XP Pro freezes occasionally.

[Guest]

Archived from groups: microsoft.public.windowsxp.perform_maintain (More info?)

Shortly after switching on the machine (sometimes after a reboot when I have
a problem with eg video capture), the machine 'freezes'- sometimes even
before invoking an application (although I do have a number of background
processes running - eg Google desktop search, seti-at-home, AVG antivirus,
NetMeeting - but disabling these has no effect on the problem I am
describing!)

Freezes = screen stays on (desktop and/or application if I get that far),
with cursor not reacting to mouse; keyboard Ctrl+Alt+Del has no effect. Only
way out is to press reset...

I have tried to find some 'common' theme/sequence of events to this
occuring, but to no avail. As I say sometimes there are no apps running.
After this happens once I reboot, and it often happens again, but usually
that's it, and the machine runs happily for the rest of the day... some
times longer

M/B is ECS P4VMM2 with 512 Meg, 2 hard drives, 1 floppy, a CDrom, and a DVD
writer.

No other cards installed, no USB devices attached when this occurs.

Have tried removing half the RAM and using them separately to see if the RAM
has some sort of problem. No luck.

Any suggestions? This is getting annoying.

Ian

 

[Guest]

Archived from groups: microsoft.public.windowsxp.perform_maintain (More info?)

also make sure youve checked for spyware running in the background hoggin up
you ram if you havent already get adaware and spy bot s&d run them to see if
your bogged with bots

"Ian Lowrie" wrote:

> Shortly after switching on the machine (sometimes after a reboot when I have
> a problem with eg video capture), the machine 'freezes'- sometimes even
> before invoking an application (although I do have a number of background
> processes running - eg Google desktop search, seti-at-home, AVG antivirus,
> NetMeeting - but disabling these has no effect on the problem I am
> describing!)
>
> Freezes = screen stays on (desktop and/or application if I get that far),
> with cursor not reacting to mouse; keyboard Ctrl+Alt+Del has no effect. Only
> way out is to press reset...
>
> I have tried to find some 'common' theme/sequence of events to this
> occuring, but to no avail. As I say sometimes there are no apps running.
> After this happens once I reboot, and it often happens again, but usually
> that's it, and the machine runs happily for the rest of the day... some
> times longer
>
> M/B is ECS P4VMM2 with 512 Meg, 2 hard drives, 1 floppy, a CDrom, and a DVD
> writer.
>
> No other cards installed, no USB devices attached when this occurs.
>
> Have tried removing half the RAM and using them separately to see if the RAM
> has some sort of problem. No luck.
>
> Any suggestions? This is getting annoying.
>
> Ian
>
>
>

 

[Guest]

Archived from groups: microsoft.public.windowsxp.perform_maintain (More info?)

Ian, first thing I would check is for overheating. Make sure all Fans are
running smoothly especially the CPU and Power
Supply fans. Then I would download and install Motherboard Monitor. It will
give you a constant readout of your temps.
and 3.3, 5 and 12v lines. Voltages should not dip below 5%.
"Ian Lowrie" <ian.lowrie@sympatico.ca> wrote in message
news:6RNfe.15057$XX1.173534@news20.bellglobal.com...
> Shortly after switching on the machine (sometimes after a reboot when I
> have a problem with eg video capture), the machine 'freezes'- sometimes
> even before invoking an application (although I do have a number of
> background processes running - eg Google desktop search, seti-at-home, AVG
> antivirus, NetMeeting - but disabling these has no effect on the problem I
> am describing!)
>
> Freezes = screen stays on (desktop and/or application if I get that far),
> with cursor not reacting to mouse; keyboard Ctrl+Alt+Del has no effect.
> Only way out is to press reset...
>
> I have tried to find some 'common' theme/sequence of events to this
> occuring, but to no avail. As I say sometimes there are no apps running.
> After this happens once I reboot, and it often happens again, but usually
> that's it, and the machine runs happily for the rest of the day... some
> times longer
>
> M/B is ECS P4VMM2 with 512 Meg, 2 hard drives, 1 floppy, a CDrom, and a
> DVD writer.
>
> No other cards installed, no USB devices attached when this occurs.
>
> Have tried removing half the RAM and using them separately to see if the
> RAM has some sort of problem. No luck.
>
> Any suggestions? This is getting annoying.
>
> Ian
>

 

[Guest]

Archived from groups: microsoft.public.windowsxp.perform_maintain (More info?)

Thanks for your responses

Have followed all the suggestions, and found nothing... using erronuker
showed several potential problems that I will have to look into.

Noticed that according to MM the CPU temp is about 50C! Is this high?
(Though the CPU should just slow itself down if it overheats. - maybe a
rogue chip!

Will have to consider a complete reinstallation of OS and software :^(
unless someone has a better idea.

