Computer problems here also...

Psyco · Post by **Psyco** » Thu Mar 09, 2006 10:43 pm

Copy and paste from another forum I post on... Hopefully the computer god Phin is awake

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The last couple days I've been having an issue with my comp where pretty much any program started crashes after a couple seconds.

I've done Virus scans.. (both online and off.. including a boot time scan.)
Spyware scans..

the computer did this a few days ago.. I ran defrag and it fixed it for a few days.. I've ran diskkeeper 10 normally and at boot time to defrag the page file.. Have 19% free space on the drive (29 Gb..)

Ideas? IE crashes but it lets me just move the crash window and keep working. Other programs aren't allowing this.

Help please!

Programs that crash:
IE
Opera
Firefox
WMP10
Winamp

Programs that don't:
Diskkeeper10
Avast! Av
Wallmaster (desktop background randomizer)
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Post by **Phineus** » Thu Mar 09, 2006 10:55 pm

Does it crash if you start in safe mode?

Psyco · Post by **Psyco** » Thu Mar 09, 2006 11:44 pm

Yessir

Psyco · Post by **Psyco** » Fri Mar 10, 2006 12:14 am

might have possibly ran across something?

It seems EVERY file that is created on the HD is heavily fragmented.. Why? I defraged.. went to a webpage.. reopened diskkeeper.. and got this.

Post by **Phineus** » Fri Mar 10, 2006 12:20 am

I was going to ask about processes. For example, with three programs open I only have 18 processes running. It's possible if you have too many, or something harmful, it's conflicting with normal programs.

On the other hand, if your drive is fragged that way, it's probably a sign of (1) your defragger is junk, or (2) the hdd is junk. For what it's worth, I stopped defragging in '98 because it caused more problems than it was worth. I recently had hdd problems too. What exactly was the cause is more than I can say, but I used maxtor's utility and it appears better now... but I lost everything on it.

Psyco · Post by **Psyco** » Fri Mar 10, 2006 12:49 am

For what it's worth..

I hate Maxtors.. And I've had one WD die lately.. This is it's replacement..

I went a deleted 10gb of stuff I never burned to dvd .. Ie made it 2 minutes without crashing.... thats the best in 2 days..

The HD may be junk.. The Defrag is suposed to be the best out there.. (and it replacced the windows defrag.. so I can't even use it..) but it still may be junk.

With only IE open .. 38 processes..

Post by **Phineus** » Fri Mar 10, 2006 1:21 am

Use ms config until your boot up looks something like this. If the crashing stops, add things back one at a time until you find the problem. If the crashing does not stop, you have serious problems.

<center>
<img src="http://brandonbatson.com/upload/images/ssssssssss1b.gif" width="418">
</center>

If that's too much work go to this folder for all users and delete everything you find, reboot and try it.

C:\Documents and Settings\user\Local Settings\Temp

Woody · Post by **Woody** » Fri Mar 10, 2006 1:23 pm

Are you getting any error messages when programs crash?

Are the programs just quiting or locking up?

Did you install any new software right before the problems started? If you did I would uninstall it and see if it helps.

One other possibility is that you have had a stick of ram go bad.

Psyco · Post by **Psyco** » Fri Mar 10, 2006 6:28 pm

Woody... I ran mem tests thinking that was the problem.. but some crash and some do not.. the only link I can find between the crashers is that they all access the internet at startup.. :shrugs: I'll post a picture of the error.

Psyco · Post by **Psyco** » Fri Mar 10, 2006 6:50 pm

I'm still hoping it's ram.. not the drive.. It suddenly quit crashing this afternoon.. I will be away for about 18 hours.. SOounds like a good time to stress test this biatch. If something frys.. I've been wanting to upgrade to dual core.. (tryin to wait til quad cores come out late this year)

trackster · Post by **trackster** » Fri Mar 10, 2006 10:28 pm

thanks for the pic Phineus i just got a laptop and was wondering what programs should be booting up

Post by **Phineus** » Fri Mar 10, 2006 10:43 pm

trackster, there can be slight differences between computers due to components. My picture there should be used as a guide only and not as carved in stone. The main point I was trying to get across is that you don't need a lot running for smooth operations. When trouble shooting, it's usually best to start with the basics and work your way up.

Psyco, you might want to rule out software before digging into hardware. However, last year I had memory problems where the slot went bad, not the stick itself. And a couple months ago I had a hdd go rangy. It's hard to pin these things down. Sometimes there's nothing for it but slogging through a process of elimination.

Slayer · Post by **Slayer** » Fri Mar 10, 2006 11:46 pm

reminds me back in the 95/98 days the task list would consist of

explorer

and occasionally

systray (but not always)

and the computer could run smoothly.
now-a-days you need 5 SVChost's running for some odd reason etc.

so back then it was easy to find spyware etc. close everything but explorer and systray heh.

trackster · Post by **trackster** » Sat Mar 11, 2006 12:52 am

i know but i got way to many things running in my background. I just was wondering what windows programs you need to have running and they are in that list

Psyco · Post by **Psyco** » Sat Mar 11, 2006 7:59 am

after 13 hours of memory testing.. and a reboot.. it started back again

Damnit.. SO it's gotta be the drive or windows....

Woody · Post by **Woody** » Sat Mar 11, 2006 10:11 am

Damnit.. SO it's gotta be the drive or windows....

I doubt if it is the drive, you would more likely get errors loading the program (or it wouldn't load at all) if the drive was flaky. If it loads ok and then crashes I would almost bet some Windows component has been corrupted.

trackster · Post by **trackster** » Sat Mar 11, 2006 11:26 am

what error do you get (has proformed an illegal opperation?)

i had my computer freeze readomally and for me it was my graphics card i currently have a popsickle sick ontop of an eraser holding un the back corner of the card so it is on a slop and provides a better connnetion.

Psyco · Post by **Psyco** » Sat Mar 11, 2006 1:25 pm

Psyco · Post by **Psyco** » Sat Mar 11, 2006 1:26 pm

And the Repair windows function is a no go.. since they've patched everything under the sun, the cd's files are too old for anything to work.

trackster · Post by **trackster** » Sat Mar 11, 2006 5:17 pm

weird i keep on getting the same error but the program just closes and then i just go back into it and it works