I've been having some issues with computer and I'm not sure what the heck is going on. I'm a pogo player and have freeze issues with a few of the games. I also use sun java and have issues when I open the control panel, it will stretch my screen and then you have to guess where you are clicking to try to close it. I have to ctrl+alt+del to try to get it back to normal sometimes it'll take one time others takes multiple times to make it stop. I dont know how to give you my sys specs or I would include them here. The screen streching also occurs on occasional visits to other web pages, seems to do it only when it feels like it. I'm saving money for a 500W power supply & a new vid card. But I would like to solve this issue before if the vid card or ps isn't the issue. Thank you in advance for any assistance. I forgot to say that when it freezes my cpu usage history says cpu usage is 100%.

what is it that is using 100% of the cpu?
what procesws?

Well, oddly enough it's the task manager, it was using from 43% to 74%. When it reached the 74% marker my computer is freezing, IE was using 3%-20% and system was using some also. I'm going to monitor it today better the try to figure it out. but if you have any suggestion please pass them along to me.

Just to be safe, I'd run ADAWARE, EWIDO, and CCLEANER just to be safe.

The symptoms that you're describing are similar to ones that are caused by malware.

Of course, this may or may not fix your problem. If it doesn't, please post back and let us know so we can continue to help you work this out!

I searched Microsoft.com last night and came up with: http://safety.live.com/site/en-US/default.htm I ran the full system scan and came up with alot of problems which should have been fixed. We shall see.....I use avast anti-virus and I use Windows Defender. If you think I still need to run the other programs I will. Thank you for all your help.

I would run the other programs just to be safe. They are free, and will only cost you a little bit of your time. What one program misses, the other(s) might catch. Layered protection is the best prevention!

I have ran the other three programs and will monitor computer over the weekend. I'll check back in Monday afternoon, keeping fingers crossed that it fixed whatever is wrong. So far today I haven't had the screen stretching thing happen so thats a plus.

Agreed! Let's hope that running these programs, along with what you've already done will solve this problem for you!

Let us know how you make out with this dilema!

Thanks for keeping us posted!

Well the problem has not stopped, still random freezing. I dont know much about event viewer but there are some application hangs (sent to MS and of course they have no clue) and there are several warnings under the system which i have no clue what to do about. Feeling really really Blonde! What can you suggest next?

Can you go into device manager and let us know if there are any errors (yellow exclamtion points or red question marks). If so, then let us know what they are next to.

Also, did you run CCleaner as suggested earlier? Did it find errors? If so, was it able to fix them? You may want to run it again, and see if it fixes everything that it finds wrong. If it keeps finding errors with one program, than that program may need to be uninstalled then reinstalled.

Let us know!

No conflicts in Device Manager, been running the CCleaner at least twice a day, defrag this morning even tho I didn't need to (i do about every other week). The CCleaner did find a few issues and it did fix them, mostly it was things that I have deleted off and there was still a piece here or there. I'm putting anything I want to keep (files not programs) on discs. If I cant get it figured out soon I'm just going to Factory Reset it. Today the screen stretching thing happened when I opened up the Ewido program. Task Manager is apparently still causing the freeze issue. Any new suggestions would be great, if not reformatting & restore seems to be the easiest solution.

Hmmm....ok, no conflicts in device manager, that's a good thing.

I'm not sure what's causing the screen stretching issue.....no doubt it's a video issue (duh! LOL!). Can you tell me what kind of computer you have (emachines 1234, dell dimensions 1234 etc. etc.)? Do you know if you have onboard (integrated) video or is it an add on card? If possible (assuming you can do this, not trying to be insulting), can you reinstall the video drivers for it then try to update them? If you let me know what you've got for a graphics card (video card) I'll try to find the latest drivers for you.

What do you have the refresh rate set at for the monitor?

If you can't find all this info, then you can download SIW HERE. It will tell you all sorts of information about your computer. I need to know whats under "video" and "monitor".

The above will help me figure out what's causing the stretching. I think that once we get this sorted out, it will help with your freezing issue.

