computer freeze

There are several potential causes of your "lag" problem.

We'll need more information about your system before being able to focus in on what's causing your particular problem.

The quickest and most comprehensive method for generating that information, and at the same time gaining valuable information about how both your hardware and software are currently functioning is to Run a Full Test over at the PCPitstop.com site. (It's free, safe, and confidential)

Go To:

http://www.pcpitstop.com
Click on Full Tests (in the left-hand column)
Register and select a password
Click on Full Tests again after registering.
Accept the ActiveX that enables the test. (it's safe)
Run the Full test - takes about 2 minutes on Broadband, a little longer but not much with dial-up
When you get your Results, Click on TechExpress (in a yellow-brown box in the upper-right)
Copy the complete information in TechExpress and Paste it back here into this same Forum Topic.

We'll be able to give you more informed recommendations with that information.

Best Regards

OK! Description Your Results Brand/Model Hewlett-Packard Presario R3200 (PS703EA#ABN) Type Portable Serial Number CND5040SNR BIOS Hewlett-Packard F.34 12/23/2004 System Board Compal 08A0 32.41 ProcessorDescription Your Results Brand/Model AMD Athlon XP 3000+ Nominal Clock Speed 800 MHz Measured Clock Speed 1600 MHz External Clock Speed 133 MHz CPU Load Not tested (-2) Speed Rating 4883 (97% of 53 similar) Memory ConfigurationDescription Results RAM installed 512 MB Windows RAM 511 MB Total RAM slots 2 Available RAM slots 0 Max RAM module size 4096 MB Memory Type 256+256;DIMM,DRAM,|Synchronous;T16 Speed Rating 5901 MB/s (102% of 53 similar) Memory Tip On virtually any system, memory is the best bang-for-the-buck upgrade, especially if you currently have 256MB or less. Installing memory is a snap, it just works and your PC is faster. PC World has put together a step-by-step guide if you need help. With prices so low lately I've purchased a lot of memory, and all of it has been from Crucial. Their prices beat the competition and they currently have free shipping. – Rob Cheng, CEO, PC PitstopSpeed rating is measured in megabytes per second. The percentage indicates the performance of this system compared to systems in our database with a similar CPU and clock speed; the number of similar systems is also shown. For example, a score of 50% would indicate this system had half the performance of comparable systems; 200% would indicate twice the performance. A "normal" number is 100% plus or minus about 15%. The System Management BIOS is reporting that there is 512 MB of RAM, but Windows reports that 511 MB is available. The most common reason for this discrepancy is that your system uses some system RAM for the video graphics card or BIOS functions. This case is common in highly-integrated PCs with video graphics built into the system board, and does not require any changes on your part. Drive LettersThese are drive letters associated with hard disk drives. This list does not include drive letters for floppy disks or other removable media such as CD-ROM, DVD, Zip or Jaz drives. Description Drive C Drive E Partition format NTFS FAT32 Cluster size 4 KB 32 KB Drive label No Label PB_SAVE Size 57223 MB 152588 MB Free space 31360 MB (55%) 152587 MB (100%) Junk files 15 MB (0%) 0 MB (0%) Data fragmentation 1% Not tested File fragmentation 1% Not tested Uncached speed 21 MB/s (121%) 21 MB/s (121%) Disk DrivesHere are the physical disk drives that we have detected on your system: Drive 0 Drive letters C Removable media No Brand/Model IC25N060ATMR04-0 IDE details DMA Serial number Revision level For IDE drives, IDE details show whether the drive has DMA enabled and is an IDE master (single drive, or master drive in a master/slave pair). CD/DVD DrivesHere are the CD and DVD drives that we have detected on your system: Model Type Max Read Speed Max Write Speed HL-DT-ST DVD-RW GWA-4080N DVD-RW 4234 KB/s (24X) 4234 KB/s (24X) Video BoardDescription Your Results Brand/Model NVIDIA GeForce4 420 Go 32M Resolution 1280x800 pixels Colors 16 million DirectX version 5.03.2600.2180 (xpsp_sp2_rtm.040803-2158) OpenGL version 5.1.2600.2180 (xpsp_sp2_rtm.040803-2158) Acceleration options Enabled Performance 150.06 MP/s (177% of 44 similar) MonitorsDescription Monitor CMO 21450 Max. Resolution (HxV) 1600 