[O Town]

Oh, and I already did the cleaning up of start up programs when I ran Tune Up 2006, and got rid of quite a few things.

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You have the freezing problem with antimalware programms which are heavy resource users. The very small ram, 128 MB, can be a problem (It is not recommended to run XP at below 256 MB). I also suspect overheating of your CPU. I would try the following:

Download and run Everest home edition. Run a spybot scan. While spybot is running, before freezing, click in Everest: computer > sensor and report the temperatures of CPU, HD, and board. We want to see temps under load.

If temps are normal (up to about 50 C for CPU) I would uninstall all antimalware software, run a cleaning software like the one you already used, reinstall only one program only (spybot, for example) and run a scan.

[The Skeptic]

You have the freezing problem with antimalware programms which are heavy resource users. The very small ram, 128 MB, can be a problem (It is not recommended to run XP at below 256 MB). I also suspect overheating of your CPU. I would try the following:

Download and run Everest home edition. Run a spybot scan. While spybot is running, before freezing, click in Everest: computer > sensor and report the temperatures of CPU, HD, and board. We want to see temps under load.

If temps are normal (up to about 50 C for CPU) I would uninstall all antimalware software, run a cleaning software like the one you already used, reinstall only one program only (spybot, for example) and run a scan.

[O Town]

But why all the sudden now are things going wrong, I have had this PC and basically all the same prorgams since April of last year. I have known I need to add more memory, just haven't yet. I had no clue you were suppost to have at least 256 RAM for XP. Thanks for the info. I will probably be getting some more RAM this weekend. As for running scan while running Everest if you look at some previous posts, we were trying to get that done, but when I click on sensor no information comes up, so we can not get any readings there. I asked why this would happen and I think the response was Cannot/Does not support Motherboard – Is this a Laptop – Soooo, anyways I just did a virus scan before posting, and I got 20 minutes in and 42% complete, I was getting excited thinking it was going to complete. But it froze up. Bummer. I had my task manager minimized while I did this. At first it did not go up past 50% CPU usage, but about 20% in to the scan it started going up past the 50% mark more often, and even up to 100% a few times. When it did freeze it was up to or close to 100%. As far as what type of scans I can complete, I was able to complete a AD-aware SE scan and a CWshredder scan and a few other clean up programs I was told to run. All of my on line scans, virus scans, and spyware scans freeze. Also when I tried to run scf /scannow to check corupt files it froze during that one too. Clueless. I have been thinking all along it my be a memory problem, but why now and not before? I have more free disk space now than I did when things where running fine. If there is anything else to do let me know, I hate to go buy more memory for this thing if it still will not perform right when I install it, I will just go out and get a whole new system.
~Kelly

[The Skeptic]

Your post suggests even stronger to a cpu overheating. I wouldnt exclude other options but I think that this must be checked. Few comments:

You managed to run CWshredder and Ad-Aware. If you run Adaware in smart mode it takes only minutes to accomplish the test, not long enough for the cpu to heat up. CWshredder is a very short test. The computer fails in longer, more demanding tests such as Spybot and antivirus.

The reason that Everest doesn't show temperature is most probably the result of not having temp sensors on the motherboard. As unbelievable as it is, some manufacturers do not install these sensors. To make sure, enter BIOS and search in Computer Health or Hardware Monitor or in other menues for CPU temperatures. If you don't see it, then the sensor is not installed. In the same menu you ususlly find voltages. See if CPU and other voltages are not too high, causing overheating. You can also read voltages in Everest: Computer > Sensor.

If I understand correctly then your computer is desktop. If it is, open the side cover and check first of all that all the fans are working properly. Also, make sure that the heatsink ribs are not blocked by caked dust. If they are, switch off the computer and clean the dust with compressed air or a thin brush that can be penetrated between the fan blades. Use vaccum cleaner to clean the displaced dust. Try to avoid removing the heatsink. If you must, remove it carefully, clean the dust, clean perfectly the top of the cpu and the bottom of the heatsink, apply a very thin layer of a thermal paste on both surfaces and reinstall.

Run the computer, let it heat up for a while and touch the bottom of the heatsink. If it is hot to the point of burning your fingers then you have an overheating problem. Not very accurate but simple to do when you do not have temp sensors.

[O Town]

Okay, I searched around some in there and this is what I found, and where I went.
I went to Motherboard>CPUID then under Power Managment Features I saw this:
Tempature Sensing Diode.......................Not supported
Thermal Monitor 1..................................Not supported
Thermal Monitor 2..................................Not supported
Thermal Monitoring................................Not supported
Thermal Trip..........................................Not supported
Voltage ID code.....................................Not supported

So I guess that is saying I have no type of thermal monitoring sensors or fans??????
Next step I guess is to take off the panel, yes it is a desktop, and see what is going on in there. I am sure there is an accumulation of dust, I have never been in there to blow it out or anything like that. OKay heres a question.........What does the heat sink look like? I am sure I could google it, I think I may. I just want to know what I am looking for before I go digging. This is not going to be a small task either, my tower is inside a slot of my desk, and kinda hard to get to. Alright I will go goggle heat sink and check here to see if I have a reply to what it looks like, and then I am off to work on it. I don't have any compressed air, but I do have this pretty powerful vaccum with little brush attachments. Thanks again guys for all your imput.

