System Hangs for several minutes then recovers

[Guest]

Archived from groups: alt.sys.pc-clone.dell (More info?)

I have a 4600 running Windows 98SE - P4 2.6 GHZ - 256 MB Ram. Windows
is up-to-date with all the critical updates. About once an hour it
will not respond to mouse clicks but if nothing else is touched it
will respond and be back to normal in a few minutes. I have not been
able to sense any pattern of use to create the failure. At the point
of failure I've had the Resource Meter and System meter active and no
resources are below 50% and CPU is around 60%. Ctl-Alt-Del does not
bring up task manager in the hang state. I initially thought it might
be a heat problem but all fans are operating and I was able to create
a failure with the case open. Thus far I've reseated the processor
and power supply connectors, what next?

The system has several shared folders in use by three other users and
they haven't complained but I'm not sure if they have file access or
not during the hang state. You might ask why Windows 98, there is a
legacy program necessary for the business that does not run in any
flavor of compatibility of XP. The machine has been running it's
current software configuration for almost a year with no problems. I
really don't know if it's a software of hardware problem and can't
determine a good troubleshooting procedure for this. Any suggestions?
Anti-spyware and anti-virus programs are up-to-date and run clean.
Other than the network card no other I/O is in use.

Thanks

Jim

 

[Guest]

Archived from groups: alt.sys.pc-clone.dell (More info?)

Jim,
Have you installed/updated any software recently, that has an option for
online updates? Especially Antivirus/Security suites, media players, or
toolbars. Sometimes the update will change the settings back to the default
ones, that may have included an update search. You may need to go back into
the settings interface, and disable the update feature.



--

Rich/rerat

(RRR News) <message rule>
<<Previous Text Snipped to Save Bandwidth When Appropriate>>



"Jim Besse" <fv_robinhood.nospam@hotmail.com> wrote in message
news:3tSdnXqqLo7CF5vfRVn-jQ@comcast.com...
I have a 4600 running Windows 98SE - P4 2.6 GHZ - 256 MB Ram. Windows
is up-to-date with all the critical updates. About once an hour it
will not respond to mouse clicks but if nothing else is touched it
will respond and be back to normal in a few minutes. I have not been
able to sense any pattern of use to create the failure. At the point
of failure I've had the Resource Meter and System meter active and no
resources are below 50% and CPU is around 60%. Ctl-Alt-Del does not
bring up task manager in the hang state. I initially thought it might
be a heat problem but all fans are operating and I was able to create
a failure with the case open. Thus far I've reseated the processor
and power supply connectors, what next?

The system has several shared folders in use by three other users and
they haven't complained but I'm not sure if they have file access or
not during the hang state. You might ask why Windows 98, there is a
legacy program necessary for the business that does not run in any
flavor of compatibility of XP. The machine has been running it's
current software configuration for almost a year with no problems. I
really don't know if it's a software of hardware problem and can't
determine a good troubleshooting procedure for this. Any suggestions?
Anti-spyware and anti-virus programs are up-to-date and run clean.
Other than the network card no other I/O is in use.

Thanks

Jim

 

[Guest]

Archived from groups: alt.sys.pc-clone.dell (More info?)

> I have a 4600 running Windows 98SE - P4 2.6 GHZ - 256 MB Ram. Windows
> is up-to-date with all the critical updates. About once an hour it
> will not respond to mouse clicks but if nothing else is touched it
> will respond and be back to normal in a few minutes.

If its any consolation, i`ve started to notice the same on my win98se
system too, where the GUI fails to respond after I try to open a program
- usually from the quick launch bar.

Not found any answer to it myself, although a reboot usually helps for a
while.

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[Guest]

Archived from groups: alt.sys.pc-clone.dell (More info?)

I would suspect you are running low on GDI resources if a reboot fixes
it for a period of time.

Jim

"Colin Wilson" <void@btinternet.com> wrote in message
news:MPG.1c70b8c9415df8ac98ae5b@news.individual.net...
> If its any consolation, i`ve started to notice the same on my
> win98se
> system too, where the GUI fails to respond after I try to open a
> program
> - usually from the quick launch bar.
>
> Not found any answer to it myself, although a reboot usually helps
> for a
> while.
>
> --
> Please add "[newsgroup]" in the subject of any personal replies via
> email
> --- My new email address has "ngspamtrap" & @btinternet.com in it
> ;-) ---

 

[Guest]

Archived from groups: alt.sys.pc-clone.dell (More info?)

