My computer keeps freezing up lately

[JerseygirlCT]

Totally - to the point that I have to power it down and start up again.

I have recently connected an external hard drive - usb connection, just a drive; I've got to copy and paste what I want backed up to it. So no software continually updating.

It's an HP pavilion - those small desktops. I usually use Firefox, which has been slow. Recently dumped the Ad-aware I had on, b/c that was chewing up so much memory. Use AVG and Malwarebytes and Spyware Terminator. Nothing found on any of them.

The computer is 4.5 years old - is this just a sign of a problem with the HD? Something I can do about that? (I mean, other than getting the backup drive to store what I want to keep on in case).

Ideas, suggestion, anything at all gratefully received!

[canetoad]

1. Could be a number of things

I'd start with a clean up and defrag of hard drive. IObit defrag is good. Have you much space left on the drive? If it's been four and a half years without a fresh install of windows, that's what I'd be doing first.

Edit to add:
Try running disk check. Here's what you need to do;
1. Open My Computer
2. Right click C drive, select properties
3. Select Tools tab
4. Top option is Error Checking, select check now
5. Tick both boxes in the Check disk dialogue and press start.

You will get a message that it needs to be done on reboot, so say OK and reboot. You will get a blue screen and can watch the progress. It can take a while, so set some time aside.

[JerseygirlCT]

4. Thanks, Canetoad - I'll try that

reinstalling Windows sounds a little scary to me - I've never tried that. But I'll start with your defrag and error check suggestions.

Is the iobit better than the defrag that comes with windows?

[canetoad]

6. I think the windows defrag

is quite efficient but there's that old problem of needing to disable screensavers etc. IObit Smart Defrag works pretty quickly and reliably with no problems in my experience.

[JerseygirlCT]

7. I just downloaded it and am running it now.

It sure does move more quickly than the windows version!

And it looks like there were plenty there were fragmented.

I've also unhooked the external hard drive - most of the problems started after I hooked that up. I wanted it for backup, so I'm thinking I'll hook it up when I want to add anything new to backup, and otherwise leave it unconnected. Does that make any sense to you?

[JerseygirlCT]

8. Ok, that's interesting

it said nothing needed defragging...

On to the next idea!

[canetoad]

9. Maybe look in another direction then

If the problems started with using the USB drive. Is it possible that your desktop has USB 1.1 and the drive is USB 2.0? If the computer is 5 yrs old it's unlikely but possible.

Does the usb drive have it's own power supply or does it run off the computer? This could be a factor, once again depending on other things such as size of computer power supply, number of devices hanging off it etc.

If you have a few bucks to spare maybe a powered USB hub, with the usb drive plugged into it will help. Sorry I seem like throwing ideas into the wind here, it's kinda hard to diagnose without seeing!

[JerseygirlCT]

10. No, thank you!

I think I had a usb hub around somewhere - using it a while ago for an external that my son had on his (old) computer. But if that plugs right into the computer's usb, that doesn't help things, does it?

I'll have to look at the back of the machine to see if it's a 2.0. The one on the front is, but I try to leave that free for all the other stuff you need to plug in occasionally.

Stupid, stupid question (I apologize) but how would a usb drive not run off the computer? Doesn't it have to be connected?

[lazarus]

11. it would use the USB for data transfer

but not for power. It plugs into the wall for power. Not all USB hubs are self-powered, but some are.

[canetoad]

12. Lazarus is right

But if that plugs right into the computer's usb, that doesn't help things, does it?

It wouldn't if it's just a standard hub, but if it has its own power supply that plugs into a wall outlet it may. Lazarus is right. Some things you can just plug into a USB port and they work (flash drive, keyboard, mouse) and other things need a seperate connection to the wall power outlet such as printers, external hard drives etc.

[JerseygirlCT]

13. I see

Thank you both. Something to try, for sure.

[pokerfan]

2. Try a LiveCD of anything

I'd recommend Linux Mint but there are many others. Boot from the CD and select 'try without installing.'



