Computer Crashes Constantly

[Shane Goodman]

Greetings,

My laptop is supposed to go into Standby after 25 minutes, but instead it
just crashes. This only started happening about two weeks ago, and the only
thing that changed were the updates that I downloaded from Microsoft Update.
Why would my computer crash trying to go into Standby? Is this happening to
anyone else?

Thanks,
Shane.
Windows XP Home SP3

 

[Leonard Grey]

Are you familiar with Event Viewer? It can provide details that will go
a long way to explaining what is causing your problem.

 

[Gerry]

Shane

How much RAM is installed? How much free disk space?


--



Hope this helps.

Gerry
~~~~
FCA
Stourport, England
Enquire, plan and execute
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

 

[Daave]

Greetings,

My laptop is supposed to go into Standby after 25 minutes, but instead
it just crashes. This only started happening about two weeks ago, and
the only thing that changed were the updates that I downloaded from
Microsoft Update. Why would my computer crash trying to go into
Standby? Is this happening to anyone else?

The crashes could be a direct result of having installed those
particular Windows updates. Or it could be coincidental.

Disable Standby. Does the laptop still crash after 25 minutes of
inactivity? Also, uninstall the updates (they can always be
re-installed). Any difference?

 

[Shane Goodman]

How much RAM is installed? How much free disk space?
I've got 1 GB of RAM and 44 GB of free disk space.

Thanks,
Shane.
Windows XP Home SP3

 

[Shane Goodman]

The crashes could be a direct result of having installed those particular

Windows updates. Or it could be coincidental.

Disable Standby. Does the laptop still crash after 25 minutes of
inactivity? Also, uninstall the updates (they can always be re-installed).
Any difference?

I'll try disabling Standby first. If my computer still crashes, I'll try
rolling back the updates I've made in the last two weeks.

Thanks,
Shane
Windows XP Home SP3

 

[Shane Goodman]

Leonard,

I can't find anything out of the ordinary. The Application log only shows
"Information" (no Warning or Errors), and the same with the System log.

Thanks,
Shane.
Windows XP Home SP3

 

[Shane Goodman]

Leonard,

I can't find anything out of the ordinary. The Application log only shows
"Information" (no Warning or Errors), and the same with the System log.

I installed a hotfix from Microsoft (below), but it didn't fix the problem.

http://support.microsoft.com/kb/952117

Thanks,
Shane.
Windows XP Home SP3

 

[Gerry]

Shane

A crash should be logged! If not have you been using a registry cleaner
or an optimiser?


--



Hope this helps.

Gerry
~~~~
FCA
Stourport, England
Enquire, plan and execute
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

 

[Shane Goodman]

A crash should be logged! If not have you been using a registry cleaner or

an optimiser?

I'm not using a registry cleaner or optimizer. Where is the crash logged in
Event Viewer? The Application log? The System log?

Thanks,
Shane.
Windows XP Home SP3

 

[Daave]

I'm not using a registry cleaner or optimizer. Where is the crash
logged in Event Viewer? The Application log? The System log?

Please define "crash." What exactly happens? Is it always at the
25-minute mark? And what about this:

<quote>
I'll try disabling Standby first. If my computer still crashes, I'll try
rolling back the updates I've made in the last two weeks.
</quote>

Did you send another post with the results? If so, I haven't seen it.

In Power Option Properties / Power Schemes, what are the current values
for:

Turn off monitor?
Turn off hard disks?
System Standby?

 

[Gerry]

Shane

The answer to your question depends on the nature of the crash.

You can have an Application e.g. explorer crash or closes unexpectedly.
This is an Application Error and appears in the Application Log.
Another type of crash is a system failure ( commonly called a Blue
Screen of Death or Stop Error ) which, unless disabled, causes the
computer to automatically reboot. For this type of error, apart from the
screen message, an Error is recorded in the System log and a Dump report
placed in the root folder of the system partition, usually C

The reason I asked about registry cleaners and optimisers arose of a
report I read in the last few days about an optimiser CachemanXP turning
off the recording of events in Event Viewer. This was done to improve
system performance but had the effect of inhibiting investigating
computer problems. Most contributors to these newsgroups advise against
using registry cleaners and optimisers as I do.


--



Hope this helps.

