Problems with Steam

[SLLAB02]

This is a really strange problem. Whenever I start up my computer and run Steam in the same 5 or so minutes after Windows starts up, my comp will freeze completely for anywhere from 10 to 20 minutes. Like, even the clock won't move. After that, everything's completely back to normal.

When I start up my computer I usually begin other applications like AIM, Windows Media Connect, Bittorrent, Windows Defender and AntiVir guard.

Any thoughts?

 

[PC eye]

When running Half Life 2's Collector Edition I simply went into the msconfig utility and disabled just about all startups with the exception of sound and video. The STEAM/Source engine by VALVe can place a good demand on memory and other system resources. Added to that is other programs/apps running in the background. Generally I allowed the system to warm up a bit before then starting up the gaming engine there. Antivirus utilities should also be temporarily be disabled when planning to game. Often these can cause conflicts as well as system locks when clashing. Your firewall can also see issues there too. How much memory is installed on the system. Having a good 1gb or more of ram will certainly help with Steam. A boost from 1gb to 2gb made the big difference when HL2 first came out!