Mouse pointer hangs, everything freezes

[Paul]

Archived from groups: microsoft.public.win95.general.discussion (More info?)

While moving around and clicking on this, that and the otherthe mouse
pointer suddenly hags, and everything is frozen. I use key strokes to
close everything down and reboot. I assume it would be a memory
problem, but sometimes everything hangs with just a few swipes
with the mouse (after fresh reboot).

Win95, PII 266mhz, 64 meg mem, 4 partitions (CDE&F) on an 8 gig
drive. I usually keep D drive clean and use it for swap space,
usually around 570,00KB free space.

I've recently ran disk compression and things went smooth for
awhile and just when I thought it was good - HANG!

Any suggestions out there ?

Paul

 

[Guest]

Archived from groups: microsoft.public.win95.general.discussion (More info?)

I do not think the problems are due to insufficient RAM. 64 MB should
be enough for anything.

Have you run Ad-Aware recently and is it up-to-date?

Have you run an antivirus program recently and is it up-to-date?

It is possible that you are dealing with defective hardware. Software
behaves very consistently. If you repeat actions exactly, the results
are exactly the same as before. Hardware, however, can behave
differently at different times if it becomes marginally defective. Two
things I would try would be:

1. Substitute another mouse. You need to rule out the possibility that
something in the mouse is sticky.

2. Try starting Windows in Safe Mode or otherwise prevent programs
from starting automatically when Windows starts.

Safe Mode does the following:
(a) bypasses config.sys and autoexec.bat
(b) prevents programs from starting automatically (from win.ini
or the startup folder)
(c) uses standard VGA video
(d) prevents a network from being started
(e) disables protected mode device drivers (those listed in
Device Manager)
(f) bypasses the [boot] and [386Enh] sections of system.ini
For more details, see document 122051 in the Microsoft KnowledgeBase.

If Safe Mode makes the problem go away, you can try various tests to
pin down the cause of the problem. For more elaborate instructions,
see document 156126 in the KnowledgeBase, which explains how to do
troubleshooting in Safe Mode.

With Windows 95, you can use Startup Control Panel. Startup Control
Panel is similar to the Msconfig utility that ships in Windows 98. It
can make troubleshooting easier by removing and restoring items from
the Windows startup. You can get Startup Control Panel as freeware
from:

http://home.ptd.net/~don5408/toolbox/startupcpl/

Startup Cop can also disable items loading at Windows startup and it
is freeware. You can download Startup Cop from:

http://www.zdnet.com/downloads/stories/info/0,,77594,.html

Yet another option is msconfig.exe as adapted to Win95:

http://www2.whidbey.net/djdenham/Msconfig.htm

I also suggest that you run DiskDefragmenter when Windows is in Safe
Mode.


Bill Starbuck (MVP)

 

[Guest]

Archived from groups: microsoft.public.win95.general.discussion (More info?)

Wow.. Thanks Bill. You've given me quite some homework to do.
I have suspected Adware/Spyware. Today I've been beatin' the
heck out of my system for over an hour and no hangs so far. It
do appear to be an intermittent thing. I will try Ad-Aware and virus
scan first. The system is 8 year old so defective hardware is
not out of the question. But I will try your suggestions and post
my findings or lack of.

Thanks again

Paul

On Tue, 05 Oct 2004 08:14:08 -0400, Bill Starbuck
<no_email@please.com> wrote:

>I do not think the problems are due to insufficient RAM. 64 MB should
>be enough for anything.
>
>Have you run Ad-Aware recently and is it up-to-date?
>
>Have you run an antivirus program recently and is it up-to-date?
>
>It is possible that you are dealing with defective hardware. Software
>behaves very consistently. If you repeat actions exactly, the results
>are exactly the same as before. Hardware, however, can behave
>differently at different times if it becomes marginally defective. Two
>things I would try would be:
>
>1. Substitute another mouse. You need to rule out the possibility that
>something in the mouse is sticky.
>
>2. Try starting Windows in Safe Mode or otherwise prevent programs
>from starting automatically when Windows starts.
>
>Safe Mode does the following:
>(a) bypasses config.sys and autoexec.bat
>(b) prevents programs from starting automatically (from win.ini
> or the startup folder)
>(c) uses standard VGA video
>(d) prevents a network from being started
>(e) disables protected mode device drivers (those listed in
> Device Manager)
>(f) bypasses the [boot] and [386Enh] sections of system.ini
>For more details, see document 122051 in the Microsoft KnowledgeBase.
>
>If Safe Mode makes the problem go away, you can try various tests to
>pin down the cause of the problem. For more elaborate instructions,
>see document 156126 in the KnowledgeBase, which explains how to do
>troubleshooting in Safe Mode.
>
> With Windows 95, you can use Startup Control Panel. Startup Control
>Panel is similar to the Msconfig utility that ships in Windows 98. It
>can make troubleshooting easier by removing and restoring items from
>the Windows startup. You can get Startup Control Panel as freeware
>from:
>
>http://home.ptd.net/~don5408/toolbox/startupcpl/
>
>Startup Cop can also disable items loading at Windows startup and it
>is freeware. You can download Startup Cop from:
>
>http://www.zdnet.com/downloads/stories/info/0,,77594,.html
>
>Yet another option is msconfig.exe as adapted to Win95:
>
>http://www2.whidbey.net/djdenham/Msconfig.htm
>
>I also suggest that you run DiskDefragmenter when Windows is in Safe
>Mode.
>
>
>Bill Starbuck (MVP)