Help! Computer partial freezes - Lateral thinking needed
in [Laptops]
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From: Bruce on 20 Apr 2010 12:38 On Tue, 20 Apr 2010 13:24:34 +0100, "Roger Mills" <watt.tyler(a)googlemail.com> wrote: >In an earlier contribution to this discussion, Bruce ><docnews2011(a)gmail.com> wrote: >> On Tue, 20 Apr 2010 12:39:55 +0100, "Roger Mills" >> <watt.tyler(a)googlemail.com> wrote: >>> My computer has recently developed a very annoying fault of locking >>> up, and I need some help to diagnose and fix it. >>> >>> It's an HP/Compaq laptop running Win XP/SP3 but I'm using it as a >>> desktop with additional monitor and separate keyboard/mouse. >>> >>> The symptoms are as follows: >>> * The taskbar (which is usually hidden) displays when I mouse over >>> it, and then freezes in position - and the clock doesn't update >>> * The mouse pointer continues to move in response to mouse >>> movements, but mouse clicks (mostly) have no effect >>> * I am unable to open any new programs or shut down any that are open >>> * Mailwasher (which I have permanently open on one of the monitors) >>> continues to scan for emails and displays any new ones it finds. It >>> even responds to mouse clicks to zap any emails I don't want - but >>> it's virtually the only program which *does* respond to mouse clicks >>> * This freeze-up happens every morning - not always at the same >>> time, but usually between 10am and noon. [I can't find anything >>> that's scheduled to happen at this time, which may cause it] >>> * The only way (that I can find) to recover is to power down ("big >>> red switch" job - except that it isn't red) and start again >>> * Once restarted, it usually runs ok for the rest of the day >>> >>> Oh, and one final thing - I'm not sure whether it's relevant . . >>> It has only started happening since I installed the software for a >>> USB-based Canon all-in-one printer scanner - but the device itself >>> is at another location and so not physically connected - but the >>> problem is still occurring. [The device doesn't show up in Device >>> Manager, so I can't tell the system not to use it in this profile, >>> or somesuch] >>> >>> Anyone come across anything like this, or got any ideas? >> >> >> I have had similar problems in the past with anti-virus software. When >> it started scanning, everything seemed to freeze. Perhaps yours is >> timed to start its daily scanning at 10:00 AM? > >No - AVG updates each day at 18:00 and does a full scan only once a week, on >a Monday evening. I used to use AVG and had frequent slowdowns even when AVG appeared not to be active. Since removing AVG from the system there has been a very significant improvement in performance. I don't know whether AVG is at the root of your specific problem, but as an anti-virus package I think it is best avoided, along with Norton and McAfee.
From: Roger Mills on 20 Apr 2010 12:41 In an earlier contribution to this discussion, John Whitworth > > In Device Manager, in View, have you ticked "Show Hidden Devices"? > Can't remember whether that will show disconnected USB devices for > which the drivers are still present. > No, I hadn't and there wasn't a Printers entry in the drop-down list. I've now done so, and it shows the printer which is physically connected, but not the Canon all-in-one. > Failing that, could you uninstall the printer driver using Add/Remove > programs? Then, when it is connected to the machine again, and you > reinstall, you could experiment with disabling the hardware in > specific profiles. > > JW Yes, I could probably do that. The driver shows up in the program list, but doesn't show a task name so I've no idea whether it's loaded or not. The only obvious canon program was MyPrinter (some sort of printer monitoring program) which I have now disabled - and we'll see if that makes any difference. If necessary, I'll uninstall the driver - but not just yet. -- Cheers, Roger _______ Please reply to Newsgroup. Whilst email address is valid, it is seldom checked.
