Multiple Problems Related To Computer and Internet Freezing

Does it freeze when you're on-line or are you doing other things when that happens?

So far from what I have seen, it freezes when I am online. I have not seen it freeze when I run it in safe mode, even if I am online.

I believe that there is something problematic within my firefox system or settings but I'm not sure what they are. I have removed or disabled problematic plugins and add-ons that may be causing problems.

I usually don't see script warnings so I think that the usual cause of those is not the primary culprit. Also, CTRL+ALT+DEL fails and any attempt to access the start menu and any other program within it is also affected by the internet freezing.

I found this helpful link (at MozillaZine.org see "Firefox Hangs) but I do not think that I have tried all of these solutions.  I have done a number of the measures especially those involving plugins, managing flash, and keeping all drivers and other software up to date.  It's information may provide some information.

Is there some way that I can send event logs of the computer and firefox browser sections to you?  Perhaps this will help illuminate the problem/s at work.

Actually, this does sometimes occurs when I am not online. Just today, the computer froze when I was running an anti-virus scan for a couple of hours. Ctrl alt and del failed to work and I had to manually turn off the computer.

Do you the Windows 7 disk (s) or do you have a recovery on a separate part of your hard drive? Does it freeze when using IE?

I don't believe that I have the Windows 7 disc since it was already installed in my laptop when I purchased it. I don't know if I have a recovery for it either.

I don't use IE because it freezes even worse when I use that.

It freezes regardless of what I do online or offline and regardless of what browser I use.

Click on My Computer and look for two drives C and D

I'm currently on Drive C. There are no cds in my D drive, so there's nothing in my D drive.

What should I do now?

Do you have a D drive? Are any drives labelled Recovery?

The only D-drive that I see on My Computer is the DVD RW Drive. I typed in "recovery" in the Start bar and I got the Gateway Recovery Panel. It has a variety of options on it.

You will have to investigate your Recovery system. There is something wrong with your OS files.

How do I investigate the Recovery system? I don't understand what the OS files are nor how I access and fix them.

What can I do to fix things without doing a full system wipe?

What can I do to fix things without doing a full system wipe?.

From what I can tell there appears to be something not quite correct with the OS. There is not much more I can do from my position except to run this last test. Please do this even though you don't have the OS disk.
Please let me know if it finds corrupted files.

To Run the SFC /SCANNOW Command in Windows 7
1. Open an elevated command prompt.

2. To Scan and Repair System Files
NOTE: Scans the integrity of all protected system files and repairs the system files if needed.
A) In the elevated command prompt, type sfc /scannow and press Enter. (see screenshot below)
NOTE: This may take some time to finish.



B) Go to step 4.

3. To Only Verify if the System Files are Corrupted
NOTE: Scans and only verifies the integrity of all proteced system files only.
A) In the elevated command prompt, type sfc /verifyonly and press Enter.

4. When the scan is complete, hopefully you will see all is ok like the screenshot below.
NOTE: If not, then you can attempt to run a System Restore using a restore point dated before the bad file occured to fix it. You may need to repeat doing a System Restore until you find a older restore point that may work.



5. When done, close the elevated command prompt.

I ran the check and there were no integrity violations reported from the 100% scan. I don't know what could be causing the freezing. I even bought a cooling pad with fans to help with the rising heat.

1. Click Start, click Run, type chkdsk /r, and then click OK.
2. At the command prompt, type Y to let the disk scanner run when you restart the computer.
3. Restart the computer.
4. Chkdsk will run.
**********************************
You can use Speedfan to check your temperatures.
You can also check your hard drive and RAM using these programs.

That could be a problem with bad RAM. Please run this check just to eliminate that possibility.
Test your RAM here.
************************************************
Run hard drive diagnostics: tacktech.com
Make sure, you select tool, which is appropriate for the brand of your hard drive.
Depending on the program, it'll create bootable floppy, or bootable CD.
If downloaded file is of .iso type, use ImgBurn: imgburn to burn .iso file to a CD (select "Write image file to disc" option), and make the CD bootable.
For Toshiba hard drives, see here:

Note : If you do not know how to set your computer to boot from CD follow the steps here

It took a while for chkdsk to finish running but no abnormalities were detected. To help me get a better understanding of my specs and to help you, I have downloaded Speccy through piriform and I have included the specs of my hard drive below.

