Windows 2000 freezing up

Hi there,
I was wandering if I could get some help with my frozen windows 2000 pro pc?

I don’t know why but my pc a few weeks ago, it would refuse to start first time, it would freeze up forcing me to hit the reset button. After, say 3 attempts the pc would start and everything would be fine. This has been the case for the last couple of weeks.

On Monday things got worse, and I couldn’t get it to start up. After many attempts, the pc would start and appear to be normal, but then would suddenly ‘freeze’ up, allowing me no alternative but to hit the reset button.

I’ve defragmented the hardrive and downloaded some ‘registry cleaners’ and have spent hours surfing sites for possible solutions. I wish I had the skill to know what to do, but I just don’t!
The guy who normally helps with my pc is on holiday, so I’m stuck at the moment.
Any suggestions please?

First of all download update and run Ad-aware and Spybot.
http://www.lavasoftusa.com/support/download/
http://www.safer-networking.org/en/download/index.html
Fix everything Ad-Aware finds but only prechecked red in Spybot. After installing Spybot, make sure you reboot.
Are your Windows criticals up to date?
Then got to http://www.pcpitstop.com/pcpitstop/default.asp and run the free test.
Post your test in User to User Help http://pcpitstop.ibforums.com/ and wait for expert help. Everyone is very helpful. Nice people.

Cuddles, what did you add or change recently, i.e.add new drivers,software, delete anything ?
do you have antivirus in operation, if so when did you last check for updates ?
try and think back, I will be out from 1700 tonight, but leave a message if you wish, and I'll get back..........

Cuddles, also try looking in device manager.......start,control panel,admin tools,computer management,
click on device manager,(left panel),
on right panel , click on the + sign and see if there are any yellow or red warnings
if so make a note and let me know.............if you find any don't worry !

Pitstop should show those up.

oatman said:

Pitstop should show those up.

Click to expand...

wheezergeezer
Hmmmm…I updated IB, java and hyperserver fairly recently. I update antivirus quite often, every few days.
I don’t think I’ve ever updated any drivers, how important is this? I’ve had my pc for about 5 years.
I didn’t have any recent yellow or red warnings, but going back a month I did have some. Thanks for your help

Oatman
Right I will do as you suggest regarding Ad-ware & Spybot.
Yes Windows criticals are up to date.
I ran the pcpitstop test earlier on, but didn’t post the test up, I will do this.

Since about 15.15 pc has been running okay, after multiple attempts to get it running.
Thanks for your help.

FWIW, I've spent this last week looking at a similar problem with my sister's PC while she's on holiday. Hers runs Windows 98, and has been fine for the last three years that she's had it up until a few weeks ago. I've spent quite a lot of tme looking at the problem, but I can't find a conclusive problem. However, I have replaced the hard drive with another I have, copying the original contents over, and it has worked fine since, so I suspect that it is a problem with the hard drive. I even downