# my computer gets "stuck"
**URL:** https://boards.straightdope.com/t/my-computer-gets-stuck/186415
**Category:** Factual Questions
**Created:** [July 5, 2003, 6:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/my-computer-gets-stuck/186415 "2003-07-05T18:27:16Z")
**Posts on this page:** 15
**Page:** 1
### Author:  [@lastcomic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lastcomic)
#### Post date: [July 5, 2003, 6:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/my-computer-gets-stuck/186415/1 "2003-07-05T18:27:16Z")
While looking at webpages. my computer will “stick”. The displayed page will sit there and mouse clicks do nothing and then all the mouse clicks seem to catch up. I’m using IE6 and Windows 2000 5.0. I have adaware and spybot installed. AMD Duron processor. Thank you for any help.
---
### Author:  [@Johanna](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johanna)
#### Post date: [July 5, 2003, 6:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/my-computer-gets-stuck/186415/2 "2003-07-05T18:33:00Z")
Well, it’s really very simple. You see,
---
### Author:  [@Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Really_Not_All_That_Bright)
#### Post date: [July 5, 2003, 7:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/my-computer-gets-stuck/186415/3 "2003-07-05T19:18:43Z")
You say you have adaware and spybot installed, and I’m going to assume you have actually RUN them… (they won’t scan automatically like a virus checker). If not, that could be your problem…
---
### Author:  [@DarrenS](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DarrenS)
#### Post date: [July 5, 2003, 7:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/my-computer-gets-stuck/186415/4 "2003-07-05T19:24:01Z")
It could be that something is hogging your CPU. Have Task Manager open, click on the “processes” tab, and click on the CPU column to sort by CPU usage (descending). Make Task Manager “always on top” and browse as normal. When IE stops responding to clicks, check if a process in Task Manager is hogging CPU - 98% or something like that. If so, that is your culprit. Then tell us what the process name is and someone on here will tell you what the rogue app is.
---
### Author:  [@Cardinal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cardinal)
#### Post date: [July 5, 2003, 7:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/my-computer-gets-stuck/186415/5 "2003-07-05T19:44:46Z")
I think Task Manager is not showing the CPU usage in terms of percentages, though. I notice that my System Idle Process is commonly listed at 89, but then my CPU usage on the Performance tab will be something like 15%.
---
### Author:  [@lastcomic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lastcomic)
#### Post date: [July 5, 2003, 7:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/my-computer-gets-stuck/186415/6 "2003-07-05T19:46:07Z")
I have run the spybot and adaware. I can open the Task Manager but I do not have a processes tab. It only has task and status.
---
### Author:  [@handy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/handy)
#### Post date: [July 5, 2003, 10:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/my-computer-gets-stuck/186415/7 "2003-07-05T22:15:22Z")
Could be summer heat too, those AMD Durons can get hot. How many fans you got?
---
### Author:  [@Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Really_Not_All_That_Bright)
#### Post date: [July 6, 2003, 1:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/my-computer-gets-stuck/186415/8 "2003-07-06T01:08:39Z")
how fast is the processor? The actual speed, not the relative 1800+ kinda speed that AMD prints on the box.
---
### Author:  [@Urban\_Ranger](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Urban_Ranger)
#### Post date: [July 6, 2003, 8:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/my-computer-gets-stuck/186415/9 "2003-07-06T08:19:41Z")
How often does that happen? Does it happen at other times when you are not surfing the Web?
---
### Author:  [@Digital\_Stimulus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Digital_Stimulus)
#### Post date: [July 6, 2003, 1:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/my-computer-gets-stuck/186415/10 "2003-07-06T13:01:05Z")
Last version of Windows I used was 98, so this may not help. If you turn off the adaware and spybot programs, does this behavior stop? I suspect that’s not the problem, but it may be the only way to check. I’d think it’s more likely an IE or Windows issue; the heat generated by the CPU shouldn’t have any effect on page rendering. Also, unless you have mouse issues with other programs as well, it’s doubtful that the processor (or graphics card) speed is an issue.
