How often does your Win XP play up

[AlanHo]

From time to time - for no good reason - my computer has a fit of bad behaviour of one sort or another. Like running very slowly, freezing up, programmes refusing to open etc.

Sometimes it can be cleared by judicious use of task manager, sometimes by a reboot - but every couple of months or so I have to resort to Acronis to save the day.

Several other forum members swear by Acronis and advocate its use - arguing that it has saved them from serious grief on more than one occasion - hence they must also suffer similar problems. This raises the question - how stable IS my system compared with others. I know it is a subjective comparison and difficult to quantify but I am typing this on my laptop because my desktop computer has just had a fit of the grumps and it will spend the next 1 hour and 8 minutes being restored with Acronis.

It booted OK this morning, I downloaded my Emails then went onto the forum. I opened a thread and the computer froze. The mouse would move the cursor around the screen but nothing responded to being clicked. Task Manager Ctrl-Alt-Del opened but then froze on screen and equally refused to accept any clicking. I had to use the reset button to reboot - which seemed to go OK and my desktop opened - but the computer was in a state of rigor mortis and stubbornly ignored any keyboard or mouse actions. It was not possible to use Windows restore function or do any scans for possible nasties. An attempted reboot into safe mode was not successful - the computer froze with the Windows logo on screen. Hence the use of Acronis.

As I said - I seem to get into this situation every 2 or 3 months and wondered how typical this grumpy behavious is.

[artist]

Never have problems unless I caused them...........( those blonde moments when I've deleted someing I shouldn't have )

[ɹəuəllıʍ ʇɐb]

I get this behaviour once in a while, but I know exactly what causes it. If I use Visual Studio 6 for several hours in debugging mode, then at some point things will rapidly slow down, and eventually freeze completely. At this point, not even Ctrl-Alt-Del will have any effect.

Other than that, the only time my system behaved irrationally was after installing ZoneAlarm 6.5.700.000; after doing a clean uninstall of that version, everything went back to normal.

So under normal circumstances, my Windows XP does not show any slowdowns or freezes. But of course, running any program (including Windows and all its components) for a very long time may lead to memory leaks or other minor corruptions. My personal experience is that rebooting Windows at least once in a week should clear up any such occurrences.

If you experience such anomalies just a few minutes after startup, then "something" may be wrong somewhere; the question is how to diagnose it. Do you see any entries in the event viewer for this time period?

[-pops-]

I built this machine just over three years ago, use it constantly and never had to resort to the Acronis treatment with it, although it's had a few System Restores because of injudicious thing that I've done to it. Running XP Pro.

My other two machines need a re-install from Acronis every six months or so for various reasons, mainly because they start moving very slowly but not from any of the "usual" causes. These are running XP Home.

I wonder if there's a stability feature in XP Pro which isn't in the Home version as my son has experienced something similar.

I keep all machines clean with regular anti-malware scans and I don't use P2P or visit dodgy sites.

Note: Even though my first machine has never had the Acronis treatment, I am diligent in that I keep a full and up to date Acronis backup for it and I keep copies of important files (my work) separately.

[artist]

I have XP home.

I, too, am dilligent with running the scans and cleaner etc..........

[AlanHo]

Event viewer - nothing odd recorded.

I have the Blueyonder security package anti-everything installed and do regular scans.

I also do weekly scans with Ewido and Spybot and AdAware - don't know why though - they never find anything significant.

Never done P2P and don't visit dodgy sites.

I am now on my desktop which booted OK after the Acronis restore - but a few minutes ago it froze when browsing this forum. Nothing would respond - until I clicked on Mozilla which loaded and could be used OK whilst the task manager was still frozen on the screen. I went out of Mozilla and everything immediately returned to normal and things seem OK again.

However - I am nervous - there must be something wrong for the fault to re-appear after an Acronis restore.

I wonder if there is an intermittent harware fault lurking - if so - what could it be?

[andsome]

Very very occasional freeze up for no apparent reason. I get the odd problem through things that I have caused myself by messing about, but Acronis takes care of these.

[djohn]

Never had a single problem with my last machine until the power surge two weeks back that took everything out except the 2 hard drives. New machine custom built courtesy of insurance company.

[D4\/!d]

...but a few minutes ago it froze when browsing this forum. Nothing would respond - until I clicked on Mozilla which loaded and could be used OK whilst the task manager was still frozen on the screen. I went out of Mozilla and everything immediately returned to normal and things seem OK again.

So things start playing up when you use a browser. Which one? Perhaps re-installing it might help

[djohn]

Something definitely wrong Alan as XP should not do this. I think most people only use their back-up if they want to restore after a disk failing or to return to a point prior to installing some software that causes problems. It may be caused by overheating or faulty memory even your video drivers. I'm afraid its one of those things that will take a bit of trial an error to pin down but your machine is not typical of XP O/S. XP is probably the most stable O/S Microsoft has ever released.

If this is not caused by hardware but software then a format and install fresh may be the answer. Using your back-up disk is only restoring the problem each time you use it. :(

[CurlyWhirly]

XP is probably the most stable O/S Microsoft has ever released.

I'm using XP Home and I don't get any freezes or slow downs but I run regular scans and also run Crap Cleaner weekly to get rid of any junk that may build up over time.

The only problems I get with XP is the occasional malware problem which isn't a big deal.

[-pops-]

However - I am nervous - there must be something wrong for the fault to re-appear after an Acronis restore.

Well it is possible you could have backed up the error.

[AlanHo]

I recognise that I may have taken a bugged back up - but somehow doubt it because my original full back up is 4 months old when the computer was stable - followed by weekly incrementals. I always use Crap Cleaner, PCGuard, Spybot, Ewido and AdAware before I take my weekly back up.

I restored back to the full back up and it still went worng shortly afterwards. I have now restored to the latest back up and the computer seems OK - but for how long?.

It is the intermittent nature of the problem that is puzzling - the computer had a brief grump this morning but has been fine for the rest of the day during which I have retored to the latest back up, used several programmes and been on the web quite a lot. It will possibly behave itself for a few weeks now before becoming erratic again. It is something I have learned to live with - but I will do a full format and reinstall Windows as soon as I can find the time.

As you know - when you are retired finding time for odd jobs aint easy.

[andsome]

It's a hectic life being retired. :D

[djohn]

Sometimes it can be cleared by judicious use of task manager, sometimes by a reboot - but every couple of months or so I have to resort to Acronis to save the day

Hello Alan. Going from your line in the first post I assumed you have had this problem for some time. If the first backup you did was sealed and placed safe on a partition or second drive then all should be fine if you use it. If you are using an incremental backup then you just might have backed up the problem and each time you do a restore your just reintroducing the problem. This is assuming its a software problem, it may be hardware such as a faulty memory stick but I doubt it. First thing I would check for is software conflict then hardware.

If you have a full back up of your system then try formatting the drive, install XP, your drivers and essential software only, run it for a few weeks to see if it behaves itself. Sorry, can't think of anything else to suggest at the moment but your machine definitely should not be doing what it is, it should be running smooth and sweet for months on end, even years without giving you a problem.