Alan said:
I have yet to Upgrade this machine to XPSP2, but now I'm afraid I may
not get to.
I have two PC's running XP one is XPSP2 runs great. the other is
XPSP1a. My Service pack two, I lost the whole drive and had to start
from scratch. now this computer is starting to show signs of the same
problem. I have saved my data just in case, but a scan shows no
corruption at all... when I run the system though, it freezes after a
few seconds, and both my keyboeard and mouse freeze up. Anybody else
had this problem? I really don't want to lose this PC...
Unfortunately, there really isn't any way to give you a specific
diagnosis since you haven't told us anything about the computer. It
could be software (bad drivers, viruses, malware) or it could be
hardware. Here are general troubleshooting steps for both:
A. For software issues - 1) scan with current antivirus ("current" means
a version not earlier than 2002 but using updated virus definitions);
2) remove spyware with Spybot Search & Destroy
(
www.safer-networking.org) and Ad-aware (
www.lavasoftusa.com). These
programs are free, so use them both since they complement each other.
You may also want to run CWShredder and HijackThis from
http://aumha.org/freeware.htm. Although CWShredder is no longer being
updated, it will still clean older variants of the CoolWebSearch
malware. Always read the instructions before running a spyware removal
tool. Be sure to update these programs before running, and it is a good
idea to do virus/spyware scans in Safe Mode; 3) delete temporary and
Temporary Internet Files; 4) stop unnecessary services/programs from
starting with Windows - see
www.blackviper.com for services info and
www.pacs-portal.co.uk/startup_index.htm for programs info; 5) look in
Event Viewer for clues; 6) make sure you've visited Windows Update and
applied all security patches. Do not install driver updates from
Windows Update; 7) run a firewall.
B. For hardware issues - 1) open the computer and run it open, cleaning
out all dust bunnies and observing all fans (overheating will cause
system freezing); 2) test the RAM - I like Memtest86 from
www.memtest86.com - let the test run for an extended (like overnight)
period of time - unless errors are seen immediately; 3) test the hard
drive with a diagnostic utility from the mftr.; 4) the power supply may
be going bad or be inadequate for the devices you have in the system;
5) test the motherboard with something like TuffTest from
www.tufftest.com. Testing hardware failures often involves swapping out
suspected parts with known-good parts. If you can't do the testing
yourself and/or are uncomfortable opening your computer, take the
machine to a good local computer repair shop (not a CompUSA or Best Buy
type of store).
Malke
