# computer freezes after 1 hour...



## angeltherat (Jul 19, 2003)

i leave my computer on all the time. just not the internet. but this has nothing to do with anything....

in the morning i go to use the computer, and after a minute it freezes up. no warning, no error notices... just stops working, or rather moving, because it doesn't turn off. after a forced restart i can use the computer just fine.

after work i go to use the computer, same thing. i have to restart. when the scan disc comes on, sometimes it works, sometimes it freezes.

today, i come home and turn on the monitor (i alway turn it off to save the screen, because i have the screen saver and the hibernation diabled) but it is already frozen. and i noticed that the time was stoped at about an hour after i stopped using the computer.

it is mearly an annoyance at having to restart the computer every time i sit down but i would still like to resolve it.

i have noticed that the monitor itself will go into "sleep" mode even though that feature is disabled on the computer.

okay specifications...

i have a dell dimension 8200 with windows me.
my monitor is a syncMaster 170MP by samsung.


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## TheJoost (Sep 18, 2003)

Hi Angel, It sounds like it could be a power management conflict. Try going in to your bios settings and make sure 'ACPI' and 'APM' are both disabled, then go to Start\Run and type 'msconfig' and go to the startup tab and uncheck 'LoadPowerProfile' (there should be two of them!) and reboot. Hope this solves it for you but if not just post back and i'm sure someone else will have some ideas! Ciao


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## Memory_Loss (Sep 30, 2003)

Could be a heat issue, check the fans inside the case and make sure all are working.


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## angeltherat (Jul 19, 2003)

it definitely isn't a heat issue.

and apparently it only happens when i turn my monitor off. physically. i left it on last nite and it still hasn't frozen on me.


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## dagreat (Mar 15, 2003)

Do you know of, or have you heard that the possible problem that you are having (computer freeze) is because you are using Windows ME? (you did say that you are using ME right?) OK, I have ME myself and I run into similar trouble. My PC freezes up all the time. Another friend of mine has had the same problem using ME. I didn't believe that it could be the OS at first, but now I'm starting to wonder. I have not found a solution for it.


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## Cowboy622 (Oct 4, 2001)

To answer DaGreat, I am currently running ME and have been for about a year and haven't froze once so I don't think it is a natural by-product of the OS. I also leave my computer on 24/7 as I'm on cable. Some generic things to check for freezing problems are:

This may not help but worth a try.

To start with you can get rid of some of the background programs by going to the Start Button>run>type "msconfig" (without the quotes)>enter>startup tab> and unchecking everything you don't need, (I usually leave four things checked, the Firewall, system tray, your antivirus program and scan registry which backs up your registry) Then on the General Tab I was told to check the "selective start-up" and uncheck "process config sys.file" and "Process autoexec.bat file". I've done that have haven't "froze up" since.

You can also try an decrease your hardware accelerator rate as this sometimes causes things to "hang-up". Go to start button>settings>control panel>display>settings> click the advanced button>performance tab> and slide the hardware accelerator all the way to the left. If this fixes your hanging-up problem, then try and move it one click to the right and see if 
you start hanging up again, if not move it again to the right until you start hanging up again. When that happens, move it back one and leave it.

Next, you need to check for Spyware which might be trying to "phone home" in the background. To do this you need to run AdAware or Spybot. Rollin Rog posted:

Both Ad-Aware and Spybot are XP compatible.

Installing and Running Ad-Aware 
http://www.lavasoft.nu/

1. Download to a convenient folder the installation file:

http://www.lavasoft.nu/support/download/

2. Run the Ad-Aware setup file (aaw.exe) to install Ad-aware and reboot.

3. Run the "check for updates now". and run it. It will want a connection to the internet to check and update the current signature file. When that is complete. Run Ad-aware itself.

4. Configure Ad-aware to scan all drives on which you have installed programs, memory and registry. When the scan is complete, check all entries it finds (do not select "Exclude" unless you specifically want something to be ignored!), click "Backup", to name and backup the items to be removed, and then continue to remove the selected items. Reboot afterwards.
====================

Installing and running Spybot:

http://security.kolla.de/index.php?...n&page=download

1 -- create a new, 'host' folder in a convenient location (not on the desktop)

2 -- download the spybot "self-installer" program to it and run the setup file.

3 -- go to the Start Menu, find the program and run it. Click the "online" tab and "Search for Updates", then make your selection and click "Download Updates". You will not need to update the "main" program and can probably ignore the language and PGP (Pretty Good Privacy) updates.

4 -- run the scan (click "check all"). You will see some boxes checked and others not. Remove the pre-selected items. The others are mainly "cleanup" options (you can disable this feature by clicking Settings > FileSets, and unchecking "Usage Tracking". "System Internals" should be unchecked as well unless you are confident you know what it deals with).

5 -- it is a good practice to reboot afterwards, even if not prompted.

NEXT- I would run an online scan for any virus that may have sneaked in past your AV program. You can do it here: 
http://housecall.antivirus.com/housecall/start_corp.asp 
or here: 
http://www.pandasoftware.com/activescan/

Next- I would delete all Temp files- cookies- etc, then run your scan disk and defrag and mentioned above.

Next- I would check for overheating as heat can cause the CPU to freeze. Make sure the fans in the tower are functioning correctly. Also I would blow out any dust from the case and around the fans. Make sure the tower is not placed next to a heating duct in the room where you have the computer.

When you are using your computer it might not hurt to check your system resources, periodically. If your computer freezes after an hour use, as you use it you might want to check and if the resources drops to 0% you may be freezeing at that point. If so you have a resource problem.

I hope this helps you. Good Luck!!!!


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