Unexplained Computer Freezes

[Neil]

For some reason my original post didn't get sent / recieved so here's my
retry.

For a while now my computer has been experiencing system freezes where the
entire computer just ceases to function. The last thing I was doing
continous to display and all input from mouse and keyboard are met with no
response, this includes CTRL+ALT+DEL. Another piece of the puzzle is, this
problem occurs at random during most of my programs, except for the
following 2 programs where it crashes very shortly after use:
#1. Microsoft Word 2003 - Doing nothing special, I can simply be writing
plain black text and suddenly the system freezes.
#2. A shockwave/flash game on the website "neopets.com", accessed by
Internet Explorer 7.

The system is not overheating according to both "SpeedFan" (utility) and
physically touching the HDD and CPU Heatsink (being grounded both times
hehe). I looked in Windows EventViewer and found no errors nor warnings that
could explain this freezing. I ran the utility "HijackThis" and found
nothing suspicious. A fully updated virus scan using "AVG" revealed no
viruses. Finally Windows Firewall runs all the time.

So far I have tried the following (in order) and each of these changes did
not stop the problem:
# A new PSU
# Two new RAM sticks (replacing the existing)
# Updated drivers for existing AGP gfx
# Used built-in GFX and updated the drivers accordingly
# A brand new AGP GFX card with updated drivers
# Updated drivers for network card
# A new HDD with fresh copy of WindowsXP (including SP2 and all updates)

 

[Jim Byrd]

Hi Neil - You may be experiencing a recent common problem with svchosts.dll
locking up with near 100% CPU usage for periods of up to 10 - 15 minutes
because of an issue in the Windows Update process.

Even if this isn't the cause of your problems, this would be a good idea:


- First, you will need to install or re-install the updated KB927891, here:
http://support.microsoft.com/?kbid=927891 for a complete fix.

- Then install the newly released 'standalone' version of Windows Update
Agent 3.0, v. 7.0.6000.374, for 32 bit machines which is available here:
http://download.windowsupdate.com/v7/windowsupdate/redist/standalone/WindowsUpdateAgent30-x86.exe

It may say "Install is not needed since Windows Update Agent is
already installed." If so, then run the exe with the command line switch
/wuforce , like this:

WindowsUpdateAgent30-x86.exe /wuforce

to force the install.



- For those using Windows Servers - Courtesy of Bobby Harter, Program
Manager, WSUS, Microsoft, WSUS 3.0 was released on April 30th and is
avaialble now on the Microsoft Download Center. Full information,
documentation, samples and links to the bits can be found here:
http://www.microsoft.com/wsus. WSUS 3.0 RC will be supported until May 31st
2007 - WSUS 3.0 supports upgrade of WSUS 2.0 SP1 and WSUS 3.0 RC.


- One MS recommended procedure is:

"1. Install the Windows Update Agent (WUA) for all the client computers
(both WSUS client and stand alone workstation)
2. Install the Update for Windows XP (KB927891) for all the client
computers (both WSUS client and stand alone workstation)
3. Upgrade the WSUS Server to version 3.0"

However, I've also seen a posting by MS which states that once the WSUS
client has been updated with the new Agent and KB927891 and then upgraded to
WSUS 3.0, it will then handle updating the others.


- The MS WSUS team believes that this solves all three 'svchost' problems
that folks have been experiencing. See here:
http://blogs.technet.com/wsus/archive/2007/04/28/update-on.aspx


- Note that you may _still_ see high svchost usage, but with these new
components the machine should, however, remain responsive:

From a posting by Sudheer GN of Microsoft -

"Hi,
The biggest difference in WSUS 3.0 client (wrt performance) is that the
machines will still be responsive when WU client scans for updates. There
are also some optimization to reduce the number of update evaluations and
that will reduce the scan time in some scenarios.
It is still expected that CPU usage will be high so that the scan can
complete in lesser amount of time. But other applications can be launched
and used (they will still be a little sluggish because CPU is being shared
with WU client)

--
Sudheer GN
Microsoft, WU Client

This posting is provided "As Is" with no warranties, and confers no rights.
Use of included script samples are subject to the terms specified at
http://www.microsoft.com/info/cpyright.htm"


Lastly, there appears to be some good evidence that scanning of certain
Update-related files by your AV can cause this issue as well. See:
http://support.microsoft.com/kb/822158 for a list of files which should be
excluded from real-time scanning.





--
Regards, Jim Byrd,
My Blog, Defending Your Machine,
http://defendingyourmachine2.blogspot.com/



In Neil <[email protected]> typed:
|| For some reason my original post didn't get sent / recieved so
|| here's my retry.
||
|| For a while now my computer has been experiencing system freezes
|| where the entire computer just ceases to function. The last thing I
|| was doing continous to display and all input from mouse and keyboard
|| are met with no response, this includes CTRL+ALT+DEL. Another piece
|| of the puzzle is, this problem occurs at random during most of my
|| programs, except for the following 2 programs where it crashes very
|| shortly after use: #1. Microsoft Word 2003 - Doing nothing special,
|| I can simply be writing plain black text and suddenly the system
|| freezes. #2. A shockwave/flash game on the website "neopets.com",
|| accessed by Internet Explorer 7.
||
|| The system is not overheating according to both "SpeedFan" (utility)
|| and physically touching the HDD and CPU Heatsink (being grounded
|| both times hehe). I looked in Windows EventViewer and found no
|| errors nor warnings that could explain this freezing. I ran the
|| utility "HijackThis" and found nothing suspicious. A fully updated
|| virus scan using "AVG" revealed no viruses. Finally Windows Firewall
|| runs all the time.
||
|| So far I have tried the following (in order) and each of these
|| changes did not stop the problem:
|| # A new PSU
|| # Two new RAM sticks (replacing the existing)
|| # Updated drivers for existing AGP gfx
|| # Used built-in GFX and updated the drivers accordingly
|| # A brand new AGP GFX card with updated drivers
|| # Updated drivers for network card
|| # A new HDD with fresh copy of WindowsXP (including SP2 and all
|| updates)