I usually leave my computer on overnight. Couple weeks ago it was froze up in the morning.

A few details you might need:

256 MB, 80 GB, AMD Duron Processor speed 1210 MHz, Award Bios...XP Pro ...

Hd is only a few months old. Nothing new installed recently. Haven't changed anything knowingly.

Monitor is old...Hewlett Packard Pavilion M90...(built in mic went out on it last year.)

Freezing continued to happen at random, even through the day. For a few days now monitor has started "clicking" and going black for a few seconds at a time, also at random, then may or may not come back on. If it DOES come back on, it may or may not be froze. When it DOES come back on, sometimes there is a cursor "ghost" left hanging on the screen in addition to the true cursor.

Sometimes can't stay booted for 5 min. before freezing...other times can go for hours.

Once, when I rebooted, got an error message and send report to MS...got a message that a graphics device driver may have been the cause. I didn't pursue that. Another error message reported that "an unknown error occured in NVIDIA Graphics Driver. I didn't pursue that either. By the way, it was suggested that OMEGA drivers might be more stable than original ones.

Yesterday morning I froze on bootup...on reboot, got this message:
"system hung during last bootup for an improper CPU external speed setting...now working in safe mode. Bus: 100 MHz, DRAM: 100 MHz, PCI: 33 MHz...make sure the CPU speed conforms to the specs of your CPU."

Should also mention that when I boot up, computer has an unusually loud vibrating noise, then quiets down after warming up 5-10 min.

I'm finding that the computer does not freeze as soon, nor as often if it's been off for awhile. Perhaps an overheating problem?

If the problem suggests dust in the monitor, can it be opened up and safely blown out?


Things suggested to me in tech support forum:

run chkdsk
clean out dust
run Ewido and delete infections
run Cleanup
post HighjackThis log and deleted a couple things
run in safe mode overnight to see if freezup occurs (didn't do this yet)
update video card driver (didn't do this yet)...I don't understand why drivers suddenly would stop working properly and would have to be updated
LAST thing suggested was to access bios and check cpu temps (got in, but didn't know where to check for temps)
AND...perhaps cmos battery is going (whatever that is)


I run daily scans of AVG, Adaware
I also have Spybot, MS Antispyware Beta, Spyware Blaster, Spyware Guard
I delete temps every day

I cannot do Windows updates, since I recently discovered that my copy is pirated, so validation of my copy is impossible. I bought the comp "used" a few years ago from a so called "reputable" dealer.

Thanks to anyone who wants to tackle this. I don't know much about computers, and I certainly get intimidated when it comes to getting into the bowels of one.

p.s. About the cpu temperature thingy...I did a bit of searching and downloaded a program called Motherboard Monitor, which I haven't bothered playing around with yet. I wanted to hear your suggestions first.

The loud noise may be a fan going out or is fighting with a dust bunny. Get you a can of computer air, open the case and blow that puppy out. This is the first step it's easy and generally only take 15 minutes. Make sure you have unplugged the power to the computer. Once you have blown it out (don't fogive the CPU fan) with the cover off plug the computer back in and turn it on and see if the fans are coming on. This includes the power supply fan inside the power supply.
When you place the cover back on the computer be sure and unplug it first. We don't want to short something out.

Well, I guess I need to dload updated driver. While playing Spider Solitaire yesterday, everything went BIG on my screen and I got the message "Display Driver Stopped Responding." Rebooted, screen was normal for 5 min. then got another message "The nv_4disp driver has stopped working normally." When I followed the link from the MS error report to Nvidia website, there was an error on page when I clicked "accept agreement." So I went to OMEGA site to get a driver as suggested by another tech support forum, but that site is down indefinitely.

Geeeeeeeeesh!

Try DriversGuide.com . Everyone has the same password and user name.
User:driver2
Pass:all

I ended up finally dloading the driver from Nvidia. I'm saving it for a rainy day though. Reason is, the computer hasn't been blacking out or freezing on me since I adjusted hardware acceleration. I had been searching all over looking for a similar problem and I must have come across that somewhere in my reading. Tried it...it worked. Although I don't know why I never had this problem before.

Video drivers don't suddenly stop working properly...BUT...other things/programs on your computer can corrupt them without telling you about it. Generally video drivers don't have the protection that Microsoft gives to system files on it's operating systems.

There's a tool in XP called sigverif.exe that will let you see if the drivers are signed by Microsoft.

But, the easiest way to fix video errors (since you've had several errors referring to the video we can presume that it's a problem with that) is to download and install the latest version of the WHQL certified drivers for your video card. Since your card is nVidia based, I would skip the manufacturer (since all they do is add to the nVidia drivers), and go straight to nVidia for the download. Use WHQL certified drivers because Microsoft has certified them to work with Windows.

The installation process is a bit more complex if you're trying to remove corrupted drivers.

First you'll download the new, WHQL certified drivers to your Desktop (so they're easy to find)

Next, you'll uninstall the old drivers in Device Manager by right clicking on the device and selecting Uninstall (don't worry, you'll still have video after doing this - Windows will load a basic driver until it finds the new one).

Next, you'll reboot the computer. When the Found New Hardware Wizard pops up - tell it to go away (cancel it).

Then, double click on the downloaded driver file and follow the prompts to install the new drivers.

Good Luck!

Thanks for replying. I'm still having problems here, so I'll try your suggestions.