Windows XP: Windows XP system just randomly freezes, what’s causing this?
- 12/5/08 3:48 PM
Windows XP or other OS freeze.
by somotasan - 12/6/08 4:24 AM In reply to: Windows XP system just randomly freezes by jxb7076All the sugestions are valid. Try one simple: remove the memorie ram of your PC or laptop, clean the contacts and reinsert again in the proper slot. Sometimes works.
Xp randomly freezing
by Raven Warrior - 12/6/08 1:35 PM In reply to: Windows XP system just randomly freezes by jxb7076That happened to me after I had let Google and Microsoft each install another tool bar. After the third freeze up I wised up and removed both tool bars and my problem went away. I didn't like the tool bars any way so it was no big loss to me. This may not be your problem but if you have recently installed any tool bars, I'd sure give it a try.
RavenWarrior
Computer freezing XP
by bjmllcinc - 12/3/08 7:03 AM In reply to: Windows XP system just randomly freezes, what’s causing this? by Lee Koo (ADMIN)
I have had this problem with my Compaq too, but if you take the battery out, blow out the contacts, and reinstall the battery, it worked on my unit. Hope this helps.
Could be a hard drive issue
by supafly77784 - 12/5/08 6:07 PM In reply to: Windows XP system just randomly freezes, what’s causing this? by Lee Koo (ADMIN)
It could be a hard drive issue, but not about free space. 40% is more than enough for an 80 GB drive. Can you hear a clicking noise when the computer freezes? If so, back up your data AS SOON AS POSSIBLE. The clicking noise indicates an impending hard drive crash. Burn backup CDs or DVDs or use a flash drive or other external storage.
Other people have mentioned that the hard drive may have errors on it. This may very well be the case. I don't know if anyone has given specific instructions on how to fix them (I haven't read all 175 posts) so I will tell you what I would do. Go to Start and click my computer. Right click on the hard disk drive "C:" and click properties. Click the tools tab, and in the error checking box click "check now." In the window that comes up, check the boxes "Automatically fix file system errors" and "Scan and attempt recovery of bad sectors" and click start. It will tell you the disk check could not be performed because the utility needs exclusive access to the drive. Click yes to schedule a disk scan on the drive the next time you restart. Restart the computer and the scan will be performed, after which your computer will start up normally. If you hear a clicking noise coming from your hard drive at any point during this process, your hard drive probably is on its' last legs and should be replaced.
Same problem, different solution
by MMRudy - 12/5/08 6:40 PM In reply to: Could be a hard drive issue by supafly77784I had this problem as well. I tried many of the suggestions listed in these posts. Nothing worked. So, this year I switched to an Intel iMac. Now I have the best of both worlds and, so far (knock wood), no freeze ups.
Windows XP works fine on the Intel side which suggests that the original problem was hardware not the operating system.
I agree with the poster ... get a mac.
by mdibblee - 12/5/08 6:57 PM In reply to: Same problem, different solution by MMRudyI am using my mac for 95% of online tasks. The only time it froze was when I had 20 windows open; but it just needed a breather. I closed 4 or 5 of the windows, it continued on. And there are no nagging scans, etc. that Windows machines require.
Using the iMac not really the fix...
by JPKirkpatrick - 12/6/08 8:53 AM In reply to: Same problem, different solution by MMRudyWhen you setup the iMac, you had a Clean Install of Windows. That was more than likely the problem.
I agree that McAfee could be a big problem because it does hog the CPU during updates or background scans. So does Norton and they both miss virus' and trojans. I use AVAST Home and it caught several infections that both Norton and McAfee missed. AVG is good also and they are free for home use.
I was having the same problem and did a backup of data and a Clean Install and restored the data and no longer have the problem. Good to remove and reseat the memory and battery too, just for good connectivity. Good luck.
Use Sysinternals To trooubleshoot
by Angry CPU - 12/5/08 7:21 PM In reply to: Windows XP system just randomly freezes, what’s causing this? by Lee Koo (ADMIN)
Sysinternals will help you disect the system, from services, to tasks and more. A nice layered approach.
http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/sysinternals/0e18b180-9b7a-4c49-8120-c47c5a693683.aspx
Comes with documentation and most tools are easy to use... hope this helps..
John
Drivers
by Angry CPU - 12/5/08 10:28 PM In reply to: Use Sysinternals To trooubleshoot by Angry CPUMy gut tells me it's a "driver" problem.. I know that's vague, but roll back checks are helpful one by one..
XP Freeze
by terrybrookman - 12/5/08 7:23 PM In reply to: Windows XP system just randomly freezes, what’s causing this? by Lee Koo (ADMIN)
Perhaps Microsoft wants you to buy Vista. XP has run fine for the last seven years and now after many upgrades it is acting funny, I find it odd that every time they put out a new system the old one starts acting weird.
