Posts Tagged ‘laptop freezes’
Why Your Computer Freezes Up
Of all the computer errors you can experience one of the trickiest to resolve can be when your computer freezes up. Here, we’ll take a look at the 3 principal times this happens and suggest some fixes.
Computer Freezes Up: Applications
If the PC only freezes when specific applications run then this is actually a good thing as it focuses the problem & your research around the software
- Check the vendor’s website for customer tickets stating the same issues.
- Get any updates if available.
- Search user forums for others experiencing the same issue. Though, be careful with any solutions that may be untested.
Computer Freezes Up: At startup
Startup problems may be hardware or system based issues.
- If scratching/rattling noises are heard from the disk drive then close down the PC and get a technician to look into possible component failure.
- Check the RAM is being picked up. Most OS display the RAM identified during boot-up. With PCs, you could also open the box and check all RAM and disk drive cables are securely fastened.
- Boot the computer in safe mode. This may bypass the problem services. Once Windows is running, check for viruses, execute the Windows update service and run any computer maintenance programs (e.g. registry cleaners, DLL repair tools) that you have available.
Computer Freezes Up: Randomly
Random issues require a more general approach to running repairs.
- Check disk drive space. If it exceeds 90% full capacity then clear out some space for the Windows paging file to operate properly.
- Scan for viruses, malware, adware and spyware.
- Defragment all drives (Windows disk defragmenter tool should suffice). Excessive data fragmentation could be straining the RAM caching.
- Open Task Manager on the processes tab. Look for applications using large amounts of memory. Close them, update them, remove them or replace them.
- Check the Device Manager (under control panel, system, hardware) for any hardware or device driver issues.