Please Help - PC Sluggish, Freezing, Hanging and Crashing

Mismis

I didn't know which forum to ost this, because I have idea what the problem is.

Approximately 3 days ago, my computer suddenly began to freeze up, programs would "hang", and on occasion crash.

It first began while playing an online MMO,which had no problems running for about a month prior. I first thought it was just the game, extreme server lag, etc. However, my whole computer began to run slowly. My browser "hangs", any program I try to open will freeze or load extremely slowly. Sometimes there would be no problems..everything runs fine, no freezing up etc., then it would start again. If I try to open my browser, or any program, it's as though there isn't enough memory for it to open. I check Task Manager,and the program is taking very little memory and takes at least minute to open. I can not play any kind of game anymore,last time I tried my computer completely froze up.


The last time I was playing the online game, as I said the computer completely froze. I had to shutdown manually. Turned the computer back on and chose "Start Windows Normally". The computer booted up, and I sat and watched the loading bar at the bottom of the screen for at least 10 minutes but Windows never started. I once again shut down manually. WHen I rebooted, my choices were "Start up Repair" and "Start Windows Normally". I chose the start up repair. The repair did not start - I was staring at a black screen for at least 5 minutes. Suddenly I got a blue screen and the PC restarted itself. When it restarted, I again chose "Startup Repair" and it finally ran. When complete, there was an error as follows:

ACLs on file C:\Windows\System32\KGyGaAvL.sys. are not proper.Old value=0x12019f

The computer takes at least 5-10 minutes for Windows to start, and another 5 or so minutes for the computer to be fully functional. Although I never had any problems running anything without uninstalling software, I thought perhaps the problems were stemming from not enough space on my hard drive. I proceeded to uninstall programs that I never use or have stopped using, did a disk cleanup and a defrag; none of this has helped.

I have tried running Malwarebytes, but the program just freezes and locks up my computer. I have checked my start up programs and the only things that are listed are some Acer stuff and a couple of entries for my video card, nothing else.

I checked the Event Viewer, and all the errors that are listed are exactly the same:

Log Name: System
Source: disk
Date: 8/8/2010 11:38:25 PM
Event ID: 7
Task Category: None
Level: Error
Keywords: Classic
User: N/A
Computer: Melissa-PC
Description:
The device, \Device\Harddisk0\DR0, has a bad block.
Event Xml:
<Event xmlns="http://schemas.microsoft.com/win/2004/08/events/event"&gt;
<System>
<Provider Name="disk" />
<EventID Qualifiers="49156">7</EventID>
<Level>2</Level>
<Task>0</Task>
<Keywords>0x80000000000000</Keywords>
<TimeCreated SystemTime="2010-08-09T03:38:25.479Z" />
<EventRecordID>39188</EventRecordID>
<Channel>System</Channel>
<Computer>Melissa-PC</Computer>
<Security />
</System>
<EventData>
<Data>\Device\Harddisk0\DR0</Data>
<Binary>
030068000100000000000000070004C0000100009C0000C000000000000000000050
12781E000000B8BD2D0000000000FFFFFFFF01000000400000840200000000200
A1240032040000000003C00000000000000E80214860000000098C2E1BB6
8C2978428093C0F28000F3C092800008000000000000000F00003000000000B00000000000000000000000000000000</Binary>
</EventData>
</Event>

These errors have even occurred months ago but didn't seem to affect the performance of my computer.

I ran ChkDsk but I don't think it found anything.

I have no idea what's wrong. My computer is pretty much a paper weight now and I never know when it will decide to lock up..I can't do anything. The system could be fine for awhile, then decide it wants to lock up - even if it has been idle for awhile.

I am considering a complete reformat, but I fear that may be in vain. I don't know if it's my hard drive, my memory, or just problems with Windows. I don't know how to determine the problem, because there seems to be no obvious causes, the problem is just "there" and likes to rear it's ugly head when it feels like it. As I'm typing this, my browser has locked up 3 times..as though it's trying to load something.

If anyone has any suggestions, any help at all I would be so grateful. I'm at my wits end and I'm desperate for help.

I have attached my DxDiag in case you need it. If you require any other information, I will do my best to provide it.

Thank you.

