toshiba laptop running vista freezing constantly

[jennefur8675]

Hello,

I have a toshiba satellite L305-s5955 laptop running vista 2gb ram.  Computer started freezing after 5-10 minutes of use and I have to manually power down.  But seems to run fine in safe mode.  I tried to do research, and it does not run hot, no visible signs of dust in vents/fan area, fan is moving.   Is it ok to just run it in safe mode all the time?  I only use it for browsing and selliing on ebay, downloading, editing pics.  I don't think it is infected, but I guess I don't really know.  If someone could help me troubleshoot I would be very grateful.  I have had a bad run in the last year, all 4 of our computers have broken and are unusable in the regular boot modes and 2 won't even boot.  And we broke 3 digital cameras.  I swear we aren't reckless people lol. Just some bad times fell on us and this toshiba laptop is our newest one, so id like to try and fix this one first.  I thank you for your time in reading this!

[JJ 3000]

When safe mode works but normal mode doesn't, that usually points to a problem with drivers or startup programs. Did you install any new programs, update your drivers, or make any changes at all to the computer right before this started?

[jennefur8675]

I don't think so, but it started freezing a couple months ago, so I am not too sure. Thanks for your fast reply.  I was reading the forums and someone suggested msconfig, disable everything, then readd things back in to see if the freeze starts again.  Should I continue with this route?

[JJ 3000]

I don't think so, but it started freezing a couple months ago, so I am not too sure. Thanks for your fast reply.  I was reading the forums and someone suggested msconfig, disable everything, then readd things back in to see if the freeze starts again.  Should I continue with this route?

Yes.

Click start, type msconfig into the search box and press enter.

Under the general tab click selective startup.

Uncheck the Load Startup Items box.

Click the services tab and check the box next to Hide All Microsoft Services, then click Disable All.

Restart the computer in normal mode to see if the freezing still happens. Let us know what happens.

[jennefur8675]

Yes.

Click start, type msconfig into the search box and press enter.

Under the general tab click selective startup.

Uncheck the Load Startup Items box.

Click the services tab and check the box next to Hide All Microsoft Services, then click Disable All.

Restart the computer in normal mode to see if the freezing still happens. Let us know what happens.

Ok, thank you, I will try that now.  I so appreciate your reply.   

[jennefur8675]

Yes.

Click start, type msconfig into the search box and press enter.

Under the general tab click selective startup.

Uncheck the Load Startup Items box.

Click the services tab and check the box next to Hide All Microsoft Services, then click Disable All.

Restart the computer in normal mode to see if the freezing still happens. Let us know what happens.

Computer has been running in normal mode now with all services you said to disable disabled.   Running for over an hour, everything good.   And I hardly got 5 minutes out of it lately.

[JJ 3000]

Okay. Now you need to find out which one of those startups or services were causing the problem. Follow the instructions here under the heading: Determine what is causing the problem.

http://support.microsoft.com/kb/929135

Once you narrow it down, post back and we can tell you how to proceed.

[jennefur8675]

May have been a fluke cuz I started adding programs and it froze again, so I deleted all programs again and was going to reboot after each new program was added (theres not that much on this laptop) but when I deleted all again, it froze up.  So I am guessing thats not the problem?

[JJ 3000]

so I deleted all programs again and was going to reboot after each new program was added but when I deleted all again, it froze up.

Is that after you rebooted?

Still no problem with safe mode?

Does that computer have another user account? If not, can you create one to see if it has the same problem?

[jennefur8675]

yes after the reboot.  Safe mode works awesome.  No other user account on there.  I was told by a friend to run chkdsk, so I did and it froze up at 13% at step 4 of 5.  He says that's an indicator of failing hard drive.  Do you agree?