Why do computers "freeze"?

M

musashia

New Member
I haven't ever had any issues with my laptop freezing up. But my new desktop which is many times more powerful will "freeze" now and then. What causes a computer to freeze and how can I prevent it?

I leave it on for a long time and i'm assuming it's just overheating. But I have a case with a lot of fans in it so I thought it'd stay cool (i'm yet to touch it to find out). Maybe because I put it between two desks it's not getting the air flow it needs...?
 
ikermalli said:
Maybe airflow, and maybe your core is overheating it getting pushed too much
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Here's how it usually is.. I game for about 2 hours. Then when i'm finished I let it idle at desktop while I download stuff. Maybe game again later in the day.

Is that too much for my computer? Should I be turning it off at night? I mean it's not like i'm gaming for 5 hours straight.
 
But I know a bunch of people who just leave it on all week. How come their systems don't freeze? Will getting a better fan for my cpu help?
 
It's usually caused by an instability with either the hardware itself, or the drivers. This is very common with home built systems and those who overclock their systems. A cause for instability very well could be heat, the two most likely possibilities would be the CPU and/or video card. If this is a home built system I would definitely check to make sure all the fans are working and are running at a high enough RPM.
 
[-0MEGA-];1118843 said:
It's usually caused by an instability with either the hardware itself, or the drivers. This is very common with home built systems and those who overclock their systems. A cause for instability very well could be heat, the two most likely possibilities would be the CPU and/or video card. If this is a home built system I would definitely check to make sure all the fans are working and are running at a high enough RPM.
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Not overclocking. All fans are set to medium. I'll try setting it to high then.
 
Next time an error happens look at the error codes in the "Event Viewer" located in your "Administrative Tools" right after restart. The Administrative Tools is located in your Control Panel.
 
2048Megabytes said:
Next time an error happens look at the error codes in the "Event Viewer" located in your "Administrative Tools" right after restart. The Administrative Tools is located in your Control Panel.
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Oh thats great advice. I'll do that.

By the way, I asked my friend and he says his computer survives fine for a month without shut down. My laptop is the same way.. it can stay on for awhile and NEVER suffers freezes. This new desktop here has only done it twice but I still found that very unusual.
 
Okay, so it froze again today while opening an application (this application has never caused problems before and freezes like this have occurred in other circumstances without this application).

I checked the logs but am not sure how to find exactly what happened before the freeze.
 
musashia said:
Okay, so it froze again today while opening an application (this application has never caused problems before and freezes like this have occurred in other circumstances without this application).

I checked the logs but am not sure how to find exactly what happened before the freeze.
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When you look in the event viewer you want to copy and paste all the text with red icons next to it I do believe. Anyone correct me if I am wrong.
 
I don't see anything highlighted in red. Can anyone with vista help me find what is causing my computer to freeze?
 
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