computer freezes constantly

[Roy Rogers]

AMD 2400, 512 RAM, 2.4 Gig maxtor HD, plexwriter CD-rw burner, Plextor DVD-RW burner, ASUS DVD rom player. Win XP prof with SP2. Every time I ask it to do more than simple tasks it freezes up. I try to run backup but it freezes, I try to burn a DVD and it freezes up, I ask it to scan for virus's, it freezes up..you get the idea. What are some of the reasons a computer freezes up and what are the usual solutions?

 

[The_Other_One]

Heat could be a problem... Or harddrive space. 2.4G harddrive?! I will assume/hope you just mistyped there...

 

[4W4K3]

memory problems, overheating, corrupt HD or OS.

is this a laptop or a desktop?

If you can't even run a recovery or scan your computer for viruses, i'd just faltten it and re-install Windows. What it sounds like to me is a failing HDD or screwy OS.

When you say "freeze" do you mean a blue screen appears or it jsut stops responding all together and screen wont move? Blue screen is usually driver/hardware failure, and just frozen screen is usually an operating system/heat problem (from my experiences.)

answer those ?'s and i think i can help you out more.

 

[XHotxEx791]

Overheat, bad ram, dying harddrive, corrupted os, spyware, or virus. Yep, one of those, most likely hard drive. 2.4 gigabyte drive???

 

[Roy Rogers]

hd typo

Right on, Sorry about the typo. the HD is a new maxtor 240 Gig. Everyone seems to agree that heat is a likely cause so I'll add some extra fans inside.

 

[lynx6200]

Is this a custom built machine? Also, when your system is working, could you tell us the temp readings you get for your cpu, case, m/b, anything that is shown.

 

[BobThebuilder]

I'd say bad memory for sure.

 

[jimcdr]

Bad memory sounds like the problem

 

[Lax]

Yes, it could very well be ram. Get memtest86 and do a single pass of it (burn it to a CD or put it on a floppy). If it turns up ANY errors the ram is toast. It could also be the PSU. Check you voltages (in BIOS and see what they look like).

 

[Roy Rogers]

I'm not familiar with memtest86, please explain.

 

[Lax]

http://www.memtest86.com/ Read

 

[Roy Rogers]

My computer is a tool, not a hoby. My project is completeing a legal case which includes making a composite from surveillance VHS tapes and putting these onto a DVD for easy viewing. I've been hampered consistantly by problems from my computer. I opened the cover to see if additional cooling would help the "freeze up" but it didn't seem to help. I've now ordered new memory but it'll be a while before that arrives and I'm running out of time. I need to eliminate background noise and "crank up" the intelligent sounds.Can anyone reccomend a service that can do this?

 

[Praetor]

Could be memory, hdd, power or heat. For starters, what mobo do you have?