My computer constantly stutters and freezes

[bjandrew]

I am not sure what is wrong with it. I'm not much of a computer guru, but I know enough that if your computer freezes an average of 10 times a day, there is probably something wrong.

Honestly, I do not think it is XP that is doing it because I just switched it to XP Pro about a year ago and it is still freezing all the time. I assumed that the computer would get maybe a bit slow if I had music on but whenever I have programs running, the computer almost like stutters and the speakers project this clicking sound if i have music playing. It's almost like the computer is skipping in a sense.

This happens even more if I try to download something. It usually wont freeze if I am just downloading. Yet, if I try to upload a larger document (any larger than a small picture), the computer slows for a few seconds then just freezes completely. I have to manually switch the computer off and turn it back on again.

The freezing can occur at any time. Its pretty random. I'll just have itunes up playing music for a few minutes then it will just freeze. There's not much of a pattern to the freezing. It will even freeze if its got a screen saver up (not all the time but about 50% of the time).

I doubt it is a thermal problem because sometimes it will just be starting up and it will just freeze. Yet someone told me that there are viruses that attack the BIOs so maybe that could be it. Once again, I am skeptical about this because the computer has been doing this freezing stuff since I bought it "new" from Best Buy 2 years ago.

(My parents bought it and my step father thought it would be smart to buy the computer that was on display so he could get it cheaper. Little did he know that all he would get is a tower...no windows disks, no warentee, nothing. I asked him to call them back and inform them of the problems, but, alas, parents, so I figure I might as well try to fix this computer before I throw it on the highway and buy a new one)

Anyone have any ideas about what's wrong with it? Email me or reply. (dudesweet017@hotmail.com)

Thank you
Brandyn

[DaveC2003]

I would see about scanning your PC for viruses.

It sounds like a virus is causing the problem.

[snowmonkey]

Hey bjandrew,

Start with "DaveC2003" suggestion first, if that works...great..if not.

I would suggest to reinstall the operating system.....since that computer was a demo version, people could have messed it up before it got to you and now you start to notice the after effect.............even if you don't have the Windows CD, that should not stop you from reinstall the operating system.....all you need is the Windows Product Key...and Windows CD (can borrow it from friend, as long as you use your own serial number), do you want to go this route ? if so, please let us know and someone here will be able to help you find you Windows product key from registry and you will be off to races..


Cheers

[bjandrew]

I doubt its a virus. I had a virus before and the computer obviously got a lot slower but I reinstalled XP and it was still doing it. (The computer had no disks but it has the Windows serial number on the side of the computer) Also, like I said before, it has been stalling and freezing ever since the day I brought it home; before I even had it hooked to the internet.

[Miz]

Have you ever looked inside the case to see if anything is loose or unplugged? I've worked on computers that had problems right out of the box and found all sorts of problems: RAM modules not firmly latched down, various components not plugged into either the power supply or the motherboard, PCI cards loose in their slots, etc. Strange things can happen during shipping.

[bjandrew]

That could be it. I will have a look and see just in case. Thank you very much.

[Kevin_gibson]

Could be a possible problem with the VGA card (Hence reazing and stuttering)
Is it on board? Pci? AGP?
Have you ran a manufacturers test on the Hard Drive? If its been slow from the start, you need to start looking at hardware.

Motherboard, Memory, CPU, HDD, VGA are the main components I'd look at before doing anything else.

[bjandrew]

Thanks very much, Kevin. I was thinking it was probably a hardware problem and you just gave me a great place to start.