Member Avatar for trinityquiet

I attached a wireless network card a few days ago, and ever since I've been having random freeze problems. No warning, no noise, no slowing down...everything just freezes right where it is. There's no pattern to the time, no pattern of programs to set it off. Help! I thought the drivers were up to date; they should have been brand new off the website, but it resembles a driver problem to me. Unfortunately, close to the same time, I also installed over a hundred windows updates, including SP2. But the problems started with the 2wire 802.11 wireless usb type card I installed a few days before the updates.

Also, I know there's some way to command the computer to do an analysis after a freeze, that talks about the computer's stats or something. How do I do this?

Help, please!

  • 4 Contributors
  • 11 Replies
  • 249 Views
  • 3 Years Discussion Span
  • Latest Post Latest Post by rcmz

Dani AI

Generated

Quick summary and suggested first steps

Because the USB wireless adapter was installed just before the freezes and the NIC light goes out right before a hang, a driver or hardware fault is the most likely cause — not an intermittent “mystery” Windows setting. Temporarily disable or physically remove the USB adapter and test (boot normally, and also test in Safe Mode with Networking). If the freezes stop, update or roll back the adapter driver, try a different USB port, or replace the adapter. This is the fastest way to rule the device in or out; was correct to suggest starting there.

How to collect the “computer analysis” data after a freeze

  1. Check Event Viewer (Application and System logs) for errors stamped at the freeze time — run eventvwr.msc. See Microsoft’s guidance on using Event Viewer. (learn.microsoft.com)
  2. For application crashes, enable Dr. Watson (XP-era postmortem debugger) so Windows will write a drwtsn32.log and optional .dmp files: run drwtsn32 -i then drwtsn32 to set paths and dump type. Those files are the first things to gather after a crash. ()

How to force a dump when the machine simply hangs

If the system just freezes (no BSOD), configure Windows to write crash dumps and to stop auto-restart so you can capture data: Control Panel → System → Advanced → Startup and Recovery → uncheck “Automatically restart” and set “Write debugging information” to a Small or Kernel memory dump. Then enable the keyboard-initiated crash (add CrashOnCtrlScroll = 1 under the PS/2 or USB keyboard registry key) and, when the hang reproduces, press Right-Ctrl + ScrollLock twice to force a dump. Microsoft documents both steps. (learn.microsoft.com)

Other useful tests and tools

  • Run a RAM test (bootable MemTest86) and a full chkdsk — bad RAM or disk can cause random hangs.
  • Capture a hung-process dump live with Sysinternals ProcDump or collect the Dr. Watson .dmp for later analysis.
  • If Norton is blocking removal or interfering with other security tools, use Norton’s official Remove & Reinstall tool (Advanced → Remove Only) before installing a single, up-to-date AV. (support.norton.com)

If you collect a .dmp and want help interpreting it, include the dump timestamp, the Event Viewer entries around the event, and the drwtsn32.log (or ProcDump output) when posting follow-ups.

Recommended Answers

All 11 Replies

Member Avatar for DenisOxon

Hi,

I would remove wireless card and drivers and see if problem goes away. It could be the card, the drivers or one of the updates, hence take out card and see what happens.

Also what OS are you running ?

Denis

Member Avatar for Dark_Archon

Ok first, do you have a router in your home or you rely on anothers? If you do, then make sure to have your wireless security setup so only you and any authorized pc can use your network. If you are using someone else, then have them do it. Wireless are risky if you dont know what you are doing. People can hijack your pc and it will freeze and become unstable. Lastly, Use RegistryFix to fix your registry, and defragment your hd. Check your pc for virus, spywares, adwares, etc.

If it keeps on freezing, maybe your pc is not compatible with the wireless card. Check on this too.

Good Luck

Member Avatar for trinityquiet

Yeah...I'm afraid to remove the card, it was so damn hard to install. It wasn't my idea lol, since I don't know anything about it and I agree it's more risky. I'm wireless connected to another computer in the home that has the router. I'll definitely try registryfix. I'm afraid the hijacker thing is more likely, if not positive; my 54 mbps downloading, which started around that amount, is now downloading around 50 kbps. My adaware isn't working right =\ Keeps dying when I try to remove found problems. And my internet explorer is rerouting to some spystock thing.

