Can't fix random freeze/lockup problems

[phdarch]

Hello all. I am having problems with random freezes on my (4 yea
old) WinXP machine with P4-1.6. It will just suddenly hang, no blu
screen, no error message, and will not respond to the mouse
keyboard, control-alt-delete, nothing, and I have to hard reboot. I
has gotten very frequent lately and there is no pattern to what I'
doing at the time (sometimes when idle, sometimes when moving th
mouse etc.). It seemed like it might have begun after I installe
Roxio Creator 8 although I'm not sure about that, but I hav
uninstalled it and the problem persists. It is possible that Outloo
'02 is always open when it happens, but I'm not sure about tha
either. I have tried to run Outlook Detect and Repair, but for som
reason every time I try to run it, it appears to install but refuse
to run (just "reinstalls" again). Occasionally there ar
some display oddities (small areas of pixels go weird) so I though
it might be the display driver but I have updated that. I have don
practically everything on this excellent site
http://mywebpages.comcast.net/SupportCD/DiagnoseXP.htm
including scanning for spyware and viruses, defragging, memory test
updating all drivers etc. but nothing has helped. Any suggestion
(including how to get Detect and Repair running) would be greatl
appreciated. The computer is too old to justify taking it in fo
service, but I don't want to throw it away either as it takes s
frickin long to set up a new one. Thanks

 

[Malke]

Hello all. I am having problems with random freezes on my (4 year
old) WinXP machine with P4-1.6. It will just suddenly hang, no blue
screen, no error message, and will not respond to the mouse,
keyboard, control-alt-delete, nothing, and I have to hard reboot. It
has gotten very frequent lately and there is no pattern to what I'm
doing at the time (sometimes when idle, sometimes when moving the
mouse etc.). It seemed like it might have begun after I installed
Roxio Creator 8 although I'm not sure about that, but I have
uninstalled it and the problem persists. It is possible that Outlook
'02 is always open when it happens, but I'm not sure about that
either. I have tried to run Outlook Detect and Repair, but for some
reason every time I try to run it, it appears to install but refuses
to run (just "reinstalls" again). Occasionally there are
some display oddities (small areas of pixels go weird) so I thought
it might be the display driver but I have updated that. I have done
practically everything on this excellent site:
http://mywebpages.comcast.net/SupportCD/DiagnoseXP.html
including scanning for spyware and viruses, defragging, memory test,
updating all drivers etc. but nothing has helped. Any suggestions
(including how to get Detect and Repair running) would be greatly
appreciated. The computer is too old to justify taking it in for
service, but I don't want to throw it away either as it takes so
frickin long to set up a new one. Thanks.

You've done a great job of determining that the problem probably isn't
caused by software. Random errors like those you describe are most
often caused by hardware failures. The symptoms could be caused by
overheating, bad RAM, failing power supply, etc. etc. Here are some
general hardware troubleshooting steps:

http://www.elephantboycomputers.com/page2.html#Hardware_Troubleshooting

Testing hardware failures often involves swapping out suspected parts
with known-good parts. If you can't do the testing yourself and/or are
uncomfortable opening your computer, take the machine to a professional
computer repair shop (not your local equivalent of BigStoreUSA).

Malke

 

[Haggis]

Hello all. I am having problems with random freezes on my (4 year
old) WinXP machine with P4-1.6. It will just suddenly hang, no blue
screen, no error message, and will not respond to the mouse,
keyboard, control-alt-delete, nothing, and I have to hard reboot. It
has gotten very frequent lately and there is no pattern to what I'm
doing at the time (sometimes when idle, sometimes when moving the
mouse etc.). It seemed like it might have begun after I installed
Roxio Creator 8 although I'm not sure about that, but I have
uninstalled it and the problem persists. It is possible that Outlook
'02 is always open when it happens, but I'm not sure about that
either. I have tried to run Outlook Detect and Repair, but for some
reason every time I try to run it, it appears to install but refuses
to run (just "reinstalls" again). Occasionally there are
some display oddities (small areas of pixels go weird) so I thought
it might be the display driver but I have updated that. I have done
practically everything on this excellent site:
http://mywebpages.comcast.net/SupportCD/DiagnoseXP.html
including scanning for spyware and viruses, defragging, memory test,
updating all drivers etc. but nothing has helped. Any suggestions
(including how to get Detect and Repair running) would be greatly
appreciated. The computer is too old to justify taking it in for
service, but I don't want to throw it away either as it takes so
frickin long to set up a new one. Thanks.

check power supply and CPU fans are running...could be an overheating
problem

 

[Michael Wayne]

check power supply and CPU fans are running...could be an overheating
problem

Since you have the case open, remove the memory and then reseat the memory.

NOTE: Make sure computer is turned off and DO NOT TOUCH THE PIN AREA with
your fingers.

After that is complete, load Windows and perform a Scandisk. When the dialog
for Scandisk opens up, Select both check boxes. It will then prompt you to
perform scan upon next boot up.

Restart computer and Scandisk will run. If you have developed bad sectors on
your hard drive, this can also cause it to lock up because it is trying to
write to a sector that is bad. Running scandisk will identify this sector
and Mark it as Bad therefore not allowing anything to write to this sector.
If bad sectors is determined, then it would be time to consider a new hard
drive. If this is the case, then it is also time to make sure that you have
everything of importance - BACKED UP.

Sounds like an early warning sign.
Hope this helps...

 

[phdarch]

Thanks everybody. I'll try these. I did sort of clean out the case
little while ago when I added a new internal HD, but I wasn't reall
focusing on that, I was just getting rid of the most obvious dust

 

[phdarch]

Just thinking aloud...Maybe it started when I installed that new hard
drive and the power supply is now overloaded. I don't know how much I
have--is there any way to check? How much should I have? Peripherals
include the usual:

2 HD's (one just added)
CD-RW
CDROM
Floppy
Network card (to DSL)
SD drive (USB)
Pocket PC connector (USB)
Battery backup (USB)
Speakers (powered)
15" flat panel monitor

Thanks again guys.