Help diagnosing a computer problem

Factual Questions
1

OK, you beautiful computer geeks, time to strut your stuff.

My computer is acting up, I’m guessing its one of 5 issues. I’ll list the symptoms, then my thoughts as to the cause. Hopefully you’ll get out your Sherlock Holmes pipe and dust off the Bricker challenge skills to find the culprit. Maybe there’s even a House MD analogy in here somewhere too.

The Symptoms:

I cannot play video. When a video file (.avi, .mpg, .wmv, flash) is opening the computer becomes unstable. The monitor flickers, all the applications seem to degrade until unusuable (though it’s tough to tell if its a display issue alone). Most of the time the mouse will still move. The machine seems to work perfectly normally after reboot as long as I want as long as I don’t try and run a video file. After that, even if I kill the video player, it gets unstable and eventually freaks out to the point where it needs a reboot. also, I’ve noticed that occasionaly (almost half the time now) on reboot the built in self-checking BIOS on the motherboard alters me of an issue with the overclocking. My machine is not set up to overclock, and I’ve not been inside the cabinet in many months. These issues may be wholly unrelated, but the problem seems to have started at about the same time.

The Conditions:

I’m running Win2K. Its a home build machine running a AMD 2700 processor. I built it as year ago and had no issues since. Its got a G-Force FX 5200 AGP 128MB video card and a Asus nvidia motherboard.

Here’s my theories, and honestly I don’t know how to test any of them to see what the issue is.

  1. The OS is FUBAR, some mysterious thing happened to cause it to become unstable and something about the video files triggers the instability. I haven;t made an modifications or installations that correspond to the timing.

  2. I’ve gotten a virus. Seems somewhat unlikely since I’ve got Norton installed and up to date and I’m pretty cautious about what I install or open. I did have a virus alert which was caught and removed in the vicinity of the same time as this issue, but I don’t think it ever got executed.

  3. My video card is on the fritz. No idea how to verify this, but it seems like a distinct possibility considering the symptoms.

  4. My motherboard is on the fritz. Also a real possibility especially considering the issue with the warnings at reboot. Again, I have no idea how to test this.

  5. My processor is messed up. Possible and could imitate any of the above issues, though it seems wierd that it’d be perfectly fine up until a video is played.
    That about sums it up. I’m going to give the OS a fresh install when I have a chance, maybe this weekend, and see if that clears anything up. Honestly I’m skeptical. But before I go through the headache of returning the video card and motherboard and being without a desktop for a week or more. If any of you have ideas, suggestions, and most importantly solutions to this (at least ways to verify diagnosises) I’d be appreciative.

2

Do you have any spare video cards laying around? With the monitor flickering, it sounds like it may be a video card issue. If you do have one, try switching it out. If not, see if you have any geeky friends around you can borrow one from. Switch them out and then play a video. If it works, then you’ll be looking for a new one.

3

Also, exactly what does your BIOS say when it alerts you? Messages tend to be helful in diagnosing problems.

4

Two things to look for: overheating and popped capacitors.

Are all the fans in your computer running and clear of dust? Video stresses the computer causing the processor to generate more heat.

Look at the capacitors on the motherboard. These should be cylinders, possibly black, with silvery ends with an X or Y mark. Look at the end with the X. If it is flat or slightly concave then it’s OK ; if it’s convex then it’s blown and needs replacing.
This was a known issue with some Abit motherboards a few years back when they had a bad batch.

5

I’d be inclined to get hold of the latest drivers for your graphics card (specific also to your OS version)

6

I’ve thought about swapping a video card but I don’t have a spare one. I may borrow one from the office and give it a shot. I have d/led the latest video card drivers already. I might do the same for the m/b (reflash the BIOs maybe), though I’m not sure if that will help or if it’s difficult or not.

As for the likelyhood of the blown capacitors or fans, not likely. Those issues wouldn’t be exposed by specific actions, if I crack the cabinet open to swap video cards I’ll look, but I can’t really see how those problems would jibe with my systems.