[Jdouglas]

Firstly hey everyone, this is my first post and unfortunately not in the best of circumstances. I recently made this computer with the help of a friend, and installed the 64 bit version of Windows Vista Home Premium.

At first things were fine but after a little while i started to experience lockups, where my applications would freeze for any length of time from 2-15 minutes before returning to normal.

My specs are as follows :
AMD x2 6000+
GeiL 2gb ram @ 800mhz
HIS ATI Radeon 3850 pro
Windows vista home premium (64 bit)

I would like to get this problem resolved as soon as possible as it is preventing me from installing my programs etc as windows is not stable long enough to get anything done.

Thanks for any help anyone can give me, and please try to treat me like someone who knows very little about computers - because I think I fall into that category

[Blind Dragon]

click Start-> Control Panel-> Administrative Tools-> select event viewer

look for errors in last 24 hours -> right click them -> select 'show all instances'

you can right click each instance and select event properties -> should give you an idea of what is causing it.

If you want to post the Event ID = That can usually tell you exactly what it is, and even what you need to fix it in most cases

you can also go to http://www.eventid.net and just type in the ID

[Jdouglas]

Event ID 1002 - Source: application hang

Sounds about right to me.

All help much appreciated!

[Jdouglas]

I'm considering buying a copy of windows xp now actually...this problem is incredible and i'm not really finding a solution. Before I buy xp i really want to make sure that this is a vista problem and not something to do with my hardware.
If you guys can help me either fix vista or help me make sure it's a vista problem, i would be VERY grateful. I don't want to go out and spend money on XP only to find out it doesn't work properly either!

thanks a lot :)

[Blind Dragon]

The basic solution is probably posted somewhere on these forums however I am not sure where as I have just joined here and I am not 100% familiar. I'll have a look and edit here if found, or maybe somebody that's been around a while can provide a link. The most common cause is bad RAM, you should try removing one stick and see if the problem continues, if it does, replace that stick and remove the other stick. You should also run Memtest (some faulty RAM can pass memtest) You also should ensure that all your drivers are up to date, I have seen this error from old network adapter drivers as well as 3rd party toolbars and BHO's(Browser Helper Objects).

or

You can check and see if your system created a minidump. Go to C:\windows\minidump.dmp -> upload the file here for analysis using the paperclip icon above this window. Then somebody can download and debug it to see what driver or applications are causing the error

[Jdouglas]

Hmm that's interesting, a friend of mine suggested checking my RAM too. I hope that's the problem since that's easily remedied. I'll run a memtest and then try removing a module.

Also i checked for a minidump and there is no file at C:\windows\minidump.dmp
In C:\Windows\ there is no "minidump.dmp", I'll assume that's a good thing.

Thanks for the reply, I'll start checking my RAM.

[Jdouglas]

Hmm I fiddled with the ram, trying a few different combinations and i think i found out what the problem was : I had my ram modules in the wrong slots which was preventing them from running in dual channel mode !

Now i only have a lockup installing Crysis...I think that must just be the disc or something

[philthomas]

Out of interest, was there a specific reason why you installed Vista 64bit ? .... as it is well known to have many driver issues, as indeed has XP's 64bit version.

Unless you have specific reasons to use this, the 32bit version would be a much safer and more stable solution.

[Jdouglas]

I wasn't aware of any complications at the time. I received advice on my new build from another computer forum, and was directed towards 64 bit.

[philthomas]

In that case, my advice would be to lose the 64bit version and install the 32bit one.

You wont regret it