OS is windows xp, with SP2.

Member Avatar for Dark_Archon

Sounds like you have a few bugs in your pc that causing all that annoying problems.
Spywares, Adwares, Virus, Malwares, all these can Slow down your pc, Internet connections, downloads, and sometimes will cause your pc to freeze and become unresponsive.

Ok, first if you dont know wat anti-spyware to get, I suggest you get TrendMicro, Kaspersky or Mcaffee. For anti-virus, I suggest you get Kaspersky, a 30 days trial, Avast- free Home Edition, and Mcaffee-Trial. These are the best AV I've known.

If your IE keeps on taking you to Websites you did not intended to go, then its was probably Spyware Addons, or Trojans that keeps on re-routing your IE destination.

I would really suggest you do these things to have your PC free from virus, and spywares, and spy-cookies & tracking cookies.

Note: I would not recommend Norton as an AV.

Good Luck.

Member Avatar for trinityquiet

Thanks...I try to keep it clean, but they do sneak in! I have Norton lol, but it's ancient...and I downloaded Avast a couple weeks ago, but Norton keeps getting in its way. Haven't fixed it yet. Thanks for the spyware recommendations; I've never heard of TrendMicro or Kaspersky. I did just realize that just before my computer dies, my internet card's light goes off. I have a looooot of tests to run...things to try to fix...

Can anyone tell me how to run that computer analysis after a crash?

Sounds like you have a few bugs in your pc that causing all that annoying problems.
Spywares, Adwares, Virus, Malwares, all these can Slow down your pc, Internet connections, downloads, and sometimes will cause your pc to freeze and become unresponsive.

Ok, first if you dont know wat anti-spyware to get, I suggest you get TrendMicro, Kaspersky or Mcaffee. For anti-virus, I suggest you get Kaspersky, a 30 days trial, Avast- free Home Edition, and Mcaffee-Trial. These are the best AV I've known.

If your IE keeps on taking you to Websites you did not intended to go, then its was probably Spyware Addons, or Trojans that keeps on re-routing your IE destination.

I would really suggest you do these things to have your PC free from virus, and spywares, and spy-cookies & tracking cookies.

Note: I would not recommend Norton as an AV.

Good Luck.

Member Avatar for trinityquiet

Thanks...I try to keep it clean, but they do sneak in! I have Norton lol, but it's ancient...and I downloaded Avast a couple weeks ago, but Norton keeps getting in its way. Haven't fixed it yet. Thanks for the spyware recommendations; I've never heard of TrendMicro or Kaspersky. I did just realize that just before my computer dies, my internet card's light goes off. I have a looooot of tests to run...things to try to fix...

Can anyone tell me how to run that computer analysis after a crash?

Member Avatar for DenisOxon

...and I downloaded Avast a couple weeks ago, but Norton keeps getting in its way.

DON'T tun two AV's at same time - causes major hiccups - so remove Norton via Add/Remove programs.

Member Avatar for trinityquiet

DON'T tun two AV's at same time - causes major hiccups - so remove Norton via Add/Remove programs.

Yeah, that's funny. I tried to remove my Norton. It won't. It doesn't have an uninstall button, and when I tried going to add/remove programs and removing it there....it wouldn't. Norton's a virus!!! lol. So I tried deleting every file I could find...amateurish and dangerous, I'm sure, but hey. So I rebooted and Norton wasn't there. I was in the middle of installing Kaspersky when Norton appeared, recovered and REINSTALLED itself!!! and really screwed things over. It wouldn't let me stop it. So I did a more thorough scan for Norton related crap and deleted it all, and disabled it, and now it's not moving...but geez, what a joke.

Member Avatar for DenisOxon

If you go to Symantec website there is a removal tool you can download and run which will remova all traces. Worth doing because of the large number of registry entries it uses.

Member Avatar for trinityquiet

Ooooh, thanks!!

Member Avatar for rcmz

Many people encounter the following computer problems: take a long time to start up, load websites or run programs. Recently I find the functional software which can fix all these problems just with one click: tuneup360, maybe you guys could have a try.

Be a part of the DaniWeb community

We're a friendly, industry-focused community of developers, IT pros, digital marketers, and technology enthusiasts meeting, networking, learning, and sharing knowledge.