
Monitors - Generic PnP Monitor
Network adaptors - Linksys Wireless-G PCI Adapter #2, NVIDIA nForce 10/100/100 MBPS Ethernet
Ports (COM & LPT) - communications Port (COM1), Printer Port (LPT1)
Processors - AMD Phenom (tm) II X2 550 Processor (x2)
Sound, video and game controllers - High Definition Audio Device
Storage Controller - NVIDIA nForce Serial ATA Controller (x2)
System devices - ACPI fixed Feature Button, ATK0110 ACPI utility, Composite Bus Enumerator, Direct memory access
                         controller, High definition, High precision event timer, HP560347 (HP photosmart D110 series), IP BusEnum
                         Root Enumerator, Microsoft ACPI-Compliant System, Microsoft system management BIOS Driver, Microsoft
                         Virtual Drive Enumerator Driver, Numeric Data Processor, NVIDIA nForce PCI System Management, PCI bus,
                         PCI standard host CPU bridge (x5), PCI standard ISA bridge, PCI standard PCI-to-PCI bridge (x4), Plug and
                         Play Software Device Enumerator, Programmable interrupt controller, System CMOX/real time clock/ System
                         Speaker, system timer, UMBus Enumerator, UMBus Root Bus Enumerator
Universal Serial bus controllers - Standard Enhanced PCI to USB host controller, Standard OpenHCD USB Host Controller,
                          USB Composte Device, USB Root Hub (x2)
WSD Print Provider - WSD Print Device

If that is WAY to much info or the wrong info I apologize. It's been a long, time since I have done anything like this and windows has change more than I ever thought.

If you cant get into windows even in safe mode can you get into the BIOS? most aftermarket motherboards you would use the "del" key to get into it while you are booting the PC. When you are in there you will find a lot of the info out. That will be listed in system information or something similar.

Not sure it's 1:30 am here so I will Def check that out first thing tomorrow.

Thank you for being so helpful and trying to help me. I know that I am completely lost, and probably WAY over my head, thank you for trying to help me as I stumble blindly through this.

[Kiti]

Title of the Month Finalist...

I am sorry you found it inappropriate.

[jason2074]

If the problem is coming from sleep mode, then the best solution would be to stop using it.

[truenorth]

If your computer is capable of running long enough and you have a printer attached to it (or a usb flash drive) then for this and future issues i would suggest that you run a free Everest scan and retain the results for times like this.
http://majorgeeks.com/download4181.html
It will not indicate what WAS in the computer before the overhaul but it will tell you everything that is there now as well as perform certain diagnostics.truenorth

[Allan]

I've never been a fan of sleep or hibernation. While they work fine on most systems, there are some that just don't do well with one or the other or both. Instead, I always suggest changing the power options to turn off the hd and display after a defined period of quiet time. It will work well and you should not run into any problems.

[Kiti]

I've never been a fan of sleep or hibernation. While they work fine on most systems, there are some that just don't do well with one or the other or both. Instead, I always suggest changing the power options to turn off the hd and display after a defined period of quiet time. It will work well and you should not run into any problems.

So funny enough I actually did that last night. When I got up this morning everything was frozen but this time when I restarted the computer I did get a BSD.

It came up I barely had time in my brain to register the Screen was blue and read the words management systems when it shut back down again restarted and windows system repair began.

So I will amend my previous statement and say that it appears to happen after long periods of inactivity.

[Kiti]

If your computer is capable of running long enough and you have a printer attached to it (or a usb flash drive) then for this and future issues i would suggest that you run a free Everest scan and retain the results for times like this.
http://majorgeeks.com/download4181.html
It will not indicate what WAS in the computer before the overhaul but it will tell you everything that is there now as well as perform certain diagnostics.truenorth

Thanks I'll give that a try once I can get back on it.