From: John Rumm on 20 Apr 2010 18:33 Roger Mills wrote: > My computer has recently developed a very annoying fault of locking up, and > I need some help to diagnose and fix it. > > It's an HP/Compaq laptop running Win XP/SP3 but I'm using it as a desktop > with additional monitor and separate keyboard/mouse. > > The symptoms are as follows: > * The taskbar (which is usually hidden) displays when I mouse over it, and > then freezes in position - and the clock doesn't update > * The mouse pointer continues to move in response to mouse movements, but > mouse clicks (mostly) have no effect > * I am unable to open any new programs or shut down any that are open <snip etc> > Anyone come across anything like this, or got any ideas? Yes, recently... Something to try when it next "freezes".... Does ALT + Tab escape from the freeze? And what about CTRL+ALT+DEL (i.e. opening task manager)? If so it sounds like a problem I had with Firefox after an update from 3.6. It was getting resource hungry - swallowing 50% CPU for no apparent reason, and on occasion - would seem to cause a freeze like you describe - especially when trying to resize or move a window. After a few days of irritation the problem went away! The only significant event I can correlate with it was a message recently on starting FF warning that the Java Deployment Toolkit had been disabled for security or stability reasons. Since then it s been fine. Looking at the specific reasons for the block list entry of that[1] it does not seem to be related to the problem I was having - so may be co-incidence. [1] https://bugzilla.mozilla.org/show_bug.cgi?id=558584 -- Cheers, John. /=================================================================\ | Internode Ltd - http://www.internode.co.uk | |-----------------------------------------------------------------| | John Rumm - john(at)internode(dot)co(dot)uk | \=================================================================/
From: John Rumm on 20 Apr 2010 18:35 Roger Mills wrote: > In an earlier contribution to this discussion, Adrian > <toomany2cvs(a)gmail.com> wrote: >> "Roger Mills" <watt.tyler(a)googlemail.com> gurgled happily, sounding >> much like they were saying: >> >>> Oh, and one final thing - I'm not sure whether it's relevant . . It >>> has only started happening since I installed the software for a >>> USB-based Canon all-in-one printer scanner - but the device itself >>> is at another location and so not physically connected - but the >>> problem is still occurring. [The device doesn't show up in Device >>> Manager, so I can't tell the system not to use it in this profile, >>> or somesuch] >> Is there a Canon software component being auto-started on boot? > > Now, there's a bit of lateral thinking! > > Yes, there is a program called CanonMyPrinter which is auto-started and sits > in the system tray. I've now disabled it, and will see whether that makes > any difference. > > Meanwhile, thanks to all for the other suggestions - keep them coming! Check there are no services that have been installed and set to autostart as well. (Right click My Computer and select "Manage", then drill down to the services list). -- Cheers, John. /=================================================================\ | Internode Ltd - http://www.internode.co.uk | |-----------------------------------------------------------------| | John Rumm - john(at)internode(dot)co(dot)uk | \=================================================================/
From: John Doue on 22 Apr 2010 01:57
On 4/21/2010 1:53 PM, Roger Mills wrote: > In an earlier contribution to this discussion, John Rumm > <see.my.signature(a)nowhere.null> wrote: >> Roger Mills wrote: >> >> >>> Anyone come across anything like this, or got any ideas? >> >> Yes, recently... >> >> Something to try when it next "freezes".... >> >> Does ALT + Tab escape from the freeze? And what about CTRL+ALT+DEL >> (i.e. opening task manager)? >> > ALT+Tab cycles round the open applications, but none of them - except > Mailwasher - will do anything, or even close down - they just go into Not > Responding mode. > > If task manager is already running when the freeze happens, it carries on - > showing chan ging amounts of CPU time used by each task. If it *isn't* > already running, Ctrl+Alt+Del doesn't start it (and no other applications > will start, either) > > >> If so it sounds like a problem I had with Firefox after an update from >> 3.6. It was getting resource hungry - swallowing 50% CPU for no >> apparent reason, and on occasion - would seem to cause a freeze like >> you describe - especially when trying to resize or move a window. >> >> After a few days of irritation the problem went away! The only >> significant event I can correlate with it was a message recently on >> starting FF warning that the Java Deployment Toolkit had been disabled >> for security or stability reasons. Since then it s been fine. Looking >> at the specific reasons for the block list entry of that[1] it does >> not seem to be related to the problem I was having - so may be >> co-incidence. >> >> [1] https://bugzilla.mozilla.org/show_bug.cgi?id=558584 >> > I get a similar problem with Firefox - which often used 90+ % of CPU time, > but I don't think that's the cause of the freezes - which happen even if > Firefox isn't running. [I recently updated to v 3.6.3 (after the freezes > started happening) in the hope that it reduce the amount of CPU time used - > but it hasn't!] -- John Doue |