x 1200 pixels Screen Size (HxV) 33 x 21 cm Viewable Diagonal Size 15.4 inch Manufacture Date January 2003 Serial Number 0 Internet Configuration Description Your Results Bandwidth Down 464 Kbits/sec Bandwidth Up 314 Kbits/sec Average Ping 148 ms Ping Loss 0% TCP Receive Window (default) External IP Address 84.210.xxx.xxx Internal IP Address 192.168.xxx.xxx Browser MSIE 6.0; SV1; SP/6.36/1.01/HP; .NET CLR 1.1.4322 IE current cache 12 MB IE max cache 10 MB Windows ConfigurationDescription Your Results Common Name Windows XP Home SP2 Full Version Windows XP Home SP2 First Install Mon Mar 14 2005 Free Resources 90% Fonts Installed 107 Windows Scripting Version 5.6.0.8820 PCPitstop Version 147 CPU Load Not tested (-2) Running ProgramsMalicious or poorly written running programs are a common cause of poor performance and system instability. We strongly recommend that you use an antivirus program such as EZ Antivirus from Computer Associates and a spyware scanner such as PestPatrol on a regular basis. To get control over your running programs we suggest WinTasks 5 Pro. Click on a file name to see more information about it. Legend: Virus Spyware/Adware Optional Required No data File Name Description C:\Programfiler\iTunes\iTunesHelper.exe Apple iTunes C:\Norman\Nvc\bin\cclaw.exe Norman Virus Control C:\Norman\bin\ZLH.EXE ZANDA C:\Programfiler\Analog Devices\SoundMAX\SMAgent.exe SoundMax features C:\Programfiler\Java\jre1.5.0_06\bin\jusched.exe Sun Java Update C:\Programfiler\SpeedswitchXP\SpeedswitchXP.exe SpeedswitchXP C:\Programfiler\ewido anti-malware\ewidoctrl.exe Ewido Control C:\Programfiler\ewido anti-malware\ewidoguard.exe Ewido Guard C:\Programfiler\iPod\bin\iPodService.exe iPod Service C:\WINDOWS\system32\ctfmon.exe Office XP speech C:\WINDOWS\system32\nvsvc32.exe NVIDIA driver helper C:\Programfiler\BySoft FreeRAM\FreeRAM.exe C:\Programfiler\HP\HP Software Update\HPWuSchd2.exe C:\Programfiler\Mamut Teamwork\Mamut Teamwork\Mamut Teamwork.exe C:\Programfiler\Windows Defender\MSASCui.exe Windows Defender C:\Programfiler\Windows Defender\MsMpEng.exe Windows Defender C:\WINDOWS\Logi_MwX.Exe MouseWare C:\WINDOWS\system32\spoolsv.exe Print spooler C:\Norman\Bin\Zanda.exe ZANDA C:\Norman\Nvc\BIN\NIP.EXE Norman Internet Protection C:\Norman\Nvc\BIN\NVCSCHED.EXE Norman Virus Control C:\Norman\Nvc\BIN\nipsvc.exe Norman Internet Protection service C:\Norman\Nvc\bin\nvcoas.exe Norman Virus Control C:\Norman\bin\NJEEVES.EXE NJEEVES C:\Programfiler\Apoint2K\Apntex.exe Alps pointing device C:\Programfiler\Apoint2K\Apoint.exe Alps touchpad C:\Programfiler\Webroot\Spy Sweeper\WRSSSDK.exe Webroot SpySweeper C:\WINDOWS\System32\aniServ.exe aniServ.exe C:\Programfiler\Internet Explorer\iexplore.exe Internet Explorer C:\WINDOWS\Explorer.EXE Windows Explorer C:\WINDOWS\System32\alg.exe Windows ICS C:\WINDOWS\system32\lsass.exe Local Security Authority C:\WINDOWS\system32\services.exe Service control process C:\WINDOWS\system32\svchost.exe Service host process C:\WINDOWS\system32\wdfmgr.exe Windows Driver Foundation Performance-Related Windows Settings The following settings may be helpful in diagnosing general system performance problems. Setting name Value Video acceleration disabled No Paging of kernel disabled Yes Screen saver running during tests No NOIDE key found in registry No Running 32-bit code on 64-bit Windows No System Restore disabled No Large System Cache enabled No Has batteries Yes Hibernate enabled No HIBERFIL.SYS present No Hibernate policy in use No Sleep/Resume policy in use Yes Running on battery power No Security Details Security TipsIn the tips and the tables, red indicates a serious problem, yellow a minor problem, and blue a suggestion. • Check IE Restricted Sites zone Security ConfigurationDescription Your Results IE Restricted Zone Permissions Submit non-encrypted form data Security-Related Windows Settings The following settings may be helpful in diagnosing spyware and browser hijacks. Setting name Value Explorer: Some drive letters are hidden No Explorer: Hide extensions for known file types Yes Explorer: Hide protected operating system files Yes Explorer: Do not show hidden files and folders No Explorer: Do not display contents of system folders Yes HOSTS location remapped via the Registry No System File Protection disabled No Hope this is what u need from pcpitstop. i skipped the compare part. Tks, reg Kris42

