Computer freezing up
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Computer freezing up
It is my daughter's PC and she says it is freezing up, running programs or surfing the internet, and does not respond to CTRL/ALT/DEL. It does not play up when I take time to look at it, so it is hard to diagnose. It is Vista. Any suggestions as to what to look for? How do I access the Start menu in Vista? I sometimes find many programs that like to sit on the Start menu and take up resources and I would like to dump them but cannot find how to get to them with this OS.
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Hi Boof,
Trying to replicate a problem sometimes is like pulling teeth.
When you say you want to access the 'start menu' I will assume that you are trying to find which programs run when starting the PC.
If you go to the 'run command' and type in "msconfig" it will pop up a little window that will show you what runs at start up.
How To Disable Startup Programs In Windows 7, XP and Vista?
The above link will walk you through the process.
This program "ccleaner" will also help you a good deal. With it you can check the registry, stop programs running at startup, clear out your cookies and a host of other things. The good thing is that it's free and works well.
Don't forget that MSwindows collects more flies than a pile of dog#'*&, so don't be put off with having to go to a complete reinstall.
Also, if your daughter does not play games or have a need for windows...get Ubuntu
. Save the pair of you a lot of heart ache and bother. You can download a live cd and test it out before installing it.
GL Boofhead & Boofhead Jnr I hope that helps...Time to hit the M25 with the Poles and Lithuanian TIR's.
Trying to replicate a problem sometimes is like pulling teeth.
When you say you want to access the 'start menu' I will assume that you are trying to find which programs run when starting the PC.
If you go to the 'run command' and type in "msconfig" it will pop up a little window that will show you what runs at start up.
How To Disable Startup Programs In Windows 7, XP and Vista?
The above link will walk you through the process.
This program "ccleaner" will also help you a good deal. With it you can check the registry, stop programs running at startup, clear out your cookies and a host of other things. The good thing is that it's free and works well.
Don't forget that MSwindows collects more flies than a pile of dog#'*&, so don't be put off with having to go to a complete reinstall.
Also, if your daughter does not play games or have a need for windows...get Ubuntu
. Save the pair of you a lot of heart ache and bother. You can download a live cd and test it out before installing it.GL Boofhead & Boofhead Jnr I hope that helps...Time to hit the M25 with the Poles and Lithuanian TIR's.
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Start menu access is by clicking on the windows symbol lower left of the screen. Sometimes this will go out of action. Then use the keyboard button with the windows symbol on it.
Try using Vista to display cpu usage. When it freezes is it because something is using the cpu?
Try using Vista to display cpu usage. When it freezes is it because something is using the cpu?
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When you freeze up , Unplug the computer , literally from the plug on the wall. The computer will treat it like a power failure. When you restart it everything will work again.
Restarting your computer once in a while also tends to clear out a lot of cached crap. every time things slow down, restart.
Sites with lots of pop and snazz and sizzle often cause the most problems. They get ad-ons grinding away until things freeze up. Avoid the junk on the internet , and you avoid a lot of problems. try telling that to a teenager
Firefox browser with ad block solved most of my problems.. I still find a restart is needed every couple of days.
Some sites with embedded youtube videos have "usage counters" that grind away eating memory if they do not close themselves off properly.
Sometimes leaving the computer disabled for a few days helps the teenager realize they should have listened to dad when he said to stay off the crap sites Good luck and restart often.
Restarting your computer once in a while also tends to clear out a lot of cached crap. every time things slow down, restart.
Sites with lots of pop and snazz and sizzle often cause the most problems. They get ad-ons grinding away until things freeze up. Avoid the junk on the internet , and you avoid a lot of problems. try telling that to a teenager
Firefox browser with ad block solved most of my problems.. I still find a restart is needed every couple of days.
Some sites with embedded youtube videos have "usage counters" that grind away eating memory if they do not close themselves off properly.
Sometimes leaving the computer disabled for a few days helps the teenager realize they should have listened to dad when he said to stay off the crap sites
Good luck and restart often.
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You don't say how old your daughter is but the reasonable assumption is teenage. They fill the computers with all sorts of buggy crap from various messenger sites, silly icons, and so on.
When I gave my son my old desktop six months ago it was taking about 40 seconds to boot up, from power on. It now takes 5 minutes and runs like a tortoise. Of course he hasn't downloaded anything or been on any crappy sites ..... much. I've told him that when this one dies, he pays for the next one, and I note a different attitude now!
When I gave my son my old desktop six months ago it was taking about 40 seconds to boot up, from power on. It now takes 5 minutes and runs like a tortoise. Of course he hasn't downloaded anything or been on any crappy sites ..... much. I've told him that when this one dies, he pays for the next one, and I note a different attitude now!
