And more stupid questions on a freezing computer

[JerseygirlCT]

I've noticed lately (as I still keep trying to diagnose this) that a few things cause a freeze every time:

Youtube

videos (from home - just trying to load)

right-clicking on the desktop

Running the Intel driver update utility.


Anyone able to see a pattern in these tea leaves?

[ohheckyeah]

1. I was having similar trouble with

Firefox 3.6.8 until I disabled the plugin container.

http://forums.mozillazine.org/viewtopic.php?f=38&t=1930253&sid=5f34d4c82abbc5226f2a227b5010f832&start=15

[canetoad]

2. The only pattern

is they don't seem to be connected to each other.

This is not meant to be off-putting, but there are too many causes of computer freeze (both hardware & software) to list. Here are some:

Bad or insufficient RAM
Video problems
Drivers - corrupted or missing
Bad Motherboard (or a component)
Low System Resources
Software incompatibilities/corrupt programs
Virus/Trojan/Malware
Overheating
Full hard drive
Fragmentation
Faulty I/O devices
CPU
Adding new devices

Going about diagnosing and fixing your freezes depends on your own level of expertise and comfort in digging around in the machines insides, being prepared to reformat and reload Windows etc.

[JerseygirlCT]

3. Thanks, Canetoad

I think it's just my nature to want to see a pattern.

Your list does help, though, because I think I can rule out some.

Gah. I'm thinking what I need to do is win a little lottery money and buy a new one altogether!

[canetoad]

5. One way you could (almost) rule out many problems

is start your machine in safe mode (tap F8 as soon as the computer boots). Select Safe Mode with Networking from the choices and run it for a while like that.

OK, so you will have giant writing and it will be a pain in the neck, but if you can get onto the net, try YouTube, try right clicking things and in general give the machine a good workout of all the things that normally causes it to freeze. If it still freezes, I'd bet money on it being a hardware problem. Wouldn't bet my house on it, as it may be a Windows fault that still shows up in safe mode.

If there are no freezes in safe mode then you can pretty well say it is a software problem. I know this doesn't narrow it down much, but it's a start :)

[JerseygirlCT]

6. That's a great start - I'll try it

It all seemed to start happening after I downloaded SP3. So it could be a Windows issue - or one connected to Windows, anyway... Maybe I should have left well enough alone at SP2.

Thanks!

[canetoad]

8. Wow, that bit of information says a lot

Do you happen to have an AMD processor? XP SP3 can be the kiss of death for this. There is a patch, but unfortunately it must be applied before installing SP3.

Having said that, I used the patch and installed SP 3 on a machine with an AMD 64bit processor and it was a total disaster. I ended up reloading XP SP2 and the machine runs perfectly.

You may be able to remove SP3. Go to control panel/add or remove programs.

At the top is a little tick box labelled 'Show Updates'. Tick that and ...possibly, SP3 will appear on your list so you can remove it. I say possible because I don't have an AMD machine with SP 3 on it to tell you definitively!

I've seen a lot of comment about SP3 and have personal experience of how it improves performance and stability on some machines while totally fucking up others.

[JerseygirlCT]

9. Celeron M

I can't swear that there was an immediate change after updating to SP3. It's hard to remember back.

Thinking back, I must have had some suspicion of trouble, b/c I bought the external HD I got so I could be sure to back up stuff I might want before doing the update. (All the warning language on the update scared me!)

But certainly since then, the problem has been much more pronounced.

[JerseygirlCT]

13. So I can find SP3 on the list when I tick the box.

Does that mean rolling it back is as easy as removing it there? Does it overwrite things in SP2 that I'd need?

Sorry for all the questions. I'm really not that stupid, just a bit out of my element here!

[JerseygirlCT]

11. So Canetoad

In safe mode I could access Youtube without a crash. Right click on the desktop, even get the Intel Driver Update utility to start (I didn't put it all the way through as I'd selected "user" instead of "admin" when starting safe mode). I hadn't been able to do any of the above recently without an instant crash.

So I guess it's good news, except for the mystery part. I just have to figure out what's doing it!

Thanks for that suggestion, though - it's gotten me a fair way farther along this journey!

[canetoad]

14. The more you write

The more I think that removing SP3 might solve your problems. That's really interesting that there were no freezes in safe mode. Windows only loads the minimum drivers, dlls etc to run and this probably rules out a hardware problem.

As far as removing SP3, Microsoft seems to think you can do it. See here: http://support.microsoft.com/kb/950249
It looks complicated but if you read through carefully, all you need to know is there.

I seem to recall you saying you had a recovery partition (HP computer?). Do you have the disks made to reload, just in case it's necessary? I'd also back up any valuable files before trying to remove SP3 - just in case :)

[JerseygirlCT]

15. When I first got and set up the computer, they had me make a bunch

of disks - is that what you're talking about. I think it took 12 cds!

And before I attempted SP3, I got the external HD and stuck anything I could think of that I'd need on there - music, photos, old emails and documents... that sort of thing. So I should be ok.

Maybe I will attempt on the weekend and after sufficient caffeine, lol!

You've been such a huge help - thank you so much!

[Berserker]

4. Try this

YouTube- Un-install flash player and re-install go to flashplayer and get the un-install then re-install it.
Install and use Ccleaner everyday.
install and use comodo registry cleaner.
you will find these on google.

[JerseygirlCT]

7. Thanks -

I'll try the flash player thing.

I use CCleaner (which is fun to use. Or am I just hopelessly nerdy?) and the registry cleaner that CCleaner seemed to send me to. (Advanced System Care)

Thanks!

[EvolveOrConvolve]

10. Are there any errors in the error logs that look suspicious?

You'll find it under Control Panel->Administrative Tools->Event Viewer.

[JerseygirlCT]

12. The last application error was

event id 1000, faulting application hpbootop.exe. Otherwise, most aren't warnings or errors.

In system, I do see one warning repeated with some regularity: TCP/IP

Event Type: Warning
Event Source: Tcpip
Event Category: None
Event ID: 4226
Date: 7/29/2010
Time: 8:53:30 PM
User: N/A
Computer: YOUR-27E1513D96
Description:
TCP/IP has reached the security limit imposed on the number of concurrent TCP connect attempts.


Not sure I understand that, and the times of these don't necessarily correspond to when the system freezes up on me.