-----Original Message-----

Date:    Tue, 6 Jan 2009 16:39:42 -0600
From:    Diane K <[log in to unmask]>
Subject: Computer Freezing

Dear Listers,

My computer freezes after a very short time once I get into Windows.  I
switched to my bootable backup, and now *it's* freezing.  My HD's are not
even half full.  I'm thinking it's a virus, though I run AVG and ZoneAlarm.

I'm thinking I'm going to need to start fresh on another hard drive.

Any ideas before I go through all this.

Could it be something running under processes in Task Manager?

Something popped up from ZoneAlarm with the word Juggler which I denied.

XP Pro on an HP computer, 200GB HD, 1 or 2GB Ram.


Diane Kroeckel

------------------------------

It's possible that there is a virus. Do you remember exactly what you were
doing before the problems started? I googled "juggler" and therre are a
number of ways to go from there. Symantecs website lists these variants of
the word Juggler http://tinyurl.com/7c22fa. Were you browsing the internet
and did you download anything prior to the problems?

Do you have softwarre on your pc that is named "Juggler"? I ask because the
same search comes up with two different programs. One is "Disc Juggler"
which is a Cd burning program http://tinyurl.com/9nujyu. The other is "Task
Juggler" which is an open source program built for Unix/Linux but can be
ported to windows http://tinyurl.com/a58qp6

Another idea is that the same symptoms appear whather you're in the HDD of
the pc or your backup HDD. Is the backup an external drive? I'm wondering if
the problem is hardware related. Heat build up is a common issue. Is the
heatsink/fan dirty? Yes you can use compressed air to blow out the dust, you
just don't want to "freewheel" the fan blades. The compressed air will push
the fan faster that it normally runs and you can damage the tiny bearings.
Just put the eraser end of a wooden pencil into the fan blades before
applying air. Same goes for the power supply, although it is a little harder
to reach. If you can clean the PSU from the inside of the case by blowing
compressed air out it should not rotate the fan any faster that it can
handle. A couple of short puffs should tell you if it is full of dust.

Another issue may be the power supply itself. Propritary PSU's are notorious
for being underpowered and "thrifty" in design. If you have placed
additional stress on the PSU by adding other drives, cards, memory or
external devices powered through the usb hub, it just may be tuckering out.

How old is this pc? That may be another factor in determining whether it is
hardware related. Does it have an "add-in" video card or on-board graphics?
I ask because you say your pc freezes. Is it just the display or is actually
the OS? When it freezes what do you do to shut down?

Just a few ideas to say that the problem may not be "OS" oriented but
hardware related.

Chris Ryan

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