You should be able to run Firefox (included) and surf the web, play media, etc. You just won't be able to save anything including any changes to the settings as LiveCDs offer no "persistence" as it's running from the optical drive. Now, it will be slow to load programs (CD speeds being much slower than hard drives) but once loaded, it should run reasonably fast from memory. If the troubles (freezing up) follow then you may have a hardware problem.

[EvolveOrConvolve]

3. Check your event viewer to see if there are any errors being thrown

That may give you a clue as to the source of the hardware problem.

To open Event Viewer in XP or Vista, click Start->Control Panel->Administrative Tools->Event Viewer.

[JerseygirlCT]

5. I've looked at the event viewer as you suggested

there were quite a lot of entries - most marked "information", but a few errors. The only problem is that I can't understand what they say - and googling gets me to information that probably makes a ton of sense to smart computer people, but leaves me puzzled!

Edited b/c I forgot to say thank you - THANK YOU!

[EvolveOrConvolve]

16. Could you post a couple of the errors?

The description and the text would be helpful.

[struggle4progress]

14. pokerfan's suggestion to try a live cd may be useful:

a live cd, for example, may allow you to check SMART status of your harddrive

in ubuntu 9.10 you boot off the cd without installation then go through the menus

System >> Administration >> Disk Utility

and select extended test

i just tried this on an old HP ("disk is healthy")

you also may be able to run similar tests through your BIOS

similarly many live cds will give you an option to run extensive memory tests

[BlueJazz]

15. I'm going to guess on this one. It's either your Memory or Power Supply.

A lot of the old HP's came with only a 200 watt PS that couldn't handle much more than what the stock computer came with.. :)

[RoyGBiv]

17. PS is my guess ...

I've seen that kind of thing happen a lot when people start plugging peripherals into USB ports.

[hobbit709]

18. Yep, most HP's have very little headroom on power.

[JerseygirlCT]

19. I think you're right

I disconnected the external HD yesterday. No freezes since.

Since I'm just using it to park stuff on as a backup (photos, music, etc.) and it doesn't automatically b/u, there's no reason to keep it attached. I'll risk a few minutes here and there when I need to copy something new over to it.

And in the meantime, look into a USB hub that connects to the power directly, not via the computer.

THANK YOU ALL!

[JerseygirlCT]

20. Well, I guess that didn't help after all...

since I'm still experiencing total freeze-ups.

If I look in the event viewer, there are a number of warnings and errors, but I'm afraid I can't make heads or tails of any of them.

I know this computer had to have the MB replaced a little less than a year in - when still under warranty. But since then, no problems with that - that I know of, anyway.

It's happening quite often now. And if I leave the machine, it puts itself to sleep - but I cannot wake it - have to hit the power button and hold it. (And I know that's not good...)

Any other thoughts? I'm not a super-techie, and I'm stumped!

[EvolveOrConvolve]

26. Do the freezes only happen when the computer goes to sleep?

If so, check your hard drive space to see if you're running low. When a computer goes to sleep, all the contents of memory are stored on the hard drive, and if there isn't enough space on it, you may experience problems.

Even if that's not the only time you get freezes on the computer, you could try disabling sleep mode.

To do that:
1. Right-click the desktop and select properties
2. Click on the Screen Saver tab
3. Turn off the screen saver (just select None from the drop-down box)
4. Click on the button for power options
5. Go through each tab and make sure that all sleep/hibernation modes are turned off

The next time a freeze occurs, reboot the computer and immediately go to event viewer. Find any red errors that occurred right before the freeze-up. Double click them and you can get to more detailed information. Post some of that here, and I may be able to figure some of it out.

[JerseygirlCT]

27. Ok, this is strange

I wanted to disable the sleep mode, as you suggested. Twice, as I right-clicked on the desktop, everything froze.

If I open event viewer, I don't see any recent warnings - especially from right before things froze up today. Best I can find is a warning from 15 minutes ago - TCIP ID 4226

Event Type: Warning
Event Source: Tcpip
Event Category: None
Event ID: 4226
Date: 5/18/2010
Time: 3:33:47 PM
User: N/A
Computer: YOUR-27E1513D96
Description:
TCP/IP has reached the security limit imposed on the number of concurrent TCP connect attempts.

