Vista Starts & stops

B

Briang42

New Member
I am experiencing a constant and most annoying issue with my new computer with a new Ultimate x64 Vista install.

The thing just "Hangs." I can be going along, often in a browser, either IE7, now 8 and Firefox, or in other programs and such, and the thing just stops. The sidebar CPU meters will be slowed and the graph drops to the bottom, the Network Meter activity drops to the bottom too. Often the background stops but not always and the same for the second hand on the clock. The circular Aero spins and the windows are unresponsive, often the window is reported as "Not Responding" and if something does respond to a mouse click only the button moves but any corresponding program action doesn't happen.

The thing will then just sit there like this for half a minute, a minute, sometimes a minute and a half, and then suddenly eveything starts running again and zooms right along. Till the next time which could be the next time I click on something or a few minures later, or longer or shorter.

I am coming to my wits end. I am almost beginning to believe the Mac guy on the commercial.

I have downloaded and run the System Info program.

Can someone please help?
Thanx,
 

My Computer

System One

  • CPU
    AMD Athlon 64 X2 5000+
    Motherboard
    Asus M2N-MX SE PLus
    Memory
    2 pieces of Crucial 2048MB PC5400 DDR2 667Mhz
    Graphics card(s)
    Integrated Nvidia Geforce 6100
    Hard Drives
    500 GB Sata
    Internet Speed
    cable
Have you scanned your computer for viruses and spyware.
 

My Computer

System One

  • Manufacturer/Model
    HP Compaq Presario/SR5113WM
    CPU
    AMD Athlon 64 X2 3600+ 1.9Ghz
    Motherboard
    Asus M2N68-LA
    Memory
    PNY Optima Memory DDR2 2GB 2x1 kit
    Graphics card(s)
    PNY Nvidia 8400 GS 256MB
    Sound Card
    On board RealTek
    Monitor(s) Displays
    Acer X163W LCD
    Screen Resolution
    1366x768
    Hard Drives
    Western Digital 160 GB SATA 3G (3.0Gb/sec) 7200 rpm Western Digital 160 GB IDE
    PSU
    Dynex 400w
    Case
    Nothin Special
    Cooling
    Stock
    Mouse
    Wireless Logitech LX7
    Keyboard
    Standard 102 key with volume and sleep buttons
    Internet Speed
    Comcrap 10mb cable
    Other Info
    Insignia 2.1 speakers, wireless Xbox 360 controller w/plug n play charger, Belkin wireless G + mimo usb network adapter.
Yes, viruses and spyware have been scanned for and aside from some minor tracking cookies the system is clean.
 

My Computer

System One

  • CPU
    AMD Athlon 64 X2 5000+
    Motherboard
    Asus M2N-MX SE PLus
    Memory
    2 pieces of Crucial 2048MB PC5400 DDR2 667Mhz
    Graphics card(s)
    Integrated Nvidia Geforce 6100
    Hard Drives
    500 GB Sata
    Internet Speed
    cable
Hi,

Sounds like Vista is struggling for memory - next time it happens, right click the taskbar, click Task Manager.

Check under the Applications tab to see what is running, and the Processes tab to see what is using a lot of memory.

Hope this helps

SIW2
 

My Computers

System One System Two

  • Operating System
    Vista
    CPU
    Intel E8400
    Motherboard
    ASRock1333-GLAN R2.0
    Memory
    4gb DDR2 800
    Graphics card(s)
    nvidia 9500GT 1gb
  • Operating System
    win7/vista
    CPU
    intel i5-8400
    Motherboard
    gigabyte b365m ds3h
    Memory
    ballistix 2x8gb 3200
Memory use can be sometimes 30% and up to 65% of 4 gigs of ram.

The thing just stops, waits, waits, waits, waits, then carries on really fast. There is never any drive action during these times.

I had originally thought memory and changed a setting in the bios which generally speeded up the thing immensly. This was very early on and the thing really dragged in performance before I did this. But this waiting thing has been constant during all the time I have had it, about 7 weeks.
 

