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Hi, I'm afraid I have a problem that's huge but will be difficult to pinpoint the cause.
My PC just keeps freezing on me. Can't click anything, keyboard doesn't do anything. Ctrl-alt-del works but can't do anything. Have to then reset from power button.
However, anything in the background continues to work. PC is still running, I just lose the ability to do anything. It happens sporadically, sometimes when I'm browsing, all sorts of potential stuff.
I have no idea why and what the cause is.
Can anyone give me and indication of where to look and what the potential problem could be. I'm stuck. A HT log is below. Looks clean to me but someone might spot something. I've also ran scandisk, defrag, ad-aware, cleared prefetch and temp files.
Logfile of HijackThis v1.99.1
Scan saved at 21:52:54, on 09/12/2007
Platform: Windows XP SP1 (WinNT 5.01.2600)
MSIE: Internet Explorer v6.00 SP1 (6.00.2800.1106)Running processes:
C:\WINDOWS\System32\smss.exe
C:\WINDOWS\system32\winlogon.exe
C:\WINDOWS\system32\services.exe
C:\WINDOWS\system32\lsass.exe
C:\WINDOWS\system32\svchost.exe
C:\WINDOWS\System32\svchost.exe
C:\WINDOWS\system32\spoolsv.exe
C:\WINDOWS\Explorer.exe
C:\Program Files\Internet Explorer\iexplore.exe
D:\Miscellaneous Software\Logitech\MouseWare\system\em_exec.exe
D:\Internet Software\Gmail Notifiier\gnotify.exe
D:\Security Software\ESET Smart Security\ekrn.exe
D:\Miscellaneous Software\Logitech\iTouch\iTouch.exe
C:\WINDOWS\System32\svchost.exe
D:\Security Software\ESET Smart Security\egui.exe
C:\WINDOWS\system32\notepad.exe
D:\Internet Software\Mozilla Firefox\firefox.exe
C:\Documents and Settings\AV\Start Menu\Programs\Security\HijackThis.exeR0 - HKCU\Software\Microsoft\Internet Explorer\Main,Local Page =
O4 - HKLM\..\Run: [Logitech Utility] Logi_MwX.exe
O4 - HKLM\..\Run: [{0228e555-4f9c-4e35-a3ec-b109a192b4c2}] D:\Internet Software\Gmail Notifiier\gnotify.exe
O4 - HKLM\..\Run: [zBrowser Launcher] D:\Miscellaneous Software\Logitech\iTouch\iTouch.exe
O4 - HKLM\..\Run: [egui] "D:\Security Software\ESET Smart Security\egui.exe" /hide /waitservice
O4 - HKLM\..\RunOnce: [WIAWizardMenu] RUNDLL32.exe C:\WINDOWS\System32\sti_ci.dll,WiaCreateWizardMenu
O4 - HKCU\..\Run: [TClockEx] D:\Miscellaneous Software\TClockEx\TCLOCKEX.exe
O16 - DPF: {6414512B-B978-451D-A0D8-FCFDF33E833C} (WUWebControl Class) - http://www.update.microsoft.com/win...
O23 - Service: Ad-Aware 2007 Service (aawservice) - Lavasoft AB - D:\Security Software\Ad-Aware 2007 Professional\aawservice.exe
O23 - Service: Eset HTTP Server (EhttpSrv) - Unknown owner - D:\Security Software\ESET Smart Security\EHttpSrv.exe
O23 - Service: Eset Service (ekrn) - ESET - D:\Security Software\ESET Smart Security\ekrn.exe
Just a guess...it's a hardware and not a software issue.
Sound like a ram chip is loose or going bad.
Just wondering. How big is the swap file?
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Page file? 2046 to 4092 on C (boot) and D (lots of free space). None on E and F - all partitioned.
I've had the RAM under a month, fairly new PC.
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Are you using a USB keyboard or mouse ? Perhaps you should switch to a PS2 connection if you can and see if that does anything.
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Something odd that just happened.
I went from ENET to Avast for AV. I was doing something in notepad when Avast update came up, and my Notepad file became useless. I could do everything else on my system but that file that was open, I just couldn't get focus of the window. If I minimised Avast, it'd minimise Notepad too and I couldn't access Notepad at all, it was as though Avast had stolen focus from the application that was in focus before. This has happened before but never really noticed it to this extent.
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Have you booted up in safe mode and does the same stuff still happen ? You could try running anti-virus and anti-spyware scans in safe mode. Also, have you run memtest to check the RAM ? Just because it's new RAM doesn't mean it's not faulty.
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I switched from ENET to Avast about 30 minutes ago. I thought ENET might be the problem, I was wrong. Yes, after the freezing.