For more information, see Help and Support Center at http://go.microsoft.com/fwlink/events.asp.
Data:
0000: 00 00 00 00 01 00 54 00 ......T.
0008: 00 00 00 00 82 10 00 80 ....‚..€
0010: 01 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 ........
0018: 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 ........
0020: 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 ........


The only other thing I had open when I attempted to right-click on the desktop was google chrome, with your message displayed.

My hard drive should have plenty of space - says I'm using 59gigs and have 82 free.

Could it be a memory problem? How would I find out?

ETA: Doesn't only freeze when it goes to sleep. There isn't any pattern to it that I've been able to detect.

[JerseygirlCT]

28. 3rd time, NOT a charm

Just did it again, again when I attempted to right-click on the desktop.

Weirdness.

[JerseygirlCT]

31. Curiouser and curiouser

Tried to modify things going through the control panel instead of the desktop. Got "display" open, clicked on screen saver, chose "none" and...

Hourglass and freeze again.

The only other thing that has seemed to dependably freeze things was Google Earth, which I took off - much to my grade-schooler's dismay.

Otherwise, no pattern I can discern.

ARRGHHH!

[Jersey Devil]

21. Are you running Malwarebytes?

My computer was doing the same thing and I found out the culprit was Malwarebytes. There are several discussions about it on their forum. I took it out and my computer hasn't frozen up since.

[hobbit709]

22. It's never froze up any of my computers.

[JerseygirlCT]

29. Really?

Yes, I am. Installed that a year or so ago at someone's suggestion here - and it caught a critter than others didn't and solved the problem.

It's not set to run automatically or anything though.

[canetoad]

23. oooh, bit of thread necromancy here

And you still have the same problem. Not the external drive, not fragmented HDD. Could be some exotic virus or trogan - they've been know to freeze machines but on the other hand you are running Malwarebytes.

Can you hear the drive working? Have a look in the task manager, performance tab and see if your hard drive is working at full capacity much of the time.

Could be a memory chip thats become a bit unseated, or something else inside that's come slightly loose. I'm just sort of thinking aloud here. It must be driving you mad. You could open it up and very carefully press them into their slots, same with the drive connectors.

AVG used to be a good program but nowadays it's pretty bloated and just too....busy all the time. Could be the problem. Maybe try starting the computer in safe mode (usually tap F8 as it boots, then use arrows and enter to select options). Try using say, a word processing proggie or something. See if it freezes in safe mode when it doesn't in ordinary mode. That would suggest software is causing it.

Good luck.

[JerseygirlCT]

30. Thanks, I'll give that a shot.

It's one of those wee little desktop machines - nice in terms of taking up space, but it'll be fun trying to squeeze my way in to check on the memory seating, etc.!

Perhaps tomorrow I'll be feeling brave.

[lazarus]

24. a thought I just had

my daughter's laptop was freezing up a lot. Turns out, it was overheating and she ended up having to replace the HDD. Check to make sure your fan is running. You probably have at least two: one on the CPU, and one on the case.

[Egnever]

25. Not sure if you are still experiencing these freeze ups but...

My suggestion is to try disabling startup Items. Sometimes software can conflict and cause these freezes.

You can do this easily by clicking on your start menu then run then type msconfig in the box. In the window that apears under selective startup take the check mark out of load startup items. It will force a reboot. Try running that way for a while and see if the freezes go away. If they do you have found your problem if they continue you can always go back and put the check back in the box to return to normal operations.

[JerseygirlCT]

32. Just wanted to come back to say

I think I installed the Windows update to SP3 shortly before these problems started. (It didn't click for quite a while that that had happened. I knew it was around when I got the external HD. But of course, one reason I got that was all the big scary warnings about the SP3 updates and I wanted to be able to back everything up first).

Since then, there have been some other auto updates, and it seems to be a bit more stable.

So... maybe this is a Windows thing and not my particular computer.

Thanks again, everyone, for your help - you were so very helpful!