As a plug for what has become my favorite browser, take a look at Mozilla ([http://www.mozilla.org/](http://www.mozilla.org/)). They’ve just released version 1.4 - there are lots of features not available in IE (such as “tabbed browsing”, bayesian spam filtering (OK, that’s for email), ad blocking by site, etc.). Trying a different browser might provide an answer your question; I do have to put a disclaimer on this and say that some web pages that do not follow established HTML guidelines won’t render properly. Invariably, these pages are designed for IE - I’ve only come across one or two in a couple years, but that may be a bad gauge since I generally stick to a limited list of sites.
Kramer
---
### Author:  [@Latch](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Latch)
#### Post date: [July 6, 2003, 1:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/my-computer-gets-stuck/186415/11 "2003-07-06T13:03:31Z")
If the webpage you are loading has Java, it can sometimes freeze the machine while it starts and initaliases the Java Runtime Engine (and then exectues the code). Does this seem to happen on certain pages? Randomly?
---
### Author:  [@Digital\_Stimulus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Digital_Stimulus)
#### Post date: [July 6, 2003, 1:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/my-computer-gets-stuck/186415/12 "2003-07-06T13:56:41Z")
> [@](#):
>
> \*Originally posted by Latch \*
> \*\*If the webpage you are loading has Java, it can sometimes freeze the machine while it starts and initaliases the Java Runtime Engine (and then exectues the code). Does this seem to happen on certain pages? Randomly? \*\*
Good call - that very well might be it. Something I hadn’t thought of, since I have Java turned off.
---
### Author:  [@Johnny\_L.A](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johnny_L.A)
#### Post date: [July 6, 2003, 2:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/my-computer-gets-stuck/186415/13 "2003-07-06T14:34:22Z")
I prefer to use Netscape 4.7, but it has a nasty habit of freezing and having illegal operation errors. It seems to me that this happens when Java is launched. It frequently happens when I first log on. I’ll open the browser and go directly to “My eBay”. The mail notification comes on, and this can freeze the eBay page. Another time it happens is when I use the back button in eBay and click it to go back farther before the page “does its thing”. This also happens sometime on the Fathom boards. Sometimes I can cure it by reloading the current page, if the reload button is working. Once it freezes though, I need to close the browser and disconnect. One thing that I do if I need to look something up on an unfamiliar page (i.e., I’m doing a google search and I click on something) is to use IE instead of Netscape.
You didn’t ask about illegal operations, but… Sometimes I’ll get an illegal operation error with Netscape. I’ll click “ok” and the browser will close. Then I get another error. Sometimes there are only these two errors and I can re-open the browser. Other times I get the error over and over and have no choice but to reboot. This happens on my home computer (Windows 98) and on my work computer (Windows 2000).
---
### Author:  [@handy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/handy)
#### Post date: [July 6, 2003, 2:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/my-computer-gets-stuck/186415/14 "2003-07-06T14:42:18Z")
“Something I hadn’t thought of, since I have Java turned off.”
Seems to me that would have the opposite effect…at any rate, new versions of browsers can handle java better.
---
### Author:  [@Digital\_Stimulus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Digital_Stimulus)
#### Post date: [July 6, 2003, 4:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/my-computer-gets-stuck/186415/15 "2003-07-06T16:40:12Z")
> [@](#):
>
> \*Originally posted by handy \*
> \*\*“Something I hadn’t thought of, since I have Java turned off.”
>
> Seems to me that would have the opposite effect…at any rate, new versions of browsers can handle java better. \*\*
Well, when Java loads, the virtual machine has to be started. In my experience, that pretty much pre-empts any hardware interrupts and other processing, which is why it might cause the computer to temporarily freeze. Since I have Java disabled, it never loads and I never experience that freeze. (Note that I’m not familiar with the technical details of Windows XP scheduler; it may turn off preemption or just slow everything down.)
Yes, you’re right that new browsers handle Java better, but it’s a good guess based on the information given.
Kramer