Vista locking up when downloading

[rsibo]

Having operated BitComet for some time now, without any problem I might add, I have recently upgraded my PC and now run under Vista Home Premium. Anyway, the issue I have is driving me nuts, after about 10 or 15 mins of downloading the pc locks up, mouse freezes and have to reboot. Thought it might be a port forwarding prob as I didn't have a green light only yellow. Sorted that out and now have green light but still crashing.

Any ideas/suggestions as to cause greatly appreciated.

Richard - UK

[Vasy]

Hi!

This might be a hardware problem.

You said that you've upgraded your pc, what components have you changed? (be more specific on on what you had and what you have) Have you tried putting them back to see if the problem still occurs?

Or have you just upgraded the operating system? :unsure:

Cheers!

[greywizard]

Does it really crash only when running BitComet or this happens no matter what you're doing? You could try running some benchmarks which stress memory, cpu, and hdd intensively to verify that. You need to test it thoroughly to find out this one thing. That's because BitTorrent clients stress the system much more than other every-day applications do, and many times they just bring out to surface underlying problems which are not related to them but just didn't show up until then.

[rsibo]

Thanks for responses, new kit spec;-

(upgrade primarily due to getting an HiDef camcorder and editing with my old AMD processor based pc was like watching paint dry)

Intel i7 920

MSI X58 Pro MoBo

6G DDR

1T HDD

GeForce GTS 250 Graphics Card

D-Link DWL-G510 PCI wireless adaptor

Vista Home Premium 64bit

The only time it hangs is when I'm downloading, can be within 2mins or up to 25mins. The pc normally runs sweet as a nut, no probs. I've tried un-installing BitComet and running an alternative torrent download software, same problem, once download starts it will eventually lock-up. I've also unplugged all peripherals ie printer/scanner etc.

Once again any suggestions gratefully received.

Richard - UK

[greywizard]

The only time it hangs is when I'm downloading... The pc normally runs sweet as a nut, no probs. I've tried un-installing BitComet and running an alternative torrent download software, same problem, once download starts it will eventually lock-up. I've also unplugged all peripherals ie printer/scanner etc.

Well, this leads me to believe that I was right to suspect your PC as being the source of the problem. This might or might not be a tough nut to crack.

As I said, there might be a lot of possible reasons why this is happening, so, I would proceed by elimination, in order to narrow down the area a little more with every step and to find out where the problem resides (hardware or software).

First, it would be a good idea to verify if the problem doesn't relate to your wireless card (hardware/software). In order to do that you should try and connect (if it is possible) your computer to the router through a patch-cord cable (I'm assuming your computer has a LAN connector - the 8P8C connector also known as "RJ45" - as every computer nowadays does). If this solves your problem, then, depending if your computer has an integrated or plug-in wireless network card you can try to update the drivers or even replace the card, to see if that makes your problem go away.

If this doesn't solve your problem, then, as I've recommended you in my first post you should run some specific memory, CPU and HDD tests to check every one of them for problems. For memory you could use memtest86+. For CPU and HDD there are several free or shareware utilities... just search for any one that fits your taste.

A good idea would be, to have your OS up-to-date (if it's not already); I'm having in mind, especially, the TCP/IP stack and all the other network-related components of the OS, which get updated too, along with some of the Windows updates.

These are just my thoughts right now; they might isolate your problem or not, but you'll need to start somewhere anyhow. ;)

Anyway, let us know how this turns out.

[rsibo]

Many thanks, lots to think about there, I've got a patch cable will try that first, as Patton said "I'll be back"

Richard - UK

[kluelos]

Err, it was MacArthur and "I shall return", but if all the other tests pass and memory looks OK, the next place to look is your power supply. Faults there are extremely difficult to diagnose.

The only practical way without a bench full of instruments, is to drop in a replacement and see if the problem goes away.

The replacement need not be completely hooked up, especially if it is much smaller and may not have the ability to run your complete system. Just hook up the mainboard, video if applicable, and the disk drive(s) you absolutely need to boot and run BC.

It's best to do this with a used PS, one that you know works. If you can't get hold of one, then buy a new one that has been burned-in. (It will say so on the box). You don't want problems with a new PS to complicate matters. Even if the PS turns out not to be the problem, they aren't that expensive it's handy to have a spare around.

[rsibo]

You are quite right, just testing re the "quotation", my excuse is it was late. By the way what island was he on?

Having taken suggestions and advice for those who have posted replies, many thanks by the way, I seem to have, if not solved the problem, but at least got a work-around. Disabling my wireless adaptor and using a LAN cable (RJ45?) hooked up between the router and PC the downloads are running without incident. Which suggests there's a problem with data transmission/receiving processing, anyway I'm going to leave well along. The cable LAN cable behind the desk is'nt causing me any problems.

Richard - UK

[rsibo]

Now that using a LAN cable connection to my router my port forwarding has changed from green and is now showing amber, I'm assuming this is because I'm connecting with the cable. Any advice as to resolving this?

Richard - UK; I know I'm a pain in the a**e

[greywizard]

You didn't let us know how your port forwarding is done, in the first place.

For a port forwarding guide check the Guides section of the forum: How to Set up Portforwarding & Static IP.

As for your wireless NIC, a simple step further would be to try and update its drivers and see if it solves the first problem (that is, if you want to get to the bottom of that).

[kluelos]

Your issue may be with the wireless NIC's driver, or with the NIC itself. If you prefer wireless operation or just want to track this down, then try changing the driver. You may need to downgrade if it was working before. If it's the card (or changing drivers doesn't help) then bear in mind that wireless NIC's are really cheap these days, usually returning a lot of change from a US$20.

You may be perfectly happen operating in wired mode but you can still run down the problem, or maybe just toss the wireless card. Up to you.

When you changed cards though, you almost certainly did not copy the network settings -- and we're particularly interested in the IP address - to the built-in NIC -- not least because Windows would have barfed at you for giving them both the same IP. Whatever firewall had a port open for the IP address of the wireless NIC, does NOT have that same port open for the IP address of the wired NIC. Good for it, that would be an alarming security hole if it did. You don't want any open ports on a firewall that you aren't actively using. But that's why your green light went yellow.

You can remove the wireless NIC, and then give the wired NIC the address the wireless had. Or you can reconfigure the firewall(s) to close the old card's address and open the new one. These are functionally equivalent, doesn't matter which one you do. The former involves hardware, the latter just software.

The Japanese were chasing his a** off of Corregidor.