512 ram, 1.4 ghz and still stalling for up to 20 seconds at a time!

occasionally this happens, and im wondering why.

when i go into jasc paint shop and go to open a file (browse window), or even just go to run and then browse.. and then attempt to see the contents of My Documents within the browse window of the program, the whole computer stalls (pretty much system wide. although i still can move windows, resize them, etc.. i cannot use any programs that are currently running, nor launch new ones. for example aol instant messenger doesnt respond, the program attempting to list file contents does not respond, and if i try to open a browser window with a website nothing happens during the freeze. but after between 8-20 secs, the program finally shows the contents of the my documents folder and simutaniously all the programs come back to life, executing all the commands i asked for while it was frozen very quickly. what is going on and how can i stop this? any suggestions to further diagnosis the problem? seems to happen after a reboot and then not again until its rebooted again. only OCCASIONALLY it does it again without a reboot

edit* sometimes when the freeze occurs (just did it 2 minutes ago) no other programs are affected. only the one trying to list contents of my documents folder.

 

Hello SKEL,

If you haven't tried, start subtracting whats running alongside jasc one at a time. You might find that there is a conflict with some other software that's running

There is always the possibility that the jasc installation is corrupt in some way - might try uninstall/reinstall - or there is a bug in jasc.

Regards - Charles

 

i tried uninstalling and reinstalling.. not solved. i also noticed this problem happens in other programs and also in windows own run dialog browse window. this leads me to believe its not a software specific problem. i check my running processes regularly looking for spyware or the like. the only processes running are those required by windows. i also notice that the only program using cpu time during the freeze is the current program, nothing else (everything at 0)

 

Hi SKEL,

Have you looked in the event log when this occurs?

Right click My Computer > Manage > and expand the Event veiwer and look under the three types of event logging.

Regards - Charles

 

Hi SKEL924.

I have the exact same problem.

I'm running Windows XP, SP1, some security updates, not many. I don't think it's Paint Shop. I have that. Mine freezes at various time but not often. Sometimes it will do it 2 or 3 times in a 1-hour session of anything running. Sometimes not for a week or two.

I've tried tracking everything possible and have not been able to get any kind of a handle on it. I don't want to format and reinstall because I would like to identify this in case it crops up on someone else's machine.

It feels like the CPU is complete loaded up and nothing else can run. I can start dos windows, etc. Nothing happens til it's through then every thing runs at once so it is collecting keystrokes, mouse clicks, etc. It feels like it can't run or do stuff because the CPU is busy but I can't pin it down.

I don't think it's anything but XP doing it. Probably waiting for some network status to come up or clear. I think it's going through a timeout built into XP for something. Just can't figure it out yet.

Giles

 

When you guys, Skel & Giles, say "freeze ", does your cursor still move? Or do you just mean an extended delay?

Johanna

 

Hi Johanna.

This is a neat problem. I'm having a great time trying to crack it.

The cursor moves as normal and everything works as normal except you can't run a new program or close a program, etc.

If you initiate a simple task it will find an opening and complete the task. If you try a complicated task like running another program it can't do it. I'm sure portions of the task are being completed, just not enough to actually get the program fully loaded up and ran.

Seems like the CPU is full up like you're downloading something on a 56K dialup and the download is running at 5.2 and nothing can be done up or down on the internet because the modem is so busy. That's the impression it leaves when it happens. Few seconds later and everything completes and runs as normal.

Mine doesn't happen a lot and it can happen at any time with any program. Sometimes mine does it 2 or 3 times in an hour. Sometimes not for a few days.

As I mentioned, I get the feeling XP is waiting for a status or a status to clear. For example, waiting for a network connection to come up and it never does so it times out and everything starts to work again.

Giles

 

Okay, so it's a delay, not a freeze. That happens a lot on our church network (5 comps on a Home XP server) and exactly as you describe. I have been blaming it on Home, and being a network, but maybe it's a bug in XP? On Pro, I have never had that delay or false load happen. Pro can handle whatever I throw at it, except if it freezes, then I hit the button and reboot, 'cause it ain't coming back. Are you on networks? Do you use routers? Sometimes, if I get too aggravated at the church, I go in the main office and reboot the server. No one ever reboots the server but me. That usually fixes it for awhile, or until I at least can get my work done and be gone. Be interested to know if there is a pattern here to the problem.

Johanna

 

Hi.

This computer is not on a network, does not use a router, and is dial-up.

I think we should wait for more info from SKEL924. After all it's his post and I seem to have jumped in a bit too much.
I was just glad to find someone else that had the problem. I've been worrying with this one for a few months.

Giles

 

Try turning off the Indexing service. Go to Control Panel>Administrative Tools>Services. Scroll down to Indexing and double click on it. Click on the Stop button.

Then try the process that causes the freeze. If that solves the problem...and it often does...you can turn off the Indexing service permanently by going back to the above location and choosing Disable from the "Startup type" drop down list. Click OK.

I turn off Indexing on all my XP systems and have not experienced any problems. It's sort of a cousin to that useless "Find Fast" of MS Office. Caused hiccups in the whole system and accomplished nothing much of value.

 

Hi Miz,

Whenever I've read about indexing, the poster described "excessive disk activity or churning ". Don't remember what other symptoms came along with it if any.

Regards - Charles

 

Hi.

Indexing has always been turned off on my systems. Never run it.

There is no particular process that produces this extreme slowdown in the system. It can happen just about anytime. I did notice that it happens mostly right after you shut a program down.

Giles

 

Have you tried having the Windows Task Manager running but reduced into the system tray? This will show if the CPU is 100% occupied.

 

Its been awhile since I've thought about the Indexing Service.

Went into Kelly's Korner to look up Indexing Service http://www.kellys-korner-xp.com/xp_abc.htm Does put a load on the system that some seem to have problems with judging by the hits from google http://www.google.com/custom?cof=T:...h=annoyances.org&q=indexing+Service&sa=Search

Did remember correctly - excessive disk accesses.

And then the obvious, but overlooked quite often, RAM. Two Ram testing programs, one from MS:
http://oca.microsoft.com/en/windiag.asp
http://www.simmtester.com/

Regards - Charles

 

Indexing service does make the little red light blink, that's for sure! Disabling it rearranges all my icons, so I put it back to manual. On automatic, it tied up about 30% of the cpu's resources. YMMV

The stall on our church network can last up to 2 minutes, and in this time, programs will not respond. Sometimes, especially Office programs, will abruptly terminate. (That makes the secretary say bad words, so I showed her how to Control+S, and told her to do it as often) Then it clears up, until the next time. It is not practical to try to run several programs simultaneously from one workstation, but I have been attributing this to XP Home and insufficient memory on the server.

Johanna

 

Hi Johanna,

*Disabling it rearranges all my icons*

These wierd effects just never end! Never ran into that. I don't have any icons on my desktop to be rearranged though. Haven't shut it done on other systems. So if I run into it, I'll know why.

Regards - Charles

 

It is the worst in Quicklaunch. The icons are random, and change order with each boot. I use QL mostly, so that drives me nuts! Desktop isn't affected unless you have Desktop Manager enabled, AFAIK. (It worked on my sister in laws comp, anyway)

Johanna

 

On occasion having system drag / stall is something we all experience at time to time. Unfortunately we are generally 5 to 10 keystokes into the keyboard buffer before we realize it. I try to keep my "sixth sense" atuned when keystroke / no action activity occurs... I stop ... push ctrl/Alt/delete and wait, and wait, and wait some more and eventually Task manager slowly builds (were talking minute(s), not seconds). Once you see which process is pegging out the CPU, you have a place to start. Not the perfect solution, but it has given me a starting point numerous times.

 

Hi.

When in the delay, Task Manager works just fine. CPU usage is almost nil or completely nil. It is not loaded down at all. All the usage is on the System Idle Process as normal, about 97 or 98%. No disk access going on at all.

Giles

 

I have never had that lag on my Pro comp at home. If my quits, it just freezes. At the church, task mgr will respond, but to end a process, the others that are trying to operate must finish first, so there is no point in trying to shut anything down. Wait it out, and if it gets too bad, I'll reboot the server.

Guess we are having three diff problems here.

Johanna