Computer Freezing For A Few Seconds Then Playing "catch Up"

[torrenova]

Over the last week my PC is freezing and then running through the commands entered (keyboard or mouse actions) when it recovers.

Usually this manifests itself in a frozen screen with the mouse seemingly inoperative but then it comes back and tracks where the mouse would have pointed had it not frozen. The same happens with text which is written when frozen and then rapidly appears one letter at a time when it comes back to life.

The PC is a P4 3 years old but it soldiers on quite well. Nothing new has been added program wise. The only thing which has changed is that AVG asks me to update manually each day.

Any ideas ?

[webfact]

can you hear a single "beep" sound when your computer unfreezes?

I suspect either a memory issue or problems with your graphic card.

Outdated mouse or keyboard driver can also cause a freeze.

Edited March 3, 2009 by webfact

[torrenova]

Sorry, no sounds at all. As a layman I thought memory or graphics but nothing has changed, nothing I know has been downloaded, memory usage is the same, CPU activity is stable at low % etc. In essence, I can see no reason why something would work then not work when nothing else has changed.

[webfact]

Sorry, no sounds at all. As a layman I thought memory or graphics but nothing has changed, nothing I know has been downloaded, memory usage is the same, CPU activity is stable at low % etc. In essence, I can see no reason why something would work then not work when nothing else has changed.

The space here would not be enough to explain that things can change... even if you did nothing.

So I recommend to run a spyware/malware/virus scan - a deep scan, including memory. In Safe mode as well.

I still trust it might be a hardware issue. Take out the RAM, clean it. Put it back. Do the same with all cards you have on your motherboard. Clean out the dust.

Leave the power cable unplugged and push the start button. Realse it after a minute or 2.

Restart your computer and see if something has changed

Edited March 3, 2009 by webfact

[longball53098]

Could it be a simple over heating issue or a power issue?

[George4]

You say you are a layman..aren't we all! Some good advice on cleaning ram etc here if it doesn't solve it try some of these.

I would start with the basics if you haven't already. I doubt if you have malware as AVG is a pretty good prevntion tool. Right click my computer go to manage and a check event viewer/applications and sytems and you can check back toi when it last froze. It may point to the problem. If somethingis hanging it should tell you what it is. If you don't understand what it says copy and paste the reason or part of it(you have to use cntl C to copy from it). Paste it into Google and as sure as god made little green apples someone else will have posted the same problem on a forum and found the solution.

Also right click my computer go to properties HARDWARE device manager and see if you have any yellow exclamation marks indicating problems.

Taking it you don't have hardware problem, get a hold of diskeeper and Registry mechanic and run them both. If you don't know already the first will defrag your computer an keep it defgragged. The second will clean up your registry, which if you haven't done so before will be a complete mess. You can find older versions of them both with any good p2p utility.

I honestly wouldn't be without either and I can't remember the last time I had any major problems. I ran registry mechanic on a friends comp last week it found 2458 problems and fixed them:0)

If that doesn't work start deleting any programs you have added to try and find the problem. Make sure you have the discs or exe files to reinstal them.

Failing that I would buy a external hard drive and back up everything you need. Reformat your hard drive and reinstall windows. Will take you a day which is alot lesss time than you will spend cursing at your comp every 5 minutes.

[Wash]

Torrenova,

Before doing a lot of things relating to major changes etc to your system I would suggest that you do a ctl.alt,del all at the same time and take a look at task manager, and within taskmanager look at the process tab. You should be able to see what program is using an inordinate amount of system processor.

If you find something that is being a pig then start with that as a path to solving the problem.

Good Luck

[torrenova]

Torrenova,

Before doing a lot of things relating to major changes etc to your system I would suggest that you do a ctl.alt,del all at the same time and take a look at task manager, and within taskmanager look at the process tab. You should be able to see what program is using an inordinate amount of system processor.

If you find something that is being a pig then start with that as a path to solving the problem.

Good Luck

Just Firefox eating up RAM but nothing new there.

[fabianfred]

How long since you replaced your mainboard battery?

[Cuban]

I've seen this thread running a week now and no improvement?

There is a windows explorer "feature" that carries out a folder index (link to correct this feature) which could freeze all action while it's too busy to take your keystrokes and mouse movements, when finished the keyboard buffer is read giving the effect you mention.

Why does AVG ask for manual updates? Is that a setting you have choosen?

I would be tempted to remove (reboot) then install the latest AVG, and set it to auto.

Anything turning up in the AVG scan logs?

Does this happen when not connected to the internet?

Swap file too small - or non existant - would cause this problem.

----------------edit---------------------

Do you have a hammer ?

Edited March 13, 2009 by Cuban

[acecom]

This problem is symptomatic of a wireless mouse or keyboard malfunctioning, poor AA battery seating or the batteries running down. If your mouse is experiencing long delays before responding try plugging in a USB mouse to isolate the problem.

This can also be caused by a lack of hard disk space. Try to keep at least 8GB free as Windows generates temporary files - quite large ones which can fill up the drive invisibly to the User. When Windows performs a regular shutdown these temporary files get purged. However in the case of system hangs and manual resets they will will remain and must be removed manually. These files are identified with a file extension of TMP. Those with names starting with the character ~ must not be deleted as they are running in the current session.

You should also perform two more functions - the Defrag to unite fragmented files and the Disk Check CHKDSK to repair any faulty file structures such as crosslinked or unindexed files.

Good luck!

[Cuban]

The other thing to turn off is hibernation mode if you don't need it - that would account for the pauses you are getting.

Any response from the OP ?