Windows eventually freezes

Since about a week ago my computer randomly freezes. By that I mean - whether or not I'm actively using it - window/s will pop up saying 'insufficient resources to process command' and/or "not enough storage to process command" - and eventually anything thats open will become unresponsive. The text will disappear on the taskbar buttons. Ctrl-alt-del will give an error and not display the task manager. I then have to pull-the-plug so to speak. I have SP3 totally up-to-date. I've uninstalled & re-installed Online Armor firewall & Avira Anti-virus plus Malawarebytes & SuperAntiSpyware. All run clean indicating no viruses, spyware, etc etc. I've restored an image of the C-drive from 2 months ago - way before this started happening, but the problem persists. I've also run Windows Memory Diagnostic test & it passes OK. I've unseated/reseated the RAM (physically). Anyone any ideas on what's going on here ?? Thanks in anticipation.

Hi Miss Jones,
Welcome to WTT

Sounds like you have done everything right so far, but the problem is still persisting.

It might be a good idea to run the PCpitstop 'Overdrive' test which will give us a broader view of your system and any specific problems it finds that you may not be aware off.

Go to: http://www.pcpitstop.com/default.asp And click on the 'Overdrive' window only.

You will have to register and download a small active-x to run the test.

Post the URL of the Overdrive test result here.

Cheers,
Lee

i'm not running a windows pc to test lee, but i'm pretty sure you can run the test without registering, yes you do need to accept the active x and be using ie tho.

just click on the link right at the bottom of this page:- http://www.pcpitstop.com/betapit/ called run OverDrive anonymously.

Thanks folks. Test results are here : http://www.pcpitstop.com/betapit/sec.asp?conid=24006741

That link don't seem to work but if you cut & paste it in the browser it's OK. (I probably inserted it wrong).

http://www.pcpitstop.com/betapit/sec.asp?conid=24006741

Ok, I've had a look at your Overdrive test to get a better idea of your freezing problem.

Just a few initial standout problems noted:

1.Your system is basically grinding to a holt under the load of almost 200 installed software applications.
2. Your System Restore space is 17GB in a 50GB C: drive
3. You seem to have about 3 or 4 Registry Cleaners, so you must do a lot of Registry Cleaning?
4. You are using MemClean, a memory 'optimizer'
5. Your Temp. folder is overflowing.
6. Unnecessarily high screen resolution using up resources. Could be reduced from 1680x1050 to around 1280x800/768/720 (what best fits your screen).

Strangely, the Overdrive test does not list the PC processes running under 'Software' / 'Processes' in the Overdrive report(?) That leaves me a little in the dark.

WTT does not recommend the use of Registry Cleaners.
They are often the cause of many PC problems including 'slow' PC's and 'freezing' PC's. Especially when they are used often. ALL Registry Cleaners display various amounts of False Positives (needed registry entries that should never be removed). The more false positives removed, the more degraded PC performance will become. Registry Cleaners can also lead to the Blue Screen of Death (BSD) when vital OS entries are removed.

I have a Pentium 3 here that is about 9yrs. old running Windows 98SE. It has had some heavy use over the years and the registry has never been 'cleaned'. The PC is as fast as it ever was due to plain, good old fashioned PC housekeeping

Memory cleaners are similar 'snake oil' products that do the exact opposite of what they claim to do. They actually inhibit memory performance, not 'optimize' it. They also take up about 4MB of RAM

Memory cleaners, optimizers, etc., are generally not recommended.
They certainly do increase the amount of free memory - but is this really a good thing? Most people do not understand virtual memory very well.

One basic and guiding principle is that free memory is wasted memory. Windows will always try to find some use for as much memory as possible, even if it is only of trivial importance. Even the most inefficient use of memory is better than no use at all.

Memory "optimizers" upset this finely tuned system. They are very good at increasing free memory, convincing uninformed users that this must be a good thing. It is not. Memory that was formerly engaged in useful activity is now unimployed. This impairs system performance.

What I have presented here is not just my opinion. It is shared by Mark Russinovich who holds a Ph.D. in Computer Engineering. He is widely recognized as an expert in the field.

References:
http://windowsitpro.com/article/articleid/…ation-hoax.html
http://www.bitsum.com/winmemboost.asp

Larry Miller
Microsoft MCSA
CompTIA A+, Network+

Firstly we can reduce your System restore space down to about 2GB to free up 15GB of your rapidly shrinking C: drive HDD space.
Go to: Start / Control Panel / System / System Restore tab / click on C: Drive / Settings / move slider down to about 2- 4%. Repeat the procedure with your D: drive. Reboot for these setting to take effect.

Secondly, we need to know what is in your Start-up menu which might be bloated with programs that do not need to start when you turn on your PC ( I have about 6). Download CodeStuff-Starters
http://www.snapfiles.com/get/Starter.html

Rather than writing out the instructions, I pinched these from a post by Doug, one of the Tech. Admin. team members here

Please consider running this simple utility that will help you get control of programs and processes that you wish to have running active, or not.

CodeStuff-Starters
http://www.snapfiles.com/get/Starter.html

Download and install, agreeing to the licensing terms and allow to install with all of the default settings as preselected in the installation wizard.

When you finally allow CodeStuff-Starters to run
It will preselect StartUps Tab -
Click on File
Select - save as .Plain Text (name the report file - Startups Nov7.txt


In your next reply, post the file as an attached file (use browse and upload buttons – at the bottom-right corner of your topic posting window where you are typing your next reply)

Please do not make any changes with Code-Stuff Starters, until after you post the requested information above and receive recommendations from a helper here.