Edit: I forgot to mention that in my Startup Programs there is something that seems very odd. The entry is as follows:

LKCSGOFME rundll32 "C:\Users\AppData\Roaming\C_1149.dll", zgjmluve

I have no idea what that is and the manufacturer is listed as "unknown"

kryyst

Time to do some diagnostics.

You need to test your hardware. You could get a program called Memtest86 that's a bootable cd that will test your ram. But instead I recommend getting yourself a live http://www.ubuntu.com/desktop/features disk. If you aren't aware it's a linux OS that runs from a CD, without the need to install it. It also has Memtest as a boot option. So first use memtest, if all the ram passes, reboot still with the ubuntu cd. Launch the ubuntu live version then you can boot into linux and that will test to see if your video card, cpu, networks everything else is working fine.

If that all works then likely you've had file damage. Possibly the harddrive is failing, but also just as likely system files have been damaged due to multiple crash/reboots.

Mismis

Hi kryyst, thank you for your reply.

I already have Memtest on a CD ( I've had many problems with other computers v.v) I can't recall exactly how to use it/boot from CD so if you could post a link on the instructions that would be great.

I have heard of Ubuntu but not familiar with it. You said it's actually another OS. I have never had any experience with Linux..never even seen it >< I do trust people's judgement here, but please understand I'm not that computer literate, and messing with a whole new OS is somewhat daunting lol!

Also, I'd just like to mention that I was looking through my Event Viewer again and found this entry (among the myriad of other errors over the course of the past week) :

Log Name: System
Source: Ntfs
Date: 8/8/2010 4:46:21 PM
Event ID: 55
Task Category: (2)
Level: Error
Keywords: Classic
User: N/A
Computer: Melissa-PC
Description:
The file system structure on the disk is corrupt and unusable. Please run the chkdsk utility on the volume ACER.
Event Xml:
<event xmlns="http://schemas.microsoft.com/win/2004/08/events/event"><system&gt;
<eventid qualifiers="49156">55</eventid>
<level>2</level>
<task>2</task>
<keywords>0x80000000000000</keywords>
<timecreated systemtime="2010-08-08T20:46:21.869Z"><eventrecordid>39123</eventrecordid>
<channel>System</channel>
<computer>Melissa-PC</computer>
<security></security><eventdata><data>ACER</data>
<binary>0C000C000200380002000000370004C000000000020100C00000
00000000000000000000000000004E0C14005E10000000000100</binary>
</eventdata>
</timecreated>Could this mean that the cause of all my problems is due to a failing hard drive? Every computer I've had has died due to a failing hard drive. Why does this keep happening? I don't do anything weird on my computer </provider></system></event>

kryyst

Doesn't mean that the disk is physically bad, just that it has corrupted data in the structure. Think of it as an index card that cot ripped.

If you can boot up in repair mode (it'll require a windows disk) you can run a few useful commands.

fixboot
chkdsk /r
sfc /scannow

Those are the three basic hardisk and system file checking routines that should repair damaged file structures. The most basic test for physical damage it's best to remove the harddrive from the computer, connect it as a secondary drive in another computer and run scanddisk on it. Even better is to get the harddrive diagnostic tools from the specific harddrive manufacturer and use them to test for physical damage.

Mismis

Hi Kryyst,

I do have a Windows Vista disk but it did not come with the computer, can I use that?

If so, how do I go about using the repair functions?

Thanks.

Edit:

I also have a second drive in this computer but have not used it. It is the same size (it seems).

I would also like to know why this keeps happening to me lol! Seems the hard drives always fail in my computers( if, in fact, that is my current problem). Why would this keep happening?

kryyst

If you are running Vista and the disk you have is a Full Retail (or OEM) Vista disk then you can use it. If it's any anytime upgrade disk or a recovery disk or some other kind then it probably doesn't have the required repair tools on it. Also if you are running SP1 for vista and the disk doesn't have SP1 then it likely won't work as there are some key file differences that could make trying a repair install worse.

To do a repair install follow these instructions

Mismis

Hi kryyst,

I ran the startup repair with the Vista disk, no errors were found.

I also ran the memory diagnostic included with the disk, and I guess nothing was found since I didn't get any messages telling me so.

I disabled that suspicious entry in my startup programs, and the computer booted up really fast....I thought I had fixed the problem.