Dell laptop freezing
by jms64--2008 - 12/5/08 7:46 PM In reply to: Windows XP system just randomly freezes, what’s causing this? by Lee Koo (ADMIN)
I too have a Dell (Latitude) and have experienced it just seeming to freeze. I tried everything (CCleaner, Norton, Housecall, etc.) but it still happened. I finally called Dell...it was the motherboard. As she was running through the house, my dog got tangled in the electrical cord and pulled the computer off the coffee table, apparently damaging the motherboard. Once the motherboard was replaced it didn't happen again...until it was dropped again! Yes, thank goodness for warranties! As long as it is not dropped, it does not freeze.
The real problem and the real solution
by champion77 - 12/5/08 8:19 PM In reply to: Windows XP system just randomly freezes, what’s causing this? by Lee Koo (ADMIN)
The real problem is it's Windows. The best solution is get a Mac (That's why I am a Mac).
Or it could be a memory problem (I installed bad memory in my Mac once, and it started crashing. I replaced the bad memory, and have never crashed since. And my on-board memory went bad on my Toshiba Satellite Windows PC- that baby's now junk!).
Run Spybot Search and Destroy, because spyware is a huge culprit for slowing down and/or freezing your computer. Run Hijack this if you still have problems.
Don't just get any spyware remover, as many of them are rogue, and will instead install their own spyware on your computer.
Get a really good antivirus program. Avast is free, and it works great and is the fastest of all the apps out. But the best one in my opinion is Kaspersky. It is around $60 and all its updates are free. No annual repurchases, as opposed to Norton Antivirus or MacAfee.
Also, find a registry cleaner that will delete unnecessary files out of your registry.
Google "speed up your pc" and find a good site to learn how to improve its performance. One tip is to click start, run, and type in "msconfig." You then can click on the start up and services tabs and find out all the programs and services running in the background. You may have many of these hogging your memory. But don't just start clicking! Get hold of a good article that will help you decide which services to stop and start up items to disable.
Here's a good CNET article on Speeding up your PC: http://reviews.cnet.com/4520-10165_7-5554402-1.html
Finally, stay away from porn sites, rogue download sites, and other suspect places. Uninstall Limewire, as it and other P2P apps are extremely unsafe. You can easily get a virus there! Ditch Internet Explorer, Opera, etc, and get Mozilla Firefox and use that. It is the safest browser and even has an add-on called "Web Of Trust.," which tells you how trusted the address you visit possibly is. It is not completely foolproof, but it works great. Another add-on it has is Stealther. It lets you surf anonymously. It also has redirect removal to help keep you going where you want and not end up somewhere else.
Good Luck! 
Windows XP freezes up
by sirdrakejr - 12/5/08 8:20 PM In reply to: Windows XP system just randomly freezes, what’s causing this? by Lee Koo (ADMIN)
I have read through all the responses but none answered as I would. Mine did the same thing and never seemed to have a "rhyme or reason" for it. When the thing sent a message to MS about it they always said no reason found. There was a reason and I fixed it.
It was my ATI video board. I needed to reload the driver and update it for the Radeon 340IGP board that was in my laptop. After going to both HP and ATI, I finally found the driver I needed and also the monitor for the ATI Wondercard. Now it doesn't fail and warms me if I am getting close to over driving the board. I also added more RAM to my laptop and allowed more usage for the ATI video requirement. All that made a real difference. Some high powered games that require a lot of video memory will not play. One in particular is the Tiger Woods Golf game. It uses a LOT of memory for it's backgrounds, etc. Now I don't get the blue screen like I did once or twice every day! Maybe your video card/board is under powered for what you are trying to do.
Frank
Windows xp randonmly freezes
by armando_cruz99 - 12/5/08 8:43 PM In reply to: Windows XP system just randomly freezes, what’s causing this? by Lee Koo (ADMIN)
Try to scan your computer with the freeware available here: http://www.malwarebytes.org/
In my job many computer get the same simptom and when we scanned the PC's had virus sometthing like Hijack which causes the computer to freeze and Maccafe did not detect it
Hope this helps
Regards
AC-DJ
Windows xp randonmly freezes
by Basil[BC] - 12/5/08 9:17 PM In reply to: Windows xp randonmly freezes by armando_cruz99I never read all the post so I don't know if anyone told you to clean out you registry or not. CCleaner has a good registry cleaner all will as a better way of cleaning old junk off your computer. Also you might want to defrag your hardrive. Defragger is good.
Both CCleaner and Defragger are free programs that do a dam good job.
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