pc failures

[flaming]

The monitor of my HP Media Centre PC (bought Feb. 2005) has 'frozen' a few times.  Blue screen comes up with white writing  'an error as occurred...blah, blah...    

 

I can do nothing except turn off in the unorthodox way.  I phoned HP help the first time (50p a min.) and that's all they could tell me to do, so I have done it since when it happens.  After I re-boot a scary notice comes ....'your computer has recovered from a serious fault .. blah ..blah....  report this error'. 

Twice the screen showing a DVD has 'frozen' like this too, with the scene from the film on screen ( but my DVD player -to- TV has not been happy with them either).  Can anyone please enlighten me as to what's happening?  It might be a commonplace occurrence and I don't want to panic.  I have a PC World 'extra' insurance for 3 years.

[mikeyp]

The blue screen is a Windows problem, not anything to do with your monitor. Basically windows will "blue screen" (crash and force a reboot) if it thinks there's a program that has crashed so badly that it's going to damage the computer. I shouldn't worry, in my experience this is usually not the case. The blue screen is more of an annoyance than a serious problem, windows just assumes the worst. You might try running a virus and adware scan. These programs are often poorly written and can screw with your computer. Apart from that, there's not a whole lot you can do besides a reinstallation of windows. If it happens when running a particular program a lot, try using a different program to do the same thing. For example, a different dvd player. I would ignore it if you can, it happens to my computer occasionally. Just save your work often :)

[redmug100]

The good news is that hardware failures are extreamly rare and software failures are extreamly common. Blue screens are virtually always software related.  in th long run the quickest way to solve problems like these Is to do a clean 'reinstall' - eformat hard drive, install windows, install drivers. But make sure you have a "hard copy" of your modem driver(if you use a modem) before you start. \Good Luck!

[flaming]

mikeyp and redmug: thanks for your trouble but for me facing this is like people from another planet trying to work things they've never seen before.  My main worry is if it's damaging to the hard drive for it to be  turned off by using what is usually the 'on' button, several times within a short period.

[flaming]

I forgot to say that I have MacAvee Security Centre package installed, which is supposed to take care of adware, spyware, viruses and spam.

Perhaps I ought to turn off the hard drive now and again - it's been on since it was bought and runs quite hot.  That's the small book shaped thing that sits on top of the HP tower. 

 The DVD/VCR player I've had the pixelling and other troubles with is quite separate from the PC which was more recently installed.

[dodgyshirt]

The McAfee Security Suite will not take care of adware and spyware, for these you should download Microsoft`s AntiSpyware.

The `small book-shaped thing' sitting on top sounds like a portable hard drive used for additional storage and is quite separate from your main hard drive contained in your PC tower. Hard drives do run hot and it is advisable to turn off exterior portable ones when not being used.

Finally, does your PC have its own built-in DVD player and if so have you tried playing the DVDs through this and if so, with what result.

[Ralph]

As a Media Centre PC, it is (or should be) designed to be used for watching movies and all the other stuff you bought it for. You also should be able to leave it on indefinitely. If it is not doing this reliably, it is "not fit for purpose" which is one of your big 3 statutory rights. You should return this and see what they'll do for you. It's likely that they will just refurbish the unit, reinstall the operating system etc (so don't forget to back up all your stuff) but they may give you a new one (so don't forget to back up all your stuff!!).

As others have said, it's most likely to be a software problem so a reinstall would fix it. But it could be a hardware problem, memory chips frequently develop faults and cause intermittent errors such as yours. Either way, your 3 month old PC should not be suffering from them. Take it back and be as nice or as demanding as you want, you're well within your rights!

[flaming]

Thanks dodgyshirt. There was dopey me thinking that the extra storage was the actual drive thing.  I'm going to get a computer engineer here after I've amassed a few questions.  Not the one who I had to install it. I'll phone up PC World - there's supposed to be an engineer who comes under the terms of my insurance with them.  Here's the time to test it out.

Ralph .  Words I was dreading!  I live on 2nd floor, no lift.  I had to pay someone to carry it all up.  Pay someone to install.  It goes on.  I shall try the PC World 3-year insurance.  I was hoping others experienced the same thing.  I still don't really understand about the turning-off procedure being harmful, at the tower button, when clearly there is no alternative. 

[Thunderchild]

it's harmfull in as much as if the HDD is writing and u switch the power off the disk data can become corrupt and the operating system (windows9 may started going wrong. there could be a hardware fault. r u sure that they did not overclock dur system before u bought it this xan cause a blue screen as with me. memory and video card r the most suspect for a hardware bluescreen. u won't suffer physical damage but it is a nuisance. try getting someone do slow down the speed of your agp say from 8X to 4X

[flaming]

thunderchild : Ta, but what's does agp stand for please?