Oh, and does this ever do it when you're not online?

Ok here we go, I'm a pretty smart cookie when it comes to the tower of a puter, programs give me the shivers. I am going to build my next computer and you had better be prepared for all the Q's I'll have for you.

Compaq Presario 5320US
pent 4
CPU 1500 MHz
1.50 GHz
512 MB RAM
Windows XP home 2002
Service Pack 2

Video card I put in: GeForce 4 MX 4000 (I know dont lol)
Adapter info:
Chip Type GeForce 4 MX 4000
DAC Type Intergrated RAMDAC
Memory size 64 MB
Bios Info version 4.18.20.36.04

I'm always online (cable) so I have no clue if the stretching does it while offline or not. Like you said I'm sure that is a graphics issue. I do know my PS is on the very low end, had planned on upgrading but decided to just wait a bit more for my build. As I really dont want to put the extra $ in this but if I did it wouldn't be a huge deal I think I can get a 500W for around $60 @ newegg.com. I'll wait on a response from you before I reinstall the video driver as I think I have the latest and I've uninstalled & reinstalled before. I find GeForce website a bit confusing. I hope I've given you all the info you wanted, If not let me know & I'll hunt it down for you. Oh...... refresh rate is set at 60 H right now.

You said that you put the card in yourself.....has it done this stretchy thing since it's been installed or has it just started? Is the video set to agp or auto in the BIOS? You may want to check this.

Ok, this is awkward, but....do you have a different monitor you could use? I'm not just throwing out guesses here, or grasping for ideas, but I'd like to rule out the monitor going bad too. I talked to some one today who said they had the same problem, and it was his monitor.

Your refresh rate is ok set at 60hz. Make sure that you're resolution isn't set to high (max res for that card is 2048x1536@60Hz). 1024x768@60hz is good.

In the meanwhile, we're going to try to rule out the grapics card and any/all video issues. Go ahead and update your drivers to the graphics card. Be sure to uninstall them before you install your old ones. When you uninstall your old drivers, it'll ask you to restart the computer. Say no and choose shut down instead. Since you've installed the card before, and are comfortable with the tower and what's inside, go ahead and pull the card out and reseat the card. Also, we're going to install directX 9.0c. You can get it from windows HERE.

If this is something that's just started, but you've had the card in for a while and it was fine before, and none of this will fix it, then I'd feel safe saying that it's either the monitor or the card that's gone bad. If it was your power supply, then I should think it would just quit altogether, not just die a little bit.

The first thing I'd do is to try to change out the monitor. If that doesn't work, I'd try to swap out the graphics card. If neither worked, I'd pull my hair out and scream "colorful sentance enhancers" . Kidding. If that doesn't work, then I'd double check the settings in the BIOS, then as a last resort, I'd try to swap out the power supply.....or this might be the perfect time to build your new machine

Hope this helps! Please let me know how you make out with all these suggestions. If you have any questions, please let me know!

Thanks!

Feels like a Blonde day, where can I find the BIOS you're looking for? I can do the F10 but I'm not seeing anything that would have to do with the video being agp or auto, I could be overlooking something or I'm just blonde and in the wrong spot. A few quick answers to your other Q's.

My resolution is set at 1024x768 @ 60Hz and I have Direct X 9.0c already installed, I believe it came with Sims2 (which I cant play video not good enough). The video card has been in the computer for close to 2 years and the stretchy thing hasn't happened until recently. I've used more than my fair share of "colorful sentance enhancers" and I'm getting close to bald....lol.

Once I hear back from you on the BIOS then I'll print that out, look in there and then go to basement and get different monitor, I dont know if i have a different PS or not, I have extra towers so I'd think there'd be one in at least one of them . And I'll reseat the video card and we'll see what else we have to do.

I cant start new build yet I'm still short $ to get the stuff I want/need. I'm looking at another year before I start my build.

Thank you so much!

Ok, since you can change out your monitor, let's go ahead and do that first before we do anything else. I'd like to rule out a faulty monitor before we start making changes in the BIOS, video card and power supply. It's the easiest thing to do, and I'm really starting to think that it's the source of the problem (fingers crossed!).

