Computer is freezing up

A couple of times in the past day or so, my computer has frozen up. The mouse and keyboard didn’t respond and CNTRL-ALT-DEL did not bring up the task manager. The only way to get it going was to manually push the power button to turn it off and then back on.

Here are the computer’s specifications:
HP Pavilion Desktop PC 570-p0xx DESKTOP-MEQCQC7
OS Edition
Windows 10 Home
Version 2009
OS Build
10.0.19044.2006
RAM 8 GB

I bought this computer in 2017. I want to keep it if possible since it has 2 hard drives, the one it came with and one I transplanted from my previous desktop which has old tax prep software.

What is the problem? Can I fix it in this computer? I don’t want to risk the computer going kaput and lose everything.
Wendy

Wendy, sorry Mac user here so no real help from me, other than make sure you have good backup. And, silly thought…try unplugging everything,all peripherals etc…and then replug everything back in - sometimes, our computers just need a “rest” - lol
Good luck…

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When in doubt, REBOOT! Yes, it forces new configurations, linkages… On our Macs, booting into Safe Mode and back out to a normal boot can clear cache files buried many layers deep. I leave my old 2012 mac Pro on 24/7, it sleeps at one level or another, but even then, maybe once a month, it needs a full shutdown, reboot to clear the chaff a bit… So far so good…

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Wow - my MBPro is late 2012/2013 I didn’t know anyone but me was still holding on to the oldies.lol lol

Most of us would begin by running CCleaner to clear all the cashe junk out of the memory. Then Adwcleaner to get rid of any trackers. Finally Malbytesantimalware. All free software that can make a difference.

I’m running a similar Windows system. Mine goes through spasms of blue screen shut downs. I presume this is software conflicts from Microsoft. Had that problem for about a month, but has been quiet for a while. Might be the latest Windows update. Or I seem to have dozens of programs that do massive updates from time to time. They often grab lots of resources including machine cycles making everything run slowly. Pulling the plug and restarting often reveals their presence.

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Ahh, well, I’m a long, long Apple/Mac user, only dabbled in PCs because WeCo/Lucent, Bell Labs insisted on those early DOS-WinNT systems. So I’ve also helped GK’s with a variety of early Macs, iPhones, and further back passed along various Apples to other family members. So there’s a stash of my last Apple //e that came to rest in my garage, maybe 3 or 4 of the white MacBooks, and more recently, my older GD gave me her 2012 MBPro, I brought it to Catalina, left it for now as it’s SSD is pretty small, needs a battery, the pad button doesn’t work, so I’m debating whether I want to invest in it or not… It had stickers all over it, protected it, actually, screen is great, but I have a MBA for travel, so… Anyway, yes, some of us hang onto the earlier hardware, but DW has a newer 27" iMac, must keep DW happy!

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:rofl:
Yep. And my DH is still using his 2007 iMac won’t give it up until……

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Some of it, for me is that I tend to collect things, ‘might need it someday’ seems to fit… But, if I could let go of ‘stuff’, I’d have a lot more room in my garage, office, shop!! Too many interests, never enough hours in the day!

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Hi Wendy. Sorry I don’t have an answer for you given the information you presented but you did say you could get the system going again by powering off and on. The next time you have it on I would suggest clearing your cache and browsing history as you may have used up all your available resources. The other thing I would highly recommend is while you have it up you have an opportunity to make a backup I would definitely take advantage. Sorry I can’t offer more. Good luck.

Regards,

ImAGolfer

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A windows system that suddenly starts hard locking up may be caused by a few different things in my experience.

1.) Have you installed/updated anything around the time that the lockups started? Any new hardware drivers, application updates (although unusual) or windows updates may be to blame.

2.) The computer may be overheating. Do you hear the fans running really loudly at the time?

3.) Is there a consistent set of conditions when the system locks up? Running any particular applications, is it happening at any specific time of day? If it’s truly random, I would lay the blame at hardware as long as nothing has been updated recently. The usual culprit with a system of that age is RAM (memory), a failing HDD or worst-case a dying motherboard. There may be a diagnostic partition on that system where you can run or check out these HP links for diagnostics.

This is what I would personally do. I recently had an issue similar to yours that took me a month to track down. Best of Luck

Phaz

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Related to that, especially with a tower case that sits on the floor, it is quite possible to have an amazing accumulation of dust insulating things that are not supposed to heat up. Opening up the case (with the power off!) and blowing it out is good. Using a vacuum inside is bad.

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If you haven’t figured out what the problem is: A common thing that causes your problem is a failing power supply. If blowing all the dust out of your power supply and off your fans doesn’t fix the problem, this might do it. It’s an easy fix and shouldn’t be too expensive even if you have someone do it for you. I read through the other suggestions above and the one suggesting free ccleaner and free malwarebytes might help if its crap on your computer type of problem. My experience is the power supply may be the problem since its 5 years old. Updates etc don’t usually cause this freezing problem IMHO…doc

You don’t need the paid versions for a cleaning, just get the free versions IMO
Download CCleaner Slim - MajorGeeks

Malware protection. Better than Antivirus | Malwarebytes

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