XP 'Hanging' 1

[Dedcrayzie]

Hello All,

Dunno if someone can shed some insight into this issue. I've a friend who runs XP on his pc at home. He's finding it difficult to do anything at all on his pc. Currently, simply opening an application or trying to work within an application has a response time of infinity. My feeling is that XP is using up all available resources but for what I don't know. Any ideas please?

 

[Raggmunk]

Probebly just the Q811493 update that needs to be uninstalled via add/remove programs.

 

[Dedcrayzie]

I don't believe that update has been installed in the first instance.

 

[Raggmunk]

Okey.. You know any spec of the box?
Check the task manager which process has an abnormal CPU time.

 

[bcastner]

Have your friend click Start, Run, and type in eventvwr.msc. You want to see the error codes that may exist in these logs.

You might ask him if he recently installed any new hardware. His problem sounds like an issue with one of his IDE devices, such as a hard disk drive or CD drive.

 

[Indur]

I am having a similar issue and any help can be appreciated.
It use to boot fine, quick...not a problem. Now it boots slower than my Win2000 machine that is running an AMD 1800+.
It runs applications slower and more importantly it really runs my online game slower (Dark Age of Camelot). Yeah I know priorities. It is a recent occurence, within the week or less.

Here are my stats:
AMD 2800+ (computer sees it as Unknown CPU type @ 1.67 Ghz)
Asus A7N8X Deluxe
1 GB DDR ram
Western Digital 80 GB Caviar Hard Drive
ATI Radeon 9800 Pro
Hercules Fortissimo II sound card
DvD/CD-Rom
CD-RW
WinXP Pro

Recent Installs:
Adobe Photoshop 7.0 (upgrade)
Microsoft Visual Studio

Both of which I have uninstalled.

I even downloaded AdAware to see if I had Spyware...nothing!
I am very vigilant about not downloading weird things.

My hope is that this can be resolved before I breakdown and wipe the Hard Drive again. -- Could it be the hard drive going bad?

 

[bcastner]

It could be a hard disk problem. But fragmentation sounds more like it.

Defrag the disk with the XP utility or a commercial product.

Download Bootvis.exe from Microsoft and do a Trace and then Optomize. Do this after defragging the disk.

Hope things improve afterwards.

 

[Kragar]

I have windows xp professional and a couple of weeks ago it started randomly freezing, causing me to have to manually restart it by pressing the power off switch. The restart button is locked up solid and does nothing. I can't even do ctrl-alt-del to see what's wrong since the whole comp just freezes and I can't do anything. It freezes every time i use the computer, it mat freeze immediately - in five minutes or in four hours of use. I have run updater, reinstalled Xp and the updates. I might add that once SP1 was installed it seemed to work fine. But then a bit later after dinner once I installed the 30 updates remaining it freezes up yet again.

If I knew what updates came out in the past 2 weeks I could just uninstall those and see if that fixed it.I have seen many posts about this same thing all starting about 2 weeks ago on the MS newsgroup site but no answers.

 

[tsujiyoh]

Hello everyone.
I have similar problems as described above.
I have completely formatted my HD few times because of this.
But even after reformatting and reinstalling XP, after a month or so, it starts freezing ALL THE TIME!!
It seems like it happens the most when I start internet explorer, but freezes sometimes even if I don't run IE.
I'll turn on the computer, then leave it alone for awhile like 30min. or so, and it'll be locked up.
I have ran defrag, adaware, virus scan, whatever I can think of, but no matter what, it seems as I need to reinstall XP every other month. And it is a pain in the neck.
Someone mentioned removing the Q811493 update, but what exactly is the update??Any connection with IE?
I'm going to try the eventvwr.msc when I get home today, but what should I be looking for?
And another question is what is Bootvis.exe? What does that do?
Thank you for taking the time to answer my questions.

 

[bcastner]

eventvwr.msc is just a shortcut to the Event Viewer management console of XP. It allows you to see the three logs that XP keeps of system activity, including a detailed description of what it views as a problem that could "freeze" your system.

Interpreting the logs is not for the inexperienced or faint of heart. Fortunately, you can Google nearly any error message both under the Web and Groups tabs and likely find a direct answer to your problem. Or, in a new thread, you could post it here.

The "Q811493 update" was a hotfix from Windows Update to repair potential security holes in IE and elsewhere. The original release had the unintended consequence of slowing many computer workstations. It was revised and re-released, and if you are current on Windows Updates for your workstation it should not be a concern. If you like, use Control Panel, Add/Remove Programs, scroll down until you see the "hotfixes" applied already by Windows Update, and click to remove the update. If a subsequent session of Windows Update asks to install the same patch, allow it. The newer version has none of the problems of the original.

For your problems, like those earlier in the thread, it is likely there is something wrong with the hardware of the machine. It could be just about anything, and looking to the logs is the only sane way to begin fixing the problem. You are welcome to, in a new thread, post the specific error message(s) from the log to seek specific help with the problem.

Best.
Bill

 

[Indur]

bcastner,

I am still having problems. I thought the BIOS flash did it, but apparently it didn't. I booted this evening to slowness and Apps running slow.

Argh. Here's a thought... is it possible that if a CPU is running hot that there could be an issue? (Basically, no matter what you do.)

It's been about 2 weeks since I pulled off my Heatsink to check my CPU...possible that the Compound isn't placed properly causing improper heating?

The only thing is that it was something that started all of the sudden 2 weeks ago. It was about 4-6 days ago now.

Anyone please give there thoughts.

Thank you for your time.