[hartbeatmr]

Good evening Kiti and welcome back to CH

Thank you so much for taking the time to give the information that you were able to get. Sorry I am not trying to make my post so long I am just trying to write everything down to help you.  Most of this post will be just information for you and my questions for you will be on the bottom of this post. Plus did you get the windows disc from your mom when you got the PC. you will need this to fix windows and / or install the OS if needed.     

In-case you need it here is your motherboard manual http://www.asus.com/Motherboards/AMD_AM3/M4N68TM/#download and scroll down to the manual section and just pick English unless you want a different version. Plus for future use you can also get your drivers for the motherboard from the same link (just remember you want windows 7 32 bit version drivers). Don't worry Asus makes a great product and I have used them for years and from what I am reading / interpreting you may have a software or configuration issue or the BIOS may be miss-configured.   

OK the motherboard asus M4N68T-M will work with XP 32 & 64, Vista 32 & 64, W7 32 & 64bit approved.

In my opinion if you end up re-installing the OS (windows) I would do the install as such. Plus I never have any unnecessary equipment plugged in until the drivers are installed and the PC is running normal (i.e printers, external hard drives, scanners etc)   
#1... Install windows (operating system)
#2... Install the chipset drivers (these drivers tell the OS how to handle the motherboard hardware)
#3... Install the video drivers
#4... Install the network card drivers
#5... Install the sound card drivers 
#6... Now if any other add-on cards / external devices need to be installed now is when I install and set them up.

Now here comes the questions.

#1... But to be safe a would do a scan with your AV suite just to be safe if you can.
#2... If this PC was always acting up even when your mom had it and before she replaced the parts maybe the PS (power supply) is not feeding enough juice to bring it out of sleep / hibernation and maybe it was not replaced when the motherboard was. Do know the part number on the PS it should be on the label. Some cheap aftermarket PS are over rated in the wattage.
#3... Will the PC freeze up if left alone in safe mode?
#4... I don't know if you will know this when windows 7 was installed did they just use the windows drivers or did they use Asus drivers?
#5... Is the date and time correct in the BIOS & windows?
#6... In the BIOS is the hard drive set as first boot device
#7... It is possible that the CMOS battery is going bad and if so the settings in the BIOS will get changed. This one will go hand in hand with #5

Well I ill stop rambling on I am not trying to throw to much at you all at once, sorry Mike       

 

[Kiti]

Good evening Kiti and welcome back to CH

Thank you so much for taking the time to give the information that you were able to get. Sorry I am not trying to make my post so long I am just trying to write everything down to help you.  Most of this post will be just information for you and my questions for you will be on the bottom of this post. Plus did you get the windows disc from your mom when you got the PC. you will need this to fix windows and / or install the OS if needed.     

In-case you need it here is your motherboard manual http://www.asus.com/Motherboards/AMD_AM3/M4N68TM/#download and scroll down to the manual section and just pick English unless you want a different version. Plus for future use you can also get your drivers for the motherboard from the same link (just remember you want windows 7 32 bit version drivers). Don't worry Asus makes a great product and I have used them for years and from what I am reading / interpreting you may have a software or configuration issue or the BIOS may be miss-configured.   

OK the motherboard asus M4N68T-M will work with XP 32 & 64, Vista 32 & 64, W7 32 & 64bit approved.

In my opinion if you end up re-installing the OS (windows) I would do the install as such. Plus I never have any unnecessary equipment plugged in until the drivers are installed and the PC is running normal (i.e printers, external hard drives, scanners etc)   
#1... Install windows (operating system)
#2... Install the chipset drivers (these drivers tell the OS how to handle the motherboard hardware)
#3... Install the video drivers
#4... Install the network card drivers
#5... Install the sound card drivers 
#6... Now if any other add-on cards / external devices need to be installed now is when I install and set them up.

Now here comes the questions.

