PC Problem!!!

[McMw]

For some reason, my PC's been playin up...

two things it does...

it hangs...and hangs till I reset it on the CPU unit...
or
it just restarts...

4 times it did that this morning in the space of 15 mins, and 3 times this evening...

and it's going back a couple of days now...

Using Win2000Pro, Norman AntiVirus (up to date), Updated MS files etc...

Seems to play this morning when i went to do disk cleanup, and this evening was when I opened excel files...

any help/advice from the techeads here???

[markTHEblake]

right click My Computer > Properties > Advanced > Start Up and Recovery > Settings.

If Automatically Restart is enabled disable it. wont fix the problem though.

What I would do if I had the patience, Virus scan, spyware scan, format and reinstall and if still playing up, replace every single piece of hardware one at a time until the problem goes away.

[Jarro]

gee

aren't you glad you asked Mau

[McMw]

thanks heaps MTB....
we'll see how that goes...

[Onewood]

it hangs...and hangs till I reset it on the CPU unit...
or
it just restarts...

This happened to me at work and the IT guy said it was a virus and fixed it in 2 seconds I'll ask him at work tomorrow if he can held Mau,

[Fishman Dan]

Symptomatic of virus problems, so make sure (yes, i know you said it) your A/V is up to date.

Mind you, a rebuild is always the best remedy for Windows - i did mine yesterday and it's solved a lot of problems - mostly the huge delay it took to load tournaments in Tiger Woods 2004

[McMw]

cheers onewood...appreciate if u could pass me the info tomorrow...

it's happened to me 4 times this morning...

[McMw]

okay...problems that has occured...

tried numerious time to do a disk cleanup - comp just hangs, or reboots, or goes to do a physical memory dump...

this physical memory dump has happened a lot in the last 24 hours...

I've deleted a lot of files and folders...but still no improvement...

always seems to happen when I do something, like click on the send icon for Outlook Express...or some other functions...

Can't even perform an On Line Virus Scan, without it hanging...

WTF is going on??? anyone???

[Fishman Dan]

format c:\ /y

Best thing to do is have the hard disk removed and put inside a working system, and get it to do a full virus scan on yours. Chances are that your operating system is fubar, but if it's just a virus issue then we're really only going to find out by running a scan from a system that's clean and/or working.

If you don't find any viruses, then copy anything you want to keep (files only, programs can be re-installed) over to the other hard disk, and then format and re-install the operating system.

Golden rule with Windows - when all else fails, go back to square 1.

That'll be AU$80. But i'll take that nice looking putter over there

[McMw]

thnks FD...

this is beginning to be such a hassle coz I'm always losing data on reports as I'm working on them...

[Fishman Dan]

thnks FD...

this is beginning to be such a hassle coz I'm always losing data on reports as I'm working on them...

I went through this process on the weekend.. pc was crashing in apps that shouldn't, and it just got to the point where i'd had enough.

Problem is time vs effort - the time you are losing vs the effort it takes to rebuild the system. Because once the system is rebuilt you know you have a (semi) solid platform to work with - after all, it's still Windows

Courty - gotta love them macs...

[AndyP]

Fishy, I'm having some problems with my VCR. Would you be able to help? :P

[McMw]

for some reason, my comp wants to do a physical memory dump every single time!!!

[markTHEblake]

Did you check the setting I mentioned, that might stop the rebooting?

Start up in safe mode if you cant get it running in normal.

[McMw]

yeah MTB...did that "unclick" automatic reboot...
which has helped...

but now, it just goes to the bluescreen, and tells me it's done a physical memory dump...

[markTHEblake]

Well thats great, I would like to know why that box gets ticked in the first place cos its a pain in the bum!. In most cases Windows can recover from a Program Crash, unlike the old days when the slightest thing could hang the whole system.

Go to Start > Programs > Control Panel > Administrative Tools, Event Viewer.
Click on Application and System categories and look at the recent Red X's there might be lots ofthem, see ifyou can pick out te relevant one by the time.

See if you can understand the meaning of the descriptions, (though in most cases only MS engineers can understand them). There may be a URL in there, click on that to see if there is further information.

There should also be the Windows Stop Error number, the same one you see on the BSOD. (Blue Screen of DEATH)

Might look something like this:
Error code 1000008e, parameter1 c0000005, parameter2 bf868d94, parameter3 ba158ce8, parameter4 00000000.

(yeah i get em too)

The first number is important 'error code' If the URL in event veiwer does not have any decent info, then Google for 'windows stop error code 1000008e' or whatever your number is.

Unfortunately in most cases I have experienced the description of those errors are far to generic to provide a quick and dirty solution, but you never know until you have tried.

Post the info from event viewer here if you need some help with deciphering it.

[McMw]

thanks for the help MTB....
but I killed the pc this morning, and it's now at the shops being worked on...

couldn't even make a copy of all the work that I had done...

ugh...all those emails and contacts...

[markTHEblake]

Never mind, PC's are a Time = Money thing. You could spend all day fixing it and lose a days income, or just pay some other poor schmuck to fix it.

Tell you what, - bet you never saw a rich PC technician.