Vista Locks Up 2

[smelba]

I recently purchsed a new Gateway T-6330u (Intel Pentium Dual CPU T3200 @ 2.00GHz 2.00GHz, 3.00 GB RAM). It came with Vista Home Premium (32-bit) installed. The only thing that I have done to it is to install automatic updates. At random intervals the system will completely freeze up (mouse won't move, keyboard won't respond, if audio is playing is will start to loop rapidly...) and the only thing I can do is a hard reset. At first it started doing this when I was accessing media files across my network but now it does it all the time (a lot when in Internet Explorer ver 7.0.6001.18000). Not sure if this is related or not, but I was having issues accessing my wireless network and in order to get it working again, I had to roll back the automatic update of my wireless card (Atheros AR5B91) driver from version 7.6.1.162 to version 7.6.0.172. Just for giggles, I also rolled back the driver for the ethernet card (Realtek RTL8101E) to version 6.202.125.2008 (not sure what the updated version was).

 

[linney]

Involve the manufacturer in your troubleshooting and get it on record for any future Warranty claim.

You can use these as a general guide for troubleshooting freezes and hangs, in particular read "firewolfrl's" comments in the last couple of threads.


xp freeze troubleshooting
thread779-935320

PC Freezing - Hard to explain (see details)
thread779-1398265

Windows random hang
thread779-1423743

XP Pro 64 or Vista Ultimate 64
thread1583-1441632

 

[firewolfrl]

ok I have to say gateway laptops seem to heat up a lot

download and run coretemp

http://www.alcpu.com/CoreTemp/

then see if you are running hot...

then post back the temps

one thing I have seen with the gateway laptops is the cpu temp sensor seems to kick in late I had to replace a sensor on my daughter's laptop so it would run and keep the cpu cool before it got hot...it's not for the faint of heart to replace the sensor

 

[smelba]

linney,
Thanks for the reply. I started running some of the diagnostics in the first thread you sent to me. The laptop came with Norton 360 (ver 2.5.0.5) which found no viruses. I scanned the system using Windows Defender and found no spyware. Chkdsk found no errors and neither did Windows Memory Diagnostic Tool.

 

[smelba]

firewolfrl,
Thanks for the reply. I downloaded CoreTemp. The system is hovering around 40° C. The fan seems to kick in around 44°. Sometimes when the fan kick in the temp goes down quickly and sometimes it still goes up a bit before going down. The hottest I saw it get was 50°. I got it to lock up once since downloading CoreTemp at about 44° with the fan running.

 

[linney]

What is the length of time it is capable of running without locking up? See if you can set a new world record for consistent running if you boot it to "Safe with Networking"

If you haven't already, add the CPU Gadget to the Sidebar, it comes with a CPU Monitor and a Temp Monitor. As well as keeping an eye on the temp watch the CPU to see if that ever goes off the scale and stays there. Use Task Manager to see what Process is using all the CPU cycles.