Computer locks up within an hour

[stoneking]

Sorry. I couldn't come up with a more creative headline and that's the problem I'm having.

 

It has been almost a month ago that my formerly well-running computer began to lock up.

I have been using PCMatic and so I ran it and it found a virus that the support folks at PCMatic

explained as a badly downloaded file. Y kawika advised me to clear my browser cache, which I did.

 

For a couple of days things were fine but now it is locking up again. It doesn't matter if it is online

or not. I took it to the Pit to be scanned, have run PCMatic scans, took it to Trend's online scanner,

ran Malware Bytes, HiJack This*, Spybot S&D... Nothing is found.

 

If anyone has any other ideas I'd be happy to give them a try. Thanks for reading this.

 

 

*Didn't realize HJT wasn't being used anymore. Too bad. It was pretty helpful.

[IntelGuy]

You can try running from Safe Mode to determine if there is a problem with a background application.

 

You can access Safe Mode by following he instructions for your version of Windows from here:

http://techtalk.pcpitstop.com/2015/08/26/starting-windows-in-safe-mode/

 

The screen will look different because the video driver is not loaded. That will return to normal after a reboot.

If the computer does not freeze up in Safe Mode that indicates that there is something running in Windows that is the cause of the freezing. You can use msconfig to figure out what that would be. There is more information about using msconfig here:

http://netsquirrel.com/msconfig/

 

To use msconfig to see what process is causing the freeze ups, open msconfig and remove the check mark from half of the items listed in the Startup tab. Click Apply, then reboot. If the computer is still freezing, then recheck the items that are turned off, then uncheck the other half, apply and reboot.

If the computer now does not freeze up, then recheck half of the items that were unchecked, apply and reboot. If it is now freezing again, uncheck half of the items that were previously rechecked, apply and reboot, etc, etc. Keep repeating the process until you can pinpoint what the problem application is.

[stoneking]

It seems to run just fine in Safe Mode. It was the only way to get online. When I posted my request I also spent some time reading

about other folks' issues. I downloaded the Junk Removal Tool and AdwCleaner and have run them both. Both found several files.

and reg entries that I had them delete.

 

I will check out the info about msconfig. I had forgotten about it.

 

I have another question. I have a 2+0 Stripe/Raid 0 array and the last time I went to the Pit it said I needed to defrag my HD. I have had this

system up and running for 5 or 6 years and I don't think it has ever been defragged. How do I do that?

 

Appreciate you taking the time to answer my questions! Thanking you very much.

[nigsy]

You can defrag the drive either using the built in windows tool or I would recommend this:

 

http://www.auslogics.com/en/software/disk-defrag/

 

Not sure how the PIT tests read an array, the split of the files across the drives may look like fragmentation.

[oftentired]

The mangle file issue may be a symptom of the original cause behind your problem. I would not defrag until you have determined the original cause. Or, do the defrag in safe mode after your absolutely sure the problem does not present itself in safe mode.