Thread: PC question - Could this be the kiss of death??

My computer does that every once in a while, for no apparent reason. Usually IE is running at the time and is not responsive. I chalk it up to Microsoft, mostly. If you have not done so, download MalwareBytes' Anti-Malware, then reboot and install it and run it in safe mode the frst time. Keep it updated, and run it often. You may have to run it several times at first to help clear things up - I had to run it on my friend's computer at least three times before we got it cleaned up when he was having some real problems! MalwareBytes' web site is here: Malwarebytes.

Good luck

Fred

Unless you are running the 64-bit version of Windows, you really need to install SP3. Support for SP2 was discontinued on 4/30/2010.

I will reboot mine and then post back, I forget every time, I do it so seldom.

Oh, I also find that Acrobat Reader can become a hog after downloading and/or accessing a certain number of PDFs - some seem to be poorly conditioned as compared to others.

One more thing that can affect performance - RAM. I have upgraded mine to 2GB, MS is a total memory hoggg.

OK, I pressed F8 while it was just starting to boot up (just after post), and it took me to a screen to allow choice of operating system (all one of them - I don't have dual boot). It then allowed me to press F8 again to get to advanced options. Safe Mode was the first selection on that screen.

HTH

Fred

Also, Run CCleaner...
CCleaner - Optimization and Cleaning - Free Download

I suspect it might be your Norton Anti-Virus. They went from simple and effective to oppressive bloatware like MacAfee.

Check for malware too as others have suggested.

If you've gotten 5-years out of this PC, it could be nearing its death as that is ancient in PC years.

My laptop is also five years old, and was a factory refurb at that. Other than 10 single pixel wide stripes down the screen, it is still running well - and I use Norton 360, recently upgraded to version 4.0. It is not exceptionally fast booting up or shutting down, but then that is MS and Norton. That being said, the processor is a "Pentium M Dothan, 2.0GHZ, 2 MEGB, 533FSB" per the manufacturer, I have upgraded the memory from 1MB to 2MB, the most suppported on my machine, and I am running Windoze XP SP3 with IE7, automatically patched up to date. I would really love to get three or four more years use out of it as my daily driver!

Fred

PS - I was wrong about the lines - it is 11 this morning, out of 1920 - I gotta see about getting this fixed one of these days. Grrrr!