Since I hadn't been able to run any malwarebytes scans, I decided to try running it while the computer was in safe mode..the computer froze mid-way through the scan.

I've also tried using online scanners but again the system freezes up.

I ran Speedfan and the temperatures appear normal during normal use of the computer, but running anything such as a game or anything that is graphic-intensive, the system gets hotter.

I check task manager quite a bit, and my CPU usage will sometimes go down to 0% then jump to about 40% to 100% on occasion. This happens whether Im trying to play my game, or when the system freezes during regular use.

My computer is usally fairly quiet, but when trying to run games or anything that may take up more memory it sounds like a jet engine when the CPU usage rises then when it drops down to 1% or 0% the system goes quiet (yet I'm completely locked up at this point).

I ran Memtest for 2 passes..a little over an hour, and no errors came up.

My computer could fine for awhile, no freezing or locking up, then it would start. I would try playing my game thinking the computer was fine, but as soon as I try to play it begins to freeze constantly. After the game completely locks me up..or if it just locks up after normal use...and I can finally try to use the computer again, the system is extremely slow. Then after a little while, it would function fine.

I just don't understand what is going on. I have never had any problems running anything, even before I decided to uninstall a few things. Games would run perfectly (aside from the regular game-side lag).

Any graphic-intensive programs had no problems; I could have multiple things open such as a game, IM program and my browser and I would still be abe to use the computer with no problems.

I keep chekcing Event Viewer and you wouldn't believe the number of "bad block" errors. There are also quite a few other errors listed..really too many to list

Please help me, I have no clue what the problem could be :(

Edit:

I wanted to add couple of things that I have been noticing. As I mentioned, I look at task manager quite a bit lately.

1) I usually have the columns set to show the program that is using the most memory at the top. For example, while playing my game, the game is at the top taking the most memory, but the next 2 are desktop windows manager and windows explorer. These last 2 are always at the top. IS this normal?

2) Another thing I have noticed..when starting a program such as the game, browser, pretty much anything, it takes a little while for it to actually start, and it's as though there isn't enough memory to open (in task manager, it's showing the particular program hardly using any memory), then all of a sudden the memory seems to "kick in" and the program opens.

3) In Event Viewer, many of the errors listed report that either a request to disable desktop windows manager was made by a program, or that "desktop windows manager was unable to start because composition was disabled by a running program".

Ther are SO many oher kind of errors listed as well >.<

I don't know if any of this means anything, but just thought I 'd mention it just in case.

kryyst

Those errors sound like there is a problem with your harddrive, or it could be deeper and be a problem with your motherboard.

But at this point I'd suggest assuming the harddrive is fine and doing a repair install. You won't lose anything from doing the repair install and it will fix any issues that have come up from repeated system crashes.

Mismis

Hi kryyst, thanks again for your reply.

I haven't been getting the lock ups nearly as often during regular use of the computer, but as soon as I try to do anything such as play my game (Runes of Magic), my cpu usage as well as the physical memory (in task manager) jump to close to 100%. That never happened before.

I was wanting to zip up some files in case I decided on a reformat, and my computer sounded like it was going to take off...it started working so hard. I was only running winrar.

Something is taking up my memory..the computer has been sitting idle for about an hour,and I have firefox and an IM program open..my cpu usage is reading between 0% and 10%, but my physical memory usage is showing almost 60%. How is that possible? o.O The things that are running are not using that much memory, yet memory usage is so high.

DO you think a reformat would solve my problems? I have a second drive in this computer, which I have never used. Maybe after reformatting my main drive, splitting some programs up between the drives would help somewhat?

Sigh, I have no idea what's going on, this is so frustrating

kryyst

Lets try something else.
Go into windows explorer and right click on each of your harddrives and go into properties. Under the general tab near the bottom is an option for drive indexing. Turn that off and apply it to all files/folders.
Then go into start>run and type services.msc
Look for a service called indexing. Make sure it's stopped and in it's properties set the startup type to disabled.
Then reboot.

Next defrag each of your harddrives a few times even if they say it's not needed and reboot.

Then lets just do another check disk. Back into windows explorer, right click on your C: Drive go into properties, tools and error checking make sure automatically fix is check marked. It'll tell you it can't run the scan now and ask if you want to run it next time you reboot. Tell it yes, then reboot.

Then test your computer and see how it's handling.