#1... But to be safe a would do a scan with your AV suite just to be safe if you can.
#2... If this PC was always acting up even when your mom had it and before she replaced the parts maybe the PS (power supply) is not feeding enough juice to bring it out of sleep / hibernation and maybe it was not replaced when the motherboard was. Do know the part number on the PS it should be on the label. Some cheap aftermarket PS are over rated in the wattage.
#3... Will the PC freeze up if left alone in safe mode?
#4... I don't know if you will know this when windows 7 was installed did they just use the windows drivers or did they use Asus drivers?
#5... Is the date and time correct in the BIOS & windows?
#6... In the BIOS is the hard drive set as first boot device
#7... It is possible that the CMOS battery is going bad and if so the settings in the BIOS will get changed. This one will go hand in hand with #5

Well I ill stop rambling on I am not trying to throw to much at you all at once, sorry Mike       

So not gonna lie had a couple cocktails tonight. i am sending questions 1, 2 and 4 to my mom for review to get the answer, no I didn't get the windows 7 with the computer they lost it and are still searching. The rest of your questions will have to wait until tomorrow, so that I know with a couple cocktails in me I'm doing everything right. If you get this before i try and stumble into this on my own, can you tell me how to check numbers 5,6 and 7?

If you don't see this first I will either come back to you a lost lamb or will have sufficiently googled the how too.

[hartbeatmr]

Good morning Kiti and welcome back

Hay I am thirsty where's mine 

      But to answer your questions for 5, 6 & 7 when you start the PC you can get into the BIOS. Most aftermarket motherboards to get into the BIOS you would keep on tapping the "del" key but yours may be different while booting the PC look on the bottom of the screen it will say something to the effect of to enter setup press ? or to enter BIOS configuration press?

To get & verify the info on the Main page it will have the date / time etc then use the arrow keys to go over to Boot then arrow down to Boot device priority then make sure Hard drive is listed first then hit the "esc" key and now save the settings.

If you have to set the date or time than chances being the CMOS battery is bad. If the battery is bad they can be purchased at just about any place that sells watch batteries the part number is  CR2032 and cost about 3-5 $

Plus did the COA (Certificate Of Authenticity) this is a sticker that should have been put on the desktop some where this sticker will have 25 digits (5 groups of 5 letters and numbers) if you ever have to reinstall you will need this number. Now if your mom can't find the windows disc you can borrow one from a friend so long as it is a Windows 7 Home premium disc you would be able to use it. 

Hope this helps, Mike

I still am thirsty     

 

[Kiti]

Good morning Kiti and welcome back

Hay I am thirsty where's mine 

      But to answer your questions for 5, 6 & 7 when you start the PC you can get into the BIOS. Most aftermarket motherboards to get into the BIOS you would keep on tapping the "del" key but yours may be different while booting the PC look on the bottom of the screen it will say something to the effect of to enter setup press ? or to enter BIOS configuration press?

To get & verify the info on the Main page it will have the date / time etc then use the arrow keys to go over to Boot then arrow down to Boot device priority then make sure Hard drive is listed first then hit the "esc" key and now save the settings.

If you have to set the date or time than chances being the CMOS battery is bad. If the battery is bad they can be purchased at just about any place that sells watch batteries the part number is  CR2032 and cost about 3-5 $

Plus did the COA (Certificate Of Authenticity) this is a sticker that should have been put on the desktop some where this sticker will have 25 digits (5 groups of 5 letters and numbers) if you ever have to reinstall you will need this number. Now if your mom can't find the windows disc you can borrow one from a friend so long as it is a Windows 7 Home premium disc you would be able to use it. 

Hope this helps, Mike

I still am thirsty 

Date and time were correct and the motherboard was listed first. Waiting on a reply for on 2 and 3.

Left it up last night because I spaced shutting it down and it worked fine for about an hour and a half. Then a Blue screen came up and it shut down. Had to unplug it and plug it back in to get it to start up but windows self repair didn't come up that time, however I did use that moment to get into the BIOS (del key worked btw) so I don't know if that was why self repair didn't start back up.

