Windows XP Pro Programs Locking Up

  • Thread starter Thread starter David Casey
  • Start date Start date
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David Casey

Within the past month or so, I've had a rash of problems with Windows XP
Home and now I'm having some of the same problems with Windows XP
Professional. I apologize if this has been covered elsewhere, but I've
searched high and low and can't find a solution.

It all began with Norton's. My wife called me one day and said Norton's
gave an error message and said it needed to be reinstalled. I got home,
checked it out, and figured I'd just do a fresh install of the OS and all
software on the home machine. Within a few days, I was getting the same
thing. I can't remember the error, but uninstalling and reinstalling
didn't help. So, I got rid of Norton's and that took care of that.

A week ago, I reinstalled my OS only this time I used Windows XP
Professional. I have ZoneAlarm Pro 4.0.123.012 as my firewall and eTrust
EZ Antivirus 6.1.7.0 as my antivirus software. The problem I'm getting is
that programs just lockup at random times. It happens to every program
that I've noticed. So far, these are: Civilization 3, Dialog (my
newsreader), Internet Explorer, Outlook, Microsoft Access, Halo and Flight
Simulation 2004. Those are just the programs I use on a regular basis.
Also, often times when shutting down I would have to manually end
msmsgs.exe (so I just removed Messenger completely, problem solved there)
and ccApp which is part of the Norton's mess but I have since removed it as
well.

I don't get an error message, just the program locking up and (Not
Responding) showing in the titlebar. I have AdAware and SpyBot Search &
Destroy and run both regularly to clean out any problems there. I run a
system check for any virus-related problems which I might have picked up
about once per week, so no problem there either.

Any help at all would be appreciated. I am usually able to fix problems
after some searching on Google and the 'net and some good old fashioned
tinkering around, but this one has me stumped.

Dave
--
We are the US military. Your asses will be kicked. Resistance is futile.

US Army Signal Corps!
www.geocities.com/davidcasey98

Remove IH8SPAM to reply by email!
 
Hi Dave, <love the sig>

Run HijackThis! from here, just because you didn't mention it and is a great
utility:
Cleaning Up XP: http://www.kellys-korner-xp.com/xp_c.htm#cleanup

Then:

You can use Event Viewer to view and manage the event logs, gather
information about hardware and software problems, and monitor Windows
security events.

To view the event log: Administrative Tools/Event Viewer or
Start/Run/eventvwr.

To review Shutdown Event Tracker data, Open Event Viewer. Click System Log,
scroll to the Event column, and find entries with the number 1075.

HOW TO: View and Manage Event Logs in Event Viewer in Windows XP
http://support.microsoft.com/default.aspx?scid=kb;EN-US;q308427

And also:

Go to Start/Run/Msinfo32/Hardware Resources, Components/Problem Devices and
Software Environment/Windows Error Reporting.

Go to Help and Support/Pick a Task (left side)/Use Tools to view.../(left
pane)My Computer Information/(right pane)View the status of my system
hardware and software/Hardware/Update and Troubleshooters.

How to Troubleshoot Hardware and Software Driver Problems
http://support.microsoft.com/default.aspx?scid=kb;en-us;Q322205

Try running the DirectX Tool: Start/Run/Dxdiag, Lower Hardware Acceleration
(Display/Settings/Advanced/Troubleshoot/Hardware Acceleration). Check
System Info for problematic issues: Start/Run/Msinfo32/Hardware Resources
and Components/Problem Devices and Software Environment/Windows Error
Reporting.

Also, depending on how much memory you have installed, you may want to check
your settings here as some programs have a set max:
Start/Run/Msconfig/Boot.ini/Advanced/MaxMem
 
-----Original Message-----
Within the past month or so, I've had a rash of problems with Windows XP
Home and now I'm having some of the same problems with Windows XP
Professional. I apologize if this has been covered elsewhere, but I've
searched high and low and can't find a solution.

It all began with Norton's. My wife called me one day and said Norton's
gave an error message and said it needed to be reinstalled. I got home,
checked it out, and figured I'd just do a fresh install of the OS and all
software on the home machine. Within a few days, I was getting the same
thing. I can't remember the error, but uninstalling and reinstalling
didn't help. So, I got rid of Norton's and that took care of that.

A week ago, I reinstalled my OS only this time I used Windows XP
Professional. I have ZoneAlarm Pro 4.0.123.012 as my firewall and eTrust
EZ Antivirus 6.1.7.0 as my antivirus software. The problem I'm getting is
that programs just lockup at random times. It happens to every program
that I've noticed. So far, these are: Civilization 3, Dialog (my
newsreader), Internet Explorer, Outlook, Microsoft Access, Halo and Flight
Simulation 2004. Those are just the programs I use on a regular basis.
Also, often times when shutting down I would have to manually end
msmsgs.exe (so I just removed Messenger completely, problem solved there)
and ccApp which is part of the Norton's mess but I have since removed it as
well.

I don't get an error message, just the program locking up and (Not
Responding) showing in the titlebar. I have AdAware and SpyBot Search &
Destroy and run both regularly to clean out any problems there. I run a
system check for any virus-related problems which I might have picked up
about once per week, so no problem there either.

Any help at all would be appreciated. I am usually able to fix problems
after some searching on Google and the 'net and some good old fashioned
tinkering around, but this one has me stumped.

Dave
--
We are the US military. Your asses will be kicked. Resistance is futile.

