xp freezing evry day or two

[james.bruckmann]

Hi,
I had a look at a friends PC which locks up every day or two. The PC
is about 3 years old, XP updates applied, freeavg updated and
correctly used.
When it locks up the power illuminated power button at the front not
longer works and it has to be power cycled.
Had a look in event viewer some red events in there - cannot start LMI
indexing - but LMI indexing is disabled so that is puzzling - also not
sure if these red events happen at the same time of the freezing.
disk defrag doesnt work - Cannot start defrag", but chkdsk find no
problems.
So not sure what to do or reccomend - is it hardware/software? any
further diagnosis possible?

any suggestions gratefully received!

TIA

J

 

[Malke]

Hi,
I had a look at a friends PC which locks up every day or two. The PC
is about 3 years old, XP updates applied, freeavg updated and
correctly used.
When it locks up the power illuminated power button at the front not
longer works and it has to be power cycled.
Had a look in event viewer some red events in there - cannot start LMI
indexing - but LMI indexing is disabled so that is puzzling - also not
sure if these red events happen at the same time of the freezing.
disk defrag doesnt work - Cannot start defrag", but chkdsk find no
problems.
So not sure what to do or reccomend - is it hardware/software? any
further diagnosis possible?

It certainly sounds like hardware. I would start by swapping out the power
supply for a known-good one. If that doesn't fix it, continue hardware
troubleshooting.

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

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
BigComputerStore/GeekSquad). If possible, have all your data backed up
before you take the machine into a shop. In your friend's case, pull the
hard drive and (assuming it is physically sound) attach it to a working
computer (by slaving, or using an adapter, or using an external USB
enclosure) and copy the data off that way.

Malke

 

[james.bruckmann]

It certainly sounds like hardware. I would start by swapping out the power
supply for a known-good one. If that doesn't fix it, continue hardware
troubleshooting.

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

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
BigComputerStore/GeekSquad). If possible, have all your data backed up
before you take the machine into a shop. In your friend's case, pull the
hard drive and (assuming it is physically sound) attach it to a working
computer (by slaving, or using an adapter, or using an external USB
enclosure) and copy the data off that way.

Malke

Thanks Malke,
I just did not know whether it was software or hardware.
What convinced you it was hardware?

J

 

[Malke]

Thanks Malke,
I just did not know whether it was software or hardware.
What convinced you it was hardware?

Standard disclaimer: I can't see and test your computer myself, so these are
just suggestions based on many years of being a professional computer tech;
suggestions based on what you've written. You should not take my
suggestions as a definitive diagnosis.For a hands-on diagnosis, take the
machine to a professional computer repair shop (not your local equivalent
of BigComputerStore/GeekSquad).

Malke