\=/ there's a double shot for all your help.

[GLOOPS]

I have always used the 'Manchester Screwdriver' method when faced with any major PC problem ...which is Re -formatt and start from scratch method.

By the time you have changed this an moved that around you can be in an even worse mess than when you started lass!

Stick your Windows disk in the computer ...reformat and install as a complete fresh install solves a *censored* of a lot of messing about and takes less time in the end lass. (Not forgetting to backup and copy any valuable stuff of course!)      

P.S. Why do you neeed to keep the machine on all night?   Never heard of saving recources honey     

[reddevilggg]

I have always used the 'Manchester Screwdriver' method when faced with any major PC problem ...which is Re -formatt and start from scratch method.

By the time you have changed this an moved that around you can be in an even worse mess than when you started lass!

Stick your Windows disk in the computer ...reformat and install as a complete fresh install solves a *censored* of a lot of messing about and takes less time in the end lass. (Not forgetting to backup and copy any valuable stuff of course!)      

Re-formatting should only be used as a last option and should never be given as the 'best' advice, especially since this is a forum. I'd ignore this....

[Kiti]

I have always used the 'Manchester Screwdriver' method when faced with any major PC problem ...which is Re -formatt and start from scratch method.

By the time you have changed this an moved that around you can be in an even worse mess than when you started lass!

Stick your Windows disk in the computer ...reformat and install as a complete fresh install solves a *censored* of a lot of messing about and takes less time in the end lass. (Not forgetting to backup and copy any valuable stuff of course!)      

P.S. Why do you neeed to keep the machine on all night?   Never heard of saving recources honey     

1. I don't normally keep it on. If you had read through the only way I could the BSD was from a long period of inactivity.

2. If you had read through you would have seen that I don't HAVE the windows disk and so reformatting isn't an option.

3. I don't WANT to reformat I would like to take this time to learn something I don't already know how to do.

[Kiti]

Now here comes the questions.

#2... If this PC was always acting up even when your mom had it and before she replaced the parts maybe the PS (power supply) is not feeding enough juice to bring it out of sleep / hibernation and maybe it was not replaced when the motherboard was. Do know the part number on the PS it should be on the label. Some cheap aftermarket PS are over rated in the wattage.

Okay my dad said it worked fine for about a year before it started crashing. my mom said it would work for 3 days then she couldn't get it to start for about 3 days. a 3 day on 3 day off cycle. However I'm not experiencing that, but I have unplugged it and plugged it back in nearly every time it crashes

#3... Will the PC freeze up if left alone in safe mode?

yes

#4... I don't know if you will know this when windows 7 was installed did they just use the windows drivers or did they use Asus drivers?

 They said the guy who put the Asus in used a bootleg copy of windows  7, so they went out and bought a copy and reformatted after the fact.

#5... Is the date and time correct in the BIOS & windows?

Yes

#6... In the BIOS is the hard drive set as first boot device

Yes


I hope that answered all your questions sufficiently.

[hartbeatmr]

Good evening Kiti and welcome back

     Thank you so much for all the info your PC issue is a odd one. But right now i would suggest testing the memory here is the link. I would download and test your memory http://www.memtest86.com/ because if it is freezing even in safe mode there may be a hardware issue. Just download memtest and burn it to an ISO.   download memtest (http://memtest.org/). Burn it to a cd using a dedicated .iso burning utility (http://www.petri.co.il/how_to_write_iso_files_to_cd.htm), make sure the cd drive is at the top of the boot order in bios, then boot to the newly created cd and run the utility.

     I also would test the hard drive using the part number you supplied you have a seagate HD here is the link for seatools http://www.seagate.com/support/downloads/seatools/ once you test them please let us know how you make out if both the memory and hard drive pass with no errors than more than likely it is a software issue either it is windows it self or a driver issue. 

