System Stops Responding

[Cat]

A couple of weeks ago my PC started to freeze. Not
because of any particular program running or any other
thing I can figure out. You have to manually shut it off,
the three-singer salute doesn't work. I bought Norton
System Utilities in the hopes that it was a registry error
or something but that didn't help. I tried system restore
and the computer froze during that so it ended up all f'd
up. So I reinstalled Windows XP after reformatting the
hard drive, installed AntiVirus & sytem utilities,
downloaded service packs, and it still happens. I did
this twice. I have gone on the Symantec site and manually
followed every instruction they give for the various
viruses, but none of them were found on my computer.
There are no warning signs to this lock-up - it just stops
responding. I tried keeping the System Processes window
open to see if something came up when it freezes, but it
just stopped - no new processes showed up.

Can anyone help? this thing is driving me crazy!!!

 

[Leo Edwards]

Go Start then Help and under 'troubleshooting' see what
it gives for 'Start Up & Shut down errors'. Take a look
there for some solutions.

Also, go 'Run' and type 'Msconfig'. Then under an
advanced button somewhere, check 'Disable fast shutdown'
and that might solve your problem.

 

[Cat]

Thanks for the fast response & tip Leo, but I ran the
troubleshooter mentioned and I'm not having any of the
problems listed there. And I can't find the 'Disable fast
shutdown' in msconfig.

Also, there is no rhyme or reason to when the system
freezes. Sometimes it will go all day without freezing,
and some days it freezes every five minutes. I can have
multiple programs running or no programs running.
Sometimes I'm on the internet, sometimes not. There seems
to be no method to this madness.

Could there be something buried somewhere deep in the
recesses of my computer that formatting wouldn't delete?
Is there a hidden virus somewhere? Help!!!

 

[Tom Swift]

"Could there be something buried somewhere deep in the recesses of my
computer that formatting wouldn't delete? Is there a hidden virus
somewhere?"

When a hard disk is formatted, everything is wiped out. Nothing is left
behind.

Tom Swift