Jump to content

Welcome to Geeks to Go - Register now for FREE

Need help with your computer or device? Want to learn new tech skills? You're in the right place!
Geeks to Go is a friendly community of tech experts who can solve any problem you have. Just create a free account and post your question. Our volunteers will reply quickly and guide you through the steps. Don't let tech troubles stop you. Join Geeks to Go now and get the support you need!

How it Works Create Account
Photo

comp freezing/locking up forcing me to cold boot, restore pts vanished


  • Please log in to reply

#46
wannabe1

wannabe1

    Tech Staff

  • Technician
  • 16,645 posts
Nice that it finally decided to throw us an error we could make use of... :)

Let us know how things go, louuu.
  • 0

Advertisements


#47
louuu

louuu

    Member

  • Topic Starter
  • Member
  • PipPipPip
  • 260 posts
hi again. i want to make sure i enabled the services correctly. what i did was go back to msconfig and under the services tab i enabled all. is that the way i was supposed to do it?

by the way, thankfully i havent had any freeze ups at all yet today, but i noticed something a bit strange. when im on my desktop and i click on a url shortcut, such as yahoo, in the past the next screen that opened was the yahoo screen. now what sometimes happens is when i click a url shortcut, the next screen that flashes is the desktop again almost as if its reappearing again and it slightly stays on screen, then another screen flash and then the next screen is the actual one i clicked on, such as yahoo. this doesnt happen all the time, but ive never seen it before and its happened alot today. any idea what this could be, or is it anything suspicious? since it has never happened before it stands out as something different thats now happening thats easy for me to notice. one more bit of info that may be helpful to you is this, my desktop backround is blue. sometimes when i click on a url shortcut like yahoo, i see the yahoo screen appearing and i still see some of my blue desktop, like 1 inch square spaces and then if eventually fills in completely to see the yahoo screen. this doesnt happen all the time, only sometimes and its only for a second or so. again, i just want to give you as much info as possible as i dont really know what info you would consider valuable in attempting to solve this.

thanks again for your help.

UPDATE SAT 11/8: unfortunately ive had 3 freeze ups again. so ive gone back into msconfig and disabled all the services again like wannabe1 told me do and ill try and see if that makes a difference. thanks again for your help.

UPDATE SUN NIGHT: after i disabled all the services on sat in msconfig, i havent had any freeze ups at all sun and ive been on the computer all day. not sure if this is related or not, but i wanted to give you this info. im still getting that one second freeze of screens whenever i go to another screen as i described above. thanks again for all your help.

UPDATE MON MORNING: ive had 1 freeze up today where nothing responded and i was forced to cold boot. i dont know if you want me to add some services back a few at a time, and if so, how do i know which ones to add? or should i leave it the way it is for now? i know this problem is hard to pinpoint. but obviously something is not right. is there a way to do a windows vista repair without losing my files or having to start from scratch if you think it may be vista corrupted? thanks again.

Edited by louuu, 10 November 2008 - 01:19 PM.

  • 0

#48
Troy

Troy

    Tech Staff

  • Technician
  • 8,841 posts
Hi Louuu,

If you edit your own post, it doesn't show as a new post has been added - I didn't get notification that there had been more information added to the thread. Next time you post an update, create a new post for it. :)

I actually came here because I was wondering what had happened...

If you have a whole bunch of startup services disabled, and you still got a freeze, then it seems to me that the problem is being caused by something else. You can try adding them back on one by one, though, and see if you can find any that make the freezing problem worse.

I've never heard/seen that url problem before with the flashing screen. If you simply open a web browser, does it do it then?

Yes you can run a repair with Vista, that won't touch your personal files, but you should always have your personal files backed up, just in case.

Whilst researching for Vista Repair information for your Dell XPS420, however, I came across this link - I think you should check it out first and report back.

Troy

Edited by Troy, 11 November 2008 - 04:21 PM.

