Help me fix my dads PC please

Sandman

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i know this is the wrong forum for this and if the mods want to move it that’s ok with me. I only posted in here as it gets more traffic and I suspect a lot of regulars in here will be able to help.
My elderly and disabled dad is always having problems with his PC and I seem to be his 24hr support helpline (he is only a few miles from me).
Anyway his PC is prone to completely freezing at times and sometimes for hours at a time. Today he phoned to say the sound has stopped working. I went round and couldn’t fix either issue. I suspect his HDD might be faulty and I will test the sound with a different set of speakers when I go round tomorrow. The PC is about 6 years old and runs W10.
Is there any diagnostics software (free) you can recommend to pinpoint the problem? Last time he had the freezing issue I wiped everything and started again with a clean install so I suspect a hardware problem rather than a software.
I also assume if he needs a new HDD he will also need to purchase a new copy of W10 as the pc came shipped with windows installed which was then upgraded to W10.
 
No if you swap the hard drive you can still use your original licence from your windows 10. You don't need to buy a new copy of Windows.
 
I’m surprised a 6yr old PC can run Win10
 
If you're local i can have a look for you?

But for random freezes, check CPU temps, rum Memtest and do a chkdsk on all drives.
 
If you're local i can have a look for you?

But for random freezes, check CPU temps, rum Memtest and do a chkdsk on all drives.
Thanks, we are in Glasgow so a bit far for you. Lol
I will run memtest and chkdsk. Thanks.
 
Also worth running Ccleaner and delete all the temporary crud.
 
Also worth running Ccleaner and delete all the temporary crud.
Perfect will do that too. He is talking about phoning someone who advertises on gumtree to get them to fix it for him so would rather get it fixed myself.
 
Yes, i would spend an hour doing some maintenance on it. Updating drivers, installing updates, deleting temporary files, clear internet caches, chkdsk, updating AV, hoover inside the case, remove dust / dirt / hair / dead insects from fans and vents, defrag hdd (if not SSD), check for spyware, etc etc
 
Not much help I’m afraid but the most common cause of random crashes and freezes is that the motherboard or the PSU are on their way out.

This is the case where the software can run fine for a while then crash/freeze. And when restarted it will run fine again for a while. Usually a sign of a hardware problem rather than a software issue.

The other possibilitiy is overheating but that is usually more predictable and easier to monitor.

Cheers,

Nigel
 
As MJN said, cleaning the CPU & PSU fans would be a good start.
 
I think my PC might be circa 6 year old and runs Win10 without any issues.

Edit; i'm running an Intel i5-750 which has a launch date of Q3 2009.
 
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New HDD and a fresh install of windows would be my suggestion.
 
get a cheap ssd will be a worthwhile performance boost
 
Easy things 1st.

Could download and make a boot copy of the program MEMTEST, that will cost you nothing, and tell you if the memory is ok :)

Free bootable versions here: MemTest86 - Download now!

If your memory is ok, then, of course, check CPU cooler is fine, various progs can tell you the CPU temps, so you can be sure CPU is not overheating.

Intermittent Motherboard faults, well, who knows ?

But so far, the above has cost nothing.

I guess, I'd go get a nice little? SSD. Perhaps a Crucial one, and do a nice clean Windows 10 install, and keep fingers crossed.
Hopefully would solve problem, and make the PC feel (almost) like a new one again, coming from a HDD.

Just my 2 cents :)
 
Easy things 1st.

Could download and make a boot copy of the program MEMTEST, that will cost you nothing, and tell you if the memory is ok :)

Free bootable versions here: MemTest86 - Download now!

If your memory is ok, then, of course, check CPU cooler is fine, various progs can tell you the CPU temps, so you can be sure CPU is not overheating.

Intermittent Motherboard faults, well, who knows ?

But so far, the above has cost nothing.

I guess, I'd go get a nice little? SSD. Perhaps a Crucial one, and do a nice clean Windows 10 install, and keep fingers crossed.
Hopefully would solve problem, and make the PC feel (almost) like a new one again, coming from a HDD.

