Windows XP forum: Windows XP system just randomly freezes, whats causing this?

I've had a similiar problem with Norton Internet Security and PCTools.
I found that PCTools has a slight problem working and playing
together with others.My symptom was the computer would reboot and then say Windows has recovered from a serious error.By disabling PCTools I avoided the problem and I've reported it to PCTools who have elevated it to the engineering level. In the meantime I suggest that you disable PCTools and launch it manually when you need it.

I have a HP Laptop Pavillion with WIN XP SVCPK3. It goes blue screen and dumps physical memory randomly. I reboot it, it works for a short time then goes blue again. I've emailed HP and Microsoft on this problem and their expedient reply is "go get it fixed by an authorized repair facility". In frustration, I was forced to re-load the operating system from scratch as I had no files or documents that I needed to save and the restore point didn't work. I couldn't do that either. HELP!

Too may instructions, too few instructors. Windows knows no escape. It tries to process all things all the time but, it's not the ADHD software we all seem to need. It just can't do it all. Most times you have no idea all the things it's trying to do & I'm not certian it does either.

It could be that a process that Windows is running is causing the PC to hang untill the issue is resolved. That's the easy part, the hard part is finding which process is hanging the system. I had a similar problem on a desktop, by using task manager or Process Explorer (www.sysinternals.com) I found my problem was inetinfo.exe. I killed the process and restarted it, for my problem this corrected the issue. To resolve your issue, some detective work will be required. Using the Processes tab on Task Manager gives you a simplified view of whats running, by using Process Explorer you get a much more detailed view. As mentioned before there could be some serious detective work involved(I've done this on an XP machine, never tried it on Vista...yet). Task Manager will NOT let you kill a process critical to Windows, where Process Explorer might, you can use both progs concurrently or Process Explorer can be set up to replace Task Manager(this switch IS reversible in Process Explorer). A basic understanding of Windows processes might be helpfull. If your unsure, check the Microsoft web site (kb pages, tech web, etc.) by doing a search to find out what the process does (copy the process name [usually ending in *.exe] into the MS site's search window. When the process is found, you can either kill it or restart it, depending on how critical it is to windows.

First try using a program called "C Cleaner" it helps by cleaning out junk files that are left behind by other applications and it helps clean up windows registry. Second, scan for spyware. Use a couple of different programs to do this. As some spyware removers are better in removing certain types of spyware. "Hijack This" is a very good program you can use to see what services and processes are running on your PC at any given time. Do a search to make sure you use it correctly. If you misuse "Hijack This" it can make your PC worse.

It is Windows!!!
I am not being a smart a**.
OR it could be low memory resources.

I figured if I read down far enough I'd find someone singing the praises of the "trouble-free" MAC !! Give us a break will you - if the MAC had to do half as much as the PC it would explode. You'd think a proprietary system would be perfect - NOT!!!

There's a reason why the MAC still hasn't broken the double digit mark in market share while the Windows PC holds a 90% share. The world plays on a MAC and works on a PC.

You may want to consider purchasing a larger laptop hard drive. Once you start getting under 50% of capacity, you can have issues.
Also, I would go to windowsupdate.com or Dell's web site and make sure you have every current update for Windows and other products.

I would also download the following programs:

AdAware
Hijack This
Spybot Search and Destroy

Once you download and install those programs, they should be able to tell you if you have spyware, malware, or other bad stuff on your PC.

McAfee is good for detecting viruses.

You should also consider purchasing Diskkeeper for your PC, It is a great product for keeping your PC and defragmented as possible.

The only product out of these 4 you would have to pay for is Diskeeper.

Good luck

Lou Lange
Manchester, CT

So you're saying if my 1TB drive goes below 400GB free space I'll have problems? Rubbish...

This is a VERY difficult problem to diagnose because so many things can cause it. Usually, you do this by elimination, but it's even more difficult in a laptop because you can't substitute "known good" parts when dealing with a laptop.

First thing: Download Memtest or Memtest86 (memory diagnostics) and run them. This is easy to do and quick and is a good candidate for a possible cause. You want to run quite a few passes (may take hours or even overnight). You MUST get ZERO errors. If memtest freezes up, then you KNOW it's a hardware problem and not a software problem (that is not an insignificant point). Other than new memory, almost all other hardware problems will have to involve the manufacturer or MAJOR new parts (e.g. motherboard).

If that passes (or even if it fails) ... CPU overheating is a common problem in laptops. The cooling systems clog up with dust, hair, etc. These can be cleaned but the procedure varies by model (this happens on desktops also but it's more obvious and easier to deal with). Disassembly of the laptop may be required to do a complete cleaning, but a "good enough" job MAY be possible without disassembly. The primary tool is a can of compressed air.

