Shawn H Corey <shawnhcorey [ at ] gmail [ dot ] com> wrote: >Every now and again, my computer freezes. Nothing works. Then, when I >reboot, it freezes during BIOS, so it can't be a software issue. > >I ran a memory check; everything's OK. I replaced the CMOS battery. I >replaced the thermal paste on the CPU. I re-seated everything that can >be re-seated. > >The machine several years old but it started acting flaky only a month >or so ago, so it's a new problem. > >Does anyone have any suggestions? This could be anything. Old computers are like old cars in that at some point, they will fail and not be worth the effort of repairing. I had a 12 year old box that did exactly what you are describing. Hardware all checked out when tested, but there were intermittent failures. It didn't take too long before the failure point became obvious, though. Mysterious crashes became frequent crashes which became boot issues which turned into an incendiary incident when one of the power FETs that serviced the ram finally released its smoke. I salvaged from that box what I could, but I doubt I'll ever use any of the components again : A more modern replacement could be had for less than the cost of a case of beer, and was up and running faster than you could drink one. Message: it's fun to breathe life into old machines, but don't be afraid to cut and run away from it when it starts behaving mysteriously. Barring that, keep your hand on the power cord so you can pull it out before all the arcing causes bigger problems. :o) -- Sent from my handheld. Please excuse any errors in spelling and formatting as these can be difficult to correct on such a device. Any errors in common sense or logic are entirely my own.