Pc Sentanced To Hang

[skippybangkok]

...

Got a failry new HP Paviliion dv1000.... and of late it has some nasty habits of continuously hanging. Have noticed that it mainly hangs when working with large images ( i..e trying to make a DVD slide show or using ACD ).

Even a very old desktop we have at home does not have this issues. Have all the virus definitions up to dates....

Any idea where I should start. Its is also very very very slow to start up....about 5 mins ( yes 5 mins till all is started. ). I dont want to do a full HD re-format unless needed, but if anyone can provide some guidance, please let me know.

Disk defrag did not help either, as well as running the norma clean up processes. Have 11 GB free on a 70+ GB hard disk. ( should be enough for swap files )

Thx ( pls keep it simple if possible, i am not a PC professional, and if there are hardware or software checking tools, happy to try them out )

Edited December 10, 2006 by skippybangkok

[Florin]

There is a strong chance of overheating...this might be due to internal conditions (i.e. gunk stuck in the fan, or defective fan) or external (if you're one of those people that live with no aircon, or lots of dust/sunshine in the area where the PC sits).

One thing you could do is update video drivers, though I doubt that's what's causing the problem.

[skippybangkok]

There is a strong chance of overheating...this might be due to internal conditions (i.e. gunk stuck in the fan, or defective fan) or external (if you're one of those people that live with no aircon, or lots of dust/sunshine in the area where the PC sits).

One thing you could do is update video drivers, though I doubt that's what's causing the problem.

Hard disk is 43 deg C, and procesor 50. (according to PCWizard).

Will try update the drivers, but I agree.... not sure thats the cause.

Whats "SVChost.exe"...there seems to be many entries.

Edited December 10, 2006 by skippybangkok

[Florin]

SVCHost is the "Service Host" executable...basically though Task Manager idiotically shows it that way, each entry is for all sorts of different apps and services (one instance for windows update, one for the antispyware, etc.).

It could be a program that's causing this...perhaps you should reinstall Windows and install only the apps u truly need, one by one? I see a lot of people with severely overburdened systems because of dozens of apps installed, any one of which could cause God knows what software conflict. Not many realize that even though you don't regularly run a program, the fact that it's installed causes data to build up in all sorts of sub-areas of Windows (Registry, Services, etc.)

[skippybangkok]

Thanks.....

I dont look forward to re-installing everything. I think from memory I loose most settings, and have to re install everything ontop once more ? If i can just put in the windows cd's and its cleaned up, if its re-installing everything thats one heck of a job!!

System Idle as per attached seems to hold the processor as per attached.

(Edit) - just found out what Sys.idle is. How can it show CP idle when the other programme is hanging. In addition, while that programme hangs, others work fine.

The only programmes to hang are large file related ones, again, typically Picture burn ones.

Edited December 10, 2006 by skippybangkok

[autonomous_unit]

Does the harddisk make odd noises while this program is hanging? If it always seems related to certain large files, they may be on a part of the disk that is suffering disk read errors. The program may seem to "hang" while the disk keeps retrying the read.

I don't know Windows, but you might want to check the SMART data for the drive just as an easy check... if it is showing block-remapping events on a fairly new system, you need a new disk drive (and some backups)!

I mention this because you say the program is hanging but not the whole OS.

[Florin]

You should also try running Memtest...Google Memtest86, download and run it, it will at least establish that there's nothing wrong with your RAM. As autonomous unit suggests, the harddisk might be at fault here. One other thing which might be causing issues is your antivirus protection, it might be scanning the file every time there's an attempted "write", try disabling any antivirus/antispyware and see if you still experience the issues.

I see you're running Windows Live OneCare...now, I'm probably one of the most lenient people when it comes to Microsoft products, I love and use almost all of them on a daily basis, but this one...man oh man, they screwed it up A LOT. I'd suggest using something else, I've found it scanning my system whenever it feels like it if it missed a previous scheduled scan, sent my CPU/RAM/disk usage skyrocketing.

[wpcoe]

skippy, how much RAM do you have in that notebook? Hopefully a minimum of 512MB? Any less than that could slow the system down, especially if video memory is "shared RAM" as it is on many machines.

[skippybangkok]

Thanks for the tips. Will try it out, going Zzzzz now. I have 512 k by the way.

[skippybangkok]

Found a programme called Performance test 6.0

not sure if the benchmark is right but all seems well except disk and memory write.,....

PerfRes.pdf

[monty]

Skippy,

all seems well with your PC, apart from a very slow hard disk (slow booting, slow operation when large files involved).

Go to your control panel, choose system, in the system properties go to the Hardware tab, choose device manager.

There you'll see a "IDE ATA/ATAPI" entry.

