[mythtv-users] Recommended Disk Test

[Stephen Worthington]

On Tue, 13 Jan 2015 21:15:58 -0500, you wrote:

>Random freezes can be caused by all sorts of issues.  Most common (in 
>order of frequency I have seen them) are:
>
>1. RAM: you sometimes need to run memtest for days to see the failure. 
>If you have multiple sticks, try reversing the order or removing one at 
>a time to see if anything behaves differently.
>
>2. Power supply: easy to change and relatively inexpensive.  Not a bad 
>idea to have a spare one around anyway.
>
>3. Bad caps: if you have a MB from a few years ago this is a common problem:
>
>http://www.thenakedpc.com/dan/Bulging_Capacitors/close-up.jpg
>
>...and they don't have to be leaking to cause system flakiness.

You missed one big one in your list - temperature.  Over temperature
in any one region of the CPU can cause random problems just like this,
and the same with RAM.  So I recommend giving any flaky PC a good
clean before starting to replace hardware.  Always use a proper
earthing strap to connect yourself to your PC's earth when working
inside your PC.  Make sure you use canned "air" to blow out dust - a
regular vacuum cleaner creates huge static electric charges.  CRC Air
Brush is usually available in most places in the world, but there are
other cheaper brands too.  Use a soft fairly large artist's brush to
clean all fans and heatsinks (it also works well on keyboards).  This
is what I use:

  http:/www.jsw.gen.nz/computer_cleaning_tool.jpg
  (2,336,485 bytes)

It is a messy, fiddly process but really should be done at least
annually.