Will also try removing 1 hard disk drive and CD drive so that the IDE buses
only have one device each in case there is some sort of conflict.

Anything else?

Ian

"buddy baney cville usa" <buddybaneycvilleusa@discussions.microsoft.com>
wrote in message news:8A3BBBC0-52DF-415F-821A-42060DEFE497@microsoft.com...
> also make sure youve checked for spyware running in the background hoggin
> up
> you ram if you havent already get adaware and spy bot s&d run them to see
> if
> your bogged with bots
>
> "Ian Lowrie" wrote:
>
>> Shortly after switching on the machine (sometimes after a reboot when I
>> have
>> a problem with eg video capture), the machine 'freezes'- sometimes even
>> before invoking an application (although I do have a number of background
>> processes running - eg Google desktop search, seti-at-home, AVG
>> antivirus,
>> NetMeeting - but disabling these has no effect on the problem I am
>> describing!)
>>
>> Freezes = screen stays on (desktop and/or application if I get that far),
>> with cursor not reacting to mouse; keyboard Ctrl+Alt+Del has no effect.
>> Only
>> way out is to press reset...
>>
>> I have tried to find some 'common' theme/sequence of events to this
>> occuring, but to no avail. As I say sometimes there are no apps running.
>> After this happens once I reboot, and it often happens again, but usually
>> that's it, and the machine runs happily for the rest of the day... some
>> times longer
>>
>> M/B is ECS P4VMM2 with 512 Meg, 2 hard drives, 1 floppy, a CDrom, and a
>> DVD
>> writer.
>>
>> No other cards installed, no USB devices attached when this occurs.
>>
>> Have tried removing half the RAM and using them separately to see if the
>> RAM
>> has some sort of problem. No luck.
>>
>> Any suggestions? This is getting annoying.
>>
>> Ian
>>
>>
>>

 

[Guest]

Archived from groups: microsoft.public.windowsxp.perform_maintain (More info?)

There are ways to cool down your processor. Have a shop determine the actual
temp with their equipment to verify, and then perhaps they will be able to
put a better heat sink and/or fan on it. Or, another fan can be added to
your case, or both!
No need to reinstall the OS. You can Repair Install if you must:
How to Perform a Windows XP Repair Install
Author: Michael Stevens MS-MVP
http://www.michaelstevenstech.com/XPrepairinstall.htm

Ian Lowrie wrote:
> Thanks for your responses
>
> Have followed all the suggestions, and found nothing... using
> erronuker showed several potential problems that I will have to look
> into.
>
> Noticed that according to MM the CPU temp is about 50C! Is this high?
> (Though the CPU should just slow itself down if it overheats. - maybe
> a rogue chip!
>
> Will have to consider a complete reinstallation of OS and software :^(
> unless someone has a better idea.
>
> Will also try removing 1 hard disk drive and CD drive so that the
> IDE buses only have one device each in case there is some sort of
> conflict.
>
> Anything else?
>
> Ian
>
> "buddy baney cville usa"
> <buddybaneycvilleusa@discussions.microsoft.com> wrote in message
> news:8A3BBBC0-52DF-415F-821A-42060DEFE497@microsoft.com...
>> also make sure youve checked for spyware running in the background
>> hoggin up
>> you ram if you havent already get adaware and spy bot s&d run them
>> to see if
>> your bogged with bots
>>
>> "Ian Lowrie" wrote:
>>
>>> Shortly after switching on the machine (sometimes after a reboot
>>> when I have
>>> a problem with eg video capture), the machine 'freezes'- sometimes
>>> even before invoking an application (although I do have a number of
>>> background processes running - eg Google desktop search,
>>> seti-at-home, AVG antivirus,
>>> NetMeeting - but disabling these has no effect on the problem I am
>>> describing!)
>>>
>>> Freezes = screen stays on (desktop and/or application if I get that
>>> far), with cursor not reacting to mouse; keyboard Ctrl+Alt+Del has
>>> no effect. Only
>>> way out is to press reset...
>>>
>>> I have tried to find some 'common' theme/sequence of events to this
>>> occuring, but to no avail. As I say sometimes there are no apps
>>> running. After this happens once I reboot, and it often happens
>>> again, but usually that's it, and the machine runs happily for the
>>> rest of the day... some times longer
>>>
>>> M/B is ECS P4VMM2 with 512 Meg, 2 hard drives, 1 floppy, a CDrom,
>>> and a DVD
>>> writer.
>>>
>>> No other cards installed, no USB devices attached when this occurs.
>>>
>>> Have tried removing half the RAM and using them separately to see
>>> if the RAM
>>> has some sort of problem. No luck.
>>>
>>> Any suggestions? This is getting annoying.
>>>
>>> Ian