It's so sporadic that I'd have to be in safe mode for a while and running many things to test if that was the problem. Safe mode anti-virus and spyware scans I will try though.
No, I've not used Memtest, googling it now that you've suggested it!
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http://www.hiren.info/pages/bootcd
Bootable CD with lots of tools you can use to your advantage in testing your hardware.
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pico1991: That looks like a great CD, but how do you get it ? Unless I'm missing something, there was no link to a download. It's not free, is it ?
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I see a downloads option at the top. If you click on free downloads, it doesn't bring up an option for Hiren's BootCD 9.3. I don't see any other clickable link to download it. Am I missing something ?
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My bad, I thought it was hosted there. Google for it, you will probably also need a program to unpack rar files, google for that too.
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Am I thus basically to assume that we've decided it's a hardware issue? Are there any other softwares you'd recommend using to get more information on what is going on inside my PC?
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Did you do the AV scan in safe mode ? That might indicate a software issue. Whwn you run memtest, it might then indicate a hardware issue. I don't think there is enough information yet to determine whether it's a software or a hardware issue. Of course, it could be both, but let's hope not.
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After a good nights sleep...
I have a computer that I use for testing software. It's installed, tested and then removed. A lot of it. (Good,Bad and Ugly)
Within a months time it freezes up as well.
The registry get corrupted!
A new computer is optimized to be at it's best, and is until we remove all the trial ware and begin adding our own programs. The registry is then on a downhill slide.Have you run a registry cleaner?
Checked to see how many programs are started at boot up.
I may be comparing apples to oranges here but my test machine tries to start programs that are no longer even installed. Some uninstall program leave files on the hd and lines in the registry. Other take out more than they should.
If you decide to try a registry cleaner use the back up reg option first.
W.L
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My CPU temperature is showing at 43, mobo at 34 and fan speed at 2986rpm, this is all via my bios.
Could you recommend a decent registry cleaner? I currently have system mechanic 4 which has a registry cleaner built in but I'm not sure if it's reliable or not.
At bootup, there's not much running, just what's in that HT log above.
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I doubt the problem is the registry. My guess would be spyware/ malware, or some hardware that is conflicting. Check IRQ distribution. Look for hardware with high bandwidth sharing resources. Keep a log of what tasks were being performed when the computer locks up. If you open taskmanager you will notice that it is possible to change the priority on avery running process. If one or more programs attempt to update simultaneously that could possibly cause your symptoms too. To eliminate software you can run msconfig and untick programs to see if it has any impact.
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What's IRQ distribution?
How do I look for hardware with high bandwidth sharing resources?
As for a log, it ranges from a setup, to firefox, to notepad, to avast, to BSplayer, it's a long list.
Can I get a bit more of specific assistance please?
Thanky :-)
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Go to device manager and look at what each hardware device is using. Go> Control panel> system> hardware> device manager> highlight the computer name at the top of the screen. Choose view> resources by connection> IRQ.
List any items that are sharing an IRQ.
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Oki dokey.
Microsoft ACPI-Compliant System and SCSI/RAID Host Controller, ISA9.
NVIDIA MCP61 Serial ATA Controller and NVIDIA Network Bus Enumerator, ISA21.
Microsoft UAA Bus Driver for High Definition Audio and Standard OpenHCD USB Host Controller, ISA22.
I presume that's what you were asking for right?
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It looks like your temperatures are OK. I had a problem somewhat similar to your problem, and I corrected it by changing the power supply. Of course that might not be your problem, but what model power supply do you have and what are the specs ?
Also, is your HDD SATA and is RAID mode enabled in the BIOS ?
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My HDD is IDE. RAID mode, do I need it for IDE?
My PSU is a 580W modular coolermaster I think, can't remember the exact model number (box is in my shed).
Also, an odd occurring problem, alt-tab doesn't always work, particularly when I'm on certain programs (though this also varies).
It all seems linked.
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If you don't have a raid setup, then you shouldn't be in raid mode. You should be in IDE mode. With only one HD, you can't be using raid.
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In msconfig I had something loading. It was just a blank file. No filename, no location, nothing. I've turned it off and so far, I've had no problems (though it's only been 15 minutes). Hopefully that's solved it!
Maybe windows kept periodically trying to load a blank file and had to freeze to allow it to do so as it didn't exist.
Anyway, we'll see if this helps! Thanks to all those that have tried to help and if this doesn't work, expect a follow up from me!
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So far still ok, does that blank in msconfig sound like something that could cause this problem? Is there anywhere else I need to check what's running or trying to run?
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Legitimate programs have names. I would suspect something bad there. You are updating your AV on a regular basis?
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Yeah, AV is updated and came up clean. This file is still in my msconfig but isn't ticked. It didn't show in HT though.
Is there anywhere in registry or elsewhere I should check?
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