PC freezing/locking up at Random

[John Forth]

Greetings. I'm a PC/LAN Engineer for a large company in Phoenix, AZ. I will
apologize in advance that I cannot reveal all applications running on the PC
if asked for, but can say that we run MS Office 2003 and several proprietary
applications to our business. One of my users has have a problem with her PC
since October 08 where her PC freezes at random.

She's had 7 different PCs from Desktops to Laptops. Desktops are Dell
Optiplex and laptops are Dell Latitude or IBM Thinkpads. All PCs have at
least 2GB of memory with the page file in Windows set to Windows
"recommended" settings at 1.5x the physical memory.

When this user is logged onto her PC, her PC could freeze if an Outlook
meeting reminder comes up, or if she receives an IM, or if her back is turned
to the PC.

5 other Senior analysts have looked at this issue, as said above her PC's
been swapped 7+ times. We've rebuilt her local user profile and her roaming
user profile each time. Sometimes, her PC will not freeze for 3 weeks,
sometimes the PC will freeze multiple times in a day.

I'm wondering if anyone has any insights or has seen a similar issue in
their travels. Please only respond if you have seen this or have an
intelligent suggestion.

Thanks

 

[Daave]

Greetings. I'm a PC/LAN Engineer for a large company in Phoenix, AZ.
I will
apologize in advance that I cannot reveal all applications running on
the PC
if asked for, but can say that we run MS Office 2003 and several
proprietary
applications to our business. One of my users has have a problem with
her PC
since October 08 where her PC freezes at random.

She's had 7 different PCs from Desktops to Laptops. Desktops are Dell
Optiplex and laptops are Dell Latitude or IBM Thinkpads. All PCs have
at
least 2GB of memory with the page file in Windows set to Windows
"recommended" settings at 1.5x the physical memory.

When this user is logged onto her PC, her PC could freeze if an
Outlook
meeting reminder comes up, or if she receives an IM, or if her back is
turned
to the PC.

5 other Senior analysts have looked at this issue, as said above her
PC's
been swapped 7+ times. We've rebuilt her local user profile and her
roaming
user profile each time. Sometimes, her PC will not freeze for 3
weeks,
sometimes the PC will freeze multiple times in a day.

I'm wondering if anyone has any insights or has seen a similar issue
in
their travels. Please only respond if you have seen this or have an
intelligent suggestion.

Are you saying that *all seven* PCs have exhibited the same behavior?

Might be one of the "proprietary applications."

An Error Report might be useful.

 

[Andrew E.]

Actually setting the "page-file" to "let system manage",works best...As
for the freeze/lockup,try opening event-viewer,look for errors/warnings for
when the pc froze,i'm sure you'll find some answers.Also,for the event that
gets opened,click on the url enclosed with it,this opens XP KB Help &
Support,
usually with a fix for it...

 

[almostbob]

Windows Recommended == let windows manage memory,
the 1.5 times RAM thing was always BS,
If true, a pc with zero ram requires zero(*1.5) page file, a terabyte of
ram requires 1.5TB,
not so.
The large company in Phoenix AZ, should allocate a few $ to invest in some
current literature for you guys

Possible (definitely more thoughtful & intelligent) answer :
: what is installed on her thumb drive,
ongoing with one *expletive* carrying casino software on a thumb drive,
funny as, when the spooks busted him

 

[Terry R.]

The date and time was Tuesday, March 24, 2009 8:05:01 PM, and on a whim,
John Forth pounded out on the keyboard:

Greetings. I'm a PC/LAN Engineer for a large company in Phoenix, AZ. I will
apologize in advance that I cannot reveal all applications running on the PC
if asked for, but can say that we run MS Office 2003 and several proprietary
applications to our business. One of my users has have a problem with her PC
since October 08 where her PC freezes at random.

She's had 7 different PCs from Desktops to Laptops. Desktops are Dell
Optiplex and laptops are Dell Latitude or IBM Thinkpads. All PCs have at
least 2GB of memory with the page file in Windows set to Windows
"recommended" settings at 1.5x the physical memory.

When this user is logged onto her PC, her PC could freeze if an Outlook
meeting reminder comes up, or if she receives an IM, or if her back is turned
to the PC.

5 other Senior analysts have looked at this issue, as said above her PC's
been swapped 7+ times. We've rebuilt her local user profile and her roaming
user profile each time. Sometimes, her PC will not freeze for 3 weeks,
sometimes the PC will freeze multiple times in a day.

I'm wondering if anyone has any insights or has seen a similar issue in
their travels. Please only respond if you have seen this or have an
intelligent suggestion.

Thanks

Hi John,

If all users utilize the same apps, then I would narrow it down to what
is common between all computers this user has logged on to. Does this
user use a roaming profile? Maybe a new profile needs to be created and
tested, since it appears that would be the only info that is used among
each computer.


Terry R.

 

[John Forth]

Thanks Everyone for the replies. We are going to create a new User ID for
the user. Event logs are not showing any errors at the time the machine
freezes.

 

[John Forth]

Thanks for the info.

Actually setting the "page-file" to "let system manage",works best...As
for the freeze/lockup,try opening event-viewer,look for errors/warnings for
when the pc froze,i'm sure you'll find some answers.Also,for the event that
gets opened,click on the url enclosed with it,this opens XP KB Help &
Support,
usually with a fix for it...