US Army Signal Corps!
www.geocities.com/davidcasey98

Remove IH8SPAM to reply by email!
.
Lockups can be from not enough cooling and RAM, (256MB
Click to expand...
minimum), and/ or a hard drive which is too full, with
not sufficient free space remaining, (effects the swap
file, or paging file).
 
Lockups can be from not enough cooling and RAM, (256MB minimum), and/ or
a hard drive which is too full, with not sufficient free space
remaining, (effects the swap file, or paging file).
Click to expand...

Apologies, I should have put in my system specs. :-)

I have a KT3 Ultra-ARU motherboard with an AMD XP 2100+ @ 1.73GHz
2GB RAM
Nvidia GeForce Ti4200 graphics card in the AGP slot
2 40GB hard drives, 1st has the OS on it, 2nd has installed stuff

I run Vcool to help keep the CPU cool and currently it's 78.5F in the room
with the CPU running at 36C. Under load it goes up to 54C.

The lockups are happening both under full load and while at more or less
idle. Using IE to surf doesn't tax the CPU like running a game of Halo
does.

My paging file is currently set to system managed and is 2047MB in size.

Dave
--
We are the US military. Your asses will be kicked. Resistance is futile.

US Army Signal Corps!
www.geocities.com/davidcasey98

Remove IH8SPAM to reply by email!
 
Hi Dave, <love the sig>
Thanks!

Run HijackThis! from here, just because you didn't mention it and is a great
utility:
Cleaning Up XP: http://www.kellys-korner-xp.com/xp_c.htm#cleanup
Click to expand...

Yes, forgot to mention I had run that one as well.
Then:

You can use Event Viewer to view and manage the event logs, gather
information about hardware and software problems, and monitor Windows
security events.

To view the event log: Administrative Tools/Event Viewer or
Start/Run/eventvwr.

To review Shutdown Event Tracker data, Open Event Viewer. Click System Log,
scroll to the Event column, and find entries with the number 1075.

HOW TO: View and Manage Event Logs in Event Viewer in Windows XP
http://support.microsoft.com/default.aspx?scid=kb;EN-US;q308427
Click to expand...

Ah, I'll have to read through this. I do see a message for something which
just crashed about 10 minutes ago.
And also:

Go to Start/Run/Msinfo32/Hardware Resources, Components/Problem Devices and
Software Environment/Windows Error Reporting.

Go to Help and Support/Pick a Task (left side)/Use Tools to view.../(left
pane)My Computer Information/(right pane)View the status of my system
hardware and software/Hardware/Update and Troubleshooters.

How to Troubleshoot Hardware and Software Driver Problems
http://support.microsoft.com/default.aspx?scid=kb;en-us;Q322205

Try running the DirectX Tool: Start/Run/Dxdiag, Lower Hardware Acceleration
(Display/Settings/Advanced/Troubleshoot/Hardware Acceleration). Check
System Info for problematic issues: Start/Run/Msinfo32/Hardware Resources
and Components/Problem Devices and Software Environment/Windows Error
Reporting.
Click to expand...

Yes, I had run the DirectX Tool thinking that maybe it was from
DirectX9.0b, but everything checks out okay.

But this makes me wonder about something. I did have to update my sound
drivers because of some problems with speech when using Flight Simulator
2004. I can't remember if I had the lockup problems this bad before I
updated the drivers for my sound. Something to look into.
Also, depending on how much memory you have installed, you may want to check
your settings here as some programs have a set max:
Start/Run/Msconfig/Boot.ini/Advanced/MaxMem
Click to expand...

The MaxMem setting wasn't even checked.

Thanks for the information! You've given me a lot more to check out. :-)

Dave
--
We are the US military. Your asses will be kicked. Resistance is futile.

US Army Signal Corps!
www.geocities.com/davidcasey98

Remove IH8SPAM to reply by email!
 
David, it might not be software. It could be Ram, Power Supply, CPU
overheating
Click to expand...

Yeah, that thought has crossed my mind. I have 2GB of RAM and I've
Memtested it and it checks out okay. My power supply is a 430w Antec which
is brand new and I was having the problems before the new PS. The CPU
could be overheating, but I have Vcool running which would shut my system
down automatically should it approach 65C, the absolute highest I've ever
seen it was 54C while playing Halo multiplayer.

Dave
--
We are the US military. Your asses will be kicked. Resistance is futile.

US Army Signal Corps!
www.geocities.com/davidcasey98

Remove IH8SPAM to reply by email!
 
David, did you try backing off the Ram and just using a Gig? Different
Video Card Drivers?
 
David, did you try backing off the Ram and just using a Gig? Different
Video Card Drivers?
Click to expand...

Yes, tried the RAM thing to make sure. Dropped my video drivers back to
the version that works fine, but I was still getting the lockup problems.
However, removed the Java console I had gotten from Sun and installed the
old Microsoft one then patched it from Windows Update and <knock on wood> I
have gone all day long now without a lockup. Tomorrow is my day off and I
have some school work to get done and of course more game playing to do, so
we'll see what happens then as well.

Dave
--
We are the US military. Your asses will be kicked. Resistance is futile.

US Army Signal Corps!
www.geocities.com/davidcasey98

Remove IH8SPAM to reply by email!
 
How interesting, Dave. Hope it continues to go well and keep us updated.

BTW, the reason I mentioned MinMax is because some programs are better run
using 512 when a system has as much ram as you do. I wouldn't suspect that
this would be one of them, but there are many that demonstrate similar
behavior and adding that to the Boot.ini was the fix.

Either way, good luck! :o)
 

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