Win2000 Ramdom Freeze

[westgates]

Here is the spec of my PC

Micron GX
P3 667Mhz
VIA KT133A Pro
32MB TNT2 Pro
SB 128 onboard sound
3COM Faxmodem PCI
256MB PC133 (128MB + 64MB*2)

A few months ago, this PC crashed ramdomly (blue screen) with message saying "hardware mulfuction..."
Last month, the PC started to lock up ramdomly (no blue screen). This happened more often when I play online games.
I used to have duel boot with Win98/Win2000. Both systems freeze ramdomly.

Later, I removed Win98 and reinstalled Win2000.
I tried update all the drivers I can think of: VIA 4in1, DirectX8.1, NVidia 28.xx, SB Sound card...
I tried putting in only one memory stick at a time. Lockup goes on!
I tried putting modem in different PCI slot, nothing changed.
I tried different BIOT setings. the PC still freezes.
Heat problem? Don't think so. The PC has 2 fans and it normally crashed in just a few minutes after start. It actually runs better later on.
Power problem? Maybe, it has a 250W power adapter.

Video card, sound card and modem all share IRQ 11.

I would try to disable ACPI but the BIOT doesn't have that feature.
Win2000 won't allow chaning IRQ because of ACPI. Even I uninstall/reinstall the drive, the next time I restart the PC, the IRQ will go back to shared 11.
I have gone so far that I delete the ACPI.sys file in the windows but every time I re-start the PC, the ACPI.sys file is re-created.

On Windows, I uninstall the modem and the sound card and then re-install them. Now both the modem and the sound card uses IRQ 7 (instead of sharing 11 with the video card).
It works very well. My PC hasn't crashed or frozen for a week now.

But everytime, I re-start the PC, the IRQ for the modem/sound card is restored to IRQ 11. So I have to uninstall/install the modem/sound card EVERYTIME before I play online game.
Oh well, I guess I have to do that until I find a way to change the IRQ setting permenantly.

Can someone please tell me what is wrong with my PC and how to fix it?
Show me how to diable ACPI on Windows2000 or change IRQ permanently is also appreciated.

 

[CompSci]

Have a similar rig - P3-667, VIA133 Pro, but DFI mobo...

Had hang up problems, was runnin memory too fast, tryin to run CAS3 memory at CAS2 settings... Slowed down memory settings and hangs stopped!

Try slowin down your memory settings (ACPI should't be effectin anything, especially if your BIOS doesnt have settings for it - What ya goin to do?)

That "Hardware Malfunction" ya got may indeed be a real problem - somewhere.

Get it runnin stabely with "FailSafe" or slowed down settings so ya can isolate and eliminate the Malfunctioning Hardware component...

 

[digital_trucker]

I have the same problem-random freezes. I'm using an AMD CPU, so apparently it can't be blamed on that! ;-) I had the problem with the fail-safe bios settings. Just for fun, I tweaked everything as fast as it would go. Now, it still freezes once in a while, but not nearly as often. I'm coming to suspect that my PSU isn't up to snuff. How big is your PSU?

Wabbit season! Duck season! AMD season! INTEL season!
Hmmmph--whatever...

 

[CompSci]

I've got a mixed bunch - all 300 except 1 250PS...
I used to get some hangs - but now I've replace all memory(in all boxes) with PC150 CL2 - from pricewatch: NewTrend servergrade PC150/cas2 256k sticks...
Haven't had a hang since... and all fast and stable!
PIII667 @ 750 - 150FSB - DFI TA6-b
PIII700 @ 933 - 133FSB - Asus P3v4x
PII450 @ 531 - 120FSB - Abit BE6-II
PII400 @ 560 - 140FSB - Asus P3v4x
All ATI vidio, WD hardrives, HP CD burners, yahama chipset soundcards, creative 56K modem blasters - mixed NIC's(RealTek, Linksys, SMC) - and all will install new, clean Win2k and autodetect everything! and run with drivers from the original cd... The're smooth right outa the box - no via 4in1 or SP's needed... Personally, I'm a "Good" memory and "Supported device and driver" believer!
Obviously, if I find something works well, I keep with it - and I just can't keep track of special drivers and which box anymore... Gotta have no special attention required! They're all full blown, IIS, SQl Server, Web/Dev/Debug boxes...

Perhaps "GOOD" memory is the single most important key to smooth machines...
Listenin to the guys on this board about usin "GOOD" memory has been good to me!!!

 

[westgates]

My PC hanged again last night (first time in about 2 weeks)even with modem/sound card unstalled/re-installed. Refleshing the BIOS once a while seemed to yield more stable system?!
I am suer I have tried memory CL3 before but it didn't seem to make any difference. It's now AUTO. I may try setting it to CL3 again.
Memory and Video card are the most suspicious to me.