Not so temporary 'Total Freeze'

[Guest]

Background
Accessing a file is how I describe one main aspect about what using a computer is all about. When my mouse is over some icon or I first launch the windows explorer, an access (to a file) is about to occur. I know my XPP (XP Professional) needs to go to some routine to support the task of preparing itself for the coming file access. Because files are stored on disk, the first access try is always an access to the disk. Disk access is therefore an integral part of file access and a majpr part in XPP preparing itself for a file access attempt.

Particulars
It is in this preparation that at some case, the machine freezes everything, While in this frozen state, nothing is exempted, not even the the CAD (Ctrl-Alt-Del) can do anything. Only the power reset button is any more powerful. In many cases, such as I suspect when XPP is (or has already prepared itself), the freeze is not there or otherwise not noticeable. I had seen cases where this lockup ran for 30 minutes or longer; I am not sure if anything 'constructive' was going on behind the scenes; my bet is that the situation is a lockup plain and simple. Put another way, that was a situation (that happened in my machine) where there went some kind of fatal error that xpp cannot extracate itself out from. Looking back to that time, my computer shouted at me: "What in the name of Jesus are you waiting for?... get me the hell out of here: pull the plug !

In one case, such as what happened to me one time (I was browsing some webpage on line), the freeze went on for longer-than-usual time. I gave it about four (4) minutes before I decided to pull the plug. While in this freeze, the disk's LED went steadily on. On the ensuing bootups (me pulling the plug in each case), XPP never booted; not even the xpp boot screen showed. Meanwhile, the continous LED light was there and it too ran for about 4 minutes (with a blank screen starring at me) before I pulled the plug. Perhaps I was lucky, perhaps I did the right thing: things may have been worse. I dont know, but somehow I got back to my desktop. When later I checked the Event viewer, there was nothing I can see there that even suggests to me that the 'thing' happened at all !@# Weird, isn't it

My Query
Anyone, any ideas as to what may have happened there; what was that 'thing'

 

[MGGP]

Could be a lot of things . . . I assume you:

1) Have done all of the Windows Critical Updates,
2) Are running current anti-virus software,
3) Are running current anti-spyware software,
4) Have used MSCONFIG to turn off Startup items,
5) Have run CHKDSK to check your hard drive's integrity,
6) Have updated relevant drivers - video, motherboard, etc.
7) Have booted in SAFE mode to see if the problem recurs.

If not, you should do each of these things, then report
back.

Good Luck !

-----Original Message-----

Background:
Accessing a file is how I describe one main aspect about

what using a computer is all about. When my mouse is over
some icon or I first launch the windows explorer, an
access (to a file) is about to occur. I know my XPP (XP
Professional) needs to go to some routine to support the
task of preparing itself for the coming file access.
Because files are stored on disk, the first access try is
always an access to the disk. Disk access is therefore an
integral part of file access and a majpr part in XPP
preparing itself for a file access attempt.

Particulars:
It is in this preparation that at some case, the machine

freezes everything, While in this frozen state, nothing is
exempted, not even the the CAD (Ctrl-Alt-Del) can do
anything. Only the power reset button is any more
powerful. In many cases, such as I suspect when XPP is (or
has already prepared itself), the freeze is not there or
otherwise not noticeable. I had seen cases where this
lockup ran for 30 minutes or longer; I am not sure if
anything 'constructive' was going on behind the scenes; my
bet is that the situation is a lockup plain and simple.
Put another way, that was a situation (that happened in my
machine) where there went some kind of fatal error that
xpp cannot extracate itself out from. Looking back to that
time, my computer shouted at me: "What in the name of
Jesus are you waiting for?... get me the hell out of here:
pull the plug !"

In one case, such as what happened to me one time (I was

browsing some webpage on line), the freeze went on for
longer-than-usual time. I gave it about four (4) minutes
before I decided to pull the plug. While in this freeze,
the disk's LED went steadily on. On the ensuing bootups
(me pulling the plug in each case), XPP never booted; not
even the xpp boot screen showed. Meanwhile, the continous
LED light was there and it too ran for about 4 minutes
(with a blank screen starring at me) before I pulled the
plug. Perhaps I was lucky, perhaps I did the right thing:
things may have been worse. I dont know, but somehow I got
back to my desktop. When later I checked the Event viewer,
there was nothing I can see there that even suggests to me
that the 'thing' happened at all !@# Weird, isn't it?

 

[Guest]

Thanks for taking the time

1) Have done all of the Windows Critical Updates > YES; up-to-minute even
2) Are running current anti-virus software, > NO; I have other means to check against virus.
3) Are running current anti-spyware software, > NO; I assume xpp's firewall would hold up against thi
4) Have used MSCONFIG to turn off Startup items, > NO; I rarely touch this thin
5) Have run CHKDSK to check your hard drive's integrity, > NO before the freeze; YES after the freez
6) Have updated relevant drivers - video, motherboard, etc. > YES; as in Windows Update: up-to-the-minut
7) Have booted in SAFE mode to see if the problem recurs. > (See below

As for item 7 above, I am somewhat lost here. There is nothing I can scourge from my machine that would even hint that the freeze ever occured. No sign, no clues, no trace, no mark, nothing in Safe Mode or in normal bootup. Nothing in the Event Viewer, nothing has changed from my desktop, no files were corrupted

Looking back now, it was probably the disk; there may have occured some disk-related errors. If this was indeed the case, I wish that xpp could have at least recorded the event. But then, xpp may have tried to write the event to the disk; so what we had back then may have been a chicken-and-egg situation

Gee, thanks for your tips. I used to do this but now I am reminded: Defrag weekly! Thanks again