Just my 2 cents :)

(Just to add, yes is COULD be the PSU, but that's one of those pain in the bum things to check, that Unless you have a spare one, I'd consider, AFTER doing all the above)

New Windows 10 on a cheap SSD drive would be a major plus even without any current issues.
 
IObit - advanced system care and Drive Booster & Malware Cleaner & Smart DEFRAG, AVAST anti virus,

Make sure everything is up to date and clean of any nasties for free before you get down to spending any money.
 
IObit - advanced system care and Drive Booster & Malware Cleaner & Smart DEFRAG, AVAST anti virus,

Make sure everything is up to date and clean of any nasties for free before you get down to spending any money.

Fully agree, do all the free software checks 1st.
That said, these days, a squeaky fresh, not very expensive, SSD for 'Dads PC' would be a nice seasonal upgrade for him :)
 
Solve the problems first before you go buying new hardware.

Multiple different issues after a new windows install definitely sounds like a hardware failure. Unfortunately the PC architecture was designed for performance rather than self-analysis so without replacement hardware it's largely a case of narrowing down the problem loading up particular parts and seeing which loads cause more errors.

As well as the above mentioned Memtest the other standard tool these days is Prime95's stress test which offers settings for testing both CPU or memory.

Although it's pretty odd if it's coming back to life after being frozen for hours. Usually a hardware fault causes an unrecoverable error.

How much memory does the system have?

I’m surprised a 6yr old PC can run Win10

Windows 10 was less demanding than previous ones as it coincided with the push for smaller devices like tablets and phones whose performance is more constrained by heat output.
 
If it was an Apple product, they would have helpfully slowed it down, to stop it crashing, without telling you ;)
 
(1) Look in the Event Log for errors:
Right Mouse Button "My PC", Select Manage, Expand Event Viewer, Expand Windows Logs, Click on System, look around time of problems

(2) Check all the fans are running, check for lots of dust, install software to monitor temperatures (should be available for the computer or Motherboard if home-brew). Monitoring temps is useful as at the end of the day what you care about is how hot stuff gets, fan speeds, dust, etc. are just contributing factors.

(3) Look in Task Manager for what, if anything, is eating the memory and CPU.
 
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Open up PC and do basic maintenance:-
Clean fans, heatsinks and motherboard.
Disconnect all cables and reconnect them (do this one plug by one plug so you know they've reconnected properly)
Remove RAM and reinsert.
Remove CPU and reinsert.
Remount CPU heatsink with new heat paste.
Remove all add in cards and reinsert (clean fan & heatsink in GPU).

Then test it.

Next run RAM test program. Replace if errors shown.

Next run HDD test program. Replace if errors shown.

Next run CPU stress test program. Replace if errors shown - here I'd just replace the mobo, CPU and RAM.

(there's loads of each type of test programs so I haven't mentioned any particular ones - but try to get those that you can burn to a CD/DVD and boot from - this eliminates using Windows to do the testing, which we know has problems running)

Next if it's got an add in GPU and an integrated one, remove add in GPU and try onboard one. Replace GPU if this makes it work OK, or you could run an app that monitors GPU temp and if the temp is high, refresh the heat transfer paste in the GPU and try it again.

What to do next (if it's still got a problem) depends on how much spare hardware you have / can beg, borrow or steal! Swap out the RAM. Swap out the PSU. Swap out the whole motherboard.

Lastly, swap out the HDD - I do this last as it can take ages to reinstall Windows + apps + updates to a new drive, and if something else is faulty it's all for nothing.
 
I wouldn't rush around removing and replacing stuff too soon as it is easy to cause problems by knocking things out of place (especially cables), getting dust in sockets, breaking brittle old connectors, etc. IMHO investigate first.

Also don't rush to swap the disk without out finding what stuff is licensed to the hardware and if a disk change will screw that up. Taking an image of the disk if it's flaky can be a good idea.

BTW if you get RAM errors I'd look in setup to see if it's over-clocked first.
 
I’m surprised a 6yr old PC can run Win10
My 8 year old PC can and with ease
A 6 year old PC running an Atom on the other hand will still run it, but be slow
 

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