So, change out your monitor please, and let it run (perhaps over the weekend?), and we'll see if that fixes the problem.

Post back when you find something (if it does it again, or doesn't do it again by maybe early next week or so). I'll be out of town tomorrow afternoon, and won't be back until late Saturday night.

Hope this works out for you!

Well I hooked up the other monitor and within 10 minutes I was still having the same troubles. I have a new power supply on it's way should be here be Wed with luck. I have noticed that something (possibly ps) is starting to sound as if it's going to take off and fly out of the tower. I've been running with the side panel off, after I switched the monitor back I went ahead and opened it up and blew it out. There was a little dust but I expected that. Let me know what else you may want to do besides the ps. I'm going to start buying stuff for the build a little at a time. Thanks so much Steve.


Yee

Well, aside from the PS and/or the graphics card, I'm at a loss. You might want to check all of the fans. Not sure if your gfx card has a fan or not, but if it does, make sure it's working.

Depending on the type of fan that you're current PS has, it'll most likely be on the back or bottom, so you can check to see if it's working. If it's making a noise when it starts, the bearings in the fan itself are probably dead (or dying), so replacing the PS is the best thing for it.

TBH, I thought it was going to be the monitor! I said some "colorful" words when I read that it wasn't .

The only thing I can think of right now is (aside from making sure all the fans are working) to take a can of air and clean out the fans themselves. Blow them out while their off, then again while their running, just incase some dust bunnies or hair is caught up in it slowing them down a little.

Best of luck with the new PS, and let me know how the battle is going!

Well, i got the new PS today, hooked it up and nothing, going to have hubby look at it tomorrow & see if he can tell if there's something wrong with it. I change the slot where the video card was to a different one, will see if that has any effect. Will check back in with you if i find anything out about the PS.

Well the new PS doesn't work in my computer. It has different voltages in the pins than the factory plug does. So, I'm still at square 1. I will keep the new PS for when I start my build. I'm still having the freezing issue but I haven't run into the screen stretching lately (knocks on wood). As to the noise I have been hearing we are pretty sure it is coming from the fan that is on the mobo. I have another fan that we may be able to swap out to stop that noise. Do I need to do anything special to swap them?

Thank you,
Yee

Well, if that fan you're talking about is the one on the processor (that sits in the motherboard) then yes, you have to do certain things to it, or you'll fry your processor.

If it were me, instead of replacing the fan, I'd replace the entire cooler. TBH, I'm not even sure if you can replace just the fan. I've always just replaced the whole thing.

Make sure that the new one that you order is the proper one to fit your cpu and to keep it cool. They're fairly inexpensive, $20-$30 will get you one that'll work just fine.

Take the side off your case. Have some lint free cloths handy.

Run your computer for maybe 10-20 minutes. This will heat up the cpu, and make the removal easier of the cooler easier, and the removal of the thermal paste easier too. Remove the cooler by pulling up on the 2 levers on either side of it (look at your installation instructions on the new cooler, just do that in reverse pretty much). Once you have that off, take a lint free cloth and wipe any/all thermal paste off the cpu itself !BE GENTLE! and be sure to ground yourself on the frame of the case or use a static wrist band. Now, follow the directions that came with the new cooler (it'll be something like, spread the thermal paste on the cpu {or is it on the cooler itself....?} then put it on the cpu and snap in place, plug in and go!). Hint: I always kneed the paste as to make sure it's consistant. It gets like ketchup after it sits for a while, and you don't want that watery part leaking into your processor or onto your mobo. If it does, wipe it up immediately. Be sure to plug the power wire into the mobo. Double check everything, and then put your case back together.

You should be good to go from here. Basically, just follow the instructions that came with the new cooler. Most coolers will come with a small tube of thermal paste. Some would argue that a better thermal paste is unmatched when it comes to cooling. I would agree, but my wallet wouldn't!

Let me know if you need anything else, and I'll try to help you out.

Hope this helps!