My Computer

System One

  • CPU
    AMD Athlon 64 X2 5000+
    Motherboard
    Asus M2N-MX SE PLus
    Memory
    2 pieces of Crucial 2048MB PC5400 DDR2 667Mhz
    Graphics card(s)
    Integrated Nvidia Geforce 6100
    Hard Drives
    500 GB Sata
    Internet Speed
    cable
Looking at your specs, I don't know how good your integrated graphics is. If your Windows Experience Index shows a low score for graphics, I would try changing the theme from Aero to Basic.

I presume that setting you changed in the BIOS was to overclock it? If so it may have generally speeded up the machine but could also have made it unstable. (Ignore that idea if the intermittent freezes were happening just as much before you made that change as afterwards).
 

My Computer

System One

  • Manufacturer/Model
    home assembled
    CPU
    Intel Q9450 quad core
    Motherboard
    Asus P5Q Pro, Intel P45 chipset
    Memory
    4GB : 2 x 2GB G.Skill DDR2 800MHz
    Graphics card(s)
    Gigabyte 9600GT
    Sound Card
    Realtek onboard the mobo
    Monitor(s) Displays
    BenQ 24"
    Screen Resolution
    1920 x 1200
    Hard Drives
    2 of Samsung HD501LJ SATA2 500GB and a few IDE hard disks on USB for backups
    PSU
    Corsair TX-650 and APC UPS
    Case
    Antec P180
    Cooling
    OCZ Vendetta2
Yes, the freezing was happening before the memory setting in bios.

The Performance Rating for Graphics to run Aero is 3.4 and 3D & Business Graphics is 3. All the rest are above 5. So the thing has the chops to run everything, theoretically.

Is there any program which will be more accurate as to what segment is actually running at any given time? The Task Manager is not acually able to provide that sort of information in that manner.
 

My Computer

System One

  • CPU
    AMD Athlon 64 X2 5000+
    Motherboard
    Asus M2N-MX SE PLus
    Memory
    2 pieces of Crucial 2048MB PC5400 DDR2 667Mhz
    Graphics card(s)
    Integrated Nvidia Geforce 6100
    Hard Drives
    500 GB Sata
    Internet Speed
    cable
Hi Guys,

my apologies in advance if this is not the right thread for my question.
I am a new Vista user (Ultimate) and still not familiar with the environment. I noticed that when I insert a removable storage device, it will pop up a message saying "COM Surrogate has stopped working". I dont know about this eror so I just click on the stop button. But the thing is, I can still acess the storage device that I plugged-in.

looking forward for your help...
 

My Computer

System One

Hi Baldo
This thread is about Briang42's problem, so it would be better to start a new thread to ask about yours.
 

My Computer

System One

  • Manufacturer/Model
    home assembled
    CPU
    Intel Q9450 quad core
    Motherboard
    Asus P5Q Pro, Intel P45 chipset
    Memory
    4GB : 2 x 2GB G.Skill DDR2 800MHz
    Graphics card(s)
    Gigabyte 9600GT
    Sound Card
    Realtek onboard the mobo
    Monitor(s) Displays
    BenQ 24"
    Screen Resolution
    1920 x 1200
    Hard Drives
    2 of Samsung HD501LJ SATA2 500GB and a few IDE hard disks on USB for backups
    PSU
    Corsair TX-650 and APC UPS
    Case
    Antec P180
    Cooling
    OCZ Vendetta2
Hi Briang42
It's difficult to know whether the sudden slowdowns are caused by a software problem in Vista or an intermittent hardware fault, or something overheating (ram or gpu or cpu maybe). It will need some methodical trouble-shooting to work it out.

Even though your Windows Experience Index indicates the graphics card is adequate for Aero, I would try switching to the Basic theme for a while just to test the idea that the graphics part of the system may be struggling (Aero makes more work for the graphics card).

You could also keep a temperature monitoring program open for a while, to see if the slowdowns coincide with higher temperatures.

