Computer freezing

[Angelfish316]

Hi,

I've been having trouble with my computer freezing for the past few days. I have to keep re-booting every 20 or 30 minutes. I've tried running Ad-Aware, Spybot, Cleansweep, and Motherboard Monitor. I did have a problem with Messenger service ads popping up constantly, but found out how to stop that. I'm not really sure what to try next, even scanned for viruses. Any help would be appreciated.

[PCguy]

This seems to be the most common problem for new posters lately. When you say freezing, what exactly is happening and what are you doing when it happens?

Most freezing is caused by either corrupted or incompatable drivers, or by failed hardware (overheated CPU being the most common). Since you didn't specify the OS, I will assume it's 2000. In this case, make sure you have the latest drivers installed and have visited windowsupdate to see if any patches are available.

If you can leave more info on what is happening, perhaps we can diagnose it further.

[teststrips]

I agree with PcGuy, but lean heavily toward this being a heat problem. I would highly suggest unplugging your pc, taking off the covers, and using a can of compressed air where all of your fans are. Now before you jump in and do this let me tell you a couple of things

The air comes out in VERY high volume.. putting it directly up to a fan and spinning the fan could ruin the bearings in the fan.. Use a pensil, screwdriver, or somethign to keep the fans from spinning while you spray the air.

you probably should not Vaccuum your pc out. The motors in most vacuums create static electricity which could easily damage your pc. I, being a service tech, am lucky enough to have a $300 dollar static free vacuum to use on PC's, but I usually wind up using canned air anyways because it provides more air flow and is faster.

If you do not have canned air, try radio shack, or any electronics store... I've never looked to see if wal-mart has it.. i'm sure they do... it would be a challenge finding it though.