MS Secutity Essentials - Locks up

[papadba]

Rather frequently my Win7 pc locks with no diagnostic info shown. The system just freezes. Sometimes, the mouse can be moved about, sometimes not. Windows can neither be closed nor opened.

When i try to run the full scan it runs for quite a while (different amounts of time) and then locks up. Again with no diagnostic info.

Not much to go on, but what is the best way to determine why the full scan fails?

Thanks.

 

[papadba]

Thanks again for the replies!

Yup, checked the drivers and all was well - at least it found nothing new to download.

But...according the symptoms you have described, I would not thing about buying a new harddrive, but about buying a new computer.
How old is your PC ?

A new machine is scheduled to deliver later this week. . . HP desktop. May even become a server . .

The problem machine is a Dell Inspiron laptop that is about 1.5 years old. It has not been used so much (really low mileage). I'm rather disappointed with it. After doing a bit of research, some service people see a 15% failure rate with these Dell machines when they are less than 2 yrs old. Part of me believes there is something with the mother board or some kind of loose connection(s) in addition to anything with the hard drive.

Once the new machine is running, i'll try to do a bit more with this one. Dell will not do anything . . . Bummer.

Anyone want to buy a less than perfect Inspiron . . . ?

 

[papadba]

Well, the machine now as a new hard drive. "Everything" runs ok now.

There is still an issue with the onboard keyboard. And this may have been flaky forever - i've used a cordless keyboard since getting this machine.

If it is ok, i have an add-on question. Wich anti-virus software do you prefer? I've used MS Security Essentials for a while, but folks here have noted it is not sufficient.

Suggestions? I' illing to pay, but not tons of $

 

[goombawaho]

Well, how careful are you? I've been running MSE for two years and no bugs. A customer of mine has been running it for two years and has had three infections (two of them FBI MoneyPak). It's all about what you do/where you go on the internet.

Scope this out:
Link

"Living tomorrow is everyone's sorrow.
Modern man's daydreams have turned into nightmares.

 

[mikrom]

IMO, for security it's better not to use your administrator profile for browsing, but create a simple user profile for this purpose. Now I'm thinking about running Ubuntu Linux in virtual box inside my windows for browsing

As for the anti-virus software: I used commercial ESET for long years and everything was ok. Then I changed to free MSE and got infection described above. Now I'm using free Avira and it seems to be ok. My friend uses free Avast and is happy with it too.

If you are not happy with MSE then try any other free solution - and then if you are very happy with it and need more functionality, you can purchase the professional version of it.

 

[papadba]

Well, how careful are you?

Well, i completely trust me . . . heh heh heh

Maybe not so with all of the grandkids<g> Two of them are 16 years old and curious . . .<g>. I'm in the process of converting an XP box for guest use.

Well, the machine now has a new hard drive. "Everything" runs ok now.

Mercy, What a premature statement this was . . .

The beast now takes as much as 10 minutes to boot. Usually says there was a failure and the only way out is to power off. Sometimes transition from one page to another is as expected. Other times it is like you can see the pieces being built on the fly. Things like youtube run as expected, but running an animated app is like nothing i've ever seen. Distorted is what comes to mind. The keyboard is completely unusable. An external usb keyboard works fine.

One more round of diagnostics and then i'm going to get it back to Dell for their research. I don't believe that they will fix it, but maybe something cann be done for others.

Thanks again for the feedback!

 

[kjv1611]

On your old laptop, it really does sound like it's an issue with the motherboard. I was going to say graphics, but since it's a laptop, that's almost always built-in anyway. My guess is that some soldering coming loose, or leaky capacitors, etc. Of course, being a motherboard, not a lot of fun to rip it open to check it out. Good call on just giving up on it at this point, I think.

"But thanks be to God, which giveth us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ." 1 Corinthians 15:57