Tushon

To answer some of your questions:

compression is a CPU intensive process, hence the prepare for takeoff.

I think you should probably run the HDD check again, those event viewer logs seem to think there is something wrong. Make sure to use "chkdsk /r" (no quotes) and that the command prompt is at c: something (which it should be).

If you check in Computer Management (right-click on my computer, select manage), you can easily tell if you have more than one physical disk. In the menu that pops up, double-click storage, disk managment (local) then look and see if there are any drives listed at the bottom besides your primary HDD and an OD (so you should see at least something like "Disk 0" with c: on it and CD_ROM 0 with a drive letter). If you do see another HDD, run chkdsk /r on it as well (to change to that drive in the cmd prompt, just type the drive letter and colon, so d:, for example).

Mismis wrote:

KCSGOFME rundll32 "C:\Users\AppData\Roaming\C_1149.dll", zgjmluve

Edit: even if you aren't seeing issues, I would follow still do the following to make sure your computer is clean because it was most likely infected at some point

That seems ridiculously virus like and I would do three things to correct it. First, do a HijackThis scan (http://free.antivirus.com/hijackthis/) and save the log as "HT1" or something similar. Second, after the chkdsk repair, download and run ComboFix (http://www.bleepingcomputer.com/combofix/how-to-use-combofix), save the log. Third, update and run a quick scan in Malwarebytes, saving the log. If those all complete successfully, run another HJ scan and save the log and post all of those logs here to make sure everything is kosher. (to post the logs, click "get more options" before typing your reply and there will be an button to attach files)

You may also want to run sfc /scannow (as krysst suggested) if you have not yet. I would run this after the anti-virus scans.

For the memory issues:

Note which programs are taking them up, but besides that you could download the systernals tool "Process Explorer" and add the columns "Virtual Size" and "Working Set" from the "Process Memory" tab after right-clicking on the column header bar (where it says process, PID, CPU, etc) and selecting "Select Columns". The virtual size represents the total amount of memory it might use (including stuff in your pagefile) [i think] and the "working set" is how much memory it is actually using right now [pretty certain about that]. That may help you diagnose where the memory is being consumed.

Firefox specific (specifically pay attention to the addon section if you use any):
http://kb.mozillazine.org/Memory_Leak

Finally, a reformat would solve some issues but I think if you perform the above steps you should be able to resolve them without resorting to that, because they aren't "too big". I wouldn't worry about splitting any programs up between the drives, but that is just me. I have 3 in my main computer, one for OS and programs, one for backup, one for data.

If you have issues with the game still after completing those steps, we can continue to investigate.

Mismis

Thank you so much for the replies.

Please excuse the "wall of text". I am just trying to fully explain everything >.<

So far, regular computer use seems to be causing no problems. Firefox hangs once in awhile( I have disabled some plugins,although it hasn't made a difference) but that's really the only issue during casual use.

Issues (and fears) I'm currently facing:

1) As you already know, Runes of Magic completely locks me up. Once I hit start on the launcher, the game refuses to load..I'm staring at black screen and it takes quite some time before I can gain control of my computer again. I am able to run Perfect World International better, but it still freezes quite a bit and for at least a minute at a time. Neither of these ever gave me these problems before.

2) I cannot run any type of scan. I once again tried to run Malwarebytes, and shortly after it started, it froze my computer. I couldn't get to task manager from the task bar. I tried ctr+alt+del and that didn't work. After about 5 min of total lock up, a message appeared telling me what was preventing my computer from shutting down, it was Acer Empowering Technology.

I tried waiting to see if the computer would give me control again, but it didn't, I had to do a hard reset. I tried rebooting but Windows failed to start. Again I tried to reboot. After a few minutes, I saw a blue screen for about a millisecond, the computer rebooted ,but again Windows failed to start. I turned off the computer, opened the case and tried to clean it out..it really wasn't that dirty, but I did anyway.

With the case still open, I rebooted. I'm not sure what it's called, but the fan that is attached to the side of the case which is mounted to what I "think" is my mother board (?) was the loudest thing I've ever heard, I thought the computer was going to blow up it was so loud. A chkdsk ran ( I did not schedule it). It deleted some files. After it was done, Windows did start.

The computer was sluggish for awhile after that but returned to normal. Acer Empowering Technolgy is no longer running, yet I still can not do anything memory-intensive.

