Windows freezes with no apparent reason

[Guest]

Does anybody else have similar experiences?

I use a laptop. I could be, say, writing a letter, downloading my emails,
working online, working offline, watching the screensaver, staring blankly at
a motionless desktop with no applications running (moving the mouse every two
minutes to check that the machine is still "awake").... no difference. From
time to time, the computer just just freezes. The only solution? Wait for
the hard disk heads to park, then power-off.

Having checked the event lot, the last event logged was an automatic private
IP address assignation for dial-in clients (which there won't be: I'm not a
server). Prior to that there is a something about an SMC EZ Connect USB
Cable (what?!?! Used once about twelve months ago, and uninstalled, this
shouldn't be on the computer any more at all!!). Prior to that, there is a
series of errors from the Remote Access Server being unable to reset lana 5,
15, 16, 7 and 0. Huh?

This event log was created when the computer was run when standalone, no
network connections at all. I even uninstalled the virus software to check
whether it had any effect. It doesn't.

Hardware? I've not noticed any overheating, not unless it's overheated
since new.

Nevertheless, there are distinct periods of instability. W2K SP3 was the
big thing. And now once again, since my last Windows Update four weeks ago
on top of SP4.

So, I am totally confused.

I recall these crashes being a symptom of W2K SP3. I presume that the bloke
who programmed that classic bug - that Microsoft denied for months, almost a
year - has still not been fired and is now doing the same thing for the
current updates to SP4.

 

[lforbes]

Does anybody else have similar experiences?

I use a laptop. I could be, say, writing a letter,
downloading my emails,
working online, working offline, watching the screensaver,
staring blankly at
a motionless desktop with no applications running (moving the
mouse every two
minutes to check that the machine is still "awake").... no
difference. From
time to time, the computer just just freezes. The only
solution? Wait for
the hard disk heads to park, then power-off.

Having checked the event lot, the last event logged was an
automatic private
IP address assignation for dial-in clients (which there won't
be: I'm not a
server). Prior to that there is a something about an SMC EZ
Connect USB
Cable (what?!?! Used once about twelve months ago, and
uninstalled, this
shouldn't be on the computer any more at all!!). Prior to
that, there is a
series of errors from the Remote Access Server being unable to
reset lana 5,
15, 16, 7 and 0. Huh?

This event log was created when the computer was run when
standalone, no
network connections at all. I even uninstalled the virus
software to check
whether it had any effect. It doesn't.

Hardware? I've not noticed any overheating, not unless it's
overheated
since new.

Nevertheless, there are distinct periods of instability. W2K
SP3 was the
big thing. And now once again, since my last Windows Update
four weeks ago
on top of SP4.

So, I am totally confused.

I recall these crashes being a symptom of W2K SP3. I presume
that the bloke
who programmed that classic bug - that Microsoft denied for
months, almost a
year - has still not been fired and is now doing the same
thing for the
current updates to SP4.

Hi,

There are ways to tell if it is hardware or software.

Software Freeze - You can hit CTRL-ALT-DEL and it brings up the task
manager. The mouse still moves.

Hardware Freeze- CTRL ALT DEL doesn’t work and the mouse doesn’t move.

90% of the time I have found that a hardware freeze is caused by bad
RAM or failing RAM. I have 500 machines have they have run W2K SP1,
Sp2, SP3 and then SP4. I have never had a hardware freeze that wasn’t
caused by bad ram. However, they are not laptops. Laptops may freeze
because of a failing video card or other hardware issues.

Cheers,

Lara

 

[Guest]

I would be interested in knowing what utilities are available to perform
hardware diagnostics. I haven't had much luck with Google searches or going
to C/Net for downloads.

 

[niecy]

I too would like to know how I can troubleshoot the hardware on my system
W2K. I don't want to really go for those freeware types unless it is really
reliable. Most of them are just registry cleaners and defraggers. I think I
need real file repair or hardware repair.

Ted, if you find out any good news, would you be so kind as to pass it along
to me ?, and I will do the same.