WinVista PC locks/freezes periodically - why?

[Ed_The_Gypsy]

IE9. I usually only have 3-4 apps open at a time.

AND Internet Explorer?

 

[jimbee]

Is this 32 or 64 bit version ?

Since the physical RAM is listed as 3324 MB, I would guess this is the 32 bit version.

 

[jimbee]

Midpack, your screenshot shows only 59MB of free RAM available. Your computer is probably doing a lot of disk swapping resulting in the slowness that you're experiencing. Click on the "Processes" tab in your task manager and check what is eating up your memory. Also, see if there are any unnecessary programs in your control panel that you can uninstall. Unless the PC was custom built, the manufacturer probably preinstalled a lot of bloat/trial-ware.

I don't think the RAM is a problem, since most of the RAM usage is cache. Modern operating systems tend to use virtually all of the RAM available, as cache if not needed for processes.

It is a good idea to review the processes running, and make sure to clean up any crudware. Running msconfig can be helpful to determine autostarting programs.

 

[target2019]

Could also be an update that is caught in the pipeline, meaning it is corrupted in some way. Have seen that more than a few times.

 

[imoldernu]

Hmmm. Most folks might miss it, but reading between the lines, I sense you may not care for HP computers and Vista. It is subtle, though...

 

[donheff]

Vista And on an HP I don't think you want to bother even turning it on. Consider using the computers in the library.

Actually, the mini is Win7. The performance sucks rocks so I confuse it with an old Toshiba I no longer have that ran Vista.

 

[Ed_The_Gypsy]

I bought a little netbook and noticed that it was reeeealy slow/limited. I read that Microsoft deliberately required netbooks to be crippled. Still, it is light and durable for most of my purposes. I am experimenting with various distros of Linux on my old first netbook, but it is still slow.

 

[rbmrtn]

I bought a little netbook and noticed that it was reeeealy slow/limited. I read that Microsoft deliberately required netbooks to be crippled. Still, it is light and durable for most of my purposes. I am experimenting with various distros of Linux on my old first netbook, but it is still slow.

I suspect you may be refering to Win7 starter edition which was a "crippled" version of Win7.

 

[Midpack]

Hmmm. Most folks might miss it, but reading between the lines, I sense you may not care for HP computers and Vista. It is subtle, though...

As my Dad would say, "subtle like a train wreck."

Did Ed ever say what he does like, other than the Linux reference? Linux is less than 2% of desktops even though it's supposedly free, you have to wonder why but I can imagine the answer we'll hear...

 

[MichaelB]

As my Dad would say, "subtle like a train wreck."

I have an HP (my first .. and last) with W7, so I sympathize with you. The IE thing is entirely self-inflicted. My preferred browser is ABW.

 

[Meadbh]

Thanks for the Chrome tips. I've just implemented them and we will see what happens!

Recently I began using Powersuite to "clean up" on a regular basis and it's just amazing the amount of junk you can clear out. Deletion of unwanted startup processes was really helpful. A regular defragmentation helps too.

The other thing that really helped recently was to organize my files and purge those I really didn't need any more. I had been backing up photos in two places on the hard disc. Eliminating hundreds of photos made a huge difference to available memory, and to speed.

My 2003 Toshiba laptop is nearly 10 years old, although I did replace the hard drive in 2006. With regular system maintenance I expect to get a few more years out of it, albeit it has settled down as a desktop, leaving the travel to the MacBook Air.

 

[rbmrtn]

Did Ed ever say what he does like, other than the Linux reference? Linux is less than 2% of desktops even though it's supposedly free, you have to wonder why but I can imagine the answer we'll hear...

Don't have to suppose, it is free. The vast majority use what ever is on the PC when they buy it at Walmart. When I work on peoples PCs many don't even know what OS they have or even what it is. There are many different distributions of linux, you can choose the features that suite you or you can roll your on. I used to maintain a custom distribution for some engineering workstations.

 

[Midpack]

FWIW, I've never owned anything but Dell PC's, and whatever the (then) current Win OS was. I've used Win & Office because that's what we had at work, so it was easier to bring work home, simple as that.

I like FireFox, but it didn't work with some of my apps/sites, so I use IE. There may be better, but IE hasn't really caused me any problems (that I know of ).

I deleted an old Dell Dock file from my startup menu, since I haven't had Dell Dock in a while. I'm hoping that was the issue, but I doubt it, we'll see. Hopefully next time my PC locks up, I can go into Event Viewer and find the problem.

Thanks for all the suggestions, I tried all of them as best I could.

 

[Ed_The_Gypsy]

Since you asked...

...I've used Win & Office because that's what we had at work, so it was easier to bring work home, simple as that.

Same here. There are certain specific engineering programs in my area that are Windows-only. As to MS Office, I have found Excel 2003 to be very useful in many ways. There is a drawing tool in Excel I use heavily that was changed (degraded) just a tiny bit in Excel 2007 (my employer changed over and I had to change, too), enough to cause me headaches. The change to Office 2007 reduced my productivity with Excel and Word, mostly due to the learning curve. There are no new features that are of any value to me at all. Good thing I am a contractor. "In chaos there is overtime."

For Windows, I prefer XP. I have Win7 at work and on a couple of home machines. It is OK and relatively reliable, but it does freeze from time to time for a minute or two.

After I leave the corporate world, I expect we will keep one Windows machine with MS Office for emergencies and go with some form of Linux or BSD with a word processor and spreadsheet for everything else and stick with it. As Dave Barry said, one word made Bill Gates rich: "Upgrade"!

I like FireFox, but it didn't work with some of my apps/sites, so I use IE.

Also our experience, but we use IE only when absolutely necessary. There are only 2 or 3 sites we access, and then only infrequently, (e.g., one bank, insurance, etc.) that require IE only anymore.

BTW, netbooks have limited memory and slow processors. I never found any special problem with Win7 Starter Edition. Netbooks are going to disappear in competition with SmartPhones (if they haven't already; I don't follow this very closely).

 

[ERD50]

For Chrome users, I highly recommend setting this option:

How to fix Chrome in ten seconds | The Verge Forums

I wanted to revisit this, as I made this change about a week ago. Fantastic!

Go to Settings > Show Advanced Settings > Content Settings (under Privacy) and then scroll down to Plug-ins and select Click to Play.

So now, flash does not load automatically - I need to click the little puzzle icon where the flash video would normally be to start it off.

Very nice, far fewer of those annoying automatically loaded videos with sound in the background. I can click bunch of youtube links, and start playing them when I want.

I mentioned it to my DD, figured I'd get a 'shrug, who cares' but she was very interested.

So thanks! Really nice.

-ERD50

 

[imoldernu]

I wanted to revisit this, as I made this change about a week ago. Fantastic!



So now, flash does not load automatically - I need to click the little puzzle icon where the flash video would normally be to start it off.

Very nice, far fewer of those annoying automatically loaded videos with sound in the background. I can click bunch of youtube links, and start playing them when I want.

I mentioned it to my DD, figured I'd get a 'shrug, who cares' but she was very interested.

So thanks! Really nice.

-ERD50

+1
I had switched to Firefox, but am going back to Chrome.