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Solved: Laptop freezes but pointer continues to move normally

5K views 10 replies 5 participants last post by  ChrisBuk 
#1 ·
Dell Inspiron 1100 with Windows XP Home. 20 gb hdd, 256 mem, Intel Pentium 4 processor

Recently, it has become useless since after booting up, I can only work a couple of minutes before it freezes. The touchpad (or usb mouse) continue to move the pointer normally on the screen but clicking on anything produces no results. The keyboard does not function at this point either.

I have checked the Event Log and it only shows Errors at the time of the problem as Service Control Manager - SRTSP depends on Flt Mgr - nonexistent. Adaware and Norton Antivirus are functional and up to date. I did not use this laptop for a few months and was able to update these when I started using it again. It was working normally then. It seems that the problem may have started after Windows Update downloaded multiple updates taking hours of time (on dialup).

On booting into Safe Mode, everything seems to work correctly. The keyboard and mouse perform normally. I have reinstalled the driver for the touchpad since I originally thought that might be a problem but it hasn't helped. I also am now using a riser for the laptop to help reduce the possibility of too much heat. That has never been a problem before however.

I am not able to download anything from the net because at this time, it will not continue to function long enough to do more than go online.

I hope that someone has suggestions on how to troubleshoot this. I have run out of ideas. Thanks!
 
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#3 ·
Thanks for your suggestions. None of the results showed errors or problems.

At this point, I hardly have any time to work before it freezes. I had to restart a number of times to run those diagnostics.

I am wondering if it could be a temperature problem. I have elevated it on a rack to allow air passage underneath and I can hear the fan(s) running so everything seems normal. The laptop was working properly before the multiple Auto. Updates started downloading. I also updated Norton Antivirus around that same time. I am not sure if any of that is related because I wouldn't think that it would cause a problem. Generally it would be to the greater functionality rather than stopping it cold.

I have ordered, and received in the mail, Service Pack 2 from Microsoft to eliminate trying to download it on dial-up but I am concerned about even attempting to install it at this point.

I will appreciate any other ideas that you may have. Thanks!
 
#4 ·
Don't know if this'll work, but you can try running system file checker from safemode. Maybe some of the system files got corrupted, or some other thing. I think its worth a shot at trying. I should warn you though, that running sfc in Safemode takes an awfully long time.

To do it:
With Windows in the cd drive,
Get into Safemode, from the Run menu, type in SFC and hit enter.
 
#5 ·
I'd suspect the Norton update before anything else. Especially if you decide to install SP2, you should uninstall it and search for the remnants it usually leaves behind. It will definitely interfere with the successful update to SP2.

And, as with all such major updates, you should back up everything. The preferable method, of course, would be to use a partition imager (like Acronis True Image) so that you can restore the entire partition as it is if you encounter any problems.

Did you succeed with the chkdsk /f?

Try uninstalling Norton, and run chkdsk /f and then see if the freezing continues.

But, your idea that heat may be involved shouldn't be discounted since the symptoms are consistent with that idea, especially if random and unpredictable. In those cases, chkdsk should be run as soon as practicable since the hard shutdown undoubtedly causes disk errors.
 
#6 ·
Yakiba said:
Don't know if this'll work, but you can try running system file checker from safemode. Maybe some of the system files got corrupted, or some other thing. I think its worth a shot at trying. I should warn you though, that running sfc in Safemode takes an awfully long time.

To do it:
With Windows in the cd drive,
Get into Safemode, from the Run menu, type in SFC and hit enter.
That's a good idea, too, since files could have been damaged by the freeze.
 
#7 ·
Couldn't get system file checker to work. Screen would just flash and disappear in safe mode and in normal mode, would show only briefly (blank). I did have the WinXP cd in the drive.
I ran total diagnostics on the laptop using the cd that came with the computer. Everything checked out passing. Fans working, temperature normal.
I noticed today that a SVCHOST.EXE is using 99% of the cpu. That may be involved with Windows Automatic Updates. I have not had it online since this problem began so there have been no new updates since probably the week before last.
I am wondering if System Restore would help. Still, I would need to download those updates again. Maybe one of them doesn't work with a computer with SP1 and not SP2.

Thanks for helping.
 
#9 ·
Thanks for all the help! I was able to run sfc /scannow in normal mode after a few tries. It took a good bit of time and I had to leave it for a while. When I got back to it, the window was gone so I tried several programs and everything was working perfectly. I haven't used sfc before. It must have repaired a corrupted file while I was away from the screen. I have used the laptop several times since then and have no problems. Great!! This problem is resolved.
 
#11 ·
I have suffered with this for a long time a solution would be appreciated
However a partial fix which seems to work in some software esp Phoroshop is
1. Load the programme you want. also load Task Manager.
2. in Processes right click on the loaded programme.
3. Select Set affinity
4 unclick 1 of the two already ticked boxes.

This works fine but is a pain to do.

Thw MS update for the P4 problem does not seem to make any difference.
IE7 gave some trouble but I have just changed to firefox which is almost unusable.

Any Help would be appreciated.:confused:
 
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