3) Two things I am afraid of:
First, I am extremely nervous about restarting the computer in fear that Windows will decide not to start anymore. I KNOW i have to in order to run the chkdisk, but the fear that my computer will never start again is ever present.

Second, ComboFix scares me. I have read that it isn't a program to take lightly and one must be extremely careful when using it. I started it, and as soon as the disclaimer window popped up my computer beeped. I don't know what that was but it scared me and didn't go any further.

4) I looked in services.msc and I couldn't find any Indexing there.

5) In Computer Management I did see my drives there. I see something that says EISA Configurations which has 9.78 MB on it. I see C:Acer Healthy (System,boot,page file, active,crash dump,primary partition).I see D:Data Healthy (Primary partion)..this one has nothing on it.And lastly my CDROM drive.

6) Quite some time ago, I picked the Vista Defender Pro virus. I was sure I had got rid of it. I hadn't had any problems of any kind since then up until all of this started.

7) In Process explorer under "Virtual size" windows explorer seems to be taking the most. I did have a problem with explorer awhile ago. It kept crashing, but I was able to fix it.

8) I have tried a defrag, but once again it eventually freezes and locks the computer.

So I'm really not sure where to go from here. I can't run any scans,not even in Safe Mode; Windows may not start after doing chkdsk or any other reason it may need a reboot. Memory use skyrockets when attempting to play a game, even though the actual program isn't showing very high memory consumption in Task Manager.

The only thing I've been able to run was a preliminary HijackThis scan. I cannot, as I said run anything else to give another HT scan to see if anything has been corrected.

I realize I need to put my fears aside and do the things I need to do in order to try to figure out what's going on;If I don't then I know it will never be fixed. I just have had such horrible luck with computers, and every little thing just escalates my nervousness .

Tushon

Read the whole thing before proceeding. I might even encourage you to do step 8 first, to rule out a failing HDD.

1) When was the last time that you updated your video card drivers?
Video Card - http://www.nvidia.com/object/win7-winvista-32bit-258.96-whql-driver.html

That is the correct driver. Some windows update may have changed something that the current video driver you have may not be able to handle.

You may also want to manually run windows updates and see where it is at.

Again, if you have not run an sfc /scannow (from command prompt), you should do so. I would do this after running combofix and, if possible, malwarebytes.

3) Don't be scared of ComboFix. I'm telling you to use it and it is fully automated. People are scared of it because it is powerful but honestly so straightforward it is very hard to mess up. I have a feeling that you do have a virus that is attaching itself to Explorer (contributing factor to why it is taking up "alot" of memory). After running combofix (and the reboot involved), you should be able to run malwarebytes.

8) you probably need to do a HDD test. See what the manufacturer of the drive is and their website will have a utility you can run while booted in Windows.

I didn't see anything unusual in the HijackThis log, which is good, but not necessarily indicative of a clean machine.

I realize I need to put my fears aside and do the things I need to do in order to try to figure out what's going on

Tushon

Also

http://www.tacktech.com/display.cfm?ttid=287

List of most of the HDD testing utilities that I have used before and ways to use them.

Mismis

Here is the ComboFix log. I am still unable to run Malwarebytes, the program locks up after a few minutes of scanning. I wait for it in hopes that will continue but it doesn't. Also, it seems to be using a lot of memory when running.

Mismis

Hi guys,just an update.

Things are getting worse. I've had a few really bad lock ups, and I've only been running regular programs..no games etc.

I tried zipping up some files only to have winrar completely lock up my pc. I can't kill anything in task manager; things take forever to open. Today, everything was fine for a little while, then my browser started to hang indefinitely..both firefox and IE. Whenever I try to navigate to a different web page, it takes awhile for it to load.

If a program freezes or hangs, it takes quite some time for it to be "released".

Also, I discovered that I don't have 2 hard drives, I have one which has been partioned.

I was looking at the hard drives on the western digital site, and from what I understand, the one I have has an 8MB cache. Compared to others that doesn't seem like very much. I'm not sure what that means, but could that be a problem?

