Vista - computer freeze

So, my computer w/ Vista (came loaded) has froze up 13 times in the past
three days that I have had it. I'm not using it for games, just several,
regular applications. When it freezes, I can't ctrl+alt+del to get the
taskbar. The mouse also freezes, so I can't get to the taskbar to activate
task manager either. I think I ran across something that concerns a Windows
auto repair problems when programs have issues. Can I override this? Does
anyone know about this or have had a similar program?

justenuff wrote:
> So, my computer w/ Vista (came loaded) has froze up 13 times in the past
> three days that I have had it. I'm not using it for games, just several,
> regular applications. When it freezes, I can't ctrl+alt+del to get the
> taskbar. The mouse also freezes, so I can't get to the taskbar to activate
> task manager either. I think I ran across something that concerns a Windows
> auto repair problems when programs have issues. Can I override this? Does
> anyone know about this or have had a similar program?

I would do a couple of things:

1. You didn't mention any program names. I would go to the program
mftrs.' websites and make sure the programs you are using are
Vista-compatible. Check for patches, workarounds, known issues.

2. If these are common programs that should be Vista-compatible, you can
Google the Vista newsgroups from Google Groups Advanced Search and see
if anyone else is having a problem. You can also post here with the
names and versions of the programs.

3. If you can determine that the programs are probably not the issue,
then contact your computer mftr. because locking up like you describe is
often caused by flaky RAM or other hardware issues. Any hardware
problems will be covered under your warranty and you should not wait to
have the OEM address this. Generally if hardware is going to fail it
will do so very soon when new or go forever. So even though your
computer is new, that is no guarantee that the hardware isn't bad.


Malke
--
Elephant Boy Computers
www.elephantboycomputers.com
"Don't Panic!"
MS-MVP Windows - Shell/User

same thing happening here since loading vista. dell is working with me on
the problem but no solution yet.


"justenuff" wrote:

> So, my computer w/ Vista (came loaded) has froze up 13 times in the past
> three days that I have had it. I'm not using it for games, just several,
> regular applications. When it freezes, I can't ctrl+alt+del to get the
> taskbar. The mouse also freezes, so I can't get to the taskbar to activate
> task manager either. I think I ran across something that concerns a Windows
> auto repair problems when programs have issues. Can I override this? Does
> anyone know about this or have had a similar program?

Anyone had any luck solving this problem?

I also have the exact same issue - built the computer myself with parts from
Newegg.

The freeze is, seemingly, completely random. No obvious pattern to when it
happens. I've gone two or three days with nothing, and then had three over
the course of three hours.

I have a hard time buying that it's bad hardware. It isn't impossible, but
it strikes me as unlikely.

"md" wrote:

> same thing happening here since loading vista. dell is working with me on
> the problem but no solution yet.
>
>
> "justenuff" wrote:
>
> > So, my computer w/ Vista (came loaded) has froze up 13 times in the past
> > three days that I have had it. I'm not using it for games, just several,
> > regular applications. When it freezes, I can't ctrl+alt+del to get the
> > taskbar. The mouse also freezes, so I can't get to the taskbar to activate
> > task manager either. I think I ran across something that concerns a Windows
> > auto repair problems when programs have issues. Can I override this? Does
> > anyone know about this or have had a similar program?

I've also got a very similar problem.

Equipment is a Sager 9750 laptop with:
AMD 4800+ X2 processor
GeForce Go 7800 GTX video card
2GB RAM
2x 80GB SATA hard drives
Built-in Realtek audio

The strange part is that I used to have Vista x64 RC1 installed, and the system seemed peppy and pretty nice. I installed Vista Business x64 over the past weekend, and first impressions were that it seems sluggish. For example, I'll try to click on a file and the Aero cursor ring will sit and spin for 30 sec or so before doing anything. I did not observe any 'freezes' on installation, and one of the first things I did was fully patch up the 12 mandatory/recommended/optional fixes on the Windows update site.

It was somewhere after patching and rebooting that I first noticed a problem. I wasn't doing anything in particular, just moving the mouse across the desktop when everything froze. I knew something was wrong after a few minutes, because the laptop case has a digital clock display built into it (probably pulls right from the BIOS time) and the laptop case clock was moving forward in time, yet the Windows analog desktop clock was 'frozen' at the time when the mouse and everything else froze.

Only way out is a power cycle. This has since happened a number of times, always randomly (one time it was in the middle of installing Firefox - the progress installation bar just froze in time).

This is obviously quite annoying, and most likely some driver issue that got 'broken' after RC1. I doubt it's a memory quality issue, as it works fine in XP as well as worked fine in RC1. Does anyone have similar experiences or ideas how to attack this?

"justenuff" wrote:

My advice would be:
1. Try booting in 'Safe Mode' and see if you can boot up in there.
2. If you can get to safe mode, run a check disk with the automatically try to repair bad sections feature on, and then run a defrag.
3. Scan your computer for viruses and spyware.
4. If you still can't get your computer to run, pull out the recovery CD and perform major surgery to your computer.
5. If still has problems, go and find your retailer and ask him for help.

Same. I got a brand new computer and it freezes about 90% of the time even
when I have nothing open at all.

"tater930" wrote:

Then return it for warranty repair or replacement. That's almost surely not
a Vista problem if the unit is brand new.

--
Richard G. Harper [MVP Shell/User] rgharper@xxxxxx
* NEW! Catch my blog ... http://msmvps.com/blogs/rgharper/
* PLEASE post all messages and replies in the newsgroups
* The Website - http://rgharper.mvps.org/


"MickyB" <MickyB@xxxxxx> wrote in message
news:E5629CBB-9DA8-4C20-B80C-036D38655803@xxxxxx

Found the problem on mine. It was vista. I simply did a freash install of
vista and unchecked the box about installing updates. It was one of the
update things that was causing it.

"Richard G. Harper" wrote: