Question What's happening to my mother's desktop computer?

[gordonmousedeer]

My mother's desktop computer recently had issues. After using the computer for a while, these lines (picture links below) would appear on the screen. Sometimes everything on the computer screen would freeze (even the mouse cursor) after using the computer for some time. She had to restart the computer to fix it. I formatted it twice with different methods to no success. CPU temperature was not an issue (below 60 degrees Celsius when idle, temperature dropped below 48 degrees Celsius after she removed some dust) and she does not play games with it. It recently had what looked like a blue screen of death (picture link below). These problems only happened recently and I think she has used the computer for around 10 years. She does spreadsheet, word processing, email checking, accounting, watching videos and movies, and bank transactions with it. The OS is Windows 7 32-bit.
Her computer's specifications (as far as I can remember):
Intel Pentium E5400 (2 cores, 2 threads, 2.7 GHz, 2009) processor/CPU
2 GB (2 x 1 GB DDR2 RAM)
MSI G31-TM motherboard
Salpido power supply unit (no 80 Plus rating)
Powerlogic Futura computer case (I really don't know this one, it does have a DVD drive and faulty audio jack ports)
Seagate BarraCuda 1 TB hard disk drive
Stock Intel CPU cooler

Images:

https://imgur.com/a/1WP3yhS

View: https://imgur.com/gallery/1WP3yhS

https://imgur.com/a/Ov9wxFN

View: https://imgur.com/gallery/Ov9wxFN

 

[Lutfij]

The issue might be due to that badly build PSU, you should see if a reliably built 450W PSU borrowed from a friend or neighbor changes the issue. Do the lines come up when you're in BIOS? While you're there, can you check and see what BIOS version your mum's motherboard is on? If you have a number of BIOS updates to go through, you should gradually work your way to the latest BIOS version, don't jump to the latest.

 

[gordonmousedeer]

No the lines did not appear when I was in the BIOS. Picture below shows the BIOS version of the motherboard.

https://imgur.com/a/sBMF0UF

View: http://imgur.com/a/sBMF0UF


I also put in one RAM stick at a time into each slot and re-seated the CMOS battery and adjusted the date and time. No issues so far but I will test the second RAM stick soon. Lines on screen are gone too. However, this blue LED light appears from the motherboard every time I turn on the computer. Motherboard manual says that the CPU is in 2 or 3 phase power mode when the blue LED light appears (it'll be off when at 1 phase power).

https://imgur.com/a/MGqzt1p

View: http://imgur.com/gallery/MGqzt1p

 

[gordonmousedeer]

I have an old AVF 500 W power supply unit (PSU) that has no 80 Plus rating. I may use it to test on the PC soon. I don't think anybody that lives within my neighbourhood or state can lend me an 80 Plus rated PSU. I may ask a nearby computer store if they have a PSU tester.

 

[gordonmousedeer]

The hard disk drive seems alright according to this image below. Going to run Memtest86 and Prime95 tests on each RAM stick soon.

https://imgur.com/a/JDo99Mn

View: https://imgur.com/gallery/JDo99Mn

 

[gordonmousedeer]

I tested one RAM stick in the second RAM slot with Prime95 large FFT stress test. No errors were detected even after running the test for one day. I'm going to do the same to the other RAM stick.
The computer does make an audible groaning noise almost like a cow groaning or moaning when I turn it on sometimes.

 

[gordonmousedeer]

Update: The groaning CPU cooler noise is gone. She has been using it without much problems (except that she didn't like the fake version of Windows 7 I installed for her since she cannot change the desktop wallpaper and the computer makes a funny sound when she presses a key sometimes). My mother's computer runs fine now.

 

[Deleted member 14196]

I tested one RAM stick in the second RAM slot with Prime95 large FFT stress test. No errors were detected even after running the test for one day. I'm going to do the same to the other RAM stick.
The computer does make an audible groaning noise almost like a cow groaning or moaning when I turn it on sometimes.

Test ram with Memtest86

Anyway those look like graphics problems