I believe it's this one WD3200AAJS:

http://www.wdc.com/en/products/products.asp?driveid=305

I did download the diagnostics tool for western digital hard drives, but I haven't run it yet because it said I may lose data and I should back up. However, every time I try to do so, winrar freezes, or my back up software freezes. Even if I wanted to do a reformat, how can I back anything up if anything I try just locks up?

I know that Windows has a backup/restore function, but I'm not sure if it's good to use. I was looking through it, and it chose to back up to my D drive..the second partition..which I guess is a good thing?

Anyway, as it stands now, I am unable to run any kind of virus/malware scans because the programs just lock up. I am unable to back up any files because the programs just lock up. I could be surfing the net without any problems for awhile, then all of a sudden the browser would hang. I can't kill anything in task manager. Any given program sometimes takes awhile to open..seems no memory is getting to it, but I can't figure out what is blocking it. In event viewer..when Windows lets me open it, it's all the "bad block" errors..even if I haven't beenusing the computer at all.

So what do I do? If I can't back up information, then doing a reformat is a bit "eh". Is it just my primary partion that is messed up or would it be the whole drive? Should I try using the windows back up function and then wipe my primary partition, or would that just be in vain since the second partition might be "broken" too?

This problem is extremely frustrating. It isn't obvious and I'm about ready to take a hammer to this machine LOL!

Could it just be Windows that is broken?

Sigh..I have no idea what to do

Edit:

I did do the \scannow and it said there files that could not be fixed. I ran that before Combofix. One time when the computer locked up, I tried to boot from the Vista CD because Windows refused to start...again. I ran the startup repair included and it didn't find anything wrong...yet I keep getting the "bad block" errors

kryyst

if scannow says there are files that can't be fixed. That's partition damage at the very least and physical harddrive in the worse case. If you can get windows up and running the windows built in backup routine is pretty good, certainly good enough to do a file backup onto a second harddrive.

Personally though I wouldn't bother with that, just create a directory on your second drive called 'backup' then copy all the files you want over to it. If your primary drive is buggered and you do try and zip or use backup software that alters the format if it gets corrupted in the process you could end up with just a lot of broken backup/compressed archives. Just doing a file copy will localize the potential to file corruption and it's faster.

Tushon

This sounds like physical drive damage. If you have had this problem continually with the rest of the components staying the same it could be something wrong with the motherboard controlling the drive access, or even the power supply (though I don't know how likely either of those are to be happening).

I would hook the drive up to a separate computer using a USB adapter and copy the files that way. Your drive is probably borked.

Mismis

Hi,

I'm not sure I fully understand..

1) Do you mean the entire drive is dead or just the partition?

2) Would a reformat not solve the problem?

3) Could I just wipe the C partition and make the D partition my primary and everything would be fine?

4) Is there anything else I can do to be sure it is only partition damage and not the entire drive?

5) I also would like to know how my drives keep getting "broken". This has happened twice already with other computers.

In regards to the windows backup function, it seems I can't choose what I want to backup, I have a folder ready for backup with all the things I'd like to keep, but the windows backup won't let you choose specific folders.

Tushon

1) I think the entire drive is dying, based on what you are reporting. It is possible that it is only a software (filesystem) problem, but I find that unlikely. Partitions themselves dont usually "go bad" per say.

2) If the drive itself is going bad, no. If it is only a software problem, yes. We can't know without running a HDD test. You should probably use another computer to get something like http://www.ultimatebootcd.com/ to be able to run the HDD test in PE environment so that you arent relying on Windows (which is running on the drive) to be stable while testing. There are instructions on how to use that CD but if you need more help let us know

3) See above. Not really

4) See 2 again, you have to run a HDD test that actually completes and reports good or bad. The best ones to run given that you have WD drive would be the long Drive Fitness Test (because it's really good) and the WD HDD test (DLG Diag).

5) If this is happening on multiple computers, I'm not going to speculate. HDDs die from lots of things. Some last longer than others, some are higher quality to start out with, some you'll just have bad luck with. If they are laptops, the motion of laptops can have a detrimental effect on drive longevity. Otherwise, temperatures to some extent (it has to be pretty extreme), how you use the computer (lots of data transfer will kill a drive faster than little data transfer), etc.

I don't like the windows backup function at all in Windows XP and still think you should be doing this offline (meaning through a USB bridge) but that is not an absolute requirement if you can get the files to transfer while in your current Windows installation.

