looking for Trouble shooting guide for lockups and freezes

Hello,
If anyone can point me to a site that has detailed instructions
on finding and curing frequent lock ups I would be gratefull.

I am looking for one that will show me how to go step by
step maybe disabling certain drivers etc until I find whats causing
the lock ups.

The computer is so bad off I cant even spend ten minutes looking
at search engine results because I lock up.


Pentium II 450mz 18gig and 60 gig hd
Win 98se
explorer oe 6.0

front and rear fan operating, no device conflicts, ad aware clean.

Thanks,
Matt

 

Check your RAM and temperatures - make sure those fans are
working optimally. Try different (known good) RAM sticks.

To check for driver problems, you will need to perform a
clean boot, and use some detective work.

How to Perform Clean-Boot Troubleshooting for Windows 98
http://support.microsoft.com/search/preview.aspx?id=kb;en-us;192926

If all else fails, remove EVERYTHING, hardware wise, except
what is absolutely necessary to boot, and use a process of
elimination - replace one item, reboot... etc.

 

What kind of vid card? Is the fan working on it? Yank the side off of your
case and see if you still get the lockups...
TH

 

==> In addition to Mike's response;
Is the case free of dirt and dust? if not, clean it out w/a can of
compressed air
Can you provide more details;
1) When did it start, after loading software or updating drivers?
2) Have you Scanned, Defragged, and run SFC lately?
3) What kind of system maintenance are you using, ie; reg cleaners,
file cleaners
4) Are you running AV, AT and a FW?

--
Phil

\\\///
( o o )
--------oOOO-- ( )--OOOo------

 

Matt, when exactly does the computer lock up? Only while online? Randomly in
any application?

First, check for viruses with a fully updated antivirus program.

Second, prune out any unnecessary startup programs using MSConfig.

Third, perform a thorough scandisk, and defragment the drive. You may want
to boot into safe mode to do this. It helps keep background programs from
interfering with those processes.

Fourth, if the lockups only occur while you are browsing online, try
repairing internet explorer by going to the ADD/REMOVE programs in the
control panel, select Internet Explorer, and click "add/remove". You will
get a menu from which you can select the repair option. Alternetively,
uninstall Internet explorer 6, reboot, and then re-install IE6. I assume you
have IE6 Sp1? That is the latest build of IE. If you don't have it, I
suggest getting it.




...

 

Thanks to all that responded.....I did read all the responses
but I wanted to wait until I could actually try something before
I responded to questions or advice.

Had I actually had a can of compressed air, I could have
tried it earlier. I didn't think the inside looked bad at all and
the fans were running so I went on to other things.
After trying the select start ups/diagnostic startups then
even doing a ram test, I ponied up the $6 bucks
and got a can of compressed air from radio shaft.

I gave the inside a good shot, the components, cards, fans, sockets.

I have been running for a few hours without a lockup.
Of course I wont know for a few days if im in the clear
but being up this long as opposed to locking up after 10 minutes, seems
to indicate the dust was a problem regardless.

Thanks again,
Matt

 

Well hopefully that was it then. Lots of dust can prevent the heatsinks from
working efficiently, and can cause the fans to slow down.

 

==> YW BTW, next time you get freezes try running w/out the cover.
That's confirm that it is indeed dust clogged.

--
Phil

\\\///
( o o )
--------oOOO-- ( )--OOOo------

 

==> YW BTW, next time you get freezes try running w/out the cover.

That's no guarantee. If the heatsinks are so clogged full of dust that they
aren't doing any good, leaving the case cover off won't help. Unless you
meant leaving it off for visual inspection.