More and more my computer has been crashing. Its old. I know, I should move all the way up to Windows 7 from my Win XP and just buy a used machine. But I have a couple of essential small graphics programs that I am not sure will run on Windows 7. The main thing I do is Firefox and my graphics programs, editing photos. I often have 3 tabs open in Firefox and plus a document and a graphics program. The computer seems to crash mostly when it is doing video intensive stuff but that’s just my guess.
The simplest crash is that Firefox closes. The next level is that everything I have open closes. Then sometimes the whole computer restarts. And finally the biggie, the computer freezes with odd graphic junk on the screen and you cannot restart it. I have to unplug it first.
I have refreshed and then re installed Firefox to no avail. I took a look at the innards of the ol’ HP Compaq and noticed a capacitor with what looks like wax on top. That’s not good. But it is in the section of the board that the monitor plugs into so it could be the video section. Maybe a cheap video card is all I need.
On to eBay. Lessee, “video card”. Hmm. 20,000 of them. Ok, “HP video card” – damn, still 2500 of them. Ahh, my favorite button – “Under $15”. 400 left, not too bad. Need it quick, let’s find a seller nearby. Great, right in town. During all this the video section, pissed off that it is being replaced, dumps Firefox 2 times and restarts the computer once.
What error messages are you getting, if any? Are the problems only in Windows XP? (Eg what happens if you run Firefox in Linux, say from a USB drive?) Is the RAM OK, and definitely the video card fried? Is the video processor on a separate expansion card or built in?
(btw one possible cheap fix in case the motherboard is fried is to transplant the hard disk into a working computer)
The leaking cap on the motherboard is a bad sign, but entirely expected on older systems. It’s not designed obsolescence as will often be suggested, but rather a basic deficiency of that particular component. It’s gotten better over the years, but no one has yet developed an affordable alternative to eliminate the problem.
It is possible to run an XP virtual machine under Windows 7 if you determine that your programs absolutely won’t run on Win7. This is legally available at no extra cost from Microsoft.
This is not good. Seriously not good. Capacitors can be replaced, but if one capacitor has gone, others are sure to follow, and you’re going to spend a lot of money. It’s time for a new PC.
Given your comments, I doubt you’re gaming so you might look at mini PCs like the Intel NUC and Zotac ZBox.
Why would you only move up to Windows 7 from Windows XP? Windows 7 support ended several years ago, and Windows 10 was released 3 1/2 years ago. I’d recommend going to Windows 10. As for the graphics programs you’re using, surely new versions are available now? Or you could switch to newer software that runs on Windows 10.
Or your graphics software might work fine on Windows 10. I occasionally run Adobe Acrobat 9 Pro, from 2008, on Windows 10, and it works as well as it ever did. Any computer you buy today is going to be much, much better than what you have. Don’t invest anymore time or money in your old computer. Get something new, and use the last bit of life left in your current computer to copy your data to the new one.
I know that’s not what you came here asking, so if you do decide to get a new graphics card, make sure it is one that will work with your computer. Windows XP came out in 2001 and HP and Compaq merged in 2002, so you might have a 15+ year old computer there.
What are the graphics programs? It might be that they will run on more modern versions of Windows, or at least something very similar will.
Your hardware problem is another matter. An XP-era machine is very elderly now, and while you could probably get a bit more life out of it, it isn’t worth the money. Literally any PC made in the last few (ten?) years would be a massive upgrade on what you have now.
I’ve never been an adopter of new technology but finally bit the bullet and got a new PC last year. I hadn’t upgraded to Windows 10, and I knew things would either stop working or work really crappy so it was worth my while. I understand the impulse to keep a semi-running thing running a little while longer (I’m the same way with cars). But there comes a time of diminishing returns. Sounds like you’ve hit it.
This sounds like the kind of problem that can occur from an overheated CPU. pull the cover and do a thorough cleaning inside, especially the fan. Make sure the fan is working. I have seen all kinds of wonky stuff happen in an overheated machine, but the shutdown when taxing the CPU is a common occurrence.
I once took apart a system unit that had, no BS, an inch of dust in the frame, the fan was so clogged it wouldn’t turn…
I concur that you should consider upgrading to Windows 10. I have a bunch of DOS and Win98 games that run flawlessly under 10. Only some minor tweaking required on one really old one, so your older software may run just fine. In any case setting up a virtual machine can also address issues with running older software.
I did clean everything a few days ago. I can always tell when it needs cleaning because the variable speed fan ramps up. I did click on “details” the last time it dumped Firefox and got this:
Yeah, don’t keep using tools that don’t work right.
And that might be the problem. I teach Computer Graphics, and there are younger generations that treat them like toys (and they get distracted by gaming and social media), and an older generation that treat them like Magical Boxes that might break at any moment, and can’t be understood (so they don’t even try).
But the ones in the middle? They treat them like tools. These are the people that are Gettin’ Stuff Done™. I’ve learned to become one of those.
Those of us who use computers for crucial work know that every hour spent “fixing” (or googling “How do I fix this cheaply?”) is lost time. And oft-times revenue, too. And that includes "How can I get [vintage program] to work with [vintage OS]. If you add all that up, even at $10/hr, you’ll spend a LOT on babying an old system.
I’m about to spend way more than I want, to buy a new laptop that has new enough technology to run the latest software for years to come. Aaaqargh! I HATE spending money! But in this case, it’d be like keeping a rusty old dull hacksaw… someone’s gonna get cut if I don’t upgrade.
UPDATE: I visited a local computer store that sells used equipment and repairs computers along with selling new systems. Great little place in Parma, Ohio. I told them I wanted a Windows 7, 32 bit machine. They were happy to build one starting on an HP machine that looks almost like the one I have but with newer motherboard. Note: the reason I do not want to go all the way to Windows 10 is because my legacy graphics program is, gasp, 16 bit. Yeah, yeah yeah. But it is so elegant, it is a frame-less image editor named LviewPro 1b. Sure they make newer versions but they all seem to give up the frame-less feature. Right now when I double click on any jpeg it opens and all that shows is the image - no borders, no tool bars, only a slim, text only menu bar. Every new image I click on opens a separate instance of LviewPro so I can have several images open, they have no borders and take up only the exact image size and I can move them around to compare things. I do this a lot. It does have plenty of image editing features but I use it mainly for cropping and tweaking the brightness, contrast, etc.
Anyhooo, they did a new Windows 7 install and put on Firefox and a few other useful programs. The guys were a bit younger then I am and we chatted about old computer systems we had owned. I mentioned my Sinclair 1000 and he grabbed one off the shelf.
So now everything is whizzing along fine although I have not tried to install LViewPro and PicaView, which is a frame-less right click image viewer I also use a lot.
But they had neat quad core I6 small format computers sitting there. Damn the entire computer is the size of a 5" floppy drive! Only $315 for the entire turnkey system. Probably the way I should have gone, ha ha. Well, maybe I’ll play around with the newer version of LviewPro and see.