     If you want to fix it with out doing a fresh install we should be able to help you but with out one of us being right in front of the PC can be hard at times.

     Most of the time when a PC will just freeze for what appears to be no reason could end up being software issue / hardware issue or both.
The OS can be corrupt, driver corruption or or wrong ones used, Bad memory or miss matched memory, Hard drive that has bad sectors / clusters etc. I know that this is not what you want to hear 

Hope to hear from you soon, Mike 

 
   

[STC]

If all the above advice didn't help it might be best to do a clean install.

And btw you shouldnt have to apologize when making serious threads. Sad that there are so many jerks on the internet that people always gotta hope that no one trolls them.

[Kiti]

Good evening Kiti and welcome back

     Thank you so much for all the info your PC issue is a odd one. But right now i would suggest testing the memory here is the link. I would download and test your memory http://www.memtest86.com/ because if it is freezing even in safe mode there may be a hardware issue. Just download memtest and burn it to an ISO.   download memtest (http://memtest.org/). Burn it to a cd using a dedicated .iso burning utility (http://www.petri.co.il/how_to_write_iso_files_to_cd.htm), make sure the cd drive is at the top of the boot order in bios, then boot to the newly created cd and run the utility.

     I also would test the hard drive using the part number you supplied you have a seagate HD here is the link for seatools http://www.seagate.com/support/downloads/seatools/ once you test them please let us know how you make out if both the memory and hard drive pass with no errors than more than likely it is a software issue either it is windows it self or a driver issue. 

     If you want to fix it with out doing a fresh install we should be able to help you but with out one of us being right in front of the PC can be hard at times.

     Most of the time when a PC will just freeze for what appears to be no reason could end up being software issue / hardware issue or both.
The OS can be corrupt, driver corruption or or wrong ones used, Bad memory or miss matched memory, Hard drive that has bad sectors / clusters etc. I know that this is not what you want to hear 

Hope to hear from you soon, Mike 

 
   

I had a total crash and burn yesterday couldn't even get it to start up. Now I've got it up again so I'll work on all of this.

[Kiti]

If all the above advice didn't help it might be best to do a clean install.

And btw you shouldnt have to apologize when making serious threads. Sad that there are so many jerks on the internet that people always gotta hope that no one trolls them.

Thanks

[patio]

They said the guy who put the Asus in used a bootleg copy of windows  7, so they went out and bought a copy and reformatted after the fact.

Herein lies the root of all your issues...

[Kiti]

Herein lies the root of all your issues...

okay how so? the fact that 1 1/2 years ago there was a bootleg copy on the computer for 2 days before they went out and bought a new copy? and if so how do i fix it.

[Kiti]

Good evening Kiti and welcome back

     Thank you so much for all the info your PC issue is a odd one. But right now i would suggest testing the memory here is the link. I would download and test your memory http://www.memtest86.com/ because if it is freezing even in safe mode there may be a hardware issue. Just download memtest and burn it to an ISO.   download memtest (http://memtest.org/). Burn it to a cd using a dedicated .iso burning utility (http://www.petri.co.il/how_to_write_iso_files_to_cd.htm), make sure the cd drive is at the top of the boot order in bios, then boot to the newly created cd and run the utility.

     I also would test the hard drive using the part number you supplied you have a seagate HD here is the link for seatools http://www.seagate.com/support/downloads/seatools/ once you test them please let us know how you make out if both the memory and hard drive pass with no errors than more than likely it is a software issue either it is windows it self or a driver issue. 

     If you want to fix it with out doing a fresh install we should be able to help you but with out one of us being right in front of the PC can be hard at times.

     Most of the time when a PC will just freeze for what appears to be no reason could end up being software issue / hardware issue or both.
The OS can be corrupt, driver corruption or or wrong ones used, Bad memory or miss matched memory, Hard drive that has bad sectors / clusters etc. I know that this is not what you want to hear 

Hope to hear from you soon, Mike 

 
   

Am thinking I might need to buy a new copy of windows 7 since they can't find the disk. So what would you recommend pay the 35$ for the iso maker thingy or save and buy a new copy of 7? Because I can't afford both atm. Back to school shopping for my kid emptied my pocketbook.

