COMPUTER LOCKS UP WHILE USING

You need to provide more information about your problem, what system you are using and what is the history of that problem. However her are some questions to answer that might help in identifying your problem.
1-Do you have enough disk space?
2-Did you install a program prior to that problem?
3-If you start on the safe mode does this occurs?
4-Is there a sequense you follow to reproduce that problem?
5-Does it happen after a certain Time?
Try to answer this questions and give some more details about your system.

(Agreed... more info would be helpful.)

However, I often find that when I have this problem it is actually a resource issue. For instance, two devices that may be incompatable are sharing the same IRQ. Additionally, if you're trying to drive your CPU faster than it should go, that can cause problems.

Try reseting your BIOS settings back to the default clock divisors and see if that improves your reliability problems. Then, slowly crank things up.

Additionally, you might be fighting bad memory. Take your memory to a computer show and usually the vendors will check it for free.

I agree with the previous answer and add some other things we would need to knoq:

Amount of RAM memory in your computer ?
What applications do you havo open at the time of locking up ?
Does it happen in only one application ?
Is this computer a standalone or on a network ?

My initial thought would be insufficient RAM, I would suggest 128MB min.

Bill J.

yes you need to supply more info about the lock up what your doing and how long the system was running before it locks. ;( Also can you get a response from ctrl alt del if infact it is a windows box. What Operating system are you ruuning? Ive had these issues before when running intesive graphical scenario's like q3 or counter strike. It ended up being heat issues the sulotion was either a new video card or remove the cover and blow a desk fan in the case. this solved the heating issues and pinpointed the problem.
best of luck
DA Z

Is the CPU fan working? Many problems of that kind occurs when this little device is not working. I hope that this help you!

JR

A common cause of PC locking up is overheating. Check your CPU fan, and if its running fine, remove the fan and inspect the CPU itself. Over time it collects dust and compounds itself onto the cpu and holds heats on it! Worth checking !! An odvious but suttle thing that is often overlooked. I have a Athlon 1.4 Gig with 40 Gig drive, win2000 and 512 ddr ram and I was experiencing lock up while playing MS Flight Sim 2002 Pro. (CPU being utilised due to the nature of the graphics etc) What I did was remove my tower case and bingo... better cooling. No more lockup!!

It depends on the application you use...Example, If your using a program that using some hardware like printer and it locks up maybe the problem is the software for the printer or the physical part of the printer.

and some factors affects pc locks-up is:
1. Compatibility Issue
2. Temparature
3. System Requirements

and etc..

Hope this can help..

Thses could be some of the reasons.
1. CPU fan not working properly
2. Less amount of RAM.
3. Power Management may be on.

I think one of these could be a problem

Please do not remove 'the lid' off your computer case to obtain better cooling as per answer 7 - you'd be far better off, if overheating is an issue, fitting some extra fans in the case. The case is enclosed for a reason, your safety (in the case of answer 7 that 1.4Ghz Athlon will have minimum 300w power supply) and to protect the system components.

Start>Run>MSCONFIG.SYS Learn it, love it, use it. *smile*

Seriously, run the msconfig.sys file and turn off all those nasty programs cowering in your startup tray. The only two files I have found that you NEED on a standard installation of Win98SE (most common OS out there still) is iexplore and systray. The first is your internet explorer and it drives your desktop (kinda need that if you want to be in Windows nowadays) and the second runs your system tray which displays information showing you what is running in memory. Closing either of them will give you the blue screen in 98 or the reboot screen in 2000.

Your problem is most likely due to too many things running at once, possibly not a RAM issue just too many little children(programs) screaming at their mother (CPU) to pay attention to them and finally mommy (CPU) goes insane and wont do anything anymore. At least, this is my experience with such issues.

From the info you gave, I will guess that:

a) you arent waiting long enough for the program in question to finish

b) you have overclocked your computer (as in making your computer at a higher speed that it should be)

c) your memory or hardware is faulty and may need replacing.

d) you may have set a timeout value on an important device through the bios and that value is too short. I recommend disabling timeouts from the bios.

e) Your buffers (if using a network application or windows) are set too large. This promotes lockups, especially when these buffers are memory buffers.

Also, if you are using Windows 95 or higher, check your system settings, your resources may be low.

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