Windows xp hangs, clock stops, cursor continues to be movable

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gdanaher

WXP sp3. Recently the computer has begun to hang up when it is unattended for
a period of time. Computer is malware free. HDD is inactive, clock stops at
the time of failure, and keyboard is dead, but I can move the cursor all over
the place. Have done nothing to it recently that might foul the system.
AntiFreeze fails to activate when this happens. Any ideas please?
 
No, not before sp3, but then sp3 has been on this computer since day one and
the problem is recent in the past few weeks. Totally unpredictable. Computer
can plug on for days without a hitch, and then it hangs. I've played with the
startup files but the problem is so random that it is hard to tell which if
any have an effect.
 
gdanaher said:
WXP sp3. Recently the computer has begun to hang up when it is
unattended for a period of time. Computer is malware free. HDD is
inactive, clock stops at the time of failure, and keyboard is dead,
but I can move the cursor all over the place. Have done nothing to it
recently that might foul the system. AntiFreeze fails to activate
when this happens. Any ideas please?
Click to expand...

That's a weird one.

Is the cursor a pointer or an hourglass?

*Is* the keyboard *completely* nonresponsive? I take it that
Ctrl+Alt+Del doesn't do anything...

What is the longest you waited before forcing a reboot?

How frequently does this happen?

Boot off a live Linux distro like Knoppix or Ubuntu and let us know if
the problem goes away or not. If it doesn't, at least you will know your
problem is hardware-related - quite possibly your hard drive. What is
the make and model of your hard drive? You should be able to go the
manufacturer's Web site and obtain a diagnostic tool for it. SeaTools
for DOS might help:

http://www.seagate.com/www/en-us/support/downloads/seatools

(Be sure to scroll down to SeaTools for DOS.)
 
I've run various antivirus programs from Windows as well as bootable cd's, so
I am satisfied that isn't the problem Hadn't considered booting from Knoppix
so that will happen later and I will let it idle for awhile. The problem can
occur three times during one day and then go a week trouble free, so it is
very random. The bootable drive is a Seagate and has been checked recently
but will do it again. During the past few years I've had terrible luck with
SATA drives failing with various MB's so I check them with some frequency and
back up every other day to a usb external drive. When it does hang up the
clock seems to stop at that point. If the hourglass was working, then it will
still show an hourglass, but if I drag the cursor to the edge the hourglass
will change to an arrow as it normally would do. Clock remains stalled. Using
the cursor to click an object on the desktop results in nothing other than
manual exercise. Keystrokes seem to be nonresponsive. CTL+ALT+DEL is useless.
I have installed Antifreeze but also fails to work. I've considered
reinstalling XPsp3 but I suspect it is something other than this and it
probably wouldn't cure the problem. Your input is appreciated.
 
The longest time I've let it sit without rebooting, after discovering the
hang, is about a half hour. If it doesn't find itself in that time, it isn't
going to happen.
 
Sounds like you've got a handle on everything. It's good to see you
regularly back up.

I will wait to see what your results are with the Live Linux boots and
your latest hard drive diagnostic. The tough thing of course is the
intermittent nature of these problems!
 
I ran the Seatools software for the long test which checks for bad blocks. No
issues. Ran Knoopix 601 for 24 hours without a hang, but Windows hasn't hung
now in a few days. Just real odd.
 
Yeah, that's tough when it's intermittent. I'm leaning toward hardware,
but it's only a hunch. Have you looked at Event Viewer?
 
When you say "hangs" - do you mean like a complete "lockup" where,
although, as you say, you can move the mouse but nothing will respond when
you try to click on it?

I ask because the other "respondee" has mentioned some "Taskbar repair"
tool, which, if it's a real "hang" problem, would be just a silly approach
to solving the problem!

A better one would be to do some sort of armature "investigation" using the
"Windows Task Manager" (right-click on empty area of Taskbar and choose
"Task Manager" or press [Alt+Ctrl+Del] ), but you must have it open on your
desktop *before* the "hang" occurs.

Plus, looking into the "Event Viewer" (type "eventvwr.msc" into the "Run"
box on the Start Menu) and see what entries there were just before the
problem occurred. All Event Viewer entries are time-stamped.

In addition, be careful to note exactly what windows were open, what
applications you had open and what exactly you were doing when the computer
crashed.

Using the above ideas, and others, you can get much closer to understanding
what candidates are likely sources for the cause of such a problem.

Otherwise, without any further to go on, it is impossible to say much about
it, save to say that it is probably going to be some Device or Software
recently installed and causing a conflict, which is the most probable
cause.

NT-based Win Xp is a relatively stable platform, and "hangs" and "crashes"
are rare, so recent changes to the system are to be suspected most.

==

Cheers, Tim Meddick, Peckham, London. :-)
 
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