[Kiti]

New error popped up today. The file is possibly corrupt. The cheksum file does not match the computer corrupted checksum

[hartbeatmr]

Good Morning Kiti and welcome back to CH

    Boy I am sorry that you have had so many problems with the PC. But at this point and time here is what I would do and check for.

#1... I know you said that the org copy of W7 was pirated but then they went and bought a real copy of W7 when they bought the copy of W7 did the Microsoft Windows 7 Home Premium 32 bit COA (Certificate Of Authenticity) most OEM copy of Windows OS look like this and the number will be 25 digits long (5 groups of 5 letters and numbers) get put on the PC's case some where?. If so then is there any one that you can borrow there W7 disc so long as it is a W7 Home premium 32 bit you can use it for repairing the damaged windows files. Plus if needed you can use this disc for installing the OS and if you borrow one it would save you a few bucks for the time being.

#2...But I am sorry I don't know what ISO thing you are talking about for 35$ this ISO recorder is a free UT here is the link for the W7 version of it if you wish they do take donations if that is what you are talking about http://isorecorder.alexfeinman.com/W7.htm. But if there is no W7 COA sticker on the case and you need to buy a new one here here is one from NewEgg (I have bought from them for 15 years and I trust them) on the link there is W7 Home Premium 32 and 64 bit versions for 99.00 with free shipping http://www.newegg.com/Store/SubCategory.aspx?SubCategory=368&name=Operating-Systems. Here is another company that I have bought stuff from over the years and has been good MWave http://www.mwave.com/mwave/subcat.asp?CatID=790&parent=2^121&pageTitle=Operating%20System.
     Just in-case you may be wondering what the cost difference in-between the cost of the say HP (home Premium) disc's. They make Retail, OEM's, upgrades etc. You should be fine with the OEM they tend to be the cheapest the only down fall to OEM's the COA can not be transferred to another PC.
***just a note Windows 7 32 bit will only see and utilize 3 to 3.5 gigs of memory & Windows 7 64 bit will see and utilize but this up to 16 gigs but the max amount of ram also depends on the motherboard so your max of ram is 8 gigs for your motherboard. Having a 32 bit OS is the most compatible with some hardware and software so this is up to you. If you decide you want 64 bit make sure all your hardware is 64 bit compliant. Printers, scanners, 3rd party software etc. You can check your software and hardware here to see if it is http://www.microsoft.com/windows/compatibility/windows-7/en-us/default.aspx   

#3... Because of all the problems you have had you still may want to test the HD (hard drive) & the memory just look back at post #20 for the links. But it is possible that all your issues are just from the OS being corrupt and not a hardware issue. But it can't hurt to be safe The testing tools are free and the only cost here would be the cost of a couple of CD's and your time. But if the hard drive has bad sectors you will always have issues using the PC and or you will have a HD failure in the future now if the memory is bad you can have all kinds of strange errors that pop up, random freezing and general over all performance issue or all the above. 

#4... When the PC was R&R'd and the OS was installed the file corruption can come from a couple of different things. The DVD drive it self may be on it's way out so it didn't get all the files needed to install the OS correctly or with the copy of W7 that was pirated so again it may not of had all the files needed to install the OS correctly. But when they did buy another copy of W7 maybe only a repair was done and not a format and fresh install so some files still could have been damaged? sorry I don't know as I can only speculate 

#5... I would either borrow (if you borrow one so long as it is a W7 32 bit it will work & doesn't matter if the disc is HP, Dell or OEM) or buy a real copy of W7 HP to fix the PC. You can try doing a Windows repair by going safe mode by pressing F8 and pick repair, but you may need the W7 disc to do this but some times you don't need the disc. But in one of your posts you did say that the PC was freezing even in safe mode so trying this may not work. I know that you really want to learn how to fix it so you can have a better idea how things work etc. But if you have a W7 disc you can boot from the windows disc and tell it to do a repair if you wish to try repairing this way may work because windows will repair it self by using the files off the disc instead of using the windows files that are on the hard drive if that makes since. But in the long run personally my self I would save my files / data that I want and I would get my hands on a W7 HP disc & do a clean install.