Mismis

So far today, I have had no problems with regular use. I have not attempted any memory-intensive programs such as Runes of Magic, or winrar. Web pages are loading fast, programs are starting fast, and the CPU usage and physical memory usage in task manager is minimal.

I have not attempted any scans such as Malwarebytes.

I was actually able to run my backup software and burned some things I want to keep..there were no lockups during the process.

I will run the Data Lifeguard Diagnostic tool for my hard drive overnight. I did start it, but when I realized it will take many hours, I decided to wait while I was asleep.

Hopefully it will complete and will give me some kind of result that I can post.

I'll check in again tomorrow

Mismis

Ok I ran the Western Digital Daignostic last night, and I guess it's bad news

I woke up to find that it hadn't finished. It wasn't frozen per se, the time was still counting, it had stopped on a certain sector and wasn't moving. I checked event viewer and there was a whole list of "bad block" errors. I had to cancel the program since it wasn't moving.

I can still use the computer normally, browser isn't locking up, etc.

So what does this mean? Should I let the diagnostic run again and if it does the same thing, just hit "repair" after I cancel it?

This whole situation is just so confusing now. Normal computer use seems to be fine, yet the diagnostic just "stopped" on a certain sector and I have the bad block errors...I haven't had them in 2 days, and no lock ups or crashes.

Tushon

The HDD is bad if the scan couldn't finish. That sounds like a read error with the arm or heads, though it could be something else. I would replace the drive and backup anything that you have not backed up yet to external media. Make sure you buy a brand new, "quality" drive, like WD, Samsung, Seagate. I haven't had any problems with any of those manufacturers.

Mismis

Hi,

Just wanted to say thank you for all of your help. Hopefully I can figure out exactly what the problem is and get it fixed soon.

I just have a question...as I mentioned before, regular computer use is fine, but when I try to play my game that's when the computer starts acting up again. Although, I have still not attempted any kind of virus scans or defrags). Even after I've closed the game, the computer still freezes and it takes some time for it to go back to "normal".

What is it about the games that cause the problems? Never had any problems with them before.

Tushon

extra HDD use that isnt normally happening much, or it could be RAM issue (you said you only did one pass originally ... on problem computers, I would let memtest run overnight)

mirv

Mismis, you appear to be a sucker for punishment, and kryyst's suggestions have gone beyond cruel and unusual punishment for a problem that can be fixed in a couple of hours at most.

Mismis, there are two possible causes of your problem (same for any computer problem):
1. software
2. hardware

Your preference should be the first because the second will cost you both time and money, whereas the first need only cost you time.

The most trusted and reliable (and often the most efficient) solution to a difficult software problem is to give your machine what is called a "first birthday" (aka "crash" etc). kryyst's suggestions are thoughtful and worthy of appreciation, but solving problems remotely has its limits, and user frustration should be an important factor in determining when enough is enough.

There are a few ways to perform a Windows first birthday. Remember that Google is your friend. On preloaded laptops you can usually boot in recovery mode using a hotkey during the bootup sequence (usually one of the 'F' keys such as F12) which enables a "factory reset" from a hidden recovery partition. If you have a Windows install or recovery CD/DVD, you can boot to the setup program off the CD.

By performing a first birthday, you are essentially overwriting the problem with a fresh install. Even if you copy an infected file back onto your computer, you will be safe until you open/execute the infected file.

The downsides to a first birthday are that you have to first ensure that your documents are backed up (because all data on the disk to be restored will be overwritten) and you have to reinstall all your apps and games. Weigh up the time required to reinstall versus the time spent stuffing around trying to find/fix the problem and not gtting anywhere and you might realise that reinstalling isn't usually as bad as it seems.

There is also a Windows utility called Windows Restore, but I would recommend it for relatively minor problems and as a first-ditch anti-virus (though viruses have been known to corrupt system restore files). By all means try it though... you might get lucky.

A hardware problem will become apparent if you still have problems after performing a first birthday (or if you have problems performing a first birthday).

Remember that there is no such thing as a 100% reliable anti-virus/malware program (Google the "Conflicker" virus/worm for proof of this), which is why I don't bother buying them. If you continually have significant virus infection problems and can't nail the source or cause (even after asking your kids about which music download programs they're using) you may be better off using a Linux distro instead of Windows.

Good luck!