On a desktop, the power supply would be my next suspect, but on a laptop the supply in question (which is NOT the AC adapter) is part of the motherboard.

At this point, especially on a laptop, the HARDWARE options begin to point to the motherboard. This is, however, usually impossible to deal with if the laptop is out of warranty (it will often cost as much as a new laptop).

That leaves the software causes, of which there are many. The only practical way to attack software causes is to wipe the hard drive and reinstall windows. That is an involved and difficult process, and I actually suggest that you do this on a different hard drive (if necessary, consider buying a small (possibly used) hard drive cheap to do this on). If the new installation doesn't freeze, you can presume that it's a software issue.

Barry Watzman

click start, click run type prefetch, select all and then delete all the files,click start, click run type temp, select all and then delete all the files,click start, click run type % temp%, select all and then delete all the files,click start, click run type msconfig, under startup tab, select disable all and then restart the computer, that would do, if still is the problem, run the memory test, or else simply, reseat the hdd data and power cables, and reseat the memory, possible clean with a soft cloth, donot use canned air, or any liquid cleaner, click start->allprograms->accessories->system tools->system restore, and restore the computer to an earlier date,say to some date in the early november, with 2 gb ram and winxp, the computer would work fine, being a dell technician i would recommend these, also possible run ccleaner, note down which application mostly causes the system to freeze, note down when it actually happens and post the same, open task manager and under process tab find which application is taking up too much memory and then post the same, if you have doubts on how to do the above procedures, visit http://screenshots.leeindy.com/msconfig_general.shtml

I realize you posted this a long time ago, but i found your suggestions and ran a diagnostic test on my laptop. It came back with Error Cod 0142, Hard Drive 0 test unsuccessful. Status 79. Any help and can give me?

Try using a usb cooler under your 1501. I had a 1501 do the same thing and found it was getting too warm. Hope this helps.

It may be a device driver problem: try starting your system in safe mode (press F8 while booting and choose "safe mode" from the boot menu), with just the minimal set of drivers loaded. If you can run the system for a decent length of time in safe mode, try rebooting back into normal mode and disabling your device drivers from "My Computer" properties, one by one, until you find any driver that's causing the problem. Don't forget to re-enable the drivers which *weren't* causing the problem, afterwards!

If this doesn't help, then check the Windows Task Manager (press CTRL-ALT-DEL together, once) and select the "Processes" tab to see if there's something running in the background which is using a lot of your processor power (more than [roughly] 80% of processor is usually a problem if it's doing it for a long time). If so, right-click on it and choose "end process" to kill the offending program.

Also, you can check the programs which are running at startup by choosing "Run" from the start menu and then typing "msconfig" in the box which appears. Go to the "startup" tab and then scroll through the list of programs which are loaded at startup. If there are any which you don't recognise, then try searching for them by Googling the name of the program file. If you find anything which isn't necessary, then disable it.

One more thing which may cause problems is conflicts between programs, eg having 2 lots of antivirus software running simultaneously, or a firewall that doesn't agree with your antivirus. You can try turning off your security software to see if this helps, but always make sure you have scanned your computer for viruses before switching the antivirus program off, AND *ALWAYS* MAKE SURE YOU ARE NOT CONNECTED TO THE INTERNET IF YOU HAVE YOUR FIREWALL OR ANTIVIRUS SOFTWARE SWITCHED OFF!!!

Hope this is of help.

Depending on the industry you are in, different terminology can be used for the same phenomenon; Your screen freezes up. This is not an easy answer. Most of time it's poor quality from the PC manufacturer. I have dealt with these issues all of time. It could be from the following:

1. Hardware problem related to the CPU on how it executes certain instructions.
2. Software problem in the BIOS.
3. Heat related issue. Internals get too hot and the CPU begins to act flakey, system freezes.

For number 1 you can't really do anything about it. It's just poor quality from the chip manfacturer (Intel/AMD)that the PC manufacturer failed to Identify. Sometimes the CPU manufacturer ship substandard CPU chips to the PC manufacturer that contain errors where these freezes can occur.

For 2 check if your PC manufacturer has an update to the BIOS and see if you can reload the latest version. Most of the time it's just flashing the BIOS. Sometimes this can correct the problem.

For 3, heat. My Toshiba freezes when it doesn't get enough ventilation. So I purchased a little stand with a fan and my laptop not longer freezes. You can aquire these little built-in fan-stands at Best-Buy. Make sure your laptop gets plenty of ventiltion. Determine if there are any fans in the laptop and make sure they are not obstructed.

There could be other issues that could cause the freeze ups but the 3 above seems to be to be the most prevelant based on my experience. I have Windows Vista in my HP laptop and it never freezes. I don't think Vista is the cuprit unless you load it on to an old PC/laptop. Vista requires at leaast 2Gbytes of RAM memory.