Computer freezing up

[Rookie]

I am having problem with my computer freezing up. It happens when it is just left on or when I am running some programs in it. For no appearent reasons, it just freezes up. Once that happens, nothing will work, including trying to reboot by using alt-ctrl-del. After awhile, I would get a blue screen with the following message: Hardware malfunction. Call your hardward vendor for support. NMI: Parity Check/Memory Parity Error, NMI: Channel check/IOCHK. The system has halted. I have a HP Pavillion 533c computer with a Pentium 4, 2.4 ghz processor,512 DDR SDRAM, and 64 mb DDR SDRAM graphic memory. I have two hard drives: Master-Seagate 160 gb (system drive), slave-WD 120. It also has a dvd drive and a separate dvd re-write. This happens usually after the computer is on for about an hour. I think it may be something to do with the computer heating up. Any help would be greatly appreciated.

[Ahcoraj]

Lockups are often caused by heat. Have you opened the case and blown out the dust lately? Especially around the chip fan and inside the Power supply? are all fans spinning properly?.. also it sounds like this may be memory related, have you added any new mem lately?

[Rookie]

All of the fans seems to be blowing alright. I usually blow out the inside at least once a month. I know the computer seems go be pretty hot. As far as new memory, I have not added any. The two hard drives were added afterward, one to replace the original, the other for extra storage. Also, the dvd writer was added afterwards. The current power supply is 150 watts. I am thinking of getting a new power supply and added memory (another 512 mb). Do you think this might help?

[Ahcoraj]

yeah the PS would be my first guess to your problem 150w is a bit underpowered for a p4 with 3 ide drives , also if you get the new memory, try running it with just it in it (leave the old one out) it may well be that the current mem is going bad ( I know it's rare but i have seen it happen)

[DuffyCoug]

I have the same computer and just had to replace the cooling fan...I didn't pay much attention to if the 92mm system fan was sucking air in or blowing it out...can you please let me know how yours is set up? Thanks.

[geeksRus]

THIS (http://support.microsoft.com/default.aspx?scid=kb;EN-US;Q315223) from Microsoft.

[TechZ]

The 150w Power Supply is woefully underpowered for your current system.

This should give you a rough estimate of what you need, but get something in the 400-500w range, and dont go for cheap no-name brands, stick with Antec, Enermax, good brand PSU's.

http://www.jscustompcs.com/power_supply/Power_Supply_Calculator.php?cmd=INTEL

@DuffyCoug
http://www.heatsink-guide.com/content.php?content=case.shtml

[Rookie]

I have been out of town and was unable to log on to this site. Anyways, all the fans in the computer is sucking outwards. Also, I have replaced the memory and it didn't help. I am fixing to replace the power supply as suggested to see whether it will help. Thanks to all that have reply, and I will keep you posted on the outcome...

[Rookie]

I think I may have fixed the problem. I disabled the wireless adapter this date and noticed that the computer didn't freeze up like usual. I even burned several dvd's to try to task the memory, and it continued to hummm on. Finally, I removed the wireless adapter and re-installed it on another PCI slot and reconfigured the adapter. This seems to be working as I am on this computer for the past several hours without it freezing up. If this works, could it be a bad PCI slot? Would this cause the computer to freeze?

[JeffO93]

It could still be the 150watt PS.
From the Internet, I guess no one could rule out a bad PCI slot, but the PS seems the more likely culprit.

Not sure how much the wireless PCI card would use as compared to DVD burning. It would seem you did a very logical test, but it's hard to believe you can even boot a P4 on a 150watt PS.
The range posted by Intel and AMD for the past several years has been a 350watt minimum. You have to take this with a grain of salt, though. They realize that there are tons of cheap PS out there. If you buy a quality PS like Antec or Enermax, you might be able to get by on half the watts. But 150watts is even below that mark.
As long as you're working fine, you might as well role with it.
Replacing your PS will definitely make things better.

Also, I never have all my fans sucking out. I have a fan in the bottom, front blowing in across my hard drives and my PS fan blows out the top, back.
If I have a rear case fan, it often blows IN across my RAM and CPU. A pressurized case allows the PS fan to suck maximum air through it. If no rear case fan, I sometimes piggy-back a fan on the PS so that there's a fan on each end of the PS.
The PS fan shouldn't be competing with other fans to grab air. If all your fans blow out, they are all competing, even considering your vents. The fan strategy should create maximum volume through the case.

[Rookie]

Jeff093, thanks for the info. I will definitely look to change out the old power supply. After reading your post, I checked again on the fan. You are right, the power supply fan blows out. However, the fan below it definately blows into the box, the same direction as the processor fan. As far as the computer, it has not freeze up yet. So far so good. Thanks again....