Computer freezing up

[KJ523]

Does anyone know what makes a great computer(HP) with no previous problems, start freezing up out of nowhere?  >:(Last night all I was doing was playing a game of Solitare and it froze! What causes this? :-?

[XtaszY]

Try to verify processor cooler. This freezing of windows is common for a broken cooler or filty radiator.

[GX1_Man]

If I might direct you to some useful information in English which you may be able to comprehend better than that above:

http://www.computerhope.com/cgi-bin/yabb/YaBB.cgi?num=1149804407

[KJ523]

WOW! Apparently I have not gotten any updates for my computer since August 05(I have it set to update and install automatically... dont know what happened there!)!  There are a TON I need to do.... now my question is: I have a friend who did this a few years ago too and when she downloaded all of the updates(fewer amount than mine!) Her hard drive crashed.  so far with Windows updater I have 42 updates.... Should I be worried the same thing will happen?!? :-?

[GX1_Man]

You need the updates. If problems happen we can deal with that. Always back up your data files regualtly, updates or not.

[KJ523]

Ok! Got all of the updates, even the AntiSpy for Windows.... No problems! I am pretty out of the loop when it comes to some computer things.... so forgive this stupid question... how do you back up all your files? When you said to do that regularly, did you meaan EVERYTHING? or what? Thx!

[GX1_Man]

Just your important data files. Windows and programs can be reinstalled if needed. Do you have a CD writer in that machine? Better yet, just post what specifics you have. If not, you can download and run Belarc Advisor (free at www.belarc.com) and then paste the report in here. We can advise better then.

[KJ523]

Yes I do have a CD/DVD writer on the computer. We have Windows 2000, and I also have another computer at work that is doing the same thing(also Windows 2000). Is there a way to know what should be running on your computer in the Task Manager? I do not know what alot of that is, and it may not all be needed.... could that be it?

[GX1_Man]

It may be, but you can check your running processes in Task Manager (Ctl+Alt+Del) and list them here for perusal. I'm sure you can google for typical running processes, but this will be different on every computer depending on what is loaded.

[ale52]

One of the first things you need to do is try and determine if it's hardware or software.  Without a second hard drive to install, then installing the OS it's hard to figure out sometimes.  Because Windows 2000 doesn't come with the "msconfig" utility (with it you can turn off/on software when the computer boots) I've found a nice utility that does the same thing.  Download it from here:

http://www.pcmag.com/article2/0,4149,2173,00.asp

Install and turn off all the stuff you don't need (it won't let you turn off any essential stuff).  Reboot and see if the problem is still there.  If it is then it most likely is a hardware problem.  If the problem goes away then it is possibly some software running in the background.  Turning on each process one-at-a-time will help determine if it's software.

Good Luck!

Alan <><