  • 0

#49
louuu

louuu

    Member

  • Topic Starter
  • Member
  • PipPipPip
  • 260 posts
hi troy. i have begun adding back some service little by little to see if any of the problems gets worse. i dont think thats going to make much of a difference because the problem seems the same whether i had all the services running or all disabled.

as far as that flashing screen, it happens sometimes and randomly. and yes it can happen by just opening the browser. my computer doesnt get stuck or frozen when this happens, but its never happened before so its odd.

i went through the steps via that dell link you gave me, but unfortunately nothing came out of it.

maybe i have some vista file corruption? do you think i should try to fix vista via a repair? if so, can you tell me how i would do it without losing my files.

or if you have any other suggestion, im open to anything.

i realize that if my problem persists after all our attempts, the last solution would probably be a clean install of vista again. im just hoping it doesnt come down to that. thanks and ill wait to hear back from you.

ps - i wont edit my topic again and instead ill add a new post. thanks for that info.
  • 0

#50
louuu

louuu

    Member

  • Topic Starter
  • Member
  • PipPipPip
  • 260 posts
IMPORTANT UPDATE:

once again i had trouble with my norton internet security 2009. it wouldnt start and told me to use the norton complete removal tool and then reinstall yet again. since all these problems im having started when i upgraded my norton internet security 2008 to 2009, i called norton and told them i want to go back to the 2008 version. so they sent me the link and i uninstalled norton 2009 and reinstalled norton 2008.

now the blinking screen delay i was getting is gone completely. i went ahead and started up all my services again too. ive used the computer for a few hours and no freeze ups or problems at all. hopefully by going back to norton internet security 2008, ive eliminated the problem which appears to have been all caused by my upgrading to norton 2009.

i will keep you updated and hope that this finally solves my problem. thanks for all your good help. its sincerely appreciated.
  • 0

#51
Troy

Troy

    Tech Staff

  • Technician
  • 8,841 posts
Okay that's interesting, thanks for that update.

I haven't written off that idea in my head entirely, but you didn't seem keen to replace it with anything else in the meantime, purely for troubleshooting purposes.

Be sure to let us know what happens.

Cheers

Troy
  • 0

#52
louuu

louuu

    Member

  • Topic Starter
  • Member
  • PipPipPip
  • 260 posts
hi again. i think all my problems are finally solved for good. its been almost 3 days since i uninstalled norton internet security 2009 and reinstalled norton internet security 2008, and i havent had a single problem :) troy, it looks like you were right when you wanted me to not use norton 2009 and try something else. i was stubborn because i thought it was working after i reinstalled it a 2nd time. i should of listened to you, afterall, you are the expert.

thankfully, not one freeze up or one blinking screen, nothing! so i think you guys can close this topic as resolved. again i thank you both for all the excellent help youve given me. i sincerely appreciate all the effort and time you both have put into this. take care.
  • 0

#53
Troy

Troy

    Tech Staff

  • Technician
  • 8,841 posts
I'm not so sure about calling me the "Expert" (I just know people in high places) :)

I don't have experience with Norton Internet Security other than getting rid of it off some of my customers' computers (because the subscription has expired).

What really confuses me is all the good reviews Norton Internet Security 2009 has been receiving, apparently it's a big improvement - but it causes you freezes...

It sure must be good to have the computer running great, and not experience those freezes any longer. :)

Cheers

Troy
  • 0

#54
louuu

louuu

    Member

  • Topic Starter
  • Member
  • PipPipPip
  • 260 posts
i read the reviews on norton 2009 and they were all great. for some reason, it didnt work for me, and i uninstalled it and reinstalled it 3 times! as soon as i went back to norton 2008, all my problems were gone. ive been error free ever since and my system is running perfect. so ill happily live with norton 2008 and a perfect running computer :) thanks again for all your help. take care.
  • 0

#55
louuu

louuu

    Member

  • Topic Starter
  • Member
  • PipPipPip
  • 260 posts
gentleman, i have one other question and i dont know if i can ask it here under this topic or if i should start a new topic. its regarding a problem im having with windows vista mail. actually, i dont know if i should call it a problem, or if some setting is wrong? ill list the problem here now, but if you feel i should start a new topic, just let me know and i gladly will.

i have 7 email accounts. for arguments sake, let me just call 3 of them, [email protected], [email protected] and [email protected]. in the past, if an email came in to tony, when i would click reply, automatically the from address would be from tony as well. the same applied to all my 7 emails. anytime i hit reply to an incoming email, automatically the from email on my reply would be the same email address as the incoming email was addressed to.

now what is happening is that regardless of which of my 7 email accounts gets an incoming email, when reply is hit, only 1 email address is being put automatically in the reply box. to make sure im saying this correctly, lets assume an email comes in to john. when i hit reply, the from address will be my tony email account. and regardless of which of my 7 email accounts gets an incoming email, when reply is hit to respond, my tony email is automatically being put in as my return email on all 7 accounts. i dont want it this way because im forced to use the drop down arror and manually change the from email to the one that the incoming email was addressed to. sometimes i forget and what is happening is someone will send an email to john and my reply is coming from my tony email and its throwing people off.

