Vista - Random freezing, HDD light stays lit

I have rencetly been having problems with Windows Vista Media Center. I will be playing a local music file (mp3) or a networked DVD file (vob) and my hard drive will click like it is spinning up for the first time and then the HDD activity light will light up and stay on. Once this happens Windows will freeze and I will either have to cut power or push reset to get the computer to turn off or reset.

At first I thought it was a hard drive problem and installed Vista on another drive only to have the same problem on each. I have just recently moved one of the sticks of memory into the other free slot and have not yet experienced the freezing/HDD activity light problem.

Is it possible that the problem was only with the RAM and not the hard drive(s)? If it happens that I experience a freezing with the RAM in the current slots then I will be lost to the cause of the problem.

Thanks

So I just experienced the same freezing problem; upon playing a local video file in media center the screen froze and the hard drive light is lit solid, no flashing, and the computer is frozen.

Could it be possible that both of the hard drive I have tried (they are at least a few years old) are faulty? Besides the boot drive I also have a secondary drive that I have always had installed that stores my media and personal files. Could it be this drive that is faulty? I don't believe this is the case as it seems that the boot drive seems to be the one giving me the problem as the HDD activity light is linked to this drive. I may try disconnecting my media drive and seeing if the problem persists.

If it is the case that with my media drive removed my computer still freezes, what else could be the cause? Faulty power supply, RAM, motherboard? The PC is an Athlon XP system with Abit NF7-S motherboard and 1GB (2x512MB PC3200 DDR) RAM. Video card is BFG 6600GT 128 MB AGP. I have adequate cooling and this system has been fine for the last few years. I hope it is jus the hard drives as the are old and easiest and most attractive to replace.

Well, with my media drive removed Vista still froze, this time trying to play an online video. I am beginning to believe that it is a power supply problem now as it is one of the only things I have kept constant in this computer. I will switch it out with another one I have tomorrow.

Again, I am experiencing a 'click' from the hard drive, the same sound it makes when the computer is booting cold.The activity light then stays on without flickering and the computer becomes unresponsive. Because it sounds like the hard drive is regaining power after having lost it, I believe the problem lies with the power supply being faulty.

I would be suspecting the hard drive first. Faulty hard drives can make the same sounds when they are 'dying' as when they are first started up. It doesn't sound like there are any other PSU related problems with your computer, so I would suggest replacing the drive first off, and going from there.

Do you believe then that both drives are failing? They both exhibit the same problem. The warranty ran out on the newer one in 2005 and the other is even older.

I do have a very high quality Enermax PSU installed and has never given me trouble but it is about 5 years old.

rygy, have you found a solution to your problem yet? I am experiencing the exact same thing and I'm getting very frustrated.

Nevermind, I just found your other thread where you said a new PSU fixed the problem. Out of curiosity, what kind of power supply did you buy?

Ya my dying PSU caused a bunch of bad sectors on all 3 of my drives, 2 IDE one SATA. I was able to connect each drive to my other PC and repair them.

I bought a SPI/Sparkle PSU, 400W with a single 120mm fan to replace my dead Enermax. I picked this one because it had high amperage (32A) on each of the 3.3V and 5V lines which is needed for my PC which is an Athlon XP. I'm sure if you have a more recent system, any suitable PSU will do.