Solved PC problems

[Dewhurst]

So, I had my computer for 5 years now and those years mt computer was doing well, until now, it keeps on having blue screens, freezing, random shut downs, I don't know how to fix this, I fixed it before with the Windows 10 Update, but it got worse.

 

[phillpower2]

You have told us what the problem is but nothing at all about the computer concerned meaning that even with the best will in the world we have nothing to work with.

1. Copy any dmp files from C:\Windows\Minidump onto the desktop.
2. Select all of them, right-click on one, and click on Send To> New Compressed (zipped) Folder.
3. Upload the zip folder using the Attach button, bottom left of the dialogue input box

If the computer is a desktop can you post the brand and model name or number of the power supply (PSU).

Download then run Speccy (free) and post the resultant url for us, details here, this will provide us with information about your computer hardware + any software that you have installed that may explain the present issue/s.

To publish a Speccy profile to the Web:

In Speccy, click File, and then click Publish Snapshot.

In the Publish Snapshot dialog box, click Yes to enable Speccy to proceed.

Speccy publishes the profile and displays a second Publish Snapshot. You can open the URL in your default browser, copy it to the clipboard, or close the dialog box.

 

[Dewhurst]

Apologies for not giving my computer information.

Here is the speccy URL: http://speccy.piriform.com/results/6CYovckLukJLP1EXBM1hBTm

My power supply is SECURE, unfortunately, I cannot get the model name.

I cannot seem to upload the dump file, so I had to do upload it on MEGA instead: https://mega.nz/file/qtRmWIKb#kw_felvf9gHXJM3hTD5UQFGNKBF8sGMQ55HX1Sie228

 

[phillpower2]

No worries, happens all the time tbh.

You have a few issues going on, we will address them as they are list in Speccy but can I ask for now that you do not save anything at this time as one one of the problems you have is the amount of free storage space on the HDD.

There is no point in looking at any crash dmps until what we can see already has been resolved, you should then be able to provide any crash dmps in the way that they were asked for, regardless, we will not be downloading anything from third party sources.

You have multiple AVs installed, bad idea, they may say disabled but you will note that they say up to date and they cannot update if they have or are not active.

Firewall
Firewall: Enabled
Display Name: Norton Security
Antivirus
Norton Security
Antivirus: Disabled
Virus Signature Database: Up to date
Windows Defender
Antivirus: Disabled
Virus Signature Database: Up to date
Avast Antivirus
Antivirus: Enabled
Virus Signature Database: Up to date

Having more than one AV or Firewall installed on your computer is bad, it will slow down the computer, cause internet connection problems and leave you with no AV protection at all if they cancel each other out as they fight for resources.

Windows 8, 8.1 and 10 come with an improved Windows Defender, it offers the same real-time anti-virus/anti-malware protection as Microsoft Security Essentials. Windows Defender also shares the same malware signature definitions as Microsoft Security Essentials, and Forefront Endpoint Protection. Technically, Microsoft Security Essentials has not been renamed Windows Defender, or combined with it in Windows 8, 8.1 and 10.

If any AV product that you have is a paid for version you should always make sure that you have a copy of the product key kept somewhere safe just in case you ever wish to reinstall it.

You can uninstall Avast in the Control Panel but should you have any problems see Avast clean removal info here Please create a new system restore point first.

Norton uninstall info here

Once any other AV has been correctly uninstalled, check to see if Windows Defender has auto enabled and allow it to update and carry out a full scan of your computer.

Power Profile
Active power scheme: High performance

I suggest that you change the Windows Power Plan to Balanced, High Performance is a form of overclocking that is known to cause stability and overheating issues and the setting should only be used for gaming type notebooks that have a discrete GPU that needs the extra power.

My power supply is SECURE, unfortunately, I cannot get the model name.

There is one thing that is possibly worse than using a known poor quality brand of PSU and that is using one that is unheard of, for brands of PSU to trust and brands to avoid please refer to the links in my sig.

Will leave it at that for now.

 

[Dewhurst]

Okay, I've set my power plan to Balanced, and uninstalled the AVs.

However, I cannot find the option of "Attach" and I cannot find the left dialog box as you were saying.

 

[phillpower2]

At this point there is no need to attach anything but please read again the step 3 from my reply #2;

3. Upload the zip folder using the Attach button, bottom left of the dialogue input box

See attachment below if it helps any.

For now we just need an updated Speccy url so that we can see that both Avast and Norton are gone,

 

[Dewhurst]

Oh, I did not notice that option,

anyways, here is the speccy URL: http://speccy.piriform.com/results/IAsw3MoVsUn18C8B7vdsqqc

 

[phillpower2]

You still have Norton AV on the computer;

Windows Defender
Windows Defender: Enabled
Firewall
Firewall: Enabled
Display Name: Norton Security
Antivirus
Norton Security
Antivirus: Disabled
Virus Signature Database: Up to date
Windows Defender
Antivirus: Enabled
Virus Signature Database: Up to date

Crash dmps more than two days old are of no use but fwiw the last crash dated July 4th was an unknown bug check code so the issue most likely hardware related and possibly related to the virtual memory use.