Here is my steps that I do when I do a fresh install of the OS

*Save all data, Pic's, music, documents, fav's etc.
*Have all Disc's (windows, driver cd, etc) if there is no driver CD than I download the drivers from the manufacture web site just make sure you get the correct versions in your case right now that is W7 32bit.
*Unplug all devices but Cat cable, keyboard, mouse, monitor, speakers.
*I do a full format of hard drive
*Install OS (operating system) even if W7 has the drivers please install Asus drivers instead you will get better performance and it will be more reliable.   
*install drivers in this order: Chipset> video drivers> sound drivers> NIC (network interface card) Wireless card (if you have one) > Modem etc
Then update OS and activate on line.
Then transfer all data back.

And yes I know my post have been very long for you sorry I am just trying to put everything down so you can the least amount of hiccups as possible. Please let us know you you make out and what you decide to do, Mike   
               

[Kiti]

Good Morning Kiti and welcome back to CH

    Boy I am sorry that you have had so many problems with the PC. But at this point and time here is what I would do and check for.

#1... I know you said that the org copy of W7 was pirated but then they went and bought a real copy of W7 when they bought the copy of W7 did the Microsoft Windows 7 Home Premium 32 bit COA (Certificate Of Authenticity) most OEM copy of Windows OS look like this and the number will be 25 digits long (5 groups of 5 letters and numbers) get put on the PC's case some where?. If so then is there any one that you can borrow there W7 disc so long as it is a W7 Home premium 32 bit you can use it for repairing the damaged windows files. Plus if needed you can use this disc for installing the OS and if you borrow one it would save you a few bucks for the time being.

#2...But I am sorry I don't know what ISO thing you are talking about for 35$ this ISO recorder is a free UT here is the link for the W7 version of it if you wish they do take donations if that is what you are talking about http://isorecorder.alexfeinman.com/W7.htm. But if there is no W7 COA sticker on the case and you need to buy a new one here here is one from NewEgg (I have bought from them for 15 years and I trust them) on the link there is W7 Home Premium 32 and 64 bit versions for 99.00 with free shipping http://www.newegg.com/Store/SubCategory.aspx?SubCategory=368&name=Operating-Systems. Here is another company that I have bought stuff from over the years and has been good MWave http://www.mwave.com/mwave/subcat.asp?CatID=790&parent=2^121&pageTitle=Operating%20System.
     Just in-case you may be wondering what the cost difference in-between the cost of the say HP (home Premium) disc's. They make Retail, OEM's, upgrades etc. You should be fine with the OEM they tend to be the cheapest the only down fall to OEM's the COA can not be transferred to another PC.
***just a note Windows 7 32 bit will only see and utilize 3 to 3.5 gigs of memory & Windows 7 64 bit will see and utilize but this up to 16 gigs but the max amount of ram also depends on the motherboard so your max of ram is 8 gigs for your motherboard. Having a 32 bit OS is the most compatible with some hardware and software so this is up to you. If you decide you want 64 bit make sure all your hardware is 64 bit compliant. Printers, scanners, 3rd party software etc. You can check your software and hardware here to see if it is http://www.microsoft.com/windows/compatibility/windows-7/en-us/default.aspx   

#3... Because of all the problems you have had you still may want to test the HD (hard drive) & the memory just look back at post #20 for the links. But it is possible that all your issues are just from the OS being corrupt and not a hardware issue. But it can't hurt to be safe The testing tools are free and the only cost here would be the cost of a couple of CD's and your time. But if the hard drive has bad sectors you will always have issues using the PC and or you will have a HD failure in the future now if the memory is bad you can have all kinds of strange errors that pop up, random freezing and general over all performance issue or all the above. 

