Is my computer build right?

[CAF]

I had purchased an HP computer a few months ago and which, though it operates well most of the time, also does odd things.  For instance, I will be closing out of Lightroom and then an error message will come up that the program crashed; or prints in the print queue in Qimage will disappear; a PDF file will disappear; colors will print as their complements, etc.  Altogether, there are too many of these occasional occurrences to not think that something may be out of whack on this computer.  All the diagnostic tests that came with the computer indicate that it is ok; Windows disk check and extended memory test indicate that it is ok; a Windows operating system test: sfc /scannow that had been recommended indicates also that all is ok.

So my specific question here is - did HP build this computer with all the right parts?

Your Customized HP PC
• HP Pavilion HPE h8z
• Windows 7 Professional [64-bit]
• AMD Phenom(TM) II X6 1100T six-core processor [3.3GHz, 3MB L2 + 6MB L3 shared]
• 16GB DDR3-1333MHz SDRAM [4 DIMMs]
• 300GB 10K rpm SATA 3Gb/s hard drive
• 750GB 7200 rpm SATA 3Gb/s hard drive
•  1GB DDR3 AMD Radeon HD 6450 [DVI, HDMI. VGA adapter]
• SuperMulti DVD Burner
• Integrated Ethernet port, No wireless LAN
• 15-in-1 memory card reader, 4 USB 2.0 (front) w/USB 3.0 card (rear), audio, 2 USB (top rear-facing)
• Integrated sound
• Premium HP keyboard and optical mouse

--CAF

[Sareesh Sudhakaran]

I don't know anything about the software you use but the PC specs seem good enough to handle what you're throwing at it.

1. Defrag and chkdsk all your drives for errors and bad sectors.
2. Re-install Windows
3. Deactivate and uninstall every "HP pre-installed" software (not for the inexperienced, so be warned) - sometimes manufacturers use a separate mystery partition to store these files under a different OS. It's a pain when these installations begin to misbehave. Don't try this if you don't know what you're doing.
4. Re-install Lightroom
5. Regarding Qimage and colors, etc., check you drivers - are they up to date? Re-install them just to make sure.

Hope this helps.

[John.Murray]

Something is seriously amiss, have you checked the Windows System and Application logs?  I agree with Sareesh, but unfortunately, your only option with HP is to do a system restore from a recovery partition.  In theory this would be fine, but HP computers ship with an unbelievable amount of pre-installed crapware.  I'd recommend a fresh install using a MS Windows image from DVD or USB, your local computer tech can easily do this.  They should also be able to install only the *current* drivers needed to support your hardware configuration.

Finally, I personally have seen nothing but grief from most A/V/Security products - I've had great results with MS Security Essentials; it also happens to be free ...

[Farmer]

I'll echo John on Microsoft Security Essentials.  I used to use Avast! (not least of which becaues it was one of the first with 64bit support), but I moved over to MSE largely on the recommendation of John, as it happens, and I haven't looked back and I've moved many friends and family over to it as well.  Virtually everything else is bloated or rubbish or both.

[DeeJay]

Not 100% sure but I thought that triple or even double channel ram was best for this processor and you are running 4 channels. May pay to check it out as you could be running a disadvantage for those times when you are using less than 16GB of RAM.

[John.Murray]

Deejay:  AMD Chipsets use Dual Channel memory access, populate in pairs....