Rich, there are several pieces of software that do auto updates
installed but
they are installed on the other three machines as well. Please
explain as I
don't understand how an automatic update will kill the whole machine.

Thanks!

Jim

"RRR_News" <nospam@isp.com> wrote in message
news:G5-dnS1wD_TlOpvfRVn-tg@comcast.com...
> Jim,
> Have you installed/updated any software recently, that has an option
> for
> online updates? Especially Antivirus/Security suites, media players,
> or
> toolbars. Sometimes the update will change the settings back to the
> default
> ones, that may have included an update search. You may need to go
> back into
> the settings interface, and disable the update feature.
>
>
>
> --
>
> Rich/rerat
>
> (RRR News) <message rule>
> <<Previous Text Snipped to Save Bandwidth When Appropriate>>
>
>
>
> "Jim Besse" <fv_robinhood.nospam@hotmail.com> wrote in message
> news:3tSdnXqqLo7CF5vfRVn-jQ@comcast.com...
> I have a 4600 running Windows 98SE - P4 2.6 GHZ - 256 MB Ram.
> Windows
> is up-to-date with all the critical updates. About once an hour it
> will not respond to mouse clicks but if nothing else is touched it
> will respond and be back to normal in a few minutes. I have not
> been
> able to sense any pattern of use to create the failure. At the
> point
> of failure I've had the Resource Meter and System meter active and
> no
> resources are below 50% and CPU is around 60%. Ctl-Alt-Del does not
> bring up task manager in the hang state. I initially thought it
> might
> be a heat problem but all fans are operating and I was able to
> create
> a failure with the case open. Thus far I've reseated the processor
> and power supply connectors, what next?
>
> The system has several shared folders in use by three other users
> and
> they haven't complained but I'm not sure if they have file access or
> not during the hang state. You might ask why Windows 98, there is a
> legacy program necessary for the business that does not run in any
> flavor of compatibility of XP. The machine has been running it's
> current software configuration for almost a year with no problems.
> I
> really don't know if it's a software of hardware problem and can't
> determine a good troubleshooting procedure for this. Any
> suggestions?
> Anti-spyware and anti-virus programs are up-to-date and run clean.
> Other than the network card no other I/O is in use.
>
> Thanks
>
> Jim
>
>
>

 

[Guest]

Archived from groups: alt.sys.pc-clone.dell (More info?)

I know my wife has in the past, installed programs like weatherbug and
different toolbars on our old PBell running W98FE, and it seem to lock up
the PC for a few minutes as you described. When I check, some of these
programs would look for an update every hour. And if they had a problem
connecting to the host server, our PC would lock for a moment.

Spyware checks using Ad-Aware or Spybot would not indicate any presence of
malware, but i think it was still there. So i decided to just turn off any
updating for those programs, and it seem to work for me.

Another thing that you might consider, as you said you keep the PC's
software updated. Have you check the mouse's manufacturer website for driver
updates?

If it is a MS (Itelliport) mouse, MS has a 4.12 version update for download
for Win98 machines.
http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/details.aspx?FamilyID=4348502a-61be-4072-abe2-e3fc3aa0eee6&DisplayLang=en
--

Rich/rerat

(RRR News) <message rule>
<<Previous Text Snipped to Save Bandwidth When Appropriate>>



"Jim Besse" <fv_robinhood.nospam@hotmail.com> wrote in message
news:q6SdnVmAirgN_5rfRVn-hA@comcast.com...
Rich, there are several pieces of software that do auto updates
installed but
they are installed on the other three machines as well. Please
explain as I
don't understand how an automatic update will kill the whole machine.

Thanks!