I'm not sure exactly which tool to select from tacktech.com since I don't know if my specific hard drive is on there. Sorry but I'm new at understanding this and want to figure out exactly how tow work this properly without messing up anything. The manufacturer is Hitachi but the product family is Travelstar. I'm not sure if its covered though but you can see the specs below. Would you be able to take a look at my specs and help me select the proper tool from tacktech.com please?

Here are the specs of my Storage, Hard Drive, and Related

http://speccy.piriform.com/results/opm2HgGoIMnXQl1x7L0bAtK

Here are the general specs summary of my computer

http://speccy.piriform.com/results/kZjMR5z2mnxuZQLE6PfELUt

If it helps, here are the total specs of my operating system

http://speccy.piriform.com/results/l2xYiyAyusmTN5Jgr2jB11O

I will include the total specs of my computer so that you will have a complete picture.

My CPU

http://speccy.piriform.com/results/KtdFuMK3yr1OZXrGoeGDC46

My RAM

http://speccy.piriform.com/results/hByPg0yTAoSbDLCnLaZneEx

My Motherboard

http://speccy.piriform.com/results/wQIpDUvLOVKbcJuqCEvPMmw

My Graphics

http://speccy.piriform.com/results/d3Jv6XbMomExJyQry1jSh7i

My Network

http://speccy.piriform.com/results/mTv5wMEP8VexKxCtPLKKpWL

My Optical Drives

http://speccy.piriform.com/results/p86AiLRMXMDRj042ahAi6lV

My Audio

http://speccy.piriform.com/results/GVR3ArG63Cr1wAjo2NRnqyB

My peripherals

http://speccy.piriform.com/results/330IX8j8gWu1Sf1J0QEwoVs

I have also downloaded Speedfan successfully. Do you know how I can send you its readings? I also don't understand how to run MemTest86 to check my RAM or how to install it. But I believe that I do have it installed on my flash drive.

I don't know if my specific hard drive is on there.

Go to your Device Manager and right-click on the hard drive. You should get the brand name there.
It should be Hitachi HTS547575A9E384 SATA Disk

Do you know how I can send you its readings? I also don't understand how to run MemTest86 to check my RAM or how to install it. But I believe that I do have it installed on my flash drive.

Are there any temps in the Red zone?
You can load MEMtest86 on a USB or CD and boot from it. It will test your RAM.

When I went to the tacktech.com website and clicked on the Drive Fitness Test and the OGT Diagnostic Tool v9.0 (11.25.2004) under the Hitachi Tab; I clicked on the direct links for the Diskette Creator, Diskette Image, and the OGT Diagnostic Tool tabs. I ended up on the http://www.hgst.com/ webpage.

From there, I spent hours trying to evaluate my specs and search the website under the Hard Drive, Solid-State Drive, Software, and Systems Support under the Support Tabs. It looks like you have to sign up and possibly pay to get help with the solid-state drive, software, and systems tabs. So by elimination, I went to the Software tab. From there, I went to the Internal Drive Support since the external one was for outside parts that needed to be purchased. When I went deeper, I was unable to find the Hitachi HTS547575A9E384 SATA Disk--and I also could not find on their list, the exact Travelstar number that my system is. I don't even know the exact number and that my Travelstar Standard drive my computer is made from. According to Speccy, my hardware is a Hitachi in the Travelstar Standard Series but I have not been able to find out the exact series number of Travelstar drives that my computer is.

As a result, I could not find the direct links that the tacktech site said that it had and was unable to run the hard drive diagnostics. Are you able to help with this and what can be done here?

I'm also having a great deal of trouble booting MemTest86 on my computer. I saved it to 2 flash drives (one much smaller than the other but it was said that it fit well on both of them) but was unable to boot it from the computer. When I do try to boot my computer, I get a message saying that there was an "invalid or broken boot option" and the screen is unable to move from there--and I turn off the machine manually with a cold boot. As a result, I have also been unable to run MemTest86 scan also.

