XP Freezing

[AlanHo]

A friend turned up today with a 4 year old Fujitsu Siemens desktop computer he was having problems with. The computer kept freezing at odd times.

After eliminating the possibility of malware and trying various other things I suspected a faulty hard drive and replaced it (IDE ATA 133) with a spare from my cupboard I knew to be perfect. I then used the OEM recovery disc to format the drive and instal XP SP1 from scratch, followed by SP2 from a CD.

And still the computer is freezing from time to time. For example, click on start and the normal window opens - but sticks there and will not go away. Hit Ctrl-Alt-Del to open task manager, then close task manager without doing anything and it frees up the mouse to enable you to close the start window again.

Another example is that the mouse right click sometimes refuses to do anything.

I have tried a PS2 mouse and a USB mouse but they are both the same.

Just to be certain that it was not a faulty instal I have done it all over again - reformatted and installed XP from scratch - same result indicating it may be hardware. But what - for sure it is not the hard drive.

[Vino Rosso]

A couple of suggestions:

- Given the age of the computer, has it been cleaned out of dust lately? Clean all fans, etc. to avoid the problem of overheating. Check all fans are actually working.

- While the case is open, remove both the RAM and the graphics card. Use a soft eraser to rub along the card connector edges. Vacuum the slots. Re-fit the cards.

If still having problems, run a RAM test.

[AlanHo]

A couple of suggestions:

- Given the age of the computer, has it been cleaned out of dust lately? Clean all fans, etc. to avoid the problem of overheating. Check all fans are actually working.

- While the case is open, remove both the RAM and the graphics card. Use a soft eraser to rub along the card connector edges. Vacuum the slots. Re-fit the cards.

I have already given the computer a thorough clean - as it happens there was not much dust in there. There is only one fan - the CPU cooler which is working fine. I have cleaned & re-seated the RAM but the computer uses on board graphics - there is no graphics card. I also tried using the second memory slot.

I also tried installing XP from a retail CD off another computer just for a comparison. Same result.

I have also noticed that it is not possible to move the desktop icons - they jump back to their original position. It is also not possible to drop icons into the quick launch bar - despite all settings being correct.

Finally - the hard drive seems to be working hard all the time - even though task manager shows no CPU activity.

I am not a techie and have no idea how to do a RAM test.

[Vino Rosso]

I also tried installing XP from a retail CD off another computer just for a comparison. Same result.

Have you checked the Event log for any errors?

1 - Event Viewer

Go to Start > Settings > Control Panel > Administrative Tools > Event Viewer

Look in the Application and System logs for errors (signified by a red circle with a white cross) that coincide with the time of the problem.

Double-click each of these error symbols to reveal more information.

Check out these Event ID errors and related source info >here<

I have also noticed that it is not possible to move the desktop icons - they jump back to their original position. It is also not possible to drop icons into the quick launch bar - despite all settings being correct.

Tried right-clicking on an empty area of the desktop, selecting 'Arrange Icons By...' and deselecting 'Auto Arrange' and 'Align by grid'?

I am not a techie and have no idea how to do a RAM test.

1 - MemTest

To create a bootable floppy:

1. Click >here<. This will download a compressed .ZIP file.
   
2. Right-click on the .ZIP file you downloaded and select "Extract All". Extract the files to a temporary folder.
   
3. Put a formatted blank floppy into your floppy drive. (To format the floppy, open Windows Explorer, right-click on the A: drive and select format.)
   
4. Using Windows Explorer, go to the temporary folder and double-click "install.bat".
   
5. At the prompt: "Enter target diskette drive", enter A
   
6. With the blank floppy disk in the floppy drive, press Enter
   
7. When finished, the Command window will close. NB The will be no sign that the floppy is ready and Windows may not be able to read the floppy's contents. Please proceed with the next step.
   
8. Close ALL open windows, saving any files or documents as necessary.
   
9. With the floppy still in the floppy drive, click Start > Turn Off Computer > Restart
   
10. The memtest program will automatically run.
    

If you want to create a bootable CD-ROM:

1. Click >here<.
   
2. Extract the .ZIP file as described above. This will give you an .ISO file.
   
3. Run your CD burning program and then open the .ISO file and burn it to a disk. That will create a bootable CD-ROM which contains Memtest86.
   
4. To run Memtest86, just boot from the CD.
   

Note: You may have to go into the BIOS and set the CD-ROM to be first in the boot order list for the computer to boot from the CD-ROM.

As a minimum, run the program until the Pass figure (to the right of the red Memtest) reaches 100%. Ideally, run the program overnight.

In all cases, if MemTest finds an error it will stop and report it to you. If you do get an error, you should consider replacing your RAM or, at the very least, verifying that your machine is correctly configured. Note that even ONE error is a sign of a serious problem - a correctly functioning computer can run MemTest for weeks with no errors.

[AlanHo]

Vino Rosso

Thank you for going to so much trouble.

I ran the memory test overnight - and all appeared OK.

After a reboot this morning as per your suggestion I took a look at the event log (something new to me) and found a report that there was a problem with the hard drive. I ran chkdsk and it reported and fixed a bad block. Something of a surprise because I removed the hard drive from an external USB drive I have been using without problems on another computer for back-ups (now replaced by an eSATA drive)

The computer is now running OK - it must have been a problem with the hard drive after all.

Phew - what a relief.

Thanks again for all your help

[Vino Rosso]

Yes, the Event log can be very useful.

The computer is now running OK - it must have been a problem with the hard drive after all.

Fingers crossed!

Thanks again for all your help

You're welcome :)