#4... When the PC was R&R'd and the OS was installed the file corruption can come from a couple of different things. The DVD drive it self may be on it's way out so it didn't get all the files needed to install the OS correctly or with the copy of W7 that was pirated so again it may not of had all the files needed to install the OS correctly. But when they did buy another copy of W7 maybe only a repair was done and not a format and fresh install so some files still could have been damaged? sorry I don't know as I can only speculate 

#5... I would either borrow (if you borrow one so long as it is a W7 32 bit it will work & doesn't matter if the disc is HP, Dell or OEM) or buy a real copy of W7 HP to fix the PC. You can try doing a Windows repair by going safe mode by pressing F8 and pick repair, but you may need the W7 disc to do this but some times you don't need the disc. But in one of your posts you did say that the PC was freezing even in safe mode so trying this may not work. I know that you really want to learn how to fix it so you can have a better idea how things work etc. But if you have a W7 disc you can boot from the windows disc and tell it to do a repair if you wish to try repairing this way may work because windows will repair it self by using the files off the disc instead of using the windows files that are on the hard drive if that makes since. But in the long run personally my self I would save my files / data that I want and I would get my hands on a W7 HP disc & do a clean install.

Here is my steps that I do when I do a fresh install of the OS

*Save all data, Pic's, music, documents, fav's etc.
*Have all Disc's (windows, driver cd, etc) if there is no driver CD than I download the drivers from the manufacture web site just make sure you get the correct versions in your case right now that is W7 32bit.
*Unplug all devices but Cat cable, keyboard, mouse, monitor, speakers.
*I do a full format of hard drive
*Install OS (operating system) even if W7 has the drivers please install Asus drivers instead you will get better performance and it will be more reliable.   
*install drivers in this order: Chipset> video drivers> sound drivers> NIC (network interface card) Wireless card (if you have one) > Modem etc
Then update OS and activate on line.
Then transfer all data back.

And yes I know my post have been very long for you sorry I am just trying to put everything down so you can the least amount of hiccups as possible. Please let us know you you make out and what you decide to do, Mike   
             

Thanks Mike you have been super helpful. I found a site that will let me download Microsoft approved and endorsed windows 7 repair disc. Which I will probably do before forking over a new windows 7 disc. 10 vs 100 dollars, figure to can't hurt to try. I think i'm gonna also upgrade the power supply just to be safe, and if I have to buy a new windows 7 do a 64 instead of a 32. I think at this point it's just beyond my ken without a well working computer to refer too for check and balance references. I'll keep you updated on things as they develop in case you have any new ideas. I'm at a loss tho and as much as I would like to learn more I need it up and riunning soon as my laptop barely full fills my requirements for work.

|=? shots to learning a new another day.

[hartbeatmr]

Good morning Kiti

   You are very welcome on the help. But please keep one thing in mind just like my last post if you do decide to move up to W7 64 bit make sure that all your software programs and all your hardware will work on W7 64 bit the MoBo and CPU etc are ready so don't worry about those. Just in case you don't know this the W7 that you are buying and downloading will be an ISO format if you don't have a ISO burner program just download the free ISO burner in the previous post. Plus if you move to W7 64 bit don't forget you will need to download 64 bit drivers when you move up.

   If you are going to buy a new PS in my opinion you should get one from a well know company like this one http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817153023 it is $40.00 plus $5.00shipping plus it has a $10.00 rebate. I have used this same PS dozens of times. Good PS manufacture are "Thermaltake" Enwin, Enlight, Antec but one of the best value for dollars spent is the one in the link in this paragraph. 

If you need anything else please come back and let us know, Mike