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computer freezes or does not respond

sammy zone 7 Tulsa

18 years ago

We have a rather new HP computer and have Windows Vista.

We have no problems except that we leave the computer on most of the day, and often in the evening after it has not been used, everything freezes.

The prompt at the top by Windows Explorer will say "not responding", and email will not respond.

I heard on the Kim Commando program that something causes that and it was either leaving on the screen saver, display, or a third thing in the part of the Control Panel with these. She said to do something, but I forget what. I think she said to turn off the monitor.

Do any of you have a clue as to what I am talking about? We got the computer in about Feb. and it has frozen about 6 times. Once we hold the power button in, we can get it to go off, and then there are no problems when it comes on. I think it is a no brainer for those who know, but I cannot remember what it is that causes the computer to stall.

Once it stalls like this, and the Windows Internet Explorer says it is not responding, I have never been able to click out of the situation. I have to hold in that button eventually.

I appreciate anyone who takes the time to respond, but if you do not like Vista, that won't help me. My answer is not going to be to switch to Macs or to switch to XP. I would like to know how to keep my computer from stalling without making a major change.

Thanks for your time.

Sammy

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Comments (4)

mikie_gw
18 years ago
I'd be at HP checking for updated drivers for my model computer and also go to update.microsoft.com and use the Custom version of the update scan - and see what they offer for you.
grandms
18 years ago
Sammy, HP has an online help chat that I have used several times when I had problems. Go to their site and check there and also check for updates as Mikie suggested.

When I leave my computer on, I do turn off the monitor, but I don't know if that will solve your problem. It might also be something in the Power Options settings that needs to be changed. Some computers have trouble coming out of hibernation.
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randy_ca
18 years ago
Do any of you have a clue as to what I am talking about?
I think you may be talking about Power Options.
2 ways to get there,
right click Desktop/Personalize/Screen Saver/ on the bottom left under Power Management, click Change Power Settings.
I have Balanced checked. On the left, Choose when to turn off the display, mine is set at 20 minutes. On that 20 minutes page click Change advanced power settings, the Hard disk should turn off after 20 minutes.

The other way to get there is Control Panel/ with classic view, click Power Options, you'll see the same stuff.
pinkcarnation
18 years ago
sammy, I know exactly what you are talking about!! I posted about it just this morning.I have the same problem with my new Dell and when I manually turn the computer back on, it will start to scan for problems before starting windows, if I don't catch it first. Once it starts, I cannot stop it. When it freezes, the screen is filled with vertical lines. I am thinking the problem has something to do with Vista....not sure if I like this system! I have contacted Dell but they didn't have a clue! I will, however try the suggestion.....thanks randy..... to see if it is a Power Management problem.

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