Computer "Locking Up"

[JohnD]

For some strange reason I keep having my computer lock up at odd
times. Everything just freezes except the mouse and I can see the
hard drive light on the box is blinking. I assumed the computer was
doing some odd task and was preventing me from accessing anything, so
I let it ride a few times. After an hour it was still in the same
condition and I rebooted. It seems that reboot is the only way to
"fix" the problem. It has no apparent routine for doing this.
Sometimes it does it when I boot up to the desktop, other times when
I'm working on a program or playing a game. No apparent rhyme or
reason. I've done anti-viris scans and Ad-Aware scans - but it
doesn't help.
I'm running Win XP Pro SP-1, with a 1.4Gb Athlon CPU.
HD C = 120 Gb
HD D = 40 Gb
512 Mb RAM
I'm the only user (administrator)

Also I notice that when I check task manager, my CPU is running at
100%. Is that normal? It also says there are 37 processes running
even though I only have one program open at a time.

Can anyone give me any suggestions? I'm at a loss. TIA.

(e-mail address removed)

 

[Kelly Cotter]

For some strange reason I keep having my computer lock up at odd
times. Everything just freezes except the mouse and I can see the
hard drive light on the box is blinking. I assumed the computer was
doing some odd task and was preventing me from accessing anything, so
I let it ride a few times. After an hour it was still in the same
condition and I rebooted. It seems that reboot is the only way to
"fix" the problem. It has no apparent routine for doing this.
Sometimes it does it when I boot up to the desktop, other times when
I'm working on a program or playing a game. No apparent rhyme or
reason. I've done anti-viris scans and Ad-Aware scans - but it
doesn't help.
I'm running Win XP Pro SP-1, with a 1.4Gb Athlon CPU.
HD C = 120 Gb
HD D = 40 Gb
512 Mb RAM
I'm the only user (administrator)

Also I notice that when I check task manager, my CPU is running at
100%. Is that normal? It also says there are 37 processes running
even though I only have one program open at a time.

Can anyone give me any suggestions? I'm at a loss. TIA.

(e-mail address removed)

the number of processes running seems a little high
run msconfig goto startup and see what is set to run
untick everything you dont want/need

 

[Kelly Cotter]

the number of processes running seems a little high
run msconfig goto startup and see what is set to run
untick everything you dont want/need

forgot to add
i'd download and run these be sure to update them

http://www.lavasoftusa.com/software/adaware/ adaware

http://www.safer-networking.org/index.php?page=download spybot

http://www.safer-networking.org/index.php?page=download cwshredder

http://www.spywareinfo.com/~merijn/downloads.html some other usefull removal
tools

also do a full virus scan

 

[Guest]

JohnD,

Please see the following instructions.

Spyware Removal:
http://www.fixyourwindows.com/windowsxpsolutions.htm

Startup and Temporary Files Cleanup:
http://www.fixyourwindows.com/optimizewindows.htm

Good Luck!