Vista Business SP1 (x86) hangs at random

I installed Vista Business a few months ago on my Acer 9420 laptop and it was
working without any major problems. Since installing SP1 I now get a random
hang whilst using the computer. The application in use (usually Firefox 2)
will stop responding completely but I can move the mouse and click on other
apps on the taskbar and bring them up, but they don't respond to clicks,
although the close/minimise/maximise buttons will highlight. No key presses
work, Ctrl-Alt-Del also does not work. I've been running with Task Manager
loaded and can see no sign of the computer being CPU or memory bound (2GB
installed). The only way out is to power off. I've left it up to 45 minutes
without getting conytrol back. Thsi can happen once or twice in a day, and
sometimes not at all. The computer is on for at least 8 hours per day with
IE7, FF2, ActiveSync, Outlook2007 & Thunderbird 2 loaded. It can happen
without FF2 running, in which case it is usually IE7 that shows the first
symptoms, such as failing to respond when a button on a webpage is clicked.
After a few clicks or keypresses there is no more response other than the
ability to move the mouse pointer around the screen. I'm always on WiFi with
WPA-PSK when it happens. There was nothing like this before SP1. Killing
Windows Search has reduced the frequency of the problem, although it is now
back to at least twice a day again. All current patches are installed
including a new graphics driver from the Acer site. The problem occurs with
& without ActiveSync running and with the WM6 device attached or not (via
USB).

Your best source for info is going to be running the command:
perfmon /rel

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Mark L. Ferguson
..

"Grahame" <> wrote in message
news:2278832D-2FC5-45A4-83CB-...
> I installed Vista Business a few months ago on my Acer 9420 laptop and it
> was
> working without any major problems. Since installing SP1 I now get a
> random
> hang whilst using the computer. The application in use (usually Firefox
> 2)
> will stop responding completely but I can move the mouse and click on
> other
> apps on the taskbar and bring them up, but they don't respond to clicks,
> although the close/minimise/maximise buttons will highlight. No key
> presses
> work, Ctrl-Alt-Del also does not work. I've been running with Task
> Manager
> loaded and can see no sign of the computer being CPU or memory bound (2GB
> installed). The only way out is to power off. I've left it up to 45
> minutes
> without getting conytrol back. Thsi can happen once or twice in a day,
> and
> sometimes not at all. The computer is on for at least 8 hours per day
> with
> IE7, FF2, ActiveSync, Outlook2007 & Thunderbird 2 loaded. It can happen
> without FF2 running, in which case it is usually IE7 that shows the first
> symptoms, such as failing to respond when a button on a webpage is
> clicked.
> After a few clicks or keypresses there is no more response other than the
> ability to move the mouse pointer around the screen. I'm always on WiFi
> with
> WPA-PSK when it happens. There was nothing like this before SP1. Killing
> Windows Search has reduced the frequency of the problem, although it is
> now
> back to at least twice a day again. All current patches are installed
> including a new graphics driver from the Acer site. The problem occurs
> with
> & without ActiveSync running and with the WM6 device attached or not (via
> USB).

Interesting...

I'm not getting any error reports here other than the following: -

Disruptive Shutdown | 6.0.6001 Service Pack 1 | The computer was not shut
down properly | 04/04/2008

under Miscellaneous Failures. The Stability Index has dropped from 10 on
the day after SP1 was installed (and all dates prior to that) down to 7.1
today (not counting two freezes today), with a low of 6.61. There was an
improvement around the time Windows Search service was disabled. No app,
windows or hardware failures are reported at all.

"Mark L. Ferguson" wrote:

> Your best source for info is going to be running the command:
> perfmon /rel
>
> --
> Was this helpful? Then click the Ratings button. Voting helps the web
> interface.
> http://www.microsoft.com/wn3/locales...eAPostAsAnswer
> Mark L. Ferguson
> .
>
> "Grahame" <> wrote in message
> news:2278832D-2FC5-45A4-83CB-...
> > I installed Vista Business a few months ago on my Acer 9420 laptop and it
> > was
> > working without any major problems. Since installing SP1 I now get a
> > random
> > hang whilst using the computer. The application in use (usually Firefox
> > 2)
> > will stop responding completely but I can move the mouse and click on
> > other
> > apps on the taskbar and bring them up, but they don't respond to clicks,
> > although the close/minimise/maximise buttons will highlight. No key
> > presses
> > work, Ctrl-Alt-Del also does not work. I've been running with Task
> > Manager
> > loaded and can see no sign of the computer being CPU or memory bound (2GB
> > installed). The only way out is to power off. I've left it up to 45
> > minutes
> > without getting conytrol back. Thsi can happen once or twice in a day,
> > and
> > sometimes not at all. The computer is on for at least 8 hours per day
> > with
> > IE7, FF2, ActiveSync, Outlook2007 & Thunderbird 2 loaded. It can happen
> > without FF2 running, in which case it is usually IE7 that shows the first
> > symptoms, such as failing to respond when a button on a webpage is
> > clicked.
> > After a few clicks or keypresses there is no more response other than the
> > ability to move the mouse pointer around the screen. I'm always on WiFi
> > with
> > WPA-PSK when it happens. There was nothing like this before SP1. Killing
> > Windows Search has reduced the frequency of the problem, although it is
> > now
> > back to at least twice a day again. All current patches are installed
> > including a new graphics driver from the Acer site. The problem occurs
> > with
> > & without ActiveSync running and with the WM6 device attached or not (via
> > USB).
>