Jim

"RRR_News" <nospam@isp.com> wrote in message
news:G5-dnS1wD_TlOpvfRVn-tg@comcast.com...
> Jim,
> Have you installed/updated any software recently, that has an option
> for
> online updates? Especially Antivirus/Security suites, media players,
> or
> toolbars. Sometimes the update will change the settings back to the
> default
> ones, that may have included an update search. You may need to go
> back into
> the settings interface, and disable the update feature.
>
>
>
> --
>
> Rich/rerat
>
> (RRR News) <message rule>
> <<Previous Text Snipped to Save Bandwidth When Appropriate>>
>
>
>
> "Jim Besse" <fv_robinhood.nospam@hotmail.com> wrote in message
> news:3tSdnXqqLo7CF5vfRVn-jQ@comcast.com...
> I have a 4600 running Windows 98SE - P4 2.6 GHZ - 256 MB Ram.
> Windows
> is up-to-date with all the critical updates. About once an hour it
> will not respond to mouse clicks but if nothing else is touched it
> will respond and be back to normal in a few minutes. I have not
> been
> able to sense any pattern of use to create the failure. At the
> point
> of failure I've had the Resource Meter and System meter active and
> no
> resources are below 50% and CPU is around 60%. Ctl-Alt-Del does not
> bring up task manager in the hang state. I initially thought it
> might
> be a heat problem but all fans are operating and I was able to
> create
> a failure with the case open. Thus far I've reseated the processor
> and power supply connectors, what next?
>
> The system has several shared folders in use by three other users
> and
> they haven't complained but I'm not sure if they have file access or
> not during the hang state. You might ask why Windows 98, there is a
> legacy program necessary for the business that does not run in any
> flavor of compatibility of XP. The machine has been running it's
> current software configuration for almost a year with no problems.
> I
> really don't know if it's a software of hardware problem and can't
> determine a good troubleshooting procedure for this. Any
> suggestions?
> Anti-spyware and anti-virus programs are up-to-date and run clean.
> Other than the network card no other I/O is in use.
>
> Thanks
>
> Jim
>
>
>

 

[Guest]

Archived from groups: alt.sys.pc-clone.dell (More info?)

Jim,
Another thing that I just thought of have you made sure that the mouse wire
connection is secure and tight? You might want to reinstall the drivers for
the mouse.

Control Panel> System> Device Manager> Under Mouse> Delete the Mouse entry>
Reboot PC> and let Windows reinstall the driver.

--

Rich/rerat

(RRR News) <message rule>
<<Previous Text Snipped to Save Bandwidth When Appropriate>>



"RRR_News" <nospam@isp.com> wrote in message
news:4eidnUcZ5LiTKJrfRVn-pA@comcast.com...
I know my wife has in the past, installed programs like weatherbug and
different toolbars on our old PBell running W98FE, and it seem to lock up
the PC for a few minutes as you described. When I check, some of these
programs would look for an update every hour. And if they had a problem
connecting to the host server, our PC would lock for a moment.

Spyware checks using Ad-Aware or Spybot would not indicate any presence of
malware, but i think it was still there. So i decided to just turn off any
updating for those programs, and it seem to work for me.

Another thing that you might consider, as you said you keep the PC's
software updated. Have you check the mouse's manufacturer website for driver
updates?

If it is a MS (Itelliport) mouse, MS has a 4.12 version update for download
for Win98 machines.
http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/details.aspx?FamilyID=4348502a-61be-4072-abe2-e3fc3aa0eee6&DisplayLang=en
--

Rich/rerat

(RRR News) <message rule>
<<Previous Text Snipped to Save Bandwidth When Appropriate>>



"Jim Besse" <fv_robinhood.nospam@hotmail.com> wrote in message
news:q6SdnVmAirgN_5rfRVn-hA@comcast.com...
Rich, there are several pieces of software that do auto updates
installed but
they are installed on the other three machines as well. Please
explain as I
don't understand how an automatic update will kill the whole machine.

Thanks!

Jim

"RRR_News" <nospam@isp.com> wrote in message
news:G5-dnS1wD_TlOpvfRVn-tg@comcast.com...
> Jim,
> Have you installed/updated any software recently, that has an option
> for
> online updates? Especially Antivirus/Security suites, media players,
> or
> toolbars. Sometimes the update will change the settings back to the
> default
> ones, that may have included an update search. You may need to go
> back into
> the settings interface, and disable the update feature.
>
>
>
> --
>
> Rich/rerat
>
> (RRR News) <message rule>
> <<Previous Text Snipped to Save Bandwidth When Appropriate>>
>
>
>
> "Jim Besse" <fv_robinhood.nospam@hotmail.com> wrote in message
> news:3tSdnXqqLo7CF5vfRVn-jQ@comcast.com...
> I have a 4600 running Windows 98SE - P4 2.6 GHZ - 256 MB Ram.
> Windows
> is up-to-date with all the critical updates. About once an hour it
> will not respond to mouse clicks but if nothing else is touched it
> will respond and be back to normal in a few minutes. I have not
> been
> able to sense any pattern of use to create the failure. At the
> point
> of failure I've had the Resource Meter and System meter active and
> no
> resources are below 50% and CPU is around 60%. Ctl-Alt-Del does not
> bring up task manager in the hang state. I initially thought it
> might
> be a heat problem but all fans are operating and I was able to
> create
> a failure with the case open. Thus far I've reseated the processor
> and power supply connectors, what next?
>
> The system has several shared folders in use by three other users
> and
> they haven't complained but I'm not sure if they have file access or
> not during the hang state. You might ask why Windows 98, there is a
> legacy program necessary for the business that does not run in any
> flavor of compatibility of XP. The machine has been running it's
> current software configuration for almost a year with no problems.
> I
> really don't know if it's a software of hardware problem and can't
> determine a good troubleshooting procedure for this. Any
> suggestions?
> Anti-spyware and anti-virus programs are up-to-date and run clean.
> Other than the network card no other I/O is in use.
>
> Thanks
>
> Jim
>
>
>