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I'm not sure I would bin an entire operating system for an intermittent problem, although many would make an exception for Vista.
A whole load of windows freezing problems are caused by drivers. The first thing to do is interrogate the logs the system keeps on itself.
Click on Start (the blue button on the bottom left of the screen), then control panel-system and security-administrative tools, then computer management, then event viewer.
In the event viewer window, expand the 'error' tab and see if there is anything consistently appearing in there, especially if the time stamps coincide with the system crashes.
You can't break the pc doing this & there are also many other ways to work out what's going on, but this is a quick & easy way to start. If ytou do see the same error coming up, then either google it or come back here for help.
Edit - it's a good idea to clean out the system with cc cleaner as mentioned above, uninstall any software not being used, or that has been installed recently - it may in itself be the problem. Also, if any hardware has been recently connected, that should be looked at too in terms of the driver software.
A whole load of windows freezing problems are caused by drivers. The first thing to do is interrogate the logs the system keeps on itself.
Click on Start (the blue button on the bottom left of the screen), then control panel-system and security-administrative tools, then computer management, then event viewer.
In the event viewer window, expand the 'error' tab and see if there is anything consistently appearing in there, especially if the time stamps coincide with the system crashes.
You can't break the pc doing this & there are also many other ways to work out what's going on, but this is a quick & easy way to start. If ytou do see the same error coming up, then either google it or come back here for help.
Edit - it's a good idea to clean out the system with cc cleaner as mentioned above, uninstall any software not being used, or that has been installed recently - it may in itself be the problem. Also, if any hardware has been recently connected, that should be looked at too in terms of the driver software.
Spoon PPRuNerist & Mad Inistrator
Unplug the computer , literally from the plug on the wall. The computer will treat it like a power failure.
That is an excellent way to destroy a hard disk, giving it no time to park the disk heads.
Always use the power button when you have to force the OS to shutdown. Never pull the plug.
SD
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I think you will find that the modern drive have systems that auto parks the heads when it detects a power failure.
Read the spec. 'Power Fail Monitors for the logic and power supplies initiate
an automatic parking sequence during a power failure. A resistor programmed parking voltage enables a constant velocity head retract.
http://www.datasheetcatalog.org/data...ics/mXyvvw.pdf
Read the spec. 'Power Fail Monitors for the logic and power supplies initiate
an automatic parking sequence during a power failure. A resistor programmed parking voltage enables a constant velocity head retract.
http://www.datasheetcatalog.org/data...ics/mXyvvw.pdf
If it's getting on a bit, it may be the fan/CPU heat sink is/are clogged with dust and debris. Compressed air should shift it. If not, run CCleaner as suggested. Also, download and do a full scan with Malwarebytes - it will find no end of bugs which may be contributing.
event viewer
have a look at event viewer in control panel>admin tools and see what gets the red crosses.
Also go to >computer management >disk management right click on c drive, then properties, then tools, and check the disk (will require reboot).
Also go to >computer management >disk management right click on c drive, then properties, then tools, and check the disk (will require reboot).
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Computers used by teenagers have very high rates of malware infection. A change in start-up time from 40 seconds to five minutes is almost a guarantee of such infection. Hardware problems will not cause this, particularly if it is isolated to start-up. A failing disk can slow the entire system down, but only all the time, not just at start-up.
An overheating machine can freeze up if the CPU gets too hot. Check all fans (CPU, case, GPU, power supply, any others), and make sure that the machine is not clogged with dust.
It doesn't normally harm a computer to pull the plug, but it doesn't help the computer, either. The disk drives will park the heads long before they contact the media, and if the file system is NTFS or some equivalent file system (not FATxx), there will be no damage to the file structure. Nevertheless, a graceful software-initiated shutdown is always preferable.
For some careless users, including many teenagers, it may be best to just leave the system as it is. If they don't want the system to slow to 5% of its former performance, they can practice safe computing. If the system is infected already, they can spend time learning how to remove the malware, which will motivate them to avoid infecting the machine in the future.
An overheating machine can freeze up if the CPU gets too hot. Check all fans (CPU, case, GPU, power supply, any others), and make sure that the machine is not clogged with dust.
It doesn't normally harm a computer to pull the plug, but it doesn't help the computer, either. The disk drives will park the heads long before they contact the media, and if the file system is NTFS or some equivalent file system (not FATxx), there will be no damage to the file structure. Nevertheless, a graceful software-initiated shutdown is always preferable.
