my computer is locking up at seemingly random times.....hard drive? motherboard?
The first computer I ever had is sitting here and will not boot up, so all my files, etc. are useless. I changed the motherboard twice and was told by the computer maker that the hard drive is preventing the pc from booting up now.
This was 6 years ago. Now my current computer is locking up. I have Windows XP and as it boots up, you get a message that "windows in starting up" then the word "welcome". My computer locked up at the Welcome screen, today. The mouse-cursor would not move. I turned off the computer and rebooted. The desktop and msn messenger came up and opened normally. I wanted to change my "status" on messenger to "appear offline" instead of "online". I moved my cursor to the down arrow and clicked and got nothing. I was locked up again. Turned it off, rebooted and now everything is fine.
Last week, it locked up while a page was loading. Down at the bottom left of the screen you'll get a "done" when the page is loaded fully. There is also a green indicator that proceeds from left to right as the page loads. Well, last week, the indicator was fully green and it stopped, another lockup.
I can not afford to lose the files, etc. I have on this computer. I have no idea or experience on how to "back up files". People have given instructions on back up but it is greek to me. I'd like to know if my motherboard is going bad or my hard drive is going bad, or other source of these lockups. I use IE. I have all the latest service packs.
This was 6 years ago. Now my current computer is locking up. I have Windows XP and as it boots up, you get a message that "windows in starting up" then the word "welcome". My computer locked up at the Welcome screen, today. The mouse-cursor would not move. I turned off the computer and rebooted. The desktop and msn messenger came up and opened normally. I wanted to change my "status" on messenger to "appear offline" instead of "online". I moved my cursor to the down arrow and clicked and got nothing. I was locked up again. Turned it off, rebooted and now everything is fine.
Last week, it locked up while a page was loading. Down at the bottom left of the screen you'll get a "done" when the page is loaded fully. There is also a green indicator that proceeds from left to right as the page loads. Well, last week, the indicator was fully green and it stopped, another lockup.
I can not afford to lose the files, etc. I have on this computer. I have no idea or experience on how to "back up files". People have given instructions on back up but it is greek to me. I'd like to know if my motherboard is going bad or my hard drive is going bad, or other source of these lockups. I use IE. I have all the latest service packs.
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ASKER
Start>All Programs or Programs>Accessories> Backup
I'm not seeing backup as a choice......
I'm not seeing backup as a choice......
ASKER
lauchangkwang: I have AVG and it scans every day.........no apparant virus
If you really want to backup ..... I would suggest you get anothe Portable Hard Disk in order to backup all your data (80 GB / 120 GB should be far enough for documentation data)..... Good luck !!
Did the AVG up to date ???
ASKER
I had version 7.1.375 and thought I was downloading version 7.5.503 but my system now has version 7.5 488 and it is doing a scan as we speak. There are 4 entries so far:
It has made "changes" to kernel32.dll, user32.dll, shell32,dll, and ntoskrnl.exe
It has made "changes" to kernel32.dll, user32.dll, shell32,dll, and ntoskrnl.exe
ASKER
AVG has found some threats.
1. csfgi.exe trojan horse downloader agent 13av
2. dmduh.exe trojan horse generic UQM
3 dmsif.exe trojan horse generic UQM
and is still scanning.........
1. csfgi.exe trojan horse downloader agent 13av
2. dmduh.exe trojan horse generic UQM
3 dmsif.exe trojan horse generic UQM
and is still scanning.........
ASKER
would a system restore help out?
ASKER
AVG deleted those 3 files.......
ASKER
well, the Trojans were not the problem. After AVG deleted them my computer locked up while typing a message in another forum.
Guess there are some virus "hiding" behind the AVG ....... Suggest to run a reinstall / reformat for your PC to get every things clean and clear ...... Good luck !!!
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I took the pc to the shop. They got it to lock up on them before they removed the memory, cleaned the system thoroughly and did complete diagnostic testing on hardware and software. It ran over 24 hours without a lockup. The conclusion from the technician was that the problem was the system needed to be cleaned inside, dust was getting into spare slots, etc and causing short circuits.
ASKER
I forgot to mention.........the dust, etc. was causing over heating
ASKER
A friend of mine built the machine.........he was in the business..........I would guess the motherboard is Acer......he used that predominantly. The computer shop closed a couple years ago.
Your instruction on backup..........where does the info back up to?