Genealogy Chat

Been having problems for a few days now, and run just about every check I can think of.

Computer keeps freezing and the only way to close it down is by switching off from the mains and starting up again.

Sometimes it even does it when I am away from the computer.

Any advice please it's driving me mad?

Thanks

Linda

Linda are you getting any pop-ups or advert windows etc? Or is it just freezing? Do you have you computer on for long periods of time? Some comps get very hot and can overheat which can lead to freezes etc. If you do have it on for hours on end, try just switching off and leaving it to cool down for a while.

have you cleaned out the tower it needs frequent light hoovering to remove all the dust & fluff its suprising how much gets into it

Hi Keith,

Thanks for answering

No Pop ups or anything just freezing. Yes i do have computer on for a long time but never had any problems before, had it 6 years perhaps it's just getting old?

Linda

My son had a similar problem when he came come from uni.

He had bought a new desk and the computer was in a nice little compartment at the bottom. In fact it was not getting enough ventilation and was overheating which was the cause of the problem.

Spyware and Adware also spring to mind. You say you have run checks - what exactly have you tried so far?

Could be as Shirley says, it may need cleaning. If you have not done it before, the dust gets in and insulates the components causing them to overheat.
Take the side or back off as appropriate and just give it a gentle hoovering around inside.

Hi Peter ...tried them and I have Norton. Deleted internet files and cookies. just in case, more in desperation than anything else.

Think I will try the cleaning route next that sounds like a likely reason,

Unless anyone can think of anything else?

Linda

Ok this could be your CPU Fan failing - and causing the processor to overheat.

Unless you are ok with taking the PC apart get someone to look at it for you.

If you are ok then open the PC and start it up - see if the fan is spinning properly on the CPU. If this is at fault they are quite cheap to replace (although can be stubborn to get off).

Have you tried a defrag for clean up of system,,,?

Defragging as we speak

Linda

Yeah i think it needs a good clean up inside my oh did it for me and it helped a lot

Clare

Linda i also had the same problem until i got rid of Norton now no more freezing
Regards Lyn

Linda, as its that old, do you have enough hard drive(or whatever!!) space on it? I know we had this prob with our old puter because it was simply virtually full?

The other thing that comes to mind is have you had any updates download before all this started? Often they cause probs. Can you system restore to a time before the problem started?

Is the Nortons new or recently updated - I know a lot of people complained about freezing when they had the new version on their system.

Linda.

And anyone else for that matter.

CPU overheating is the most probable cause as already said.

You can download a free program from PC world that will monitor the temperature of your processor and that temperature will appear on your task bar. If it's anywhere over 58 that's the problem.

Here's a link http://tinyurl.com/nu93q

You can also buy a case cooling fan, it just slots in the back of the tower and you connect it to one of the spare power leads inside the case, a doddle even if you know nothing about computers as the plug on it is unmistakeable. You can buy them off ebay for about £6, we have one in our master system as our systems get hot due to all the processing power we use.

Try the program first and report back with the temperature.

Ron
www.genealogyprinters.com

Thanks Ron and All,

Overheating was the problem. OH took off the side panel and it was similar to inside a hoover bag. No wonder the poor thing felt poorly. Another thing I've learnt

Gave it a good cleanout and it's fine now,

Thanks for all your help

Linda

Dear Linda,

I would suggest that you make backups of all the personal stuff like documents, emails, favourites, bookmarks, music, photos, etc, while your PCs still working, and do this periodically from now on.

Even if it fries at some future time, the hard disk might still be OK, and could be removed and added as an extra disk on your next PC, which would mean you wouldn't lose any info, but you don't know now that the disk isn't going to fail, so back up.

Keeping my fingers x-ed for you.

It's amazing how much fluff and dust appears inside your PC case aint it.

A good suck with the vacumn cleaner will help but be careful not to touch anything, pay particular attention to the fans one on top of the processor and another inside the power unit, the bit where the mains cable goes into a box, the fan in there is easy to miss.

A light brush with a childs paint brush will get the stuck on dust off the blades of the fans.

Ron
www.genealogyprinters.com