 

[Dewhurst]

I thought I deleted Norton?

I'll try to delete it again..


I'll check if the dump files are updated today

 

[phillpower2]

I'll check if the dump files are updated today

You only get dmp files when Windows crashes so unless Windows has actually crashed no dmps will be generated.

 

[Dewhurst]

I always get the problems every time I start my computer, so I guess it doesn't get updated since I've not logged in.

 

[phillpower2]

Scrap that, I post in the wrong thread, doh

I have absolutely no idea what you mean by the above I`m afraid.

Can I ask that you only post when you are updating/posting new information for us, at present we are waiting on a new Speccy url so we check if Norton has gone and/or any crash dmps produced today if there happens to be any.

 

[Dewhurst]

I tried the auto-detect tool and this showed up:

"HP could not identify your products
If you don't see the products you expected, try running the detection tool again.

Why didn't HP find my product? Common things to check:

• Devices must be powered on to be identified.
• Devices must be connected either wirelessly or via USB.
• HP checks first for recently cached products; 'Retry' the check to find new devices
• HP can only identify HP-branded products.
• HP can only identify printers, laptops, tablets, mobile devices, desktops, monitors, scanners, and calculators."

Also, when I tried to uninstall Norton Security, it said it didn't detect any Norton supported products and the option was to remove it, the same option I used 2 days ago on my first attempt on uninstalling Norton.

 

[phillpower2]

Did you happen to miss my edited reply #12

 

[Dewhurst]

Oh, yeah, I missed it.

Here is the speccy URL: http://speccy.piriform.com/results/GswZzis38sDsjwXPrhwlFMO

 

[phillpower2]

You can see for yourself that Norton is still there, there is also traces of Avast still present and just for good measure McAfee as well, not surprised that you have been having so much trouble, how did you come to install so many AV programs;

Stopped: AvastWscReporter

Running: McAfee WebAdvisor

The above are stopping Windows Defender from providing 100% protection.

Stopped: Windows Defender Advanced Threat Protection Service

Having so many AVs looks like you may have been left unprotected and if so we will need to get your thread moved to the malware removal forums.

Before we do anything else you need to free up some storage space on the HDD else you will have more issues than you have now.

Partition 1
Partition ID: Disk #0, Partition #1
Disk Letter: C:
File System: NTFS
Volume Serial Number: 58396B80
Size: 464 GB
Used Space: 415 GB (89%)
Free Space: 49 GB (11%)

For Windows to be able to run efficiently and to be able to update you need to have between 20 and 25% of the partition or drive available as free storage space at all times, if you don`t you risk Windows becoming corrupt or not being able to update which puts you at risk of malware attack.

Data only storage devices should not be allowed to get any lower than 10% of free storage space of the full capacity of the drive/partition on the drive, this also to avoid data corruption.

Please note that storage devices can physically fail if the amount of free storage space is allowed to drop below the required 10 or 20/25% minimum.

Troubleshooting computer problems is a waste of time when it is known that Windows is out of date as any one of a number of the missing hot fixes could be the solution to any problem that you may be having.

Uninstall as many unused programs, games, videos and music files as you can and get yourself another means of backing up to, post back when you have between 20 and 25% free storage on the C: drive/partition and we can go from there.

 

[Dewhurst]

Okay,

I have freed up storage space and the C: drive/partition is now at 21%.

I have also found the Norton, McAfee WebAdvisor, Avast folders in ProgramData and Program Files.

Here is the Speccy URL: http://speccy.piriform.com/results/zDshFWgDhasnB1j3cFnS1GQ

 

[phillpower2]

Try and free up a bit more when you can and then try and keep it at 25% to allow for future Windows updates.

Did you delete those folders and then restart before running Speccy, the same traces of the AVs are still there and causing Defender problems.

 

[Dewhurst]

Apologies for not responding for 2 days.

My computer keeps on freezing, and shutting down and shuts down repeatedly
and it won't let me do the task, I tried not using it for 2 days then it still doesn't work.

 

[phillpower2]

How long after powering up does the computer shut down, you have both bad voltage readings and dangerously high Southbridge temperatures and the latter is most likely what is causing the system to shut down before it starts smoking,

Southbridge Revision: C2
System Temperature: 120 °C
BIOS
Brand: American Megatrends Inc.
Version: 2001
Date: 16/06/2014
Voltage
+5V: 5.280 V
+3.3V: 3.408 V
+12V: 12.384 V
VIN3: 0.192 V VIN 3 and 4 are the memory slots and should be reading circa 1.5V.
VIN4: 0.464 V
VCORE: 0.880 V This is your CPU voltage which should be reading circa 0.96V at idle and 1.4V under load, the CPU not being over volted is what has stopped it from being fried.

All of the above readings in red are bad for a computer that is not under any load and the ones that are in blue are bad because they are reading too low for what they need to be, we need to try and check the voltages properly to confirm them which is why it is important that we know how long the computer can be on before it powers down.

If there are no small children or animals around what I would suggest you do while you troubleshoot is to take off the side of the case and get yourself a cooling fan that you can direct so that it blows cooler air over the MB to cool it down.