help with system freeze

[Guest]

Hi everyone
I need help with a system freeze I am experiencing with Windows XP Home. At
random occurs my system completely freezes - the time stops, the mouse can't
move all applications stop, the only way i can get rid of this is the
re-start the computer manually (via the button on the compter).
I have tried various things like clean boot, system restore, registry fix
and it still doesn't seem to fix the problem. The screen freezes at ramdon
times, sometimes just after login, or in 5 minutes or 2 hours. I've checked
the temperatures using Hmonitor and they seem fine. CPU1 temp between
48-50oC, and core voltage at +1.48-+1.52.
I have virus checked with Norton 2006, and SpyBot and nothing shows at all.
I have an Intel Pentium 4, 2.40 GHz.
I am at a loss at what to do next, apart from re-installing XP (which i want
to leave as last resort).
Hope someone can help
Cheers
Brett

 

[Heirloom]

Right click a vacant area of your desktop, select Properties, the Display
Properties window should open. Click on the Settings tab, then again on the
Advanced button and you should get another window for your graphics
hardware. In the Hardware Acceleration section, move the slider to one
notch above "None" and OK out of the window. Now reboot your machine and
see if the 'freezing' has stopped. If you can run a few hours without the
issue, suspect video or mouse drivers that need updating. After updating
drivers, if available, reset the slider to full and try again.....if the
issue persists, suspect a video card going 'south.' In my case, no drivers
were available, so, a new video card was tried and cured the issue. YMMV.
Heirloom, old and keep us posted on your
progress

 

[Guest]

Thanks for your reply Heirloom, I have tried what you suggested so I hope
this will work. I don't know much about video cards and the like so may need
help with that process, but we'll see what happens.
Before I took heed of your idea, the system lasted for 10 hours without
freezing yesterday. I was doing everything on it, MS excel, websites on
explorer, Media Player, putting a full load on it and it seemed ok, but when
I went to bed last night I left if just as the desktop (on idle) and woke up
in the morning and it froze at 2:30am (I could tell because the clock froze
at that time).

But anyway I did what you suggested and I'll see what happens.

Cheers
BrettJ

 

[Guest]

Hi Heirloom
I did what you said and set the slider in Hardware acceleration to none, and
it's still doing the same thing. what can I do next?

 

[Heirloom]

Hey BrettJ,
The only thing I can think of is the possibility of a video card going
'flaky.' I feel your issue is "probably" hardware related. There is a
very slim chance that simply reseating the video card might help. Also, if
you have not had your case open in a while, make sure it is clean
inside....some 'canned air' to blow out the dust bunnies and such. If you
can borrow a video card from from someone, give that a try. Have you added
any equipment to your original configuration that may be causing a strain on
your power supply?? This and/or overheating can cause 'freezing' or
crashes. Other than that, it looks like we may need one of the 'gurus'
to help with this. In the meanwhile, take a look at the following Google
search that covers random freezes in XP:
http://www.google.com/search?hl=en&lr=&q=xp+random+freezing&btnG=Search
I am sorry not to be of more help....my magic wand is broke. Do keep us
informed.......
Heirloom, old and intermittent is the pits