Locking up.

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XP Pro machine with plenty of RAM, Hard drive space and procesing power very rarely locks up.
This could be down to many things and maybe even user inflicted but the last time it happened on re-boot XP stated that it had found new hardware. New hardware had not been fitted inbetween the re-start where the use lost control of the keyboard.
It lost and then found the Networking card which has always worked perfectly. It then re-installed fine once the CD was inserted.

Any ideas other than a dodgy card?

 

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I'll suggest the old stand-by and say check for viruses and malware. Also, might not be the hardware per se but the drivers. First, do a full malware scan and see what turns up and if clean, see if any new drivers have been installed recently. Boot into Safe Mode and see if the problem persists. You can also roll the suspected driver back to the previous version and see if the problem persists. JMHO.

 

Thanks Trip. No Malware or virus'. Because it happens literally now and again I didn't boot in to Safe mode because it hardly happens Normally.
I have asked the user to note down what he is doing at the time of it locking up. It could be down to a poorly written program maybe?

 

Intermittent problems are very difficult to diagnose. Frankly, they could be almost anything. I'd probably do what you did...get the user to write down what's going on right before the lock up and see if there's a pattern.

 

Standard user response ?

"ooh, nothing out of the ordinary .."

Call me cynical

 

Sounds like a driver problem to me, check for any conflict, check your event viewer.. and like tripwire suggested do a full scan for viruses...

 

Thanks for the help guy's. I have asked the user to note down what programs were running when it "locks up".
I'll let you know the outcome.

 

I know I always say this, but, turn all auto updates off for a week, then manually update each, one by one and see if a lockup happens. I am thinking GFX drivers, DirectX, mobo, internet connection prog etc.
Or if turning off auto updates scares you, then set all progs in zone alarm / software firewall to warn when connecting to the internet, set to log warnings to file, then tell user to allow progs for each session only, wait till lockup, then review file to see last program to connect to internet to update itself.
I know the last one is a long winded way around it, but it is quite easy to get the customer to give you the info you need over the phone when it does happen.
Jam.

 

Good point Jam, Thanks