Computer Locks Up

[TEO]

I have an HP Laptop that has been giving me grief. In the middle of something, it will simply lock up. The mouse does not respond nor does the the pad work. None of the keys do anything. If I leave it for a half hour or an hour, it still does not respond. My computer guy, who has served me well over the years, cannot fix it. The last few attempts were free, but no results. If I shut down and restart, it works well, and may work for an extended period or after 15 minutes. It is maddening to the point that a new computer will arrive on Monday, but I'd like to have this as a back-up. Any ideas???

Thanks,

Paul

[mr__ed]

Can someone explain what "elementary OS" is? Thanks.

Disregard. I Googled it and found the answer.

[mr__ed]

I have 2 laptops running W10. If one becomes problematic I simply reset the computer. Doing that often sets things back to normal.
W10 hasn't caused me much problem and I rather like it. But I also liked XP, 8 and 8.1. 😉

[jjjandrbaker]

wa8yxm wrote:
I can press the ON button on my Toshiba Win-10. and cut the tape sealing the box on a new chrome book and be on line and browsing before the Tosh asks for my Password.. yup. they are fast.

Since installing Elementary OS on my old laptop, I can turn it on and be completely started up in 10 seconds. Shut down takes 2 seconds. Like you, I do most of my "computing" on Chrome. The is the only program I installed in the Elementary OS environment. Every thing runs super fast. Movies are playing the instant they are open. I love it.

Elementary OS is easy to install. It takes almost no time to do it. It is a "pay what you want" open source operating system. You can run it from a flash drive to see how you like it.

[wa8yxm]

I will say this.. I now use my Windows box for stuff that only runs on Windows. hardly ever on line.

most of my On line life (Which is most of the computer use) I've gone to Chrome Books. HP's true. but at about 250 a pop with touch screen option included (i can turn both pad and screen on and off. I turn pad off screen on. note this is not something you can do out of the box) both of 'em have been hit by malware and took less than 5 minutes to fix.. I can press the ON button on my Toshiba Win-10. and cut the tape sealing the box on a new chrome book and be on line and browsing before the Tosh asks for my Password.. yup. they are fast.

[jjjandrbaker]

I gave up on mine and installed Elementary OS alongside Windows 10. Now, when I start the computer I decide between operating systems. Elementary OS works so fast and well that I haven’t. Started up in Windows since.

[TEO]

Too much aggravation with this computer. New computer due Monday. Thanks for all the ideas. I like the one about creating a recovery thumb drive right away.

[AsheGuy]

T18skyguy wrote:
Thanks Ashe, I did have one of those and the system wouldn't accept it. It gave me a message like "You cannot recover with that device" or some other wording. I had created multiple restore points, they we're gone. So I wondered if restore points and recovery media need to be redone any time a new version of Windows comes out. I tried the restore points, recovery USB, Acronis rescue disk, Acronis cloud recovery, Lazesoft recovery disk, none worked. So I took it in to a well regarded local tech shop. They reinstalled windows for me and they think it's going to be OK will pick it up. I had them put in a new SSD also. The bill won't be over $200, so I'm good with it.

You use the recovery USB drive to boot from, it's not for using from your existing Windows installation. When you boot from it, you can try a recovery of your existing Windows or do a clean install of Windows.

Sounds like you got what you needed if your tech shop did a clean Windows install and a new SSD for less than $200.00. Hope it works out for you.

[T18skyguy]

Thanks Ashe, I did have one of those and the system wouldn't accept it. It gave me a message like "You cannot recover with that device" or some other wording. I had created multiple restore points, they we're gone. So I wondered if restore points and recovery media need to be redone any time a new version of Windows comes out. I tried the restore points, recovery USB, Acronis rescue disk, Acronis cloud recovery, Lazesoft recovery disk, none worked. So I took it in to a well regarded local tech shop. They reinstalled windows for me and they think it's going to be OK will pick it up. I had them put in a new SSD also. The bill won't be over $200, so I'm good with it.

[hotpepperkid]

Welcome to Windows ver X

[AsheGuy]

T18skyguy wrote:

Same thing happened to me on my Dell desktop last night. Keyboard won't work and no mouse. It would work for a few minutes then I would here the disconnect chime and it freezes. I confirmed power to all USB's, so thought maybe a driver issue. But it would not accept any form of recovery and I had about 4 different sources including the cloud. I screwed around all day in safe mode to no avail. I wish I had seen that Realtech audio idea sooner. I'm getting a new one too.

I always keep one of these around on a USB flash drive for such a possibility.

[T18skyguy]

TEO wrote:
I have an HP Laptop that has been giving me grief. In the middle of something, it will simply lock up. The mouse does not respond nor does the the pad work. None of the keys do anything. If I leave it for a half hour or an hour, it still does not respond. My computer guy, who has served me well over the years, cannot fix it. The last few attempts were free, but no results. If I shut down and restart, it works well, and may work for an extended period or after 15 minutes. It is maddening to the point that a new computer will arrive on Monday, but I'd like to have this as a back-up. Any ideas???

Thanks,

Paul

Same thing happened to me on my Dell desktop last night. Keyboard won't work and no mouse. It would work for a few minutes then I would here the disconnect chime and it freezes. I confirmed power to all USB's, so thought maybe a driver issue. But it would not accept any form of recovery and I had about 4 different sources including the cloud. I screwed around all day in safe mode to no avail. I wish I had seen that Realtech audio idea sooner. I'm getting a new one too.

[jjjandrbaker]

I had the same problem a while back. Unfortunately, I don't remember the cure. I will search the net and get back to you.



Okay... Found it. This fixed my problem:

Mouse Freezing and Disappearing Cursor
A common issue relates to the Realtek HD audio manager, and it is one we have seen interfering with other drivers, too. Right-click the Taskbar, select Task Manager, and head to the Start-up tab. If you see Realtek HD Audio Manger, right-click and select Disable. Now reboot your system.

[AsheGuy]

STBRetired wrote:
Another idea would be to transfer all your data to the new machine, then reformat the drive and do a fresh install of Windows.

Unless you have a hardware problem (probably the lowest probability), then STBRetired has one of the best solutions. Doing a clean install of Windows can work wonders if you don't mind reinstalling the applications you need. Getting rid of all the clutter Windows picks up over time is a good thing.

See this Microsoft website for instructions.

I did this on an older laptop with Win10 (originally Win7) and it came out perky and like it was originally. It wasn't hanging up, but was so sluggish that it seemed to.

[STBRetired]

Think wildtoad may be looking in the correct direction.If your laptop has a "drive activity" light, check to see it it is on solid when the laptop freezes. Check the system error logs to see if there are disk read or write errors.
Another idea would be to transfer all your data to the new machine, then reformat the drive and do a fresh install of Windows. Doing upgrades to a new OS instead of a fresh install can sometimes leave strange bits of code around that can cause grief.