Computer keeps freezing - how do I find problem

Viruses and worms
21

What he said ;D

22

Okay, tried a clean boot. Ran windows explorer straight after a booting up and froze again when scanning same registry object. Then when I rebooted and tried to re-set the config so it did a normal reboot, froze again! Not sure whats going on here. Any idea’s? Is there a corrupted registry entry?

ps - currently have PC open and have cleaned as much dust out as possible. Temp for HD0 at 40C.

23

Also, I’ve managed to get the start-up options back to normal but had to go into safe mode to do it.

Again, thanks to everyone who has already and will try to help. Much appreciated.

24

Ooops, just realised, its ran windows defender a couple of posts back, not explorer.

25

So it is now dust free - yet still freezing ?

26

Yes, and still freezes at the same point exactly in the Windows Defender scan.

I’ve also tried running a full check for disk errors, but that hasn’t solved it.

I’m going to try a registry claening tool a friend recommended (eusing) then a scanner from McAfee (stinger) to see if they make a difference.

27

Faulty/failing memory is a common cause of random freezing. If you haven’t found another solution, it’s well worth checking your memory. I’ve personally used Memtest86, which is available on many Linux Live CDs, or here, as a free download:

http://www.memtest86.com/

Edit:

If you use this tool, make sure you do at least one full cycle. Letting it run overnight is even better.

28

Cheers OC that was going to be the next area of investigation ;D

29

I’ve done a few checks today but still haven’t solved it. The computer still freezes when windows defender is run.

I ran the registry cleaning tool and that found a lot of errors but fixing them didn’t change things. I ran the Stinger tool but that froze the computer about 2 hours into its scan. I ran the memory test (Memtest86 as OC recommended). I stopped it half way though its 4th pass through the tests after it had been running for nearly 3 hours. There were no problems found (did I run it for long enough?).

One thing I have discovered is that the computer isn’t completely frozen. I opened the task manager and left it running while windows defender was running to try and see if any other processes were killing the PC. When the computer ‘froze’ the task manager was still updating, though the only process using anything other than 0% was the task manager itself. I could move the mouse around the screen but nothing responded to any clicks and keyboard shortcuts didn’t work either. Any idea’s what could cause that?

(I’m away for a few days from tomorrow so if I don’t reply its just because of this and I will pick this up again when I get back)

30

Hmm…
Do you really need WD…??
Just disable it.
Solved…??

31

WD isn’t the problem its the computer freezing. It also freezes occasionally when I’m just using it normally, though this is erratic and unpredictable. It also freezes when other scans are run (eg a full scan using avast) but not every scan does it (eg MBAM doesn’t cause it to freeze).

I’m just using windows defender to test if what I’ve done has made any difference as it freezes every time I run windows defender about 11 minutes into the scan.

32

Try uninstalling and then re-installing defender

33

I couldn’t find a way to unistall windows defender (a google search suggests that its part of the OS in Vista and can’t be). So instead I’ve disabled it and gone into the services and manually disable the windows defender service on start-up. And since then no freeze.

I’ve re-run every scan I can think of, including all the ones which froze the PC and not had any further freezes. Hopefully this continues.

This obviously suggests either a problem with windows defender (most likely) or that its finding some other problem none of the others are finding. If its the later, I’d need to investigate further. However, its most likely a problem with windows defender itself. If so, is it worth trying to fix it and get windows defender working again? How good is it?

34

In all honesty I would disable windows defender, I too wasn’t sure if it can be uninstalled in Vista, it can’t in win7 (and that gets right up my nose), so I have only disabled it in win7.

Avast has anti-spyware incorporated into the main program. So if you have any other anti-spyware, MBAM or SuperAntiSpyware, it is a bit redundant.

35

I’ve never been convinced its been doing much as I can’t remember the last time it found anything. The others I use all find the odd tracking cookie that’s slipped through and rarely anything else but at least they appear to be doing something.

I’ll leave it disabled for now and assume windows defender is the problem unless the PC freezes again.

Thanks to everyone who helped.

36

Spoke too soon. Had another freeze. This time though it then kept freezing almost straight after a reboot. I could boot into safe mode without freezing but not normally. Turned computer completely off for an hour and then it booted up okay (so far).

Any idea’s?

37

And straight after posting the last message a BSOD, error message was to do with ‘APC_INDEX_MISMATCH’. From a quick google search looks like a memory issue but not sure that relates to the freezing problem or not. And I ran memtest86 which found no problems. Anyone any idea’s where I go next?

38

I’ve been away too. You certainly let the test run long enough. One pass is suggested, overnight can be overkill, but, I often just let it run if I have the time, just to be sure. (I clean up and donate a few old computers every year to our local high school.)

I’m sorry you haven’t been able to find a solution to your problem. Unless it’s one of the reasons, that numerous people in this thread have helped you walk through, sometimes, unfortunately, it’s just a ghost in the machine.

Personally, I don’t know what else to suggest to you.

Good luck…

:frowning:

39

By the way do you have Logitech Desktop Manager? Uninstall that for that may create the problems,
also read this on backweb removal: http://articles.networktechs.com/359-p1.php
Well, confirm seeing if the CPU or memory saturates on one particular process,

pol

40

I’ve re-run memtest86 overnight as while searching for info on the BSOD I had I found a case where memory errors were found on the 4th or 5th pass. It got up to the 13th pass and found no errors.

I can’t spot any process saturating memory or cpu. I’ve had the task manager running alongside other processes when its froze. The task manager is still updating for a few minutes after everything else freezes and I couldn’t spot anything.