Computer hangs - how to fix?

[BigAl.NZ]

Hi Guys,

This must be quite a common question? How to fix a computer that
hangs?

The background is that the computer has been going ok for sometime, it
has three applications that are normally open. The computer is used
frequently during the day, and the applicaitons in use are MS office,
plus two other small business apps.

The computer is running XP SP2. It only seems to hang when in use, ie
it can be left idle over night and does not hang.

I have run memtest86+ and done a surface test on the HDD - all ok.
Also ran prime95 for a day with no problems in stress test mode.

Caps on mobo all look ok.

I simply cant get it to fault (admittedly I have also blown a hell of
a lot of dust out the CPU HSF)

I am thinking about getting the PC back to the user and using MSCONFIG
to get them to run in a simple mode, but anyone got any more tips?

Cheers

-Al

 

[Gerry]

Try Ctrl+Alt+Delete to select Task Manager and click the Performance
Tab. Under Commit Charge what is the Total, the Limit and the Peak?

How much RAM memory?

How large is your hard disk and how much free space.

What processor speed?

Check Event Viewer ror Warning / Error Reports in the Sysyem /
Application logs in Event Viewer?

You can access Event Viewer by selecting Start, Control Panel,
Administrative Tools, and Event Viewer. When researching the meaning
of the error, information regarding Event ID, Source and Description
are important.

HOW TO: View and Manage Event Logs in Event Viewer in Windows XP
http://support.microsoft.com/kb/308427/en-us

Part of the Description of the error will include a link, which you
should double click for further information. You can copy using copy
and paste. Often the link will, however, say there is no further
information.
http://go.microsoft.com/fw.link/events.asp
(Please note the hyperlink above is for illustration purposes only)

A tip for posting copies of Error Reports! Run Event Viewer and double
click on the error you want to copy. In the window, which appears is a
button resembling two pages. Click the button and close Event
Viewer.Now start your message (email) and do a paste into the body of
the message. Make sure this is the first paste after exiting from
Event Viewer.


--



Hope this helps.

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

 

[createwindow]

Dear Al,

Create a new user. Log on with that profile - does the problem go
away?

If so, then its a per-user setting. If not then you will need to look
for more serious stuff in the application and system logs.

In device manager check the option for "Show Hidden Devices". Look at
the non-plug and play device listing (actually these are drivers) for
suspect looking names. Check the driver vendor for each one. If it is
legit - then most will say Microsoft or Nvidia etc. etc.

Just a thought.

Cheers,

CreateWindow
http://mymessagetaker.com
The while-you-were-out message program you have been looking for!

 

[BigAl.NZ]

Dear Al,

Create a new user. Log on with that profile - does the problem go
away?

If so, then its a per-user setting. If not then you will need to look
for more serious stuff in the application and system logs.

In device manager check the option for "Show Hidden Devices". Look at
the non-plug and play device listing (actually these are drivers) for
suspect looking names. Check the driver vendor for each one. If it is
legit - then most will say Microsoft or Nvidia etc. etc.

Just a thought.

Cheers,

CreateWindowhttp://mymessagetaker.com
The while-you-were-out message program you have been looking for!

Well I woke up this morning and the computer was hanging again.

Mouse does still respond and I got taskman up:

Explorer.exe is eating up almost 100% cpu time with winlogon.exe
taking the rest.

Commit Charge : 282172
Limit : 1149984
Peak: 340904

HTH?

 

[Gerry]

Al

Explorer can be used by many programme.

Process Explorer provides more information than Task Manager.

Download Process Explorer.

For further information about Process Explorer see here:
http://www.microsoft.com/technet/sysinternals/SystemInformation/ProcessExplorer.mspx

To ascertain which service is causing the problem select the image
producing the high CPU usage, right click, select Properties,
Services. Note there are the full names and some explanation of what
each service does.

You will find further information on Services here:
http://majorgeeks.com/page.php?id=12

To trace the particular Service involved you need to turn off each
service in turn and then restore it noting what effect it has on CPU
usage. However, you need to take care and watch what other Services
are dependent on that service. When you click on the Dependencies
tab allow it a little time to display the information.

What are your anti-virus and anti-spyware arrangements?

--

Hope this helps.

Gerry
~~~~
FCA
Stourport, England

Enquire, plan and execute
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~