it’s acting like a real dick. Websites suddenly freeze, and I get messages like “waiting for cache” or “chrome is not responding”. I get similar freezes and messages when trying to operate microsoft explorer too. Waiting generally resolves it, but then it occurs quickly again.
Then even trying to open text documents has things freezing up too. With messages like “waiting for cache”. :mad:
Running my virus scan results in my security system telling me everything is beautiful.
Running windows 10.
Wi-fi seems to be running fine.
No new upgrades, equipment changes, add on devices, strange flash drives, etc.
Reboots do nothing.
After a while, it runs ok for minutes at a time, until it doesn’t again. Text freezes a lot while typing.
Any easy answers or easy things to check? Especially before I try to provide more technical details?
It just started 2 days ago, the Mrs. laptop seems relatively unaffected.
Download Microsoft’s ProcessExplorer and see if something is spiking when the freezes happen. (This is more accurate than Task Manager)
There’s so many possibilities. A good first step is to figure out if it’s the system being out of memory (maybe new software has a memory leak but probably not if a restart doesn’t help), CPU load/throttling (spyware, heat), or I/O bottle-necking (hard drive is borked) ProcessExplorer will help with that.
Run something like Ccleaner by Piriform (others are available) to really clear all the caches and other gunk that can clog a computer. Leave the settings as they are and you won’t do any harm. Just be sure that you know all your passwords as you won’t be logged in automatically to websites like SD after the scan
That it’s happening both in your web browser and just looking at text documents* suggests to me that it’s not a Chrome/IE/FF issue.
Both your hard drive and your processor have cache on board. Personally, that’s the first thing I’d think of. If you can get the brand name of your hard drive, every major manufacturer that I know of offers a program that can check the health of the drive. It may just be a failing drive. Windows has one as well (CHKDSK)
I also see that at least one person had a bad Windows Update (KB4041691) that caused the problem. Downloading and manually [re]installing it seemed to fix it though.
*Even though you’re using a document reader when it happens, it could still be due to a browser. Whether it’s open in the background or you closed it, but it hasn’t fully shutdown yet. You could try firefox, but if you’re getting the problem with Chrome and IE, FF likely won’t help.
If you haven’t gone and cleared the cache on both of those programs, that would be a good/easy first step. Also, if you can kill them in task manager and still have the problem repeat itself, that would be a good data point.
But if a few easy things don’t help, I’d investigate a failing drive. Hopefully that’s not it, but it’s easy enough to find out it is or rule it out…Actually, hard drives are very easy to clone these days. You can have a new one in your computer for not too much money and just the time it takes to clone it. Sometimes that’s easier than spending days or weeks pulling your hair out chasing down an obscure software issue.
Is your local storage full? Check the space available on C: and D:
Something else to do is to open up your PC and give it a good clean-out of dust. Make sure that the CPU cooler fan is working and the cooler itself is dust-free. Compressed air will work wonders. Use an unused - not just clean - small paint brush to agitate the dust and to get into nooks and crannies.
I wouldn’t use Ccleaner. There are many articles online by knowledgeable computer folks regarding how Ccleaner has changed for the worst since it was acquired by Avast.
Most will recommend to not use a cleaner’s registry cleaner ever and some to never use a cleaning program at all.
Again, take a look under the hood, use Task Manager (type windows key +R and thrn enter taskmgr.exe) to see which processes are eating CPU and memory. If it’s the first time opening it you have to click on show details or some verbiage like it, then click on CPU at the top bar to see what’s happening.
Windows 10 automatically downloads large numbers of files into the Windows temp directory in preparation for an update. Sometimes the process fails and thousands of files clog up the computer and this can account for poor performance and slow downs.
You might try something like Glary utilities to clean up, though it can take a long time and the problem may return.
It is quite difficult to control the windows updating process and this has been the subject of a some consternation whose computers have ground to a halt. There are various fixes that get control back.
OK, I’ve got plenty of space on the hard drive, the diskcheck says the drive is working ok, it’s fully defragged, it seems to have adequate memory, and I’ve blown and dusted a ton of stuff out of the computer. Well, not that much, but some. No program or process seems to be hogging the memory or running in a loop.
And yet it still hanged up.
So I ran disk cleanup, and it identified a measly 6 gigs of extraneous stuff I could delete. THAT seemed to improve function. I’m cautiously optimistic. YAY!
Going forward, I’m eyeing the info in the last link provided by x-ray vision with interest, particularly the bit about resetting the PC and opting to save personal files. Any opinions about running that particular program, before I chance it? Unintended consequences of that action? I fear a real problem restoring some apps. But perhaps I’m incorrect about that. Yet I do have some programs I don’t want to lose.
It’s been a while since I’ve repaired a Windows 10 installation while keeping apps and data, so I don’t remember exactly which instructions I’ve followed, but they were similar to this:
Another fun thing is to run the resource monitor.
Start - run - perfmon, and about the middle of the panel is a link to resource monitor.
It will tell you what is holding things up - is disk queue slow, is memory full, etc.
Another point is to open event viewer (run eventvwr.msc)
In Windows logs, check Application and System for any errors or warnings. If you see one that makes no sense, google it.
A slow system sometimes (but rarely) indicates failing drive and so disk IO will show long queues from time to time…
Another possibility is a messed up fan and overheating CPU processor chip, but usually the fan fails completely and the symptom is the machine boots then freezes after a minute or so. An erratic fan should be easy to hear.
I don’t see why. If it’s borked enough that someone can’t get it to run right after posting on a message board full of helpful people, why isn’t it a good idea to see if a Windows repair that keeps files and programs fixes it? Except for the waiting, the time put into it is little.
I’ve had malware issues in the past and gone to message boards where experts in malware give you step by step instructions and you have to keep posting back result logs from various programs they tell you to run. It can take days. I’ve given up and simply fixed things with a reinstall or repair. Even with a complete reinstall, saving files on another drive and reinstalling programs has been less work for me than trying to diagnose a specific problem and fix. The Windows repair instructions I left in my last post are quick and painless. Not sure it’ll work since repairs don’t start from scratch the way re-installs do, but when frustrated with trying to diagnose and fix it’s definitely worth a try.
So when I’m done running that, all my files, all my programs are still in place? That’s my big fear, that I’ll lose my personal data and that the programs I’ve got tweaked just the way I like them will suddenly vanish, and I’ll have to try to hunt them down again.
But if that’s not the case, running a Windows repair is looking better and better.
I haven’t tried my PC yet today to see if the cleanup yesterday has left the thing to be still functional overnight, but I will be soon.
If, after deleting temporary files, they all come back again, it is the windows update process that is the problem. After a while there will be thousands of them and this stuff seriously slows down Windows. There are utilities out there that fix this update problem, though finding one that worked took a bit of experimentation.
This sort of problem is not going to be caught by anti-virus or malware programs. Nor does it show up as a stuck process.
I had the exact same issue with my work computer that suddenly developed these symptoms. The helpdesk guy asked me to run a couple of Reg Keys that fixed it immediately. Instructions below:
Please execute them from CMD ( run as administrator
To run as admin – click the windows logo on the bottom left and start typing CMD. Command Prompt will come up. Right click on this and then click “run as admin”
Copy and paste one line at the time ( no spaces ) and hit enter.
