Re: Minute-long hangs on both my XP machines

From: Guerre (deton8_at_aol.com)
Date: 06/24/04 

Date: Thu, 24 Jun 2004 15:28:53 +0100

One system is a desktop P4, the other is a laptop. No similarity in
hardware. No network activity during the hang, usually.

"r" <r@discussions.microsoft.com> wrote in message
news:9D8706B3-75E4-45EA-AA6B-B21026994E4F@microsoft.com...
> Guerre,
>
> Just guessing.
> System Restore, Automatic Updates, McAfee, other applications that have a
habit of doing things in background. It might be a single program or
combination.
> Also, since you are experiencing the same behavior on both computers, see
if you have similar hardware installed.
> Did you check Event Viewer?
>
>
> -------------
> Low-Trans Fat and Low-Carb Diet for Your PC or
> How to optimize Windows XP for the best performance:
> http://www.fixyourwindows.com/optimizewindows.htm
>
>
>
>
>
>
> "Guerre" wrote:
>
> > I have an XP Pro desktop and a XP Tablet Edition laptop, both with all
the
> > service packs and updates, along with Office 2003, also fully updated.
The
> > PC's are unremarkable, relatively new, and with 1 gig RAM on the desktop
and
> > 512MB of RAM on the laptop. The only non-Microsoft thing I have running
is
> > McAfee AV. About twice a day, particularly when I am reading a lot of
> > emails, opening and closing IE windows, or looking at documents, the
system
> > will stop responding to mouse clicks for anywhere up to a couple of
minutes.
> > The mouse pointer moves around fine. If I C-A-D to bring up the Task
> > Manager, and look at the tasks, the system is only 2 to 5% busy. The
busy
> > tasks are usually explorer, taskmgr, and of course System Idle Process.
> > There is generally tons of Available Physical Memory indicated in Task
> > Manager -- hundreds of MB. On the laptop, the fan goes to full speed
during
> > the hang. I don't keep lots of windows open at one time -- a max of
maybe
> > five or six.
> >
> > I know it's doing something during the hang, as the performance numbers
> > fluctuate. Eventually, the system returns to normal and I can get back
to
> > work. I haven't been able to isolate a single specific offending act
which
> > causes the problem -- it's not just Internet related, for example. I
don't
> > use external servers or Exchange, and the hang is not taking place
during
> > the background checking of email. Since the problem happens on my
laptop
> > regardless of whether I am using the network at the office, my home DSL
> > network, or even working offline, I don't think it's a network issue. I
> > have a clean PC with no viruses or spyware -- I am a bit of an expert on
> > these so for the sake of argument take my word on this point.
> >
> > This hang problem has affected both my systems from day one, and has not
> > improved or worsened across the various service packs and hot fixes
which
> > have been applied.
> >
> > My assumption has been that this is XP doing memory garbage collection.
> > Anybody have an opinion? Any suggestions would be appreciated, as this
hang
> > has happened, for instance, during PowerPoint presentations and while I
was
> > following along in Excel spreadsheets in conference calls.
> >
> > Thanks,
> > Gary
> >
> >
> >