Windows freezing in an odd manner

[Nick B]

We have an XP SP3 computer that freezes after a while of sitting there. For
instance, in the morning, often we will sit at the computer and we are able
to move the mouse around and single click on different icons in the Dekstop.
But if we double-click on something (like and Internet Explorer shortcut, or
even a folder), the Desktop seems to freeze -- we can still move the mouse
around, but nothing else can be higlighted and we can no longer create
"boxes" by clicking and dragging. Interestingly we can often then hover the
mouse over the arrow that expands the system tray and it will say "Show
hidden icons", but if we click on that, that task bar will feeze as well.

Ctrl+Alt+Delete and Ctrl+Shift+Esc do not bring anything up, so we have to
hold the power button in. We have disabled all programs from starting but
still have the same result. Nothing shows up in the Event Logs except the
general stuff when booting the computer. Haven't tried Safe Mode just yet.
But any other ideas?

Normally takes several hours before this happens (i.e. in the morning or
after work), though once or twice it has happened about 30 minutes after the
computer was last used, and has happened several times when booting the
computer when clicking on the profile to use.

Any ideas?
Thanks!

 

[Malke]

We have an XP SP3 computer that freezes after a while of sitting there.
For instance, in the morning, often we will sit at the computer and we are
able to move the mouse around and single click on different icons in the
Dekstop. But if we double-click on something (like and Internet Explorer
shortcut, or even a folder), the Desktop seems to freeze -- we can still
move the mouse around, but nothing else can be higlighted and we can no
longer create
"boxes" by clicking and dragging. Interestingly we can often then hover
the mouse over the arrow that expands the system tray and it will say
"Show hidden icons", but if we click on that, that task bar will feeze as
well.

Ctrl+Alt+Delete and Ctrl+Shift+Esc do not bring anything up, so we have to
hold the power button in. We have disabled all programs from starting but
still have the same result. Nothing shows up in the Event Logs except the
general stuff when booting the computer. Haven't tried Safe Mode just
yet. But any other ideas?

Normally takes several hours before this happens (i.e. in the morning or
after work), though once or twice it has happened about 30 minutes after
the computer was last used, and has happened several times when booting
the computer when clicking on the profile to use.

Thanks for the very good description of the problem. It sounds like hardware
failure, possibly caused by overheating. The components that are failing
are all right when cold and fail when they warm up. This is classic
behavior for failing hardware.

You can try doing hardware troubleshooting yourself or take the machine to a
computer professional. I don't recommend using a BigComputerStore/GeekSquad
type of place.

http://www.elephantboycomputers.com/page2.html#Hardware_Tshoot

Malke

 

[Danger_Duck]

How many programs are running, how much of your hard drive is used up, and
how up to date is your anti-virus software?

 

[Nick B]

I have turned off everything except Windows Defender, Nod32 Antivirus (checks
for updates hourly), Comodo Firewall, etc. There is 1GB of RAM and 20GB of
free disk space. Power Options are all turned off so System Standby,
Hibernate and Turn Hard Disks Off are all disabled. Also run several
antispyware apps every couple of weeks after updating them.

Could this be hardware related in any way?

 

[Bondpwk]

Nick

I had terrible problems on my system after SP3 was installed and tried
everything to get my computer functioning normally. If you go to windowsXp
support section they have set up a special SP3 support program because of all
the problems. Ultimately my two computers have been fixed, but, only after
Microsoft got involved. The support for SP3 problems is offered free because
of all the problems people are experiencing. You may want to check that help
out as well.

 

[G Man]

Have you ever resolved this? I am having the exact same issue you described.
It seems to have just started happening. I'm not sure what to do and I really
dont want to format my hard drive.

 

[Kevin Cole]

You machine getting hot by any chance ?
Regards,

Kev