For some careless users, including many teenagers, it may be best to just leave the system as it is. If they don't want the system to slow to 5% of its former performance, they can practice safe computing. If the system is infected already, they can spend time learning how to remove the malware, which will motivate them to avoid infecting the machine in the future.
I have been having this issue with my vista machine, getting worse over the last 3 weeks or so. I got to the point of running task manager or process explorer as a matter of course before launching anything else. The task manager did not show any processes taking undue resources when the other windows became "not responding" but only the mouse pointer seemed to carry on working as normal. It did not matter whether I was running just Thunderbird or multiple apps (Firefox, Open Office, WMPlayer, Notepad) the machine is used for email all of the time plus the other stuff on occasion. I never found what the problem was but I noticed, yesterday, that the machine ran from dawn till dusk OK. Today I was out for most of the day but it started and ran just fine this evening. Could be some truth in the suggestion that a driver was to blame, possibly sorted by a new download.
Rans6andrew.
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Maybe it is a thing with Vista. Ditto and likewise problem - keyboard and mouse freeze, windows key or ctrl-alt-del no effect, only solution is to hold down the power button until the thing shuts down. On startup, apart from stating the obvious "Your machine did not shut down normally ....." it works. Sometimes it works for days, other times it can be a bitch. So, taking advice from Mr Optomistic and Sprogget, the Event Viewer for the last episode shows:
Error 08/04/2011 18:40:43 Service Control Manager Eventlog Provider 7026 None
Error 08/04/2011 18:40:43 Service Control Manager Eventlog Provider 7000 None
Error 08/04/2011 18:40:36 WMI 10 None
Error 08/04/2011 18:39:31 EventLog 6008 None
Error 08/04/2011 18:39:32 Eventlog 1101 Event processing
Error 08/04/2011 17:42:20 Service Control Manager Eventlog Provider 7026 None
Error 08/04/2011 17:42:20 Service Control Manager Eventlog Provider 7000 None
Error 08/04/2011 17:42:13 WMI 10 None
Error 08/04/2011 17:41:06 Dhcp-Client 1002 None
Warning 08/04/2011 17:41:06 Dhcp-Client 1003 None
Expanding some of these gives me absolutely no idea what goes on e.g. the "Warning" that preceded all this provides the following:
Log Name: System
Source: Microsoft-Windows-Dhcp-Client
Date: 08/04/2011 17:41:06
Event ID: 1003
Task Category: None
Level: Warning
Keywords: Classic
User: N/A
Computer: preinstalled-PC
Description:
The description for Event ID 1003 from source Microsoft-Windows-Dhcp-Client cannot be found. Either the component that raises this event is not installed on your local computer or the installation is corrupted. You can install or repair the component on the local computer.
If the event originated on another computer, the display information had to be saved with the event.
The following information was included with the event:
0024B247EBB4
%%2163146757
The locale specific resource for the desired message is not present
This presumably means something more than "something is missing"? And what can I do about it??
Error 08/04/2011 18:40:43 Service Control Manager Eventlog Provider 7026 None
Error 08/04/2011 18:40:43 Service Control Manager Eventlog Provider 7000 None
Error 08/04/2011 18:40:36 WMI 10 None
Error 08/04/2011 18:39:31 EventLog 6008 None
Error 08/04/2011 18:39:32 Eventlog 1101 Event processing
Error 08/04/2011 17:42:20 Service Control Manager Eventlog Provider 7026 None
Error 08/04/2011 17:42:20 Service Control Manager Eventlog Provider 7000 None
Error 08/04/2011 17:42:13 WMI 10 None
Error 08/04/2011 17:41:06 Dhcp-Client 1002 None
Warning 08/04/2011 17:41:06 Dhcp-Client 1003 None
Expanding some of these gives me absolutely no idea what goes on e.g. the "Warning" that preceded all this provides the following:
Log Name: System
Source: Microsoft-Windows-Dhcp-Client
Date: 08/04/2011 17:41:06
Event ID: 1003
Task Category: None
Level: Warning
Keywords: Classic
User: N/A
Computer: preinstalled-PC
Description:
The description for Event ID 1003 from source Microsoft-Windows-Dhcp-Client cannot be found. Either the component that raises this event is not installed on your local computer or the installation is corrupted. You can install or repair the component on the local computer.
If the event originated on another computer, the display information had to be saved with the event.
The following information was included with the event:
0024B247EBB4
%%2163146757
The locale specific resource for the desired message is not present
This presumably means something more than "something is missing"? And what can I do about it??
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I'll let you know. Right now it is behaving itself superbly, but that can happen for a few days and then suddenly it don't want to play. We shall see.