Expand and double click on Primary IDE channel.

In the window that opens click on the Advanced settings tab.

There you can see Device0 (primary master drive) and Device1 (primary slave drive)

Current transfer mode should indicate Ultra DMA mode 5 for device0.

If it says PIO then you've found the culprit. This would mean your motherboard is not using DMA to transfer data to your hard drive, but parallel mode, which is extremely slow....

[Clipped]

go to system start up and reduce the number of programs loaded at start up

[astral]

Hanging is not allowed in many countries now.

You could try a leathal injection of coffee into the keyboard to finish it off.

Otherwise check the fans and temperature and the memory.

[skippybangkok]

Skippy,

all seems well with your PC, apart from a very slow hard disk (slow booting, slow operation when large files involved).

Go to your control panel, choose system, in the system properties go to the Hardware tab, choose device manager.

There you'll see a "IDE ATA/ATAPI" entry.

Expand and double click on Primary IDE channel.

In the window that opens click on the Advanced settings tab.

There you can see Device0 (primary master drive) and Device1 (primary slave drive)

Current transfer mode should indicate Ultra DMA mode 5 for device0.

If it says PIO then you've found the culprit. This would mean your motherboard is not using DMA to transfer data to your hard drive, but parallel mode, which is extremely slow....

Thanks.

Checked that and it is ultra DMA 5.

device 0 is PI0

did find one device driver conflict though. solved that and will check again

Edited December 11, 2006 by skippybangkok

[The Dan Sai Kid]

My laptop is succeptible to over-heating now and again. If I don't resolve it, it happens all the time.

I resolve it by blowing compressed air through the fans - this seems to dislodge any blockage with no ill effect.

You can buy cans of compressed air at Pantip.

[bkkmadness]

Hanging is not allowed in many countries now.

You could try a leathal injection of coffee into the keyboard to finish it off.

Otherwise check the fans and temperature and the memory.

I killed an Amiga with a Jack D and coke once.

Edited December 11, 2006 by bkkmadness

[skippybangkok]

My laptop is succeptible to over-heating now and again. If I don't resolve it, it happens all the time.

I resolve it by blowing compressed air through the fans - this seems to dislodge any blockage with no ill effect.

You can buy cans of compressed air at Pantip.

Interesting...will per sue it. Whats a normal temp, and whats over ? PC wizaard 2006 tell me the temp. How reliable is that ?

[monty]

Checked that and it is ultra DMA 5.

device 0 is PI0

What is Ultra dma5 ??? Device1?

you write that device 0 is in PIO mode!

Device 0 should always be your primary (windows) hard disk.

Normally on a laptop device 1 on primary IDE is not used. Your cdrom/dvd should be on device0 form your secondary IDE (and should probably ULTRA DMA 4)

[The Dan Sai Kid]

My laptop is succeptible to over-heating now and again. If I don't resolve it, it happens all the time.

I resolve it by blowing compressed air through the fans - this seems to dislodge any blockage with no ill effect.

You can buy cans of compressed air at Pantip.

Interesting...will per sue it. Whats a normal temp, and whats over ? PC wizaard 2006 tell me the temp. How reliable is that ?

I have a Toshiba and it shuts down automatically if it gets too hot. You can download temperature monitors that will tell you when it overheats.

You should be careful when you use your laptop that it gets good airflow. Things like using ot on your lap are not good

[skippybangkok]

Checked that and it is ultra DMA 5.

device 0 is PI0

What is Ultra dma5 ??? Device1?

you write that device 0 is in PIO mode!

Device 0 should always be your primary (windows) hard disk.

Normally on a laptop device 1 on primary IDE is not used. Your cdrom/dvd should be on device0 form your secondary IDE (and should probably ULTRA DMA 4)

Opps.... wrote wrong

Device 0 is ultra DMA Mode 5

Device 1 is PIO.

Thanks.....

Actually, tried all of the above...so went out to Pantip today and changed RAM from 512 to 1024...... works fine. ( got a Garmin GPS too ).

Thanks for ur help.... actually cleaning out the Laptop as you guys told me has improved start up considerably.

cheers and Thx,

[kayo]

Hey guys,

on a similar note, my laptop was sometimes hanging, often just slowing considerably if i had more than two programs running (eg: wmp, limewire and firefox)

I've set the performance options (under control panel/system....) to now "best performance" which unclicked a whole bunch of options (consequently reverting my laptop to classic windows theme, and took out all the unnecessary messenger/skype/etc... from the taskbar...

Is this likely to do any good?

[friend2]

You bet it is, makes your computer noticeably faster.

Offcourse you can't enjoy the flashy graphics with the "old" setting.

But what good does that do you anyway.

[pampal]

try installing acdsee, might help if software related