Freezing -XP Home SP3

[Winston P]

Lately my computer keeps on freezing and I have to reboot at least 2 - 3
times. Sometimes I cannot even access the task manager with the Ctrl alt del
function.
I am using Max registry cleaner which also defrags my system daily. I also
have symantec (which has now expired)as well as normal windows malware and
antivirus appplications that were downloaded from the windows site.

 

[Olórin]

Lately my computer keeps on freezing and I have to reboot at least 2 - 3
times. Sometimes I cannot even access the task manager with the Ctrl alt
del
function.
I am using Max registry cleaner which also defrags my system daily. I also
have symantec (which has now expired)as well as normal windows malware and
antivirus appplications that were downloaded from the windows site.

1) You say "lately" - what's changed between before and after? Have you
added any new hardware or installed any new software, including Windows
updates? Are there specific things you do at the times of the freezes - are
they reproducble? Have a look through the event logs for alerts at the times
of these freezes for clues as to the cause (Start > Run > eventvwr.msc).

2) Whichever product exactly "symantec" is, get rid of it - especially as
it's expired. You may need to hunt down a focussed uninstaller from their
website as there are often thoroughness problems with the built-in one.

3) Whichever products exactly "normal windows malware and antivirus
appplications that were downloaded from the windows site" are (and whatever
site that may be):-

a) if you meant *anti*-malware, I'd recommend downloading, installing,
updating and running full scans of the Malwarebytes' Anti-Malware
(http://malwarebytes.org/mbam.php) and SUPERAntiSpyware
(http://www.superantispyware.com/) products. Be careful of having many such
utilities running in the background. A propos of which:

b) if your Symantec product included virus protection, and you were running
another resident anti-virus product *as well*, that's asking for trouble.
See (2)! I run free AV's at home - Avast and Avira, am happy with both and
would recommend either of them over anything from Symantec/Norton or McAfee
any day.

4) Why do you run this Max product? It seems to only defrag the registry,
not your whole "system" - why do you see a need for doing that daily, is
there a particular issue you're trying to address? Registry cleaners have
been known to cause many a headache. What has Max done to your system? If
you don't know what changes it's been making, why run it? It could have
trashed things to the point of needing a reinstall of Windows. But - turn it
off, for good, try (1) - (3) above and see if performance improves.

 

[smlunatick]

Lately my computer keeps on freezing and I have to reboot at least 2 - 3
times. Sometimes I cannot even access the task manager with the Ctrl alt del
function.
I am using Max registry cleaner which also defrags my system daily. I also
have symantec (which has now expired)as well as normal windows malware and
antivirus appplications that were downloaded from the windows site.

Any registry cleaner can and will cause problems. None are safe!!!

 

[Ken Blake, MVP]

On Tue, 10 Feb 2009 22:12:01 -0800, Winston P <Winston

Lately my computer keeps on freezing and I have to reboot at least 2 - 3
times. Sometimes I cannot even access the task manager with the Ctrl alt del
function.
I am using Max registry cleaner which also defrags my system daily.

A very bad thing to do, and a possible--even likely--cause of your
problem. Registry cleaning programs are *all* snake oil. Cleaning of
the registry isn't needed and is dangerous. Leave the registry alone
and don't use any registry cleaner. Despite what many people think,
and what vendors of registry cleaning software try to convince you of,
having unused registry entries doesn't really hurt you.

The risk of a serious problem caused by a registry cleaner erroneously
removing an entry you need is far greater than any potential benefit
it may have.

Read http://www.edbott.com/weblog/archives/000643.html

I also
have symantec (which has now expired)

Norton Anti-virus? Two points:

1. Norton Anti-Virus is the *worst* anti-virus program available, and
I strongly recommend against it.

2. Using any expired anti-virus software means that you are not
up-to-date with its anti-virus definitions. That means that even a
*good* anti-virus program becomes worse and worse with each new day.

as well as normal windows malware and
antivirus appplications that were downloaded from the windows site.

There is no such thing as " 'normal' windows malware and antivirus
applications." Exactly which such programs are you running? Are they
kept up to date?