I hate computers

[InyaAzz]

You might not have a malware problem (if you did, Norton ain't gonna do shit for you)...but it doesn't hurt to scan.

Firefox is still my primary browser, but only because it's more flexible than Chrome. FF has become VERY bloated. Chrome is FAST. Fucking FAST...but it doesn't work with a lot of sites.

[Bad324]

I just cant put my head on what the hell could be causing this sudden freeze shit. This last time it did it to me I only had this page open and tried to run the superantispyware install file

[InyaAzz]

Have you looked at your processes? CTRL-ALT-DEL, then Task manager. Sort on the CPU column. Is one process hogging up all the cycles?

[Bad324]

Have you looked at your processes? CTRL-ALT-DEL, then Task manager. Sort on the CPU column. Is one process hogging up all the cycles?

I've tried to check it out but every time I do, it freezes

[InyaAzz]

Ok. Sounds like Windows is your problem.

You could have some hardware going bad. Have you checked your event log?

[Bad324]

It wouldn't shock me if on my 1 year old laptop that hardware was going bad as I've sworn up and down that I've loved my dells and had few if any problems with them

How would I check the event log?

[snodgrass23]

I use Firefox and Chrome, but still use Firefox for most things. Emailing bookmarks and all that is sooooo last year.

Here are a few apps to get you going. I use at least 3 PC's on a daily basis and need to keep as much info synced between them as possible, this includes files and favorites. This also works great when I need to rebuild a machine as I don't have to worry about backing up all of that stuff.

XMARKS

They have this for IE as well. Keeps all your favorites the same on all synced machines.

Dropbox

Sets up a shared folder on your machine. It then syncs with any other machines. So I keep anything I want to have on all my machines, like all my school homework. Basically anything that I used to keep on a flash drive, I now put here and I don't have to carry a drive around with me.

[Strictly Street]

It wouldn't shock me if on my 1 year old laptop that hardware was going bad as I've sworn up and down that I've loved my dells and had few if any problems with them

How would I check the event log?

Hmm... Heat sink problem?

If you let it sit for awhile does it run fast again?

At least till you start making it work on something, then it slows down?

A hardware shot in the dark.....

Event Viewer: Right click on "My Computer" choose "Manage" and its under "System Tools"

[r1crusher]

It could be a hardware issue if a fan is bad or something and it's overheating. The biggest tell tail sign is when it freeze, it completely freezes, no keyboard control, no mouse control, everything just stops completely.

I'm guessing he's still able to move the mouse and what not, it's just unresponsive to input because of a process.

[Bad324]

It could be a hardware issue if a fan is bad or something and it's overheating. The biggest tell tail sign is when it freeze, it completely freezes, no keyboard control, no mouse control, everything just stops completely.

I'm guessing he's still able to move the mouse and what not, it's just unresponsive to input because of a process.

Yup its unresponsive. In the 2 days its been doing this it only completely froze once and that was after I tried to do too many things post it starting to become unresponsive

[InyaAzz]

Dell might have some sort of diagnostics you can download and boot into. Not sure. Sure sounds like hardware to me.

Boot into safe mode with networking, and see if the same thing happens. Press F8 after the BIOS is complete and before the Windows splash screen comes up (during the reboot process).

I've seen PC's do this with bad blocks on hard drives too. A look at the event log could tell the story.

[ReconRat]

Hmm... Heat sink problem?

If you let it sit for awhile does it run fast again?

At least till you start making it work on something, then it slows down?

A hardware shot in the dark.....

Event Viewer: Right click on "My Computer" choose "Manage" and its under "System Tools"

good point, when mine went bonkers, I found the temps were way too high.

Oddly, when re-imaged, the temps came down and ran correctly...

[Bad324]

I wanna blame it on hardware issue as well but every time I restart the computer after a freeze it boots up normal like nothing is wrong. Mind you I have probably rebooted this thing 15times today.

I think I'm gonna try and get my roommate to look at it and if he cant figure it out then I'm saying fuck it and throwing in the reboot disc

[alienpi]

I'm guessing that you are just outside of the warranty period? I remember from one of my classes that mission critical systems should optimally be replaced every 18 months. Because the target lifespan of machines is just outside of the warranty period or something like that.

