# Computer Problem - Heistating/Freezing **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [May 8, 2008, 11:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/computer-problem-heistating-freezing/448623 "2008-05-08T23:08:57Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 4\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Omniscient](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/omniscient/32/3290_2.png) [@Omniscient](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Omniscient)\ **Post date:** [May 8, 2008, 11:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/computer-problem-heistating-freezing/448623/1 "2008-05-08T23:08:57Z")
I’m running a rapidly aging Homebuild PC that’s been showing signs of failure as of late. I’m not in a position to really afford a new PC nor to do a complete rebuild at the moment so I’m hoping to band-aid this thing in order to get a few more months out of it. A couple months ago it was freezing completely a couple times every day. I did a squeaky clean install of XP Pro and that didn’t fix anything. I yanked an old HD out of the box and reseated all the memory and the video card and did the trick. I feel pretty confident that it was the old HD that was the problem. The last couple days I’ve been seeing a strange issue where my cursor will freeze up. I’m pretty sure it’s the whole system that’s hung and not just the mouse but I haven’t been in a situation where I can really test that yet. What makes it so strange is that after about a 10 or 20 second pause it’ll free up and start working again. I’m not sure what the hell could be causing something like that from a hardware standpoint. Do anyone have any ideas of how to diagnose this? Anyone seen it before? It’s worth noting that I just upgraded to XP Service Pack 3 and Zune 2.5 so one of those could have introduced the issue, but it was fine for a half day before this started happening. Ideas? ---
**Author:** ![Omniscient](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/omniscient/32/3290_2.png) [@Omniscient](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Omniscient)\ **Post date:** [May 8, 2008, 11:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/computer-problem-heistating-freezing/448623/2 "2008-05-08T23:18:09Z")
OK, I just realized that I was able to make my browser go back using my keyboard while the mouse cursor is frozen so it seems pretty clear that it’s a mouse issue. I’m using a Logitech Wireless Laser mouse and just reset the wireless connection. Curious to determine if it’s a mouse hardware issue (the batteries were just replaced yesterday) or if there’s something screwey with the Mouse software and the XP SP3 update. Strange… ---
**Author:** ![Fear\_Itself](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/fear_itself/32/19637_2.png) [@Fear\_Itself](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fear_Itself)\ **Post date:** [May 9, 2008, 2:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/computer-problem-heistating-freezing/448623/3 "2008-05-09T02:29:43Z")
How far is your mouse from the transmitter? I have had problems with a wireless mouse when it was more than about 18 inches from the transmitter. ---
**Author:** ![Omniscient](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/omniscient/32/3290_2.png) [@Omniscient](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Omniscient)\ **Post date:** [May 9, 2008, 6:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/computer-problem-heistating-freezing/448623/4 "2008-05-09T06:08:08Z")
About 24 inches. The receiver is to the left of the monitor and I steer on th right. I popped out the batteries and let is sit to power down for a few minutes and reloaded them. Seems to be better now. We’ll have to see if it’s intermittent.