 

[Guest]

Archived from groups: alt.sys.pc-clone.dell (More info?)

> I would suspect you are running low on GDI resources if a reboot fixes
> it for a period of time.

320Mb of RAM and using Cacheman - suppose its possible though... although
a reboot will sort out most windows problems for a short while :-}

--
Please add "[newsgroup]" in the subject of any personal replies via email
--- My new email address has "ngspamtrap" & @btinternet.com in it ;-) ---

 

[Guest]

Archived from groups: alt.sys.pc-clone.dell (More info?)

"Jim Besse" <fv_robinhood.nospam@hotmail.com> wrote in message
news:q6SdnVmAirgN_5rfRVn-hA@comcast.com...
> Rich, there are several pieces of software that do auto updates installed
> but
> they are installed on the other three machines as well. Please explain as
> I
> don't understand how an automatic update will kill the whole machine.
>
> Thanks!
>
> Jim
>
> "RRR_News" <nospam@isp.com> wrote in message
> news:G5-dnS1wD_TlOpvfRVn-tg@comcast.com...
>> Jim,
>> Have you installed/updated any software recently, that has an option for
>> online updates? Especially Antivirus/Security suites, media players, or
>> toolbars. Sometimes the update will change the settings back to the
>> default
>> ones, that may have included an update search. You may need to go back
>> into
>> the settings interface, and disable the update feature.
>>
>>
>>
>> --
>>
>> Rich/rerat
>>
>> (RRR News) <message rule>
>> <<Previous Text Snipped to Save Bandwidth When Appropriate>>
>>
>>
>>
>> "Jim Besse" <fv_robinhood.nospam@hotmail.com> wrote in message
>> news:3tSdnXqqLo7CF5vfRVn-jQ@comcast.com...
>> I have a 4600 running Windows 98SE - P4 2.6 GHZ - 256 MB Ram. Windows
>> is up-to-date with all the critical updates. About once an hour it
>> will not respond to mouse clicks but if nothing else is touched it
>> will respond and be back to normal in a few minutes. I have not been
>> able to sense any pattern of use to create the failure. At the point
>> of failure I've had the Resource Meter and System meter active and no
>> resources are below 50% and CPU is around 60%. Ctl-Alt-Del does not
>> bring up task manager in the hang state. I initially thought it might
>> be a heat problem but all fans are operating and I was able to create
>> a failure with the case open. Thus far I've reseated the processor
>> and power supply connectors, what next?
>>
>> The system has several shared folders in use by three other users and
>> they haven't complained but I'm not sure if they have file access or
>> not during the hang state. You might ask why Windows 98, there is a
>> legacy program necessary for the business that does not run in any
>> flavor of compatibility of XP. The machine has been running it's
>> current software configuration for almost a year with no problems. I
>> really don't know if it's a software of hardware problem and can't
>> determine a good troubleshooting procedure for this. Any suggestions?
>> Anti-spyware and anti-virus programs are up-to-date and run clean.
>> Other than the network card no other I/O is in use.
>>
>> Thanks
>>
>> Jim
>>
>>
>>
>
>
I had a problem with the exact same symptoms. I too thought that it was
something that was running hot. I replaced the heatsink and fan and also
the video card. the symptoms continued even more frequently. It turns out
that the CD burner was back. Even with nothing in it, it would cause the
hang-ups. Try disconnecting the cable from the motherboard and see it that
fixes it. If it does, you have an optical drive that is bad.