My Powermac G5 died exactly 1 month outside of the Applecare warranty. This is why I buy relatively cheap refurbished/reconditioned electronics these days. Oddly enough I've had excellent luck with the refurbished stuff not failing too soon.

And by the way, I've also had excellent luck with Avira and Malwarebytes. ESET is my preferred Security suite.

Edited February 11, 2010 by alienpi

[InyaAzz]

that's why getting in the event log will help. Right now we're all throwing out ideas ...and not really narrowing down much.

[InyaAzz]

I'm guessing that you are just outside of the warranty period? I remember from one of my classes that mission critical systems should optimally be replaced every 18 months. Because the target lifespan of machines is just outside of the warranty period or something like that.

My Powermac G5 died exactly 1 month outside of the Applecare warranty. This is why I buy relatively cheap refurbished/reconditioned electronics these days. Oddly enough I've had excellent luck with the refurbished stuff not failing too soon.

Refurb stuff can be a great value...especially if you have an idea of why it was refurbed. Sometimes it's something as simple as a firmware issue!

[John]

now if I can figure out why the computer is doing all this freezing in the first place

porn. and lots of it.

if you have spyware/malware download adaware and malwarebytes.

[justin0469]

Right click My Computer, click properties, click Advanced tab, under performance click settings. Click Advanced tab, click change, make sure "System managed size" is chosen, click ok and reboot. While there are other ways to work it, for the average user, letting Windows determine your page file size is probably best. This also requires you to have a decent amount of drive space available (can be up to 2.5GB depending on situation)

Right click on your task bar, click Task Manager. Click the performance tab and leave it open while you do things. watch the graphs to see if anything maxes out while working.

Check the Event Viewer System log (Control Panel > Admin tools > Event Viewer > System) for any significant errors, though there may be none.

KISS and start with simple things first.

Have you looked at your processes? CTRL-ALT-DEL, then Task manager. Sort on the CPU column. Is one process hogging up all the cycles?

You could have some hardware going bad. Have you checked your event log?

A hardware shot in the dark.....

Event Viewer: Right click on "My Computer" choose "Manage" and its under "System Tools"

good point, when mine went bonkers, I found the temps were way too high.

Oddly, when re-imaged, the temps came down and ran correctly...

have you tried what i suggested and other ppl repeated?

[Bad324]

that's why getting in the event log will help. Right now we're all throwing out ideas ...and not really narrowing down much.

have you tried what i suggested and other ppl repeated?

I did bring up the log but after looking at it I had NO idea wtf any of it meant I was going to print screen it then ran out of time at work as I had some stuff I needed to get done before I left and now I can't remember how to get print screen to freakin work. ugh what a day

porn. and lots of it.

if you have spyware/malware download adaware and malwarebytes.

Its my work computer so the porn is very very limited to basically NWS shit thats on forums as I would probably not ever get in trouble for it

[serpentracer]

why pay for malware prevention software when you can get it free now.

http://www.microsoft.com/Security_Essentials/

norton always has so much bullshit extra garbage running it slows everyones shit way down. it's probably the shittiest stuff I've ever had.

IE8 has stopped 3 attempted attacks on my computer so far. I love it!

firefox misses this shit.

and IE8 is way faster on sites like youtube etc. firefox gets really slow and glitchy on my old computer. plus IE8's tabbed browsing is so much better than firefox and chrome. it has thumbnails of open tabs..fucking awesome!

http://www.microsoft.com/windows/Internet-explorer/default.aspx

If it would run in linux (ubuntu 9.10) firefox would be history on this computer.

and as for Dell computers....worst garbage you can buy. they use junk parts. HP toshiba sony and mac are the best shit you can get.

my HP uses a Asus brand mobo and Nvidia chipsets.

dell always uses some junk from a company of way less quality than pc chips. (the hyosung or shinko of computer companies) and has crazy fucked up hard to install drivers odd ball bioses that aren't compatible with other operating systems other than what it came with etc...they are the worst computers you can get if you ask me.

Edited February 12, 2010 by serpentracer

[Bad324]

So ran a full diagnostic with Dell and it seems that all the hardware is fine. They said they have been getting a lot of calls about the new Microsoft Update FUBAR'ing shit, whether this is true or not I don't know.

Then of course I went to just reboot this whole fucking machine and it says that my Product Key for Windows is invalid. I checked 4x to make sure I put it in right and still no go, I'm losing my damn patience with this thing