Intermitent hangs

I am running XP Pro and it has started to intermitently hang, sometimes the mouse (microsoft optical) will stop working but the PC is still running (I've tried an ordinary mouse with no change) and other times it will hang with the h/disk Led on solid or another time it will lock up with it off. I have tried doing a disk copy to another h/disk and running from that but still the same.
Some times it can go for hours with no problem but if I do something like a Norton Antivirus Scan it will always lock up before the end, always in different places.
How do I find out what is causing this?
Regards Paul

 

Every so often my comp has freezes- no response from keyboard or mouse. I reset CMOS and all is well again for weeks or months.
To do this, shut down and UNPLUG the computer, take the case off, disconnect the cables from the power supply to the motherboard, move the jumper pin to the secondary position (consult your mobo manual) take a deep breath, and retrace your steps backwards. Before I stumbled on to this solution, I tried everything to correct the problem- even reinstalled XP twice. AdAware used to lock my computer all the time- but mostly it was random- even the screensaver would freeze. Don't know if this will help you, but it has worked for me. YMMV

Johanna

 

The event viewer has nothing in system and most time nothing in the applications, when it does have an error in applications it seems to be random and nothing to do with what was running at the time.
I have done the system clean up but still getting random hangs, the last, the mouse still worked but I could not open anthing but nothing in event viewer.
I have also tried burning in the latest Bios update and have also installed the latest graphis drivers.
I ran a memory test all last night with no errors.
Any one with any futher help please?

 

If you have two memeory sticks, take one out at a time and see if that makes any difference. There is also a memeory diagnostic you can try available here. It's the MS one, is that what you used?

If you suspect heat to be an issue, try Motherboard Monitor . It is also freeware.

If your house has power fluctuations "brownouts" or you have had an electrical surge (lightning can come through phone and cable lines, as well as power, you may want to inspect your motherboard for damage. A UPS can help to prevent this kind of damage.

When your cursor freezes, are you still able to execute keyboard commands, or must you reboot? Does the computer boot correctly afterwards? The freezes I had drove me crazy, and I know how frustrating troubleshooting them can be, with so many variables. If you can supply any more details, it may help with a diagnosis.

Cheers from Ohio!
Johanna

 

I only have one memory dim. I don't get any power fluctuations here. I am not suspecting a hardware problem because the system never hangs when I am running Dos doing things like large disc copy's. One funny I get is that in Bios I have it set to boot with numlock off which it does but soon after XP starts it switches it on?
When the cursor freezes I can still use keyboard commands it will then reboot ok.

 

Had a similar experience with XP Home - turned out it was some glitch in the screen saver for the united devices computer sharing. Switced to a different screen saver and the problem ended.

 

That has sorted out the numlock quirk thanks.
I do not have zone alarm and I do not have a screen saver.
The PC locks up when it is working hard, ie if I am using word processing or browsing the web it seems fine but if I run something like a Norton antivirus scan on my C drive it never gets to the end without locking up but in different places.

 

Paul - your problem certainly does smell like a hardware issue of some sort.

I haven't read thru Mike's Cleanup thing in a while and am just too dang lazy to do it now so - did you try start~run~cmd and then chkdsk /r to get a complete drive scan including surface check?

Also - memory problems will frequently not show up with the various memory testers. I don't savvy hardware nearly well enough to have a clue why but it certainly happens. Since you only have one stick, if the chkdsk doesn't help, you might want to consider getting a 2nd stick and replacing the one you have in now to see if the problem goes away. Worst case, you wind up with more memory and a faster PC.

 

I have tried all the suggestions with no luck, I have just replaced the memory Dim but still get the lockups.
If I reinstall Windows on top of the one I have will I have to redo all the updates and service packs? This is the only thing I can think of to try as there never is anything in the eventlog to give me a clue.

 

If you opt for a reinstall, the easiest way to do the updates again is to download them from the Windows Update catalog and burn them to a cd. You can even slipstream the Service Packs with your XP cd. Doing a reinstall might help, (who knows at this point?) but I still think you have a hardware issue or conflict of some sort-not an XP problem. If you decide to reinstall, and still have the freezes, at least that will rule out Windows as the problem. Arie wrote a helpful step by step Slipstream tutorial, and this site explains clean installs well. HTH

Johanna