Hi kris42,

Thanks for copy/pasting the information from your Pit Test.
For future reference, post the TechExpress so that Members can benefit from the full range of data and analysis. TechExpress "removes" and blanks out any personally identifying information, for instance IP addresses, so it remains safe and confidential. Only the owner can view that kind of information.

For an example of TechExpress, look here:
http://img227.imageshack.us/my.php?image=techexpress6wk.jpg

Four issues
1.
Check what you have in Restricted Zone.
The Pit Test detected that you may have changed the protective settings that guard your from malicious sites that are blocked in the Restricted Zone.
Go To:
Control Panel - Internet Options - Securtity(tab) - Restricted Sites
Return the settings to Default for Maximum protection… (Recommended)

2.
Defrag your Hard Drive

3.
You have disabled Paging of Kernal/SwapFile
SwapFile is a mechanism through which Windows can temporarily utilize sections of your Hard Drive to augment your Physical RAM. Since you have 512mb RAM physically installed, and because Windows itself commonly uses about 384mb or RAM just for minimal operation, you may find that CPU/RAM intensive applications may lag or even fail, due to lack of RAM resources.
"Enable" your Paging/SwapFile (highly Recommended)
512mb of RAM used to be alot. But with advanced machines, software manufacturers have written their programs to use more and more RAM. Today 512mb RAM is hardly even "minimum" except for basic browsing and office utility functions that don't have much formatting or graphics. Graphically intense software will lag and even fail without more RAM resources. That's where your Paging/SwapFile can help extend your low RAM resources.
Turning off Paging/SwapFile is Not Recommended.
Allowing Windows to manage your SwapFile is (OK) but your Hard Drive will rapidly have bits and pieces spread all over the place reserved for SwapFile. (not good, since you want SwapFile to work as fast as possible to emulate RAM functionality)

Basic recommended guidelines for SwapFile size is 1.5 to 3.0 times the amount of Physically installed RAM.
GoTo
Right-Click on My Computer - click Properties - Performance - Virtual Memory
Select - "Let me specify my own Memory Settings.
(type)1536mb for both Minimum and Maximum
Click OK and Ok to exit Performance settings.

You will now have the benefit of your 512mb Physical RAM and additioanl 1536mb of your Hard Drive reserved to assist when Physical RAM is exhausted.

4.
You have several items Running from StartUp Menu that are unnecessary and are probably consuming a ton of CPU and RAM resources when they kick in. Primary offenders include auto-update features of installed software, like your JAVA, and media players, HP updater, and utiliities that you don't frequently change their settings, like: NVIDIA driver helper, mouse/pointer configuration assistants.
"FreeRAM is one of my least favorite utilities. It sounds like a good program for a good purpose, but in my opinion, it consumes more resources than it is worth, and generally kicks in to "assist" you at times when you need every ounce of RAM possible. Thus it can hurt you in its attempt to help you.
Finally, I love Ewido, but I don't keep it running from StartUp. You have SpySweeper and Norman for realtime protection, so turn off Ewido and use it manually by clicking its Icon when you want to run a scan.

GoTo:
Start - Run - (type)MSCONFIG - Enter
Click on the StartUp(tab)
Browse through the items that you have set to automatically Run when you boot your machine.
Consider "disabling" items that you don't need or don't often use. (you can still run them manually by clicking on their program icon or from c:\Program Files\

Good resources for reference of what you can safely "disable":
www.answersthatwork.com
www.blackviper.com
Pacman's StartUp List (currently hosted at Castle Cops)

Please keep us posted with your progress.

Best Regards

Ok Dough, tks for all ur help!!
Heres my reference for tech express:

http://www.pcpitstop.com/TechExpress.asp?id=XNZBPWEEJ7JS48KQ

I was aware that 512mb ram is on the short side. Had some trouble finding the right type in shops round here, but i`ve ordered a 1024mb.