From what I see from the temperatures on this exact moment, I currently see an average temperature of around 65-68 degrees Celsius according to Speccy. On Speedyfan, the current moment's temperatures are 36 on HD0, 64-66 on GPU, and 63 on Core--all Celsius.

According to the site below, AMD A6 Processors should run around 45-57 degrees Celsius. My own processor is an AMD Quad-Core Processor A6-3420M, so I think this falls in the A6 series but I'm not sure.

http://www.computerhope.com/issues/ch000687.htm

Besides this and an internet search, I was unable to find out what the exact average temperatures should be for my exact processor.

I thank you for your help and patience, this is a mess and I don't even know what is causing it!

You may have to take this computer to a repair shop to have the drive and RAM tested.

So, is there no way that I can make the tacktech.com and MemTech86 programs and checks to run? Do the links no longer work there?

What about the temperatures? Do you believe that it plays a role here or is abnormal?

I found this on the Hitachi site.

Note: Currently, the Drive Fitness Test does not support Microdrives, Travelstar 8E, Travelstar 10E, or Travelstar C4K Series hard drives.
I found this on the Hitachi site. I'm not sure if it will work but it's a free trial.

I saved it to 2 flash drives (one much smaller than the other but it was said that it fit well on both of them) but was unable to boot it from the computer.

You will have to go into the BIOS and change the boot order.

Thanks again! I've been trying to get the HGST Management Platform Trial to work, but I'm still trying to get it to work. So far, I haven't been able to get the computer to work. I'm not even sure which Travelstar my computer falls under.

I went back to change the boot order of the BIOS system using my larger flash drive. I have successfully pulled up the imageUSB by PassMark Software but I have still been unable to run it from the boot. This time, I see a message that says something like "Disk Read Error I/O, Replace Disc and press any key" When I do this, the computer starts normally but the MemTest86 program does not run.

How can I get these programs to run? I don't know which version of BIOS or UEFI system my computer runs through. Do I need to run an older version of MemTest?

What should I do about temperatures, and do you think that they are part of the problem? What do you think is going on here? Thanks again for your help!

There are problems with that computer that I cannot fix remotely. This will need a hands-on approach to determine what is causing the freezing. Sorry.

Thanks for your help. This will be difficult as finances are perilous but this is my only reliable computer and I don't have the money to buy another one.

What should I do when I seek hands on approach? Should I address this as a hardware issue, malware/virus issue, or other software issue?

It appears to be a software/hardware issue. The tests we ran almost eliminates the possibility that it is malware. You should ask a friend who is quite knowledgeable with computers to help find the source of the problem. If Speedfan is not showing any red warnings that should eliminate that as a problem. Try running the computer in Safe Mode and see if it freezes.

When I run it in safe mode, it virtually never freezes. I don't run it in Safe Mode for very long, but when I do, I don't usually encounter the freezing.

That's because there are less programs running in Safe mode therefore, less burden on the operating system. You could go into the Task Manager and stop each process one by one except explorer.exe. This will be time consuming but you may find you may find the process that is causing the problem.

I'll be willing to try that. Which programs should I be on the lookout for as likely or possible culprits? I don't quite understand how all the processes work or which ones are safe or unsafe to tamper with--since it is said that some of them can ruin the system if tampered with.

You will want to stop any process that is using a large amount of memory. Clicking on memory usage will toggle between the largest and the least. The only one you should not stop is explorer.exe. This will shut down the computer.

I see. Most of the time, the largest process has to do with Firefox or any Internet applications. I'm thinking that something within the network apparatus of the Internet software is causing the freezing of the whole computer.

Do you know why the whole computer can be affected, even to the point where CTRL ALT DEL fails entirely?

yokoryu wrote:

I see.  Most of the time, the largest process has to do with Firefox or any Internet applications.  I'm thinking that something within the network apparatus of the Internet software is causing the freezing of the whole computer.  

Do you know why the whole computer can be affected, even to the point where CTRL ALT DEL fails entirely?

Not without getting my hands on the computer which is an impossibility. Stop each of the large processes one by one and see if that is the culprit. It will restart the next time you boot.