freezing pc

Discussion in 'Software' started by Sally, Jun 23, 2005.

  1. Sally

    Sally Bit Poster

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    Hi, can anyone help????

    i've recently upgraded to xp, and i am on telewest broadband... never had any problems with my broadband connection thankfully, but since upgrading, my pc frequently freezes whilst on the net? I may only be clicking on a link, any link, and then everything freezes, i cannot even do a ctrl-alt-del. the only option i have is to switch off from the mains, as even the reset button on my tower doesn't have any effect!

    I've also had this problem twice, when i've left my pc on, but unused for a couple of hours. Normally, its obviously just gone on standby, and wakes up once i do something on it, but a couple of times, its just completely dead, and again, the reset button will not work, and i cannot get it to 'wake up'?!

    any ideas anyone?????
     
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  2. tripwire45
    Honorary Member

    tripwire45 Zettabyte Poster

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    I tried a web search but didn't come up with an immediate answer. Let's try a couple of things. First, go to the Event Viewer and see if their are any unusual log entries that might give you more information about the problem.

    Also, can you tell us what OS you upgraded from? Was it Windows 98, 2000 or some other version of Windows. When did you do the upgrade? Did the problem start occurring immediately after you did the upgrade? Did you change anything else on your system including installing any new devices or device drivers?

    Let us know. Thanks.
     
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  3. AJ

    AJ 01000001 01100100 01101101 01101001 01101110 Administrator

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    We have had this problem with some of our pc's at work. It seemed that when the PC goes on to standby the only way to wake it up was to take the power off it and sometimes the monitor as well. Then to power it back up and all is well. The only cure we have found is to turn off all powersaving options in the control panel and in the BIOS as well.

    We haven't tried a BIOS update but I guess that could be a place to look as well. Usual things if you try that, backup and the like.

    HTH :biggrin
     
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  4. Boycie
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    Boycie Senior Beer Tester

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    Hi Sally,

    When you say Upgraded to XP do you mean you upgraded from another Microsoft Operating System or did you buy the full version and format the hard drive and do it from scratch?
    You are more likely to have a successful install if you do it from scratch, but you mention no such problem before.

    The first thing I would do is run a Spyware program such as Ad-aware or Spybot
    I take it your anti-virus software is up to date and has been run on a daily basis?
    Have you installed any software lately that didn't quite install the way you were hoping? It could be that one program is treading on the toes of another causing the PC to lock up.
    One other thing that shouldn't be forgotten here is the general health of the PC. With some very hot days recently it could also be that your PC is overheating. Is the computer usually left on all the time or is it turned off when not in use/in the night.
    If you leave the PC on for say an hour re-start it and go into the BIOS and have a look at the CPU temperature. Anything over 30 is a bit on the hot side. My P4 3.4Ghz runs hot with a Zalman super cooler fan, a good thermal paste and a cool case.
    If your system is clean then I would try disabling the system standby and hibernate.
    I have seen before a system that went into hibernation and wouldn't wake up! :(
    Do you get an error messages when the machine restarts or does it tell you that it failed to start normally and asks you how you would like it to start?

    Check for spyware and virus' first and let us know how you get on.

    EDIT- Sorry guys when I started replying to this I thought i was the first- didn't mean to rrrrrr eeeee pppppp eeeeee aaaaa tttttt everything !!! :hug
     
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  5. Mitzs
    Honorary Member

    Mitzs Ducktape Goddess

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    I agree with AJ, turn your powersaving options off. If it still happens check your ram.
     
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  6. Sally

    Sally Bit Poster

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    hi, sorry yes, when i said i upgraded, what i meant to say was a got full version, and actually did fresh installation on newly formatted hard drive.

    I have checked my event viewer for the other day when it happened, and there are no logs for anything around the time when the freezing happened?
    and yes, i have adaware/spybot and antivirus software which i use all the time that hasnt shown anything. i have been having the problem of freezing online since the first week of doing xp installation a month ago. it has happened about 5 times in total and then cant do anything. the problem of not waking up from idle has only happened twice. And no, i dont get any error messages on restarting the computer.
    I dont leave my pc on overnight, but it may be left on during the day now and again if i'm on and off of it. The cpu temperature may potentially be the problem, i will look into that....

    And no, i haven't installed anything that has done anything strange at all. I haven't had any other problems other than this freezing online and after being idle for a while!
     
