Identifying source of crashes

[e033x]

So my stationary computer is slowly dying, lagging, crashing and generally misbehaving. I think the source of the problems is the harddrive(s), but im not sure.

Often when it crashes, the image freeze, while sound and mouse movement remain (background noise in games etc.) Sometimes it un-freezes, sometime it crashes. Sometimes when i reboot from a particulary nasty crash, there is a haddrive diagnostics-thing running which deletes bad registries or somethingmajig.

Am i right in believing a new harddrive and a reinstall is all which is needed to get it back on track?

Thanks in advance!

EDIT: While playing the Planetside 2 beta today, i died. However, the redeplyment screen froze in a half-loaded state. The game went happily on, ignoring the fact that my interface had frozen. I mean, i got notifications about people logging on, and so forth. I don't think its a game-specific bug, due to similar problems in other games.

 

[SnowyGamester]

Hard drive diagnostics starting after your computer crashes or isn't shut off properly is completely normal so I wouldn't use that as an indicator. Not to say that couldn't be the problem. It's hard to determine what the problem is from this information...it could be a system/virus problem of some sort which would require a simply format reinstall. Probably download SeaTools to test your hard drive and a memtest live cd to test your RAM and CPU...if everything comes up clear, reinstall your operating system and hope for the best. If something fails, replace that part.

 

[e033x]

Explain "Often when it crashes, the image freeze, while sound and mouse movement remain".

Example: I watched a youtube video when the image froze. The sound continued to play, even past the point where it had stopped loading, according to the screen. I could move the mouse freely around, but clicking anything didn't do anything.

The other flavor is the part about Planetside 2 i mentioned in the OP. Happened twice.

Ran SeaTools, all clear... Then its probably the overheating issue that needs to be fixed.

 

[e033x]

It turned out to be an overheating issue... I removed the side panel and made a little better airflow. It sloved the issue. Kinda weird that the trouble started recently, when the pc have been in the same position for a month.

EDIT: Peak temp now is 87 degreees celsius during gaming...

 

[Supernova1138]

87 celsius is still pretty bad, only just below the thermal throttling point for Intel CPUs. You're going to have to deal with these heat issues or you will damage your system over long term use. Get a can of compressed air and blow out all the dust. You may have to remove the CPU cooler, clean off and reapply the thermal paste, and put the heatsink back on. If you are having airflow problems, you probably need to add some case fans. If you don't feel comfortable doing any of those things, I suggest you take your computer to a professional to have these issues resolved.