System Hangs

I had a similar problem with W95. I spent 2 months reinstalling apps and on one occasion the operating system itself but the system just kept hanging. I got round it by starting from scratch - running fdisk, then format, then copying the installation files to a designated partition and installing from there. The swapfile is now on a separate partition and the program files are on a separate drive.

Since then the users of this machine have been all smiles.

I know this is a little extreme but I hope it helps.

Mark

Try disabling your energy saving options, especially if you have little RAM. I'd suggest start with the hibernate and harddrive shutdown options.
It's in control panel.

It could be a couple of things. It is possible that a overheating issue is causing lockups. How long is pc on before locking up? Check cpu fan and make sure it is spinning fast. Also check power supply fan. Faulty memory could also cause this problem- take mem out of another box and try it. You have ruled out hard drive as prob. Disable power management in bios and windows.
If you need more help let me know,
kcmeister

Hangs, freezes and crashes. Most likely culprit? Hardware.

Swap RAM and processor even with other machines and see if problem continues. Definitely make sure CPU fan is spinning and CLEAN. Those would be my suggetions.

Well, let's see...
It sounds like something is "timing out." So go to Start Settings Control Panel Power Options and set all the options to "never." This means that no devices will ever turn off. I set mine to 5 minutes or so to save the monitor and save power. Try that one.
You could try running SE from the CD. Don't install Windows to the hard drive, run it from the CD. See if that cures it. If that doesn't do it, try this:
Get a DOS prompt, either from Start, Accessories, or boot from a Win98 start-up floppy disk. Now, do "fdisk"; delete all the partitions; and then format the hard drive. After this, do "fdisk /mbr" to delete the master boot record. Your hard drive should now be completely blank. You have to ask yourself, "Does my machine auto boot from a CD?" ( probably does, but check... knowing this saves time )
Now, turn on the power switch; when the company logo comes up, hit "F8" ( top of keyboard ) to get to your ROM BIOS. Notice the date of manufacture; is it old ? Like 1999 or before ? If so, go the BIOS manufacturer's website and obtain an upgrade and save it to the desktop. This resets an erasable PROM on the BIOS chip. I've done this without any noticeable harm, but be careful; you are altering basic hardware configuration !!
Good luck !!!!

install nt or 2k. 9x is horrible at managing resources, which is the problem. it could be AV (most likely) or some resource that isn't shutting down.

It can be caused by many problems:
Software:
1) After starting the computer, do this:
start-->programs-->accessories-->system tools-->resource monitor.
Double click it to see the resource, if it is below 80%, then this is the problem.
do this:start-->run-->type "msconfig"-->OK-->"startup" tab-->uncheck all the unnecessary programs (it will NOT kill them; but stop them from load into the RAM).

Hardware:
open the cover the computer tower and try to run the program without the cover. Ifit works well, it may be the overheat.
Solution? vacuum cleaner on the broad; plus air-conditioned room.
Change the RAM if it continues to be a problem. But run a RAM test first.

It can be caused by many problems:
Software:
1) After starting the computer, do this:
start-->programs-->accessories-->system tools-->resource monitor.
Double click it to see the resource, if it is below 80%, then this is the problem.
do this:start-->run-->type "msconfig"-->OK-->"startup" tab-->uncheck all the unnecessary programs (it will NOT kill them; but stop them from load into the RAM).

Hardware:
open the cover the computer tower and try to run the program without the cover. Ifit works well, it may be the overheat.
Solution? vacuum cleaner on the broad; plus air-conditioned room.
Change the RAM if it continues to be a problem. But run a RAM test first.

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