HArdware or software? Computer starts freezing up after a few days

Ok guys, I'm back. Seems that my PC is still lagging and freezing after a few days. Not sure if this is hardware or software related. I have already went through the malware section and got a clean bill of health. Did not find anything. Then I noticed memory being hogged by the indexer and/or windows search. Got that fixed and thought that fixed the problem. But the problem is still haunting me. I have run chkdsk with no errors or corrupted files. MY computer stays on 24/7. Monitor (T.V) goes to sleep after a few hours. I usually notice the problem when I turn on the moniitor after being in sleep mode. PC usually goes into a monitor sleep mode after a few hours and stays that way for probably 10-12 hrs. before I try turning on my computer.

Any thoughts on what to check or programs to run?

Thanks!.....

 

This reads like a wake from sleep problem.

Disable all power-saving settings in Control Panel and for individual items (USB hubs/devices and network adapters) in Device Manager. Turn off the monitor when you leave the PC, disable the wireless/wired connex in the Taskbar too. Turn on the monitor and then re-enable your network adapter when you get back.

Give that a few days to test then report back.

 

I was able to go into advance settings through control panel. Funny how I set it to high performance, yet when I went into the advance settings, it was still set at power saving settings. Set everything so my pc does not shut down in any way. (I always turn my monitor off)

 

Computer has been running idle for a couple days. Tried to use toolbar on the taskbar and immediately got the little blue ring. I could move it to the desktop and the pointer would come back to a pointer but as soon as I moused over the task bar it went to the blue ring. Not sure what else to call it. Used to call it an hour glass. Anyway had to reboot the hard way. Any other thoughts on wat it might be?

 

Please explain what toolbar is on your taskbar.
What version of windows are you running so I can search for "blue ring". I can not envision what you are seeing.

 

I have my 1 tb hard drive as a second drive. I have a folder with movies in it. and that is the tool bar I was speaking of. I am running windows 7 x64.

In XP the "blue ring" would be an hour glass. In W7 its a blue ring.

 

Sorry, I still can't picture a folder becoming a toolbat. I don't run windows 7 so that is probably my problem.

 

Is the 1TB drive that the folder is in an external or internal drive?

 

Its an internal drive.

 

And it opens correctly through Explorer?

 

In windows 7, the toolbar can contain a folder shortcut (or anything else you choose) which, when clicked, opens windows explorer into libraries (as default) but you can customize this to open into whatever area of your local machine you want . Sounds to me like C1B3R5NYP3R is saying that instead of being able to open the folder located on the toolbar, he gets the "hourglass" or, in vista/7 is a sort of rotating ring .

 

Yep. No problems with it. Although the link will become broken from time to time but no problems with it when my pc is working correctly.

 

So what causes the link to become broken? Could the spinning circle/blue ring just be a sign that W7 is searching for the correct folder to fix it?

 

nah. It has the folder name and a double arrow syambol (>>) next to it. If the arrows disapear I have to delete the toolbar and create a new one. Takes a whole whopping 30 seconds to create a new toolbar.

As for the blue ring, it does this over the task bar when my pc freezes. Nothing to do with the toolbar I assure you.

I am noticing a lag starting to develop right now. Anything you want me to check before I lose complete control and have to hard reboot?

 

I'm running W7 but all of the pretties are turned off so you probably wouldn't recognise it I have just added a folder to the taskbar, it's 75GB, 740 folders and 16k files; took around half a minute to show then a minute to open and another minute to scroll through.

What's the size/folder/files stats on yours?

 

Mine is much smaller than that. I have posted an image to show what I am talking about. Each folder has from 1 to 4 files just depending on which folder you go into. THe entire movie folder is only 17.5 Gb right now. Unfortunately my computer froze while trying to comment so I had to restart. Anyway I have all my "goodies" turned on. Well at least most of them.

 

Hmm, how about ruling out something like a thumbnail problem for certain file-types, .mkv for instance?

Open each folder in Explorer and check that they're all set to show list only and delete all thumbs.db files - these are set to Hidden and System by default.

Alternatively, uninstalling any 3rd party codec packs should reset Explorer's thumbnail creation to default.

Also have TaskMan open on the Performance tab so you can see what's happening while you're waiting for the folder contents to show.

EDIT: See here for disabling thumbnail creation (this setting may or may not override any set within any codec pack installed, I've not tested it).

 

I dont have .MKV files. Dont like em' all my files are .AVI's.. I disabled thumbs though. I will let it run and see what happens.....

 

well that didn't work.... Took some pics of my screen. Not sure what your looking for so Ill just post a couple random ones that I took......

 

In two of those shots, the System process seems to be using a high % of CPU time. That may be indicative of a bad driver.

Try LatencyMon, run it for ten minutes and then post a screenshot of it please.

 

Not sure what exactly your looking for but here are a couple pics for ya. Let me know if you need to see any of the other tabs.

 

Well that looks pretty good

We'll try Process Explorer next, you'll have to do a little more learning and clicking to find out what's running inside your System process (or anything else that's using a high % of your CPU).

 

Ran the aapp yesterday. I haver to say I don't have a clue at what I'm looking for. Can you point me in the right direction as to how to use this app.

 

Basically, you're looking for high CPU % to begin with so set Process Explorer so that the high CPU processes are at the top - just click once on the CPU column to set it that way. Watch it for a few minutes to get a feel for what's happening on your PC then go Options > Always on Top and click your troublesome folder shortcut.

 

So whats the difference between the blue, pink, and white colored rows?

As for the "troublesome" folder shortcut, it is just a matter of waiting.... Everything works fine for a while then everything freezes. Doesnt matter what I click on.

 

I have defective colour vision so what you call one colour may not be applicable to the way I see it

Try the help file, F1.

 

Did you read the help file?
http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/sysinternals/bb896653
The help file describes Process Explorer operation and usage. Right column under Installation.

 

I tried using this program but when my computer starts to freeze it also affests this program as well. I think this is something in the OS. I think I'm going to back up everything and reformat. This is just a little (alot) beyond me and is getting really aggravating.

Only problem is, I sent my disk to my mother and now all I have is an upgrade disk. Hope it works for what I need. Otherwise I will have to find an OEM online.