Herb - one last shot:
1. Are you certain the freeze lasts forever? If possible, let the frozen
machine sit for a long time, even overnight. If the freeze disappears
spontaneously that could be a clue. (See items 5-6 below)
2. Did the freezing start after you made ANY software or hardware mods
to the system? If so, can you undo, see if freezing stops?
3. Have you inspected Event Viewer and Device Manager for any clues?
Post any oddities you find.
4. Run the System File Checker (sfc.exe). See Start/Help or command
prompt [C:\sfc /?] for info & syntax.
5. Has the nature of these freezes changed in any way over time? Did you
notice brief hiccups (or any strangeness), then progrssively longer freezes?
6. Such freezes are often hardware-related; hence item 3 above.
Occasionally they can be caused by a hard drive problem; the OS tries a
disk access, it fails, and automatic hardware retry sequences begin and
can continue for a very long time. Often they're invisible to the OS,
which stays in a wait state because the failed access involves very
high-priority "must do" OS code. Drive manufacturers all have
downloadable disk diagnostic programs, typically a diskette image that
gives you a bootable diskette. Get and run this from the right
manufacturer. Some problems can be fixed by the diagnostic; irreparable
problems often result, after you talk with the manufacturer's tech
support, in a free replacement drive for you, with an opportunity for
you to copy your important stuff from old to new drive.
7. If this W2k was not a clean install but an in-place upgrade to some
older system, two observations: (a) clean installs are always better;
upgrades are always iffy and frequently headachy, and (b) are you
CERTAIN that ALL device drivers are W2k-specific? Drivers carried over
from older systems do NOT work with W2k.
Herb wrote:
Sorry there isn't much more to tell. Not sure what technical specifics to give
which could be helpful for analyzing -- suggestions are welcomed.
Sometimes this happens while moving the mouse; sometimes the computer is idle and
mouse (computer?) simply freezes. Hoping someone out there has had same/similar
experience and may have a suggestion.
Dan Seur wrote:
I guess no more detail is forthcoming. Good luck, Herb.
Herb wrote:
In this case, ''lock-up'' refers to the mouse freezing and the system being
inoperative until restarting computer. Thanx.
I've also done system error checks using System Suite by V-Com, but results
consistently show "no errors found".
-Herb
===============
Dan Seur wrote:
Describe exactly what "locks up" means. The more detail, the better the
help here is likely to be.
You've apparently dealt with one of several conditions that can cause
overheating, but there are many others - and many, many causes other
than overheating. And there are many things that "locks up" might mean.
Herb wrote:
Computer locks up frequently and randomly.
Running Win 2K 5.00.2195 with Service Pack 4
All Win Updates are downloaded.
AMD Athlon processor.
Have just cleaned out all the dust as was told to try this as the dust
sometimes slows down fans (I have two fans). But it still locks up as
stated above. Thanx for any ideas.
