Metal Reviews

Why does my computer keep crashing? I need to get this resolved b/c I have online courses coming up and I'd hate to have my comp fuck up while I'm taking an exam. Any suggetions?

More info please. Standard answer though: Windows is fucked, reinstall.

.:crast:.

Well, it doesn't really crash, it kind of freezes. Everything moves extremely slooooow and never returns to normal speed. I think it might have something to do with me leaving my computer on for days (b/c of music downloads). I say this b/c whenever I turn it on (after it has been off for a while) it works fine and I can run as many programs as I want. But, as soon as heat builds up I have to watch how many programs I run at once. Do you think I'm not getting enough air circulation to the vents? Or do you still think it’s Windows?

I don't know much about computer stuff, but keeping your computer on for several days definitely makes things go slower and helps freeze things up more.

You might have too many unecessary programs running. If the room your computer is in is really warm that might be causing some performance problems too. Cooler is better!

I leave my computer on for weeks at a time, doesn't affect speed.

Re-install windows.

It's actually better to leave your PC on all the time and only shut it down once a week. Turning it on and off all the time is worse for it. I would do the following:

1. Run a good Spyware program and clear out any spyware/adware.

2. Clear out your temporary internet files (check the "all offline content" box, too). Delete your cookies and delete your history files (and set it at 0).

3. Run a defrag. It'll be under Windows Explorer --> right-click C:\ --> Disk Cleanup. It'll run a scan to tell you how much space you can free up at first (this can take a while). When the next screen comes up check every box (under the Defrag tab) except those that say 0K, you don't need to do those. Then click OK. This will defrag your PC.

4. If none of that works, search the net for a program called HijackThis. Run a test with that, then post what it finds here (copy and paste it). We can tell you what to delete.

5. I'd also go to Control Panel --> Administrative Tools --> Event Viewer and check for RED items. If you have a lot of them, you'll want to post what they say.

6. You could always ask your hot mom to buy you a new one.

Sounds like you might have some spyware/virus problems because mine was restarting a lot and I ran McAfee anitvirus and it fixed the problem.

Either that or your Cellador CD is crashing your computer

Download and install Microsoft's Anti-Spyware app.
http://www.microsoft.com/athome/securit ... fault.mspx

You should also check out what startup apps are running on your computer. You can go to strat-run, and type in "regedit" to do this. However, unless you really know what you're doing your computer's registry, you can really fuck things up with one little mistake. Instead, try this free software (RegSeeker):

http://www.hoverdesk.net/freeware.htm

This will allow you to easily clean your registry of old/unused registry entries. Also, you can check out what is loading at startup. I'm guessing you have a lot of fluff applicatons starting when you boot. Also, this program allows you to tweak windows according to your tastes.

Yeah, beware of regedit. One mistake can fuck your whole PC up.

I have Norton, so I doubt it has something to do with spyware. I'll try a few of your suggestions. Btw, I own a laptop. Does that make a difference?

Im not sure that it being a lap top would have any reall affect unless it is a really old one. Depending on your norton you may not be really protecting yourself against spyware. And even if it does remove spyware it might still be missing it.

I have seen an experiment in a computer lab where they infected a couple computers with spyware and adware and then ran various detection programs. Norton and Mcafee missed alot of adware that some of the newer programs you can download of the internet were able to catch.

You might want to just make sure the program your useing to download music is actualy not running. Many of them run in the background and you dont actually see it. And what could be slowing you down to a snails place, then freezeing you is if your tryign to do stuff and a couple of peopel are tryign to download music from your shared music folder.
Such is the fate of you music thieves. *sits back and waits for the debate over P2P Programs*

It's always good to have a few. Some detect what others don't. I run McAfee and AVG, for spyware I use Spybot and HijackThis.

Also, since you have a laptop could your battery be dying? If it runs fine at first, then slows and eventually shutsdown you may want to check that out (you said it's freezes, though, huh?). If so, it's likely spyware, the more sites you visit the more spyware gets activated, thus bogging down all your processing power, and then it freezes.

Well, everyone pretty much said it but if those don't work there's always the format C:\ option that solves everything. Back up the things first, of course.

Btw if you do leave your copmuter for hours and leave it on download there's always the chance that you will come back to a burned hard disk. It happened to me. I lost everything. Since then I'm backing up every single shit I get.

Format C:\ doesn't solve anything if you don't know what to do after.

they are good suggestions.

also look for any virus' affecting certain programs.

take my word for it, nortons is SHIT, get rid of it asap and replace it with something better.

also, when doing the "disk defragmenter" (start - programs - accessories - system tools), it is much much quicker to do it in "safe mode", especially if you have a shitload of stuff on your pc.

when you turn the computer on, once the black screen with "data" shows up, quickly press F8, you only have a short time to do it. A menu will appear with options. Chose start in safe mode. Then just get to the defragmenter and watch how fast it goes. When its done, you need to shut down the pc, do not restart cause it will restart in safe mode

How much RAM have you got?

I dont think spyware, or virus had anything to do with your problem, i think you were right of suspecting of your Pcs ventilation, Pentium and other intell processors tend to slow down and eventually crash when they are overheated, Athlon and other AMD processors tend to to crash or restart your computer right away. The first thing you should do is cleaning your computer, keep in mind that dust can produce static charges and static charges can produce short circuits wich produce overheating, so get yourself some dielectric spray, and clean the inside of your computer also make sure that the vents of the processor and power source fans are free of obstruction, if not clean them, you can also acces the BioS of your computer and the check your PCs temperature under the Hardware monitor for temperature.

EDIT: Fuck i didnt read you had a laptop, dont open your laptop unless you know what you are doing, anyways overheating in Laptops is very common, that is for the obvious reason of the tight space in wich all of the components are, that problem is somewhat solved with an Intel Centrino processor, give your laptop a rest and see if the problemm solves.

This makes the most sense to me. I haven't cleaned this bad boy in a long time. I'd better get to gettin. Thanks man.