Gerry
~~~~
FCA
Stourport, England
Enquire, plan and execute
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

 

[Shane Goodman]

Gerry,

When my computer crashes, I get a blank screen (I think the monitor was
turned off by power management). When I move the mouse, the desktop
background appears, but no icons or taskbar. Besides being able to move the
mouse pointer, I can't do anything else. Pressing any key or key
combination, including ctrl+alt+delete, doesn't do anything. The only thing
I can do is turn the power off.

I installed a hotfix (below) but it didn't help.

http://support.microsoft.com/kb/952117

If I specify the time period as "Never" for system standby, the computer
doesn't crash, but there has to be a better solution.

Thanks,
Shane.
Windows XP Home SP3

 

[Shane Goodman]

Please define "crash." What exactly happens? Is it always at the 25-minute

mark?

When my computer crashes, I get a blank screen (I think the monitor was
turned off by power management). When I move the mouse, the desktop
background appears, but no icons or taskbar. Besides being able to move the
mouse pointer, I can't do anything else. Pressing any key or key
combination, including ctrl+alt+delete, doesn't do anything. The only thing
I can do is turn the power off.

I'm not sure if it always crashes at the 25-minute mark.

<quote>
I'll try disabling Standby first. If my computer still crashes, I'll try
rolling back the updates I've made in the last two weeks.
</quote>

Did you send another post with the results? If so, I haven't seen it.

If I set the time period of system standby to "Never", my computer doesn't
crash. I'm apprehensive about rolling-back updates, and would like to do it
as a last resort.

In Power Option Properties / Power Schemes, what are the current values
for:

Turn off monitor? After 15 mins
Turn off hard disks? After 30 mins
System Standby? After 25 mins

System hibernates: Never

These are the values for when my computer is plugged into power.

Thanks,
Shane.
Windows XP Home SP3

 

[Richard in AZ]

|> Please define "crash." What exactly happens? Is it always at the 25-minute
| > mark?
|
| When my computer crashes, I get a blank screen (I think the monitor was
| turned off by power management). When I move the mouse, the desktop
| background appears, but no icons or taskbar. Besides being able to move the
| mouse pointer, I can't do anything else. Pressing any key or key
| combination, including ctrl+alt+delete, doesn't do anything. The only thing
| I can do is turn the power off.
|
| I'm not sure if it always crashes at the 25-minute mark.
|
| > <quote>
| > I'll try disabling Standby first. If my computer still crashes, I'll try
| > rolling back the updates I've made in the last two weeks.
| > </quote>
| >
| > Did you send another post with the results? If so, I haven't seen it.
|
| If I set the time period of system standby to "Never", my computer doesn't
| crash. I'm apprehensive about rolling-back updates, and would like to do it
| as a last resort.
|
| > In Power Option Properties / Power Schemes, what are the current values
| > for:
| >
| > Turn off monitor? After 15 mins
| > Turn off hard disks? After 30 mins
| > System Standby? After 25 mins
| System hibernates: Never
|
| These are the values for when my computer is plugged into power.
|
| Thanks,
| Shane.
| Windows XP Home SP3
|
Suggest you set the monitor, hard disk and system standby power off settings to "never" until you
solve the problem.
Also got to "system properties" in the control panel, then to the "advanced" tab.
Then to the settings button in "Startup and Recovery" and uncheck the "automatic restart"
Then if you get a fatal error, the computer will hold the error message for you to copy.

 

[Daave]

|> Please define "crash." What exactly happens? Is it always at the
25-minute
| > mark?
|
| When my computer crashes, I get a blank screen (I think the monitor
was
| turned off by power management). When I move the mouse, the desktop
| background appears, but no icons or taskbar. Besides being able to
move the
| mouse pointer, I can't do anything else. Pressing any key or key
| combination, including ctrl+alt+delete, doesn't do anything. The
only thing
| I can do is turn the power off.
|
| I'm not sure if it always crashes at the 25-minute mark.
|
| > <quote>
| > I'll try disabling Standby first. If my computer still crashes,
I'll try
| > rolling back the updates I've made in the last two weeks.
| > </quote>
| >
| > Did you send another post with the results? If so, I haven't seen
it.
|
| If I set the time period of system standby to "Never", my computer
doesn't
| crash. I'm apprehensive about rolling-back updates, and would like
to do it
| as a last resort.
|
| > In Power Option Properties / Power Schemes, what are the current
values
| > for:
| >
| > Turn off monitor? After 15 mins
| > Turn off hard disks? After 30 mins
| > System Standby? After 25 mins
| System hibernates: Never
|
| These are the values for when my computer is plugged into power.
|
| Thanks,
| Shane.
| Windows XP Home SP3
|
Suggest you set the monitor, hard disk and system standby power off
settings to "never" until you
solve the problem.
Also got to "system properties" in the control panel, then to the
"advanced" tab.
Then to the settings button in "Startup and Recovery" and uncheck the
"automatic restart"
Then if you get a fatal error, the computer will hold the error
message for you to copy.

Agreed.