What would cause a computer to freeze up?

Only way to shut down is unplug the computer.

Published on August 22, 2005 By teddybearcholla In Personal Computing

I was up at my daughters for a few days and since the new baby has had very little time for computing. When I was there in April, I installed the 2005 Nortons anti-virus, ad-aware, cleaned up her machine ( ran defrag, disk cleanup, etc.) all of which she very seldom did, but I had it running smoothly, no viruses, etc. Also did an online virus check at pc pitstop to confirm no viruses that Nortons said.
So this time, when I started her computer, it seemed fine , but it froze when I was on the internet and nothing I tried would shut it off, unless I unplugged it. I was able to do a live update for Nortons, and adaware....defrag, etc. uninstalled her printer(which doesn't work anyway) uninstalled print shop and another large prog, because she can't print anything out right now. But all this was done, inbetween unplugging and plugging because at some point it would freeze up again.
She had a Compaq, with about 9.something gig of disk space, only 4. something used, windows xp home. It is several years old. I told her that I thought her hard drive was going. Anyone have any other thoughts??

Comments

Dr Guy

on Aug 22, 2005

Was it a hardware lock, or software. IN other words, did the mouse still move or not?

Hardware locks are usually caused by power blips (sags and spikes), over heating, or the power supply slowly dying. Software can be anything, including corrupted DLLs.

teddybearcholla

on Aug 22, 2005

The mouse did not move... there was one point after unplugging/plugging, that I just wanted to try to shut it down the right way, clicked on the start menu, shut down and what came up was the logn/off screen instead of the turn off computer screen, (the mouse worked that time).

Dr Guy

on Aug 22, 2005

The mouse did not move...

That would be hardware. If the problem does not repeat itself, it was probably a power blip (if you are on a strip, it was probably a SAG. Sags actually do a lot more dmange than spikes, and the only way to guard against them is with a UPS).

The second time could be a result of it freezing the first time. If you continue to get quirky stuff like that, I would see if you cant roll back the OS from a restore point. Or push comes to shove, do a reinstall of the OS (Overtop of the current one so you do not have to reinstall all the software as well).

teddybearcholla

on Aug 22, 2005

Interesting...I will check with her and see about the poswer strip, I know she doesn't have a UPS. She may be using just an ordinary power strip...the ones specifically made for computers, would one of them be ok?

And this happened about 5 times over a 2 day period. I'll tell her about doing the restore thing. And if she had to do a reinstall of the OS, what is that? ok, I'm still a computer novice!!

Dr Guy

on Aug 22, 2005

And this happened about 5 times over a 2 day period. I'll tell her about doing the restore thing. And if she had to do a reinstall of the OS, what is that? ok, I'm still a computer novice!!

If it is repeating then it could be either a failing power supply, or over heating. Check to make sure the CPU fan and Power supply fans are still working and not covered with dust.

_02

on Aug 22, 2005

Barb, Have you cleaned her registry? It could be a registery problem. I use Registery Mechanic , but there are some good free ones out there too like CCleaner. I hate to say it, but Norton may be over taxing her computer as well. That is such a resource hog, and virtually a useless program. It has caused many problems. She would fair much better with AVG. It is a much smaller program, can be updated daily instead of weekly, and it is free. It also stops a virus from getting to your computer, unlike Norton that lets you get it and then tries to deal with it. Troy and I have been using it for years. I would also run some good anti spyware progs like Spybot and adaware. they are both free too.
http://www.lavasoft.com/
http://www.ccleaner.com/
http://free.grisoft.com/doc/1
http://www.safer-networking.org/en/index.html
Hope this will do the trick.

kingbee

on Aug 22, 2005

this may be a silly question but using the soft power switch wouldn't cause it to reboot?

kingbee

on Aug 22, 2005

I hate to say it, but Norton may be over taxing her computer as well.

that woulda been my next comment. hahahahahha

it's amazing how things have changed. norton/symantec stuff used to be the best last hope 12 years ago. now i wouldn't let it in the door.

