Memory Upgrades

[leave_me_alone_0001]

put the processor into a plastic bag and left it in the freezer for 24 hrs. That PC and processor is still running today as a gaming machine for my kids.

That really worked? I don't want to do something and mess the processor up...

[Jaime Andrés]

Originally posted by leave_me_alone_0001@Dec 11 2004, 06:05 PM

put the processor into a plastic bag and left it in the freezer for 24 hrs. That PC and processor is still running today as a gaming machine for my kids.

That really worked? I don't want to do something and mess the processor up...

It worked for me and should not damage the processor, but obviously if you have any doubts don't risk it.
When I was working as a TV engineer I used an aerosol which contained ether, when sprayed under pressure it would freeze components so if they were running hot and suspect, you could eliminate them from your checklist of likely component failures.
The same freezer trick also used to work for deleting the embedded security codes in car radios (I hope no car radio thieves are reading this post LOL )

[locustfurnace]

I too worked as an electronic repairman, and we used hair dryers and compressed frozen air for detecting thermal defects with components. But that was for intermittent problems, but when the component heated back up, the problems came back.
Freezing it in the Fridge, personally, I would never do. With the compressed air, it was applied for a few seconds and if any moisture gathered on the device it quickly evaporated. Leaving it in the fridge for 24hrs might be little too long for the CPU to gather and absorb moisture.
Freezer a defective cap, resistor or transistor and causing it to fail is alot cheaper to replace than a CPU.

If the CPU is overheating, which I do not believe is the OP problem, then the OP needs to replace the cooling fan with an AMD approved fan and heatsink. If the machine is from an OEM, then it is likely it is a cheap fan and not up to the task.

The case, might not be properly vented or cooling, it should atleast have 3 fans, 1 on the CPU, one on the exhaust and one on the intake.

Currently, my system, an AMD 2500 (Barton Core), 400Mhz DDR, 4 Hardrives, DVD-Reccorder, SuperDIsk, caused the 3foot tower to overheat. So, I recently cut a hole in the side of the case, installed another intake fan, fenced in the fan, and it has been working fine since. I've also mounted older heatsinks onto the harddrives and installed RAM coolers. It also has a total of 7 fans, it is quite noisey though.

As I previously stated, If your running all those apps when the system is running, then you need to resolve that issue, before thinking it is the CPU overheating.
WIndows only has so many resources built-in to the Operating system, once you use up the alloted amount of resources, then the system will crawl.

Setup the swap file, and disable 75% of those apps you have listed. Then see how the system works. If it still does not do well afterwards then suspect a heat problem, But also already stated, if the system overheats, it will shut down. Then reboot it and look at the temperature on the POST. Otherwise, load the BIOS, and check the temp on the CPU core and case.
Also, worth noting is to open the case up, turn on the computer, and make sure non of the fans have failed. Sometimes, fan do go back and wont work.

[straight talker]

just thought it worth a mention , where is your system situated if it is in a reasonably enclosed position, as in a friend of mine purchased a cupboard type computer unit and caused him problems with heat due to the lack of air space around his tower, ending up with having to fit a grill on the back of the pc cupboard to open up some air space and a small fan to circulate the air around it, ive also seen many a computer desk stuck right in front or tight next to radiator which again is good for the user but not for the pc.

[leave_me_alone_0001]

enter the BIOS and check the temps in the BIOS.

Setup the swap file, and disable 75% of those apps you have listed. Then see how the system works.

look at the temperature on the POST. Otherwise, load the BIOS, and check the temp on the CPU core and case.

I don't know how to do any of this or even where to go to do it. (not good enough with computers. is it control panel or somewhere like that?

[leave_me_alone_0001]

also the only 2 problems I have with my computer are: the sound when playing music or any sounds really is kind of skipping or distorted (if you know what I mean).
and the other one is it slows down after at least an hour of being turned on.
I ordered one of those quick restore CDs from Compaq not too long ago because the system recovery CD that came with the computer doesn't work anymore. but they say that both CDs basically do the same thing (restore your computer to the way it was when you first bought it.) and I remember the first time after I used the system recovery CD (when it actually worked), I played music and the sound was perfect and the computer wasn't slow at all, then something happened not too long after I used the recovery CD, and it started to slow down again (maybe that shows that it's overheating after awhile??).

[straight talker]

have a read through this thread http://www.oldversion.com/talk/index.php?a...hl=task+manager there are details of how to use msconfig to stop all the unnecessary apps from running. you really need to start reading through past postings i found that thread by using the search feature and searching for task manager, after using a restore cd your pc will seem loads faster because you have nothing running and you most likely would of noticed it slow down a while after you restored it as you installed all your other programs and all the start up items were running again. stop all the unnecessary apps from running and go from there. read that thread carefully locustfurnace detailed it well on using msconfig. most of your problems have been covered in previous threads and will find answers if you search and read.