KelJu

I turned one of my old gaming machines into a file server. It has 2 500Gb drives in it.

Recently it began to freeze randomly. Sometimes it freezes after 3 minutes, sometimes after a day.


I rarely use it. It is basically a media server that all my movies, songs, games, and applications are stored on, but I like to remote to it to start downloading torrents while I am at work. I first assumed it might be my hard drive going bad, so I put a new one in. After installing XP pro and a few application, it began to freeze up again.

When it freezes, I can move the mouse, and control+delete even brings up the task manager, but the computer doesn't respond to any commands. Trying to shutdown from the task manager just makes it sit there. Trying to terminate a process doesn't do anything, still it just sits there.

I then assumed it might be bad memory. I pulled out my copy of ultimate boot cd and started running memory test. My memory checks out fine. I ran over 100 passes on the memory test and no error popped up.

What does that leave me to check? Power supply, connection cables,and what else?

I am thinking it could be the mobo or more specifically, the SATA controller. I am ordering a PCI SATA controller, but if that doesn't fix it, I give up, and I am stripping the thing for parts.

DOMS

Have you checked the application and system logs?

Have you tried to kill explorer.exe? All process launched in the user space are located in this thread.

Have you used msconfig to selectively stop services and programs from starting?

maniclion

Put Linux on it.....

"We are like tenant farmers chopping down the fence around our house for fuel when we should be using Natures inexhaustible sources of energy — sun, wind and tide. ... I'd put my money on the sun and solar energy. What a source of power! I hope we don't have to wait until oil and coal run out before we tackle that."
Thomas Edison: In conversation with Henry Ford and Harvey Firestone

KelJu

I already have a linux box.

KelJu

When it shits it's pants it won't allow me to open or close any applications or processes. It won't let me log off or shut down. It basically locks up with the exception that it allows me to move the mouse and control the task manager.

No I didn't check any system logs.

DOMS

When it's working correctly, or in safe-mode, use msconfig to shut off unnecessary programs/services and check the logs. Odds are, it'll tell you what the offending program is.

KelJu

The problem was a bad SATA controller on my mobo. I bought a SCSI raid controller and made a raid 0 for the installation, and everything is running great.

BigDyl

I found the problem.

Total ownage.