Re: Server 2003 Locks Up At Various Stages

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Date: Thu, 24 Jun 2004 20:05:25 +1200

When you say Lockup, if you mean that the CAPS Lock and Num Lock keys do not
work, the screen may go black or if the mouse pointer is still visible it
won't move, then I agree with Scott.

Possible causes are basically everything since it is quite intermittent it
could be heat, memory, motherboard, or even power supply.

Check the hardware section of the bios to see what it says the CPU temp is
doing.
For an AMD Athlon, it should not get more than 40c above ambient (give or
take a bit). IE 65c is HOT for ambient of 20c. If the CPU is correctly
mounted when the system is idle you should have temps a lot lower than that.

Strip the system down to minimum components and try it that way.
Do a 'cardboard' test - remove the motherboard from the case and place on
cardboard. Follow anti static procedures to the letter. Strip right down to
say Graphics, minimum memory (EG 256MB or 1 stick), CPU, 1 disc drive and
try that. If all is ok there then it is either one of the removed components
or the way the motherboard / system is installed. Try known good components
1 at a time. EG PSU, Graphics, other memory stick, etc.

Download and run memtest86 (from www.memtest86.com) for a minimum of 5 full
cycles - if 1 error is reported then there is an issue with memory that has
to be resolved before any OS will run OK. Take note of what the web site
says about test#5.

If you discover a heat related issue EG the CPU is not mounted correctly (no
thermal past / incorrectly applied - see the arcticsilver web site for
details on correct mounting) and fix it then rerun the memtest from above
and download / run prime95 to do a CPU torture test (good for proving no
heat issues remain) to prove the system is Solid. Some people need to be
told that computers should never crash.

If you can't resolve it from the above, then RMA the board / seek other
advice / return to vendor / visit one of the hardware related news groups.

- Tim

"Andrew Newbould" <andrew@trakware.org> wrote in message
news:201d801c4593b$27116350$a601280a@phx.gbl...
>I have installed Win 2003 Server (Standard) onto a new PC
> for development testing purposes. The PC is an AMD Athlon
> XP 2600+ based on SiS motherboard; 1Gb of memory; 2 x
> 40Gb Hard Disks; 10/100 Network Card. After initial
> installation (which took several attempts) the PC was
> upgraded to a DC in a new Forest on its own subnet. I
> then added the Application Server role. We then connected
> to Windows Update to apply latest patches. Everything ran
> OK for 1/2 a day. Now everytime the PC is booted it will
> lock up at different stages (ie: before logon, after
> login, during screen saver, in IE, in Explorer etc). The
> longest we can keep it running is about 10 mins. No other
> software has been installed other than that described
> above. Any Ideas ...

• Previous message: Jorge Fei[MSFT]: "RE: Connection"
• In reply to: Andrew Newbould: "Server 2003 Locks Up At Various Stages"
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