Possible software causes include malware (but you've tested for that) or bloatware such as some of the heavier security suites with too many features enabled, or maybe an unsuitable driver.
I don't know what alternative to recommend if you are not satisfied with TaskManager.

You could try working methodically through some of the Tutorials about Performance, such as this one:
http://www.vistax64.com/tutorials/81176-speed-up-performance-vista.html

http://www.vistax64.com/tutorials/81176-speed-up-performance-vista.htm
 

My Computer

System One

  • Manufacturer/Model
    home assembled
    CPU
    Intel Q9450 quad core
    Motherboard
    Asus P5Q Pro, Intel P45 chipset
    Memory
    4GB : 2 x 2GB G.Skill DDR2 800MHz
    Graphics card(s)
    Gigabyte 9600GT
    Sound Card
    Realtek onboard the mobo
    Monitor(s) Displays
    BenQ 24"
    Screen Resolution
    1920 x 1200
    Hard Drives
    2 of Samsung HD501LJ SATA2 500GB and a few IDE hard disks on USB for backups
    PSU
    Corsair TX-650 and APC UPS
    Case
    Antec P180
    Cooling
    OCZ Vendetta2
Well, that was a productive suggestion, Old Bloke! The Tutorials were very helpful.

I did two things, which is not in keeping with the Scientific Process, so now I am undoing one, then the other to see if the issue returns.

I turned off Transparency and i did the Speed setting for the SATA drive. Now the thing runs like I was expecting. For two days now it has not just stopped and made me wait, and wait...

I am thinking the SATA adjustment was the key since I might just have been waiting for it to write information, but generally there was not any Drive activity, so that may not have been it. At any rate, what had been a chronic problem appears to have gone away immeidatly after these two changes. I will come back with the findings of my undoing in a while.

Thanx again.
 

My Computer

System One

  • CPU
    AMD Athlon 64 X2 5000+
    Motherboard
    Asus M2N-MX SE PLus
    Memory
    2 pieces of Crucial 2048MB PC5400 DDR2 667Mhz
    Graphics card(s)
    Integrated Nvidia Geforce 6100
    Hard Drives
    500 GB Sata
    Internet Speed
    cable
Briang42 said:
I turned off Transparency and i did the Speed setting for the SATA drive. Now the thing runs like I was expecting. For two days now it has not just stopped and made me wait, and wait...
Click to expand...

I'm glad to hear it's running better now.
My bet is on the transparency rather than the SATA setting, but as you say, it's better to be scientific by trying one and then the other. If you test that, please let us know the result. I always like to learn by being told my guess was wrong :D
 

My Computer

System One

  • Manufacturer/Model
    home assembled
    CPU
    Intel Q9450 quad core
    Motherboard
    Asus P5Q Pro, Intel P45 chipset
    Memory
    4GB : 2 x 2GB G.Skill DDR2 800MHz
    Graphics card(s)
    Gigabyte 9600GT
    Sound Card
    Realtek onboard the mobo
    Monitor(s) Displays
    BenQ 24"
    Screen Resolution
    1920 x 1200
    Hard Drives
    2 of Samsung HD501LJ SATA2 500GB and a few IDE hard disks on USB for backups
    PSU
    Corsair TX-650 and APC UPS
    Case
    Antec P180
    Cooling
    OCZ Vendetta2
Just to confirm what happened I went through a couple of the Tutorials suggested. I turned off the desktop transparency function and did a setting in the devise manager concerning the SATA drive. It was this SATA setting which was the one which fixed my problem. Apparently Windows does not turn on this function automatically for SATA drives but does so for IDE drives. The thing runs like the wind now. I am a happy Vista user.
 

My Computer

System One

  • CPU
    AMD Athlon 64 X2 5000+
    Motherboard
    Asus M2N-MX SE PLus
    Memory
    2 pieces of Crucial 2048MB PC5400 DDR2 667Mhz
    Graphics card(s)
    Integrated Nvidia Geforce 6100
    Hard Drives
    500 GB Sata
    Internet Speed
    cable
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