when i run a program my pc freezes..??

hi

I'm running winxp home on my pc and recently I am encountering numerous problems when running programs

this has come out of the blue - i've done virus scans (avg, bitdefender online, malewarebytes) and system has been clean for months...

e.g. i run championship manager, tiger woods, garmin and the computer just freezes - no task manager so i have to use power button to close down each time :-(

i've been using ccleaner, spyware teminator / blaster and I'm always on top of things as far as keeping my system clean is concerned - my system appears to be clean but the odd behavior??

Anyone any clues

what's going on?

help much appreciated

Thanks In Advance
templeLobe

 

Well, you haven't posted anything of your system and resources.
First guess would be to suspect resources are being taken up by something extra or lack of. Post up you computer make and model, any other information you may know to help us out. You say you can not reach the Task Manager while the computer is running games? How long have the games been installed? What are the minimum recommended specifications and how does your system compare?

Defragmenting will help any pc run a little nicer, I tend to lean to throwing the system into safe mode for the process. Vista has added some new switches to use from command prompt, quick Internet search will give the new switches. It is a good idea to run check disc before running a defrag process, it is recommended as good practice.

 

medion cpu 2.5 ghz pentium 4, 160gb hd, winxp home, pc was bought in 2002 so quite old but everything upgraded except mobo - saphire video card (256mb).

my system requirements are good enough to run the programs i mentioned and have had no probs until now...

i'm a bit spooked abouth this, no viruses - I'll have to check the processes running in task manager and see if there's anything there that shouldn't be..

I have winxp pro on disk and might just back everything up i need and do a reformat if all else fails but i'll do a little bit of investigating first...

I do a defrag every week (AusLogics Disk Defrag) as well as the scans i mention - i will look at the hijack this program and see if that might bring something to light -

i'll let you know how i get on

templeLobe

 

Next time you are playing and need to get to your desktop without exiting or quitting the game, try tapping the Windows button between Ctrl and Alt

 

How much ram do you have?

 

1 gb ram

 

Shouldn't be a ram problem then.

Is your computer dirty inside? If so clean it to get the temps down which could help.

 

no new power supply - i'll try cleaning the insides and see if that works

 

hi - i've ran a scan on hijackthis - first time i've used this so any help would be really appreciated.

here's the scan result:


in meantime i'll do some googling and see if i can't figure out how to use it

thanks in advance
templeLobe