Anyway I followed ur suggestions, and no lags so far
Keeping my fingers crossed, and learning as I go along.

Best regards Kris42

Hi Kris, Glad things are improving so far. Also glad that you may be able to add more RAM. I like the following online sources for price savings over brick and mortar stores: www.newegg.com www.tigerdirect.com www.zipzoomfly.com www.crucial.com Shop for price, all the above stores offer good and better quality. *** Get your Restricted Sites Security Setting Adjusted! *Adjust your IE cache. You currently have it set to 10mb. When you are browsing, your browser uses "cache" to save background, color, images, etc. of the pages you are visiting. As you browse between pages, the browser doesn't have to take time to download those items again, if they are already temporarily stored into the IE browser cache. Your Web Browsing will be optimal with a cache size of about 80mb to 100mb. It is not recommended to have a much higher cache size, since that just means that the browser has to drag around a bunch of extra junk all the time. With cache size set at 80mb, you'll have a sufficient cache size to keep most of your active browsing during an average session. When you start getting the 80mb filled up, then the cache starts eliminating old cached files on a "first-in, first-out" FIFO basis. I'll take a look at the rest of your Pit Test and get back to you. Best Regards

What's up with this?

Setting name Value
Video acceleration disabled No
Paging of kernel disabled Yes <——–
Screen saver running during tests No
NOIDE key found in registry No
Running 32-bit code on 64-bit Windows No
System Restore disabled No
Large System Cache enabled No
Has batteries Yes
Hibernate enabled No
HIBERFIL.SYS present No
Hibernate policy in use No
Sleep/Resume policy in use Yes
Running on battery power No

Well beeing a "newbie" this is still a bit confusing for me.
I followed your advice, and ran a new test at pcpitstop:

http://www.pcpitstop.com/TechExpress.asp?id=XNZBPWEEJ7JS48KQ

Maby I didn`t get it right?

Best regards Kris42

kris, Try going back to: Right-Click on My Computer - Properties - Performance - Virtual Memory If there is a "checkmark" in "Disable Virtual Memory"………. Then delete that Checkmark There should be a mark in "let me manage my own memory settings" With 1536 typed in for both minimum and maximum Please let me know if that's how you have it set. To "fix" your Restricted Zone Security GoTo: Control Panel - Internet Options - Security(tab) - click on-Restricted Zone Then Click on "Default Level" or move the Slider all the way to the top if there is a slider To Change your Internet Explorer Cache Size GoTo: Control Panel - Internet Options - General(tab) The second item on that screen is Temporary Internet Files Click on the Settings button On the next screen that pops up, you'll see an entry line that reads 10mb……. change it to 80mb That should get you fixed up. Best Regards, Doug

Maybe I'm the one that didn't get it right. Looking at your TechExpress link, I see that the one you most recently posted is the same as the first one you posted. For the second Pit Test, you will actually have a new TechExpress URL. Please post the TechExpress for your most recent Pit Test. You probably got everything right, but I was looking at the wrong test results. Best Regards Doug

Dough When i ran the pcpitstop again i seem to get the same URL. When I access it i get the latest result i think? At least the "red flag" reg. security is gone. reg. Kris42

Thanks Kris, I'll clear my own IE Cache and see if I can access the new Test Results. Doug

Hmmmm.

I'm still seeing:
Paging of kernel disabled Yes <——-

in your Test Results on the Windows Details page.
Is that what you are seeing?

If it's not too much trouble will you go back to PCPitstop
Click on Full Tests and enter you id and password (if it wasn't saved)
Then Click on Viiew Previous Test Results.
You should have at least two entries for the two or more tests you've run.
Click on the most recent one to open it, then click on the TechExpress for that most recent one.
It should have a unique identifier TechExpress URL different from the first one.

Please Post the new TechExpress if you can find it.

If it doesn't, that's fine, as long as you confirm the various settings for Virtual Memory, and Cache Size and Restricted Zone

Best Regards,
Doug

I only get the one URL, when i go to previous test results. I set the swap file to min/max 1536, so that seems fine. As i`m running xp in nowegian, it gives me a little trouble finding the right things (he he). Have to log off now to get some sleep. Look into things again tomorrow. Grateful for all ur help so far. Best regards

You're very Welcome. I'm glad you decided to become a Member here at TomCoyote! Be Seeing ya around the Forums. Doug