ive looked at all the settings and cant see anything that relates to this. also, i went into my mail tools/accounts settings and made sure that each of my 7 email accounts had the correct reply to email in those settings and all 7 did. but for some reason, for the last few months, the reply email i send is not automatically using the email address the incoming email arrived to. any help would be appreciated, thanks.

ps - this email problem has nothing to do with my freezing problem originally started in this topic. and i dont have any email problems at all as far as sending and receiving, its just this particular inconvenience problem as stated above. thanks again.
  • 0

Advertisements


#56
louuu

louuu

    Member

  • Topic Starter
  • Member
  • PipPipPip
  • 260 posts
gentleman, one other question: it seems that my screensaver, which is supposed to start after 4 minutes, rarely comes on. i would guess that maybe it comes on once out of every 5 times. ive researched this forum and other online places and everything ive read hasnt helped. im wondering if either one of you has heard of this problem with vista? im running windows vista home premium edition. for example, just now i returned to my computer and the screen saver hadnt kicked in and its been over 4 minutes. ive tried changing the amount of minutes to see if that would make any difference, but it didnt. whenever i test my screen saver by hitting preview, it always works. any suggestions that i could try? thanks again.

ps - i just want to state again that if you feel i need to start a new topic, please tell me and i gladly will. im not sure what the procedure is, and i dont want to ask other questions in this topic that are not topic related if im not supposed to. thanks again.
  • 0

#57
wannabe1

wannabe1

    Tech Staff

  • Technician
  • 16,645 posts
What e-mail client do you use? Outlook? Outlook Express? Thunderbird?

Do you use a Microsoft Wireless Desktop (wireless keyboard/mouse)?
  • 0

#58
louuu

louuu

    Member

  • Topic Starter
  • Member
  • PipPipPip
  • 260 posts
hi wannabe1 and thanks for your quick reply. my email with vista is just called windows mail. when i click on my mail and the about button, thats all is says. i believe with vista, it is just called that, windows mail. and as far as a wireless mouse/keyboard, yes, i use one with my dell computer that was from dell. the brand is dell, but im pretty sure they just put their brand name over someone elses actual item, maybe logitech? ill be leaving for work soon, so if you reply and i dont respond right away, ill reply the next time im home again. thanks again, your help is always sincerely appreciated.

ps - just now my screen saver did kick in and when i came to my computer, it was on. but again, this only happens less than half the time. take care.
  • 0

#59
wannabe1

wannabe1

    Tech Staff

  • Technician
  • 16,645 posts

but im pretty sure they just put their brand name over someone elses actual item, maybe logitech?

Or maybe Microsoft? Remove the receiver for the keyboard/mouse from the machine and see if the screensaver starts more reliably. This is a known problem in Vista...the Microsoft Wireless keyboard/mouse set breaks the screensaver. Service Pack 1 addresses the issue. Logitech keyboards worked fine.

You may have to start a new topic in the Web Browsers and E-Mail forum for the e-mail problem. It sounded like a client setting, but it's apparently something in the web-based interface. I don't use Windows Mail, so I'd be a poor choice to help with that problem. Troy may know more.
  • 0

#60
louuu

louuu

    Member

  • Topic Starter
  • Member
  • PipPipPip
  • 260 posts
hi wannabe1. i just got home and ill try removing the wireless keyboard/mouse from my system to see if that helps. if it does, then that is obviously the problem. unfortunately, i need the wireless setup because i sometimes use the wireless setup from my bed when im online using my large screen tv as my 2nd monitor when i dont want to sit at the desk. so ill probably have to live with the lesser of 2 evils. what ive been doing lately anyway is just turning the screen off if i plan to be away from my computer for a long period of time.

as far as the email problem, i went ahead and posted it in the email forum you reccommended. in case troy may know something about this problem, below is the link to the new topic. thanks again for all your help, you guys are the best! take care, and you can close this topic now that we resolved it. have a good evening.

http://www.geekstogo...-f-t217721.html
  • 0






Similar Topics

0 user(s) are reading this topic

0 members, 0 guests, 0 anonymous users

As Featured On:

Microsoft Yahoo BBC MSN PC Magazine Washington Post HP