Status: Not Responding

[Ryder Zery]

Recently, about half the time I open something like My Computer or My Documents, it just stops responding. So I have to open the Task Manager and press End Task. But this not only closes that window but it also makes my taskbar and desktop icons all dissapear. Most of the time they reappear in a few seconds, but occasionally they won't so I'm forced to restart my computer.

So is there a way to stop these folders from "not responding" so much? This just started happening a week or two ago, and it's getting very annoying.

And my specs in case they help:

P4 1.4GHz
256MB PC800 RDRAM
40GB HDD
GF4 Ti 4200
Windows XP Home

[sm8000]

Instead of rebooting, run explorer.exe, that should restore Windows (you can do it from Task Manager also). Your problem could be your RAM (www.memtest86.com), your hard drive (scandisk & defrag), heat, bad cables, or lack of Windows Updates. Try also disabling unnecessary services as listed on Blackviper's page. What is your pagefile set to?

[Ryder Zery]

I tired that memtest thing, but how long was it supposed to take? I waited almost 10 minutes and it just never stopped spewing out numbers in DOS so I just gave it up.Everything else you listed should be fine, and I don't think my comp's heat would be any different than it was before this problem started. And my pagefile is 400 MB.

[sm8000]

The memtest site should say how long it takes, depending on how many tests you run. When it loops the last test over and over again you know it's passed the test. How many processes do you have running when you open task manager? And can you see if anything is using an especially substantial amount of CPU or memory resources?

[Ryder Zery]

Check the attachment.

[VHockey86]

Does this thing lockup for a long period of time? Sometimes If i I have CDs in my drive and i click on my computer it will kind of lag and often say not responding for 5-10 seconds while it appears to scan the cds, happens mostly when I havent opened up any kind of file window in a while

[sm8000]

Processes look okay to me, although one of those SVCHOSTs seems to be chewing up a comparatively large amount of memory. Could be anything though. Have you tried disconnecting the optical drives altogether?

[dr_roberts49]

Have you recently installed any new drivers, or shareware programs off the Internet? My daughter's computer had many of the same problems you mentioned. She even had her mouse cursor vanish for a few seconds or a full minute. For the life of me, I couldn't find the culprit, but I did rule out hardware problems after running several diagnostic programs. I even ran a full virus scan. One day there were no problems, and the next day, there were problems. I finally backed up her data, and then did fdisk, format, and started all over. Everything works fine, and still does. I gave her some tips on downloading plugins and also installed Spybot and Adware. I hope you solve your problem. Good luck!

Robert

[Bones1]

Hey Ryder when you said that the memtest program kept spewing out numbers was that at the bottom of the screen?

I've run that test and if there was any problems with the memory it gives a list at the bottom. I believe it's a reference to a memory location. So if you are getting a bunch of listings at the bottom that means bad RAM.

Oh I've found out that most new computers will take on average 20 to 30 minutes to complete a single pass.

[Ryder Zery]

Thre's no CD in the drive and I haven't downloaded any drivers/shareware programs (but I have installed a couple games). And with the memtest, the numbers weren't at the bottom, they were scrolling on the left side of the screen. And if the test does take 20-30 mins then I didn't wait long enough for it to finish.

But one thing that I just thought of is that this problem started happened soon after I moved to a new house. Could this somehow be the cause?