[O Town]

Okay, I ripped the tower open, and I do have fans.........2 of them. The one was spinning that blows out the back I guess that is sucking the hot air out, then I dug a little deeper and found another fan that blows kinda into the other fan, it was not spinning, all I did was touch it and it started spinning, my husband is running up to Office Depot to get a couple cans of air so I can blow everything out, it is pretty dusty in there, and then I will vaccum it all up. I am going to attemp to run a scan now with the other fan running and my panel open so it should be nice and cool. If it works then, problem solved. I am crossing my fingers, will post back shortly. I hope this is it guys.
~Kelly

[O Town]

That was it guys!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I just completed a Spybot S&D scan for the first time in a month! I am so excited!!!!!!
It did stop once during the scan(the fan) I am hoping that a good clean out will cure this problem of it wanting to stop. I guess I am going to uninstall all these programs I had to download. What clean up do you guys recommend after I complete uninstalling everything? Thank you, Thank you, Thank you, YOU GUYS ARE AWESOME!!! I am so grateful. I think I will keep a few of the clean up programs and just get rid of all but one virus(AnitVir) and my Spybot. Woo Hoo! Thanks again!!!
~Kelly

[The Skeptic]

I am glad we could help. Few notes regarding fans and dust:

1: The heatsink is a heavy, ribbed, aluminium body which sits on top of the CPU with the aid of plastic or metal clamps. It has a fan on top of it which cools the cpu. If you remove it you must deal with it like I wrote in a previous post.

2: If in doubt replace old fans. These are cheap items. Once stuck, very often they won't last long after cleanup or repair.

3: If you want to repair the fans that's quite easy. You take the fan off the computer, clean it from dust, remove the sticker at the center, remove the small rubber plug that covers the fan's shaft, dripp into the cavity 1-2 drops of light oil (like the one used for sewing machine). Install in the reverse order.

4: Most important: Many people keep the computers running 24 hours a day, even if they use it for a small part of the day. I could never understand what it is good for. Dust accumulation and fans failure are common problems especialy with computers placed on the floor or hard to get into niches. If you need the computer during the day switch it on at the beginning of the day and shut it off at end of the day. This way you reduce, statistically, fan wear and dust accumulation at least by half, if not more.

[Retired Tech]

Good call Skeptic, I would have been a while getting on to that

[The Skeptic]

Thanks

[O Town]

Okay I took the fan off the heat sink and cleaned the heat sink, it was full of dust. I blew everything out and vaccumed up alot. The fan does however still stop some, if touched or tower is tapped it comes on. Is the fan suppost to run all the time? Or does it come off and on when needed? I think I will replace the fan today and get some more RAM. If it is a cheap item then I might as well replace it. Also I used to shut off my computer nightly until a few months ago, when I started to leave it on 24/7. I turned it off last night and will continue to turn it off nightly. Thanks again for all your help and advice.
~Kelly

P.S. So I have a few clean ups installed on here, which one do you recommend to use for after I un-install all the uneeded programs. Thanx.

[The Skeptic]

The CPU fan must be replaced. It is supposed to run whenever the computer is on (except for certain electricity saving states, a subject that I will not delve into at this moment). Usually it has two speeds that switch between themselves according to cpu temp.

I guess that your memory is of an older type called SDRAM (identified by two notches at the base of the module, where the golden contacts are) . Do not replace it, just buy another module of 128 MB and place it in an unused slot. Sometimes older motherboards have the option to accept a newer type of memory called DDR SDRAM (one notch). If this is the case in your computer you can buy one module of 256 MB of DDR, take out the old memory (the two cannot work simultanously) and install the new one. To find out if your computer has such capabilities look inside the box and see if you have two empty slots with one notch each. If you have, you can upgrade your memory to DDR SDRAM. If not, you can only add to the older ram. I broaden on this point because where I live the older type cost at least twice the price of the newer type. also, it's harder to find one. So, if your computer is capable of having the newer type you will end up getting better performance at lower price. Last note: in most cases it is very easy to replace the type of memory. You take the older one, install the new one and the computer configures itself for the new one. There are some motherboards, however, that require some jumpers to change place. Best is if you have your computer's manual to check whether you can change to DDR and what it takes.

Re. cleaners, that's a matter of personal choice and everyone has his preferences. Personally I use AVG Free as an antivirus (never failed me), Spyblaster as a spyware protection running in the background, Ewido, Spybot and Ad_Aware as cleaners. All these programs are free.