Please Help. Computer Freezes!

[Larry in VA]

Hey Guys:

I'm new to this forum and I as a warning I am NOT computer literate. I am having a problem with my Compaq PC that I can not fix. I have tried many virus programs and Add-Ware Pop-Up eliminators to no avail.

What is happening is my computer just freezes up out of the blue. I loose all input, no key board or mouse function. Monitor freezes as well as all animation on screen. I do not get the "Blue Screen of Death". Doesn't matter if I'm on or off the Internet, working in a word doc or not doing anything, it will freeze. I can't use mouse or 3 finger salute to turn off machine, must do a hard boot to get it going again. Tonight it did it about 5 times in an hour, however yesterday I went 6 hours and never did do it.

Problem started about 6 months ago and has steadily gotten worse. About a month ago I bought a copy of XP (was using ME) and installed it thinking I had a corrupt file or something and new software would take care of it. It didn't, but did slow it down for about the first week after new install.

Also; when the computer does stop/freeze you can definitely hear a deference in the noise the PC is making. Sounds like the hard drive stops running, and all you can hear is the sound of the fan motor running after it freezes up.

Several people at work said they had the exact same symptoms on there computer and had to get new hard drives because of a virus (virus name unknown to them) that ruins the hard drive. These people are not what I would call computer literate either, so thought I would ask around to see if this is possible.

Does this sound familiar to any one out there. I would take my computer into a repair shop, but every time I have done that I feel I have been ripped off.

Thanks for any help you all can give me in advance.

Larry

 

[BEST JD TCR]

there are viruses out there called malware, and it does what it sounds like nibles away at software until you computer windows cant take control of the booting process. ether reformat or get the up to date antispywear protection updates

 

[~mr mixx~]

i would have to say this is avirus that is on your comp. If it was fine before the install, then i would have to say that a virus got onto it some how.

I would use an anti-virus that you know is good, and make shure all the definitions are up to date. I would not go with a free Anti-virus, for you want all the protection that company's get, it does'nt have to be a coperate edition, just get a hold of a store bought one.

as far as the spyware is concerened, i would go with the top four out there right now...see the spyware stickey above.

 

[Larry in VA]

BEST JD TCR & ~mr mixx~

Thanks for the reply's guys, but have both of your suggestions covered (I think).

This freezing started about 6 mo. ago, I was running Win. ME at the time. About a month ago I did a hard install of Win. XP and all was well with the world for about a week and then the "freeze bug" (for want of a better name) started raising its ugly head again. I have purchased 2 Anti Virus programs Norton and a program offered by my internet provider. Neither found a problem with my machine. (Note: Ran Norton Anti Virus and the Anti Virus / Spy-ware offered by my Internet Provider while I was still running Win.ME) Have run several different spy-ware type programs (all freebees) they find many ad-ware bugs but never cures the problem.

This thing has got me completely baffled. Sorry if my above description of the problem is confusing, I'm not very techy when it comes to computers. Any other ideas?

Larry

 

[~mr mixx~]

ok have you checked in devise Manager to see if there was a conflict, you can get there by clicking the start button/ right click my comp. scroll down to properties/ click hardware button/ devise manager.

If there is a conflict somewhere, it will show up as a yellow exclamation point ! or a yellow triangle..one of those two. also how long have you had this comp. of your's ? sometimes when the PSU is going it will cause comp's to freeze up or just reboot for no reason.

p.s >> moved to hardware & sostware section..

 

[ed_ebs]

i agree to "BEST JD TCR"'s idea... i think spyware
would be a possible reason for that prob of yours.
after ur fresh install u shud install all utilities like
virus scanner, what service pak of ur XP? if SP1 then u can update that to SP2. In my PC i have installed an "ad-aware 6.0" software for spyware watch and removal. for added safety u can install a reg-cleaner.

hope this could help. c",)

 

[ed_ebs]

u can run ad-aware 6.0 every startUP to scan weneVer ur PC startsUP then u can even run its
built-in ad-watch monitoring...

 

[setishock]

Hmmm...

Ok it could either be a software problem or a hardware problem. Let's tackle it from the software end first.
Ad-aware se
http://www.lavasoftusa.com/default.shtml.en
Spybot search & distroy
http://www.spybot.info/en/index.html
Get these and update them often. Ad/spy protection tools are useless unless you keep them up to date.
Now as for antivirus software, there are many to choose from and the top dogs have many loyal followers. Speaking for myself I have a perferance for McAfee. It does the job very well, as do other brands. This one has a small memory footprint and seems not to interfere with normal operations.
Bottom line is just get a antivirus program running. Not having one is just asking to get raped every time you go online.
As for now if you don't have one the trendmicro site has a good online scanner. It doesn't fix it just confirms if you have a virus. Stinger is a good trouble shooter for those hard to clean pests.
Ok having said that, let's look at the hardware.
A PSU that has a failing power rail can cause lockups. A hiccup on the 5 volt or the 3.3 volt rail can lead to freezes. These 2 power rails provide power to the RAM, PCI, Hard and optical drive electronics, and chips on the motherboard.
There is not a really reliable way to test a PSU other than replacing it with a known good unit.
Failing ram is another source of lockups. Memtest86 is a good test program to find a bad or failing ram card. Takes a while to run it but time well invested.
Well kid, that's my 2.5 cents worth. Inflation you know...