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  7. Jakamoko
    Honorary Member

    Jakamoko On the move again ...

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    I'd say it sounds at this stage like bad RAM - how many sticks are in it ? If more than one, take out one at a time and run with the remaining stick(s) and see if the problem persists ...
     
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  8. Sally

    Sally Bit Poster

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    i have two sticks, both 256 ddr's, both same speed, which i've had for over 6 months, and no problems until the xp installation. i was previously on 2000, with none of these problems?
     
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  9. AJ

    AJ 01000001 01100100 01101101 01101001 01101110 Administrator

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    Suppose the next thing to check will be all the device drivers and make sure they are current for XP.
     
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  10. Jakamoko
    Honorary Member

    Jakamoko On the move again ...

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    I'd go with that actually, as I've had probs with XP not picking up hardware that w2k got straight away. Only thing is, I'd have thought that the problem would occur instantly, rather than after an hour or so ...

    Strange ... :hhhmmm
     
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  11. mrobinson52

    mrobinson52 Security Maven Gold Member

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    Hi Sally!

    Do you perchance have Automatic Updates turned on? It might be that something is incompatible with SP2, or SP2 is having a hard time trying to install. Also, what made you upgrade from the best OS MS ever came out with? If Windows 2000 Pro was working fine for you, why go to XP?

    Another thing to check is your Virtual Memory. Try Booting into Safe Mode, set the VM to 0, reboot into Safe Mode, then set the max and min to 1024 and reboot again. That would clean out the VM if it is corrupted, and by setting the max/min to the same value, your Swap file should be stable.

    The advice by the ever dapper Boyce is excellent advice also. Whenever a broadband connection is flakey, check to make sure that you do not have spyware taking a free ride on your 10 pence.

    AJ also had excellent advice to turn off the power saving features. His advice to check your device drivers is excellent too, since if you do have SP2, your old drivers might not be compatible.

    You could always reinstall Win2K and save yourself a lot of grief... :twisted:
     
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  12. Sally

    Sally Bit Poster

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    ok, agreed, i much much much favour w2k and always have done, but the copy that i had of w2k, was not exactly kosher :oops:

    i thought it was about time i made myself legal, hence going for the xp...

    and with regards to the power saving features, all switched off now and will see how i get on with that, and will just make sure if i'm not using pc, will just switch off.

    as for the cpu temperature, i have just switched on my pc which has been off all day, and the temp was 34 on starting.... is this too hot? surely it shouldnt be that temperature if its been switched off all day?!?!?!

    and also, i have done windows update, and checked all drivers, and everything is ok, i'm totally up to date and current for xp, and no, never have automatic updates switched on, would rather do it myself!!

    looks like i've just got to wait and see if it happens now that i've switched powersaving off?
    just the cpu temp i'm concerned about now....... :(
     
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  13. Mitzs
    Honorary Member

    Mitzs Ducktape Goddess

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    I don't think that is too hot but not for sure. What is your cpu and I will see if I can find the specs on it.
     
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  14. Bluerinse
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    Bluerinse Exabyte Poster

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    All good advice IMHO.

    I put XP on my laptop once but soon blew it away and went back to W2K Pro 8) The main reason was XP didn't like my USB NIC and blue screened as soon as I tried to surf the net, it worked fine until I opened a browser and tried to surf. I knew it was the NIC drivers because XP told me they were not digitally signed and I did the usual install anyway.

    Sally, did you agree to install any unsigned device drivers? If you do, then things can go pear shaped. Microsoft are not just covering their bottom, they are warning you that the OS may become unstable if you proceed with the install.

    Pete
     
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  15. mrobinson52

    mrobinson52 Security Maven Gold Member

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    You can stop worrying Sally! According to this article you are in the right range up to about 40 degrees C.

    As to the matter of a legal version of Windows 2000, you might try to find a local OEM reseller. You can legally get an OEM version if you buy any internal hardware for your computer. Since temperature worries you, you might consider a new CPU fan, since most of the fans that come stock with a CPU are adequate, but not as good as they could be. :thumbleft
     
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  16. Sally

    Sally Bit Poster

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    Thanks everyone....

    No, i have not agreed to install any unsigned device drivers at all...

    As for the temperature, my mind is at ease now, thank you.

    I might have to look into going back to w2k if this problem continues... :rolleyes:

    I think now, all i can do is wait and see what happens now and take it from there!

    Thanks again to all for all your help....
     
    WIP: a+

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