_02

on Aug 22, 2005

it's amazing how things have changed. norton/symantec stuff used to be the best last hope 12 years ago. now i wouldn't let it in the door.

Me either!!

_02

on Aug 22, 2005

Sorry about the double post.

Corky_O

on Aug 22, 2005

A couple easy experiments:

1 - take another mouse to plug in and test for malfunctioning mouse.
2 - If she has a keyboard with the Windows key, use it to display the Start Menu > use the down arrow key to highlight a start menu item > navigate with the arrow keys until you have the focus on the Shut Down button > hit Enter key > use the arrow keys to place the focus on the Restart button > hit Enter key to restart.

If the other mouse works fine, and the keyboard method works fine, then you have a bad mouse.

If the other mouse does not make a difference, and the keyboard method works fine, then your issue is something deeper.

As Dr. Guy suggested, you may want to take a can of compressed air (found in most hardware stores) > disconnect power and all cables > open case somewhere outside in a covered area > blow out case paying special attention to the fans, fins on the heatsinks, and all circuit boards and connectors > check all connections to make sure they are securely seated > reconnect all cables and power > power up with case open to watch for smoke (known as the smoke test) > close case if all is fine.

"Reinstalling the OS" - in this case - means to use the Windows XP installation disc to perform a repair - which will rewrite the Operating System files without overwriting the other installed program files or saved files.

I assume we are talking about a desktop computer, and if so, a 9 GB hard drive would suggest that it is an older computer (Pentium 2, Pentium 3, or AMD K-series processor). Hard drive lifespans are generally about 5 years or so, before failure becomes a significant possibility.

If the computer is indeed older, then you may want to clean it up, check all the connections, do the Operating System repair installation, and suggest saving money for a new computer that will take her through the next 5 years or more.

Hippie

on Aug 22, 2005

Take Norton off. DL AVG Free. Every time I get a computer with Norton on it, that's the first thing I take off. Then anything to do with AOL. This woman was in Best Buy, and had $500 worth of virus,adware spy stuff and all kinds of junk. I told her about AVG, Spybot search and destroy, and Adaware. All free. I've been working on computers for 25-30 years. She called me later thanking me for saving her all that money. Another thing, I don't charge anything to fix a computer. Just pay for the gas.

teddybearcholla

on Aug 23, 2005

Thank you Dr. Guy...I will put that on my list check the fans for dust ( I'm positive that has never been done!)
Cindi, I won't fool around with the registry, I've read too many horror stories!! Will check into Avg, though. As far as Nortons goes, I have never had a problem with it not working right and I have been using it since 95. She has adaware but not spybot, will look into that one!!

Citizen kingbee , the soft power switch did not work at all when it froze...I know strange!!

Corky_O ... will try a different mouse, could be that... and no. 2 on your list, I tried that several times, wouldn't work either, just like the soft power on/off switch wouldn't. And thank you for explaining what the OS is, much appreciated!!
Yes it is an older computer, I will give these suggestions by everyone a try and see what happens...but I believe you are correct, she should think about getting a newer computer!!!

Citizen Hippie, I may try that AVG free myself! So just how far do you live from Stratford, Wisconsin???

Thanks again everyone!!!

Chris TH

on Aug 23, 2005

Citizen kingbee , the soft power switch did not work at all when it froze...I know strange!!

With some power supplies you have to hold it in for ~10sec to force a power-down.

HTH

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kingbee

on Aug 23, 2005

atx power supplies occasionally do some weird stuff even tho there's really nothin wrong with them (in other words, they're not damaged, defective, etc.--they just sorta temporarily lose their minds).

when you get to the point where you gotta unplug the damn thing, remember to turn the power off using the rocker switch (generally its a rocker switch anyway) on the back of the case. then unplug it from the outlet and don't do anything for 30+ seconds.

plug it back in, flick the back switch to 'on' and then start it using the front power button (not the soft reset switch).

does the monitor ever give ya the message about how there's no video source (yellow band with black letters across black screen when you first turn it on)?

how much ram is installed? how fast is the cpu?

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