Save the Report to your Desktop and when replying, use the 'Add Reply' option, not the 'Fast Reply', otherwise you have no access to the 'Upload' button mentioned above by Doug.

Could you also please download and use this disk defrag. rather than the Widows OS one. It has a very small footprint and does a great job.

Auslogics Disk Defrag.(free Version) Use 'External Mirror 1' on this page:
http://www.softpedia.com/progDownload/Ausl…load-45027.html

Cheers,
Lee

i'm not running a windows pc to test lee, but i'm pretty sure you can run the test without registering, yes you do need to accept the active x and be using ie tho.

just click on the link right at the bottom of this page:- http://www.pcpitstop.com/betapit/ called run OverDrive anonymously.

Hi Terry1966,

I'm wondering if the run without registering option, is the reason that no processes info. is available in Miss Jones's Overdrive test result? That really is important info. It's a bit weird that there is nothing at all displayed

Cheers,
Lee

Thanks for all the input Lee.

When this first started happening I drastically cut down the number of startup progs (& services). When I was running "MyDefrag" yesterday the system froze. I will try "Auslogics".

Screen resolution is actually set at 1024x768.

I've reduced the System Restore space as advised; shut-down Memclean and attached a copy of the Startup log.

I've also rerun Overdrive (after creating an a/c) and this is the link : http://www.pcpitstop.com/betapit/sec.asp?conid=24006741


Again thanks everyone for all their help.

I think you will be happy with the defrag. program I recommended..

I would like you to run a couple of Windows processes before we get into start menu recommendation etc.

Click on Start / Run and type in chkdsk /r note the space between the k and the /
When it asks you do you want to schedule this at next start-up select 'y" (yes). Re-boot and let the test run but do not touch anything until it is complete. Re-boot on completion.


Next is Start / Run and type in sfc /scannow Same procedure as above.
Sfc /scannow will inspect all of the important Windows files on your computer, including Windows DLL files. If System File Checker finds an issue with any of these protected files, it will replace it.

See how you go.

Cheers,
Lee

I'm afraid the system is a mess now.

Ran chkdsk : OK. No problems found/fixed. Rebooted OK.

However upon running sfc, the computer froze towards the end. I rebooted & repeated sfc & it popped up windows to do with the DLL cache which kept failing, sometimes saying the "disk inserted is the wrong disk".

It is a Lenovo Recovery disk (which is what my computer indeed is). When I boot from the disk it doesn't recognise a Windows installation as being present. I.e. there is NO recovery option which is what I would expect to be present.

I have Windows up & running but no idea of the state it's really in till I try running a few things.

Hi there Miss Jones,

It's sound like you have either a corrupted registry caused by too much ' cleaning' that has had a serious affect on your OS files (serious enough that sfc /scannow was not able to repair files that it should have), or maybe even a Melware problem.

If there is no registry or OS file damage requiring serious attention, you really need to get rid of a few things that are compromising your PC's performance.

Can you boot into safe mode with networking if normal PC operation is problematic?

I have consulted with one of the top Techs. here at WTT on your problem. He has had a good look at your latest Overdrive and start-up reports. Without getting into the start-up menu yet (it needs to be addressed), this is his observations and initial advice:

This is a dual CPU machine running at 3000mHz with 2048mb RAM. It should be zipping along with no problem.

You may also have noticed the infestation of Torrent/P2P software installed, plus a bunch of "overlay" GUI and gadget utilities to give regular MS applications a customized look/use… probably a waste and resource consumers.

You may also have noticed that there are 5 instances of Service host running.
That's not a terribly large number if the machine was "in use", but during the Pit Test, "something" was phoning home!

PS. I'd suggest getting rid of the browser helper toolbars!
PSS. Have her uninstall all the Antivirus utilities except whatever she's using for real-time (appears to be Panda and may be dated/out of date)
PSSS. Have her uninstall all the "optimize-type tool utilities" and the Registry Tool utilities.

A damaged OS that may need drastic repair excluded, if we could move toward what the directional advice given above suggests, first and foremost, we can then have a cleaner PC deck to work with and a better idea of how thing stand and how to lick the remaining problems

If possible, I would be backing up to removable media (DVD or External HDD) all important files and folders, especially anything personal. Don't forget to include Passwords, Bookmarks, Email addresses and mails etc. Try to do this back-up in one go if possible.

Cheers,
Lee

Incorrect post.

Thanks for this help guys. I'll be a little while. Trying to sort out the graphics card drivers which seem to be playing up (link to HDTV) and a few other bits. Will report back soon.

OK. I'm back. Have unistalled a raft other software as advised.

Lee, I ran Auslogics defrag and it took about 2 minutes. I ran MyDefrag as I have in the past. Hope this is OK. (Other users - via other forums - have expressed doubts about Auslogics doing very little).

PC hasn't froze up since…fingers crossed…

Generaly I wouldn't put too much emphasis on Defraging, The free Auslogics was only advised so that we start off with a properly defraged HDD working efficiently. It sounds like your machine is OK in that area if Auslogics only took 2min.. The free version is fine as would be the defrager I didn't realize you had. Your PC freezing problem was obviously due to some of the programs you were using that were hogging resources, not a badly fragmented HDD. I would like to have another look at your start-up menu as it is now, to see what programs don't need to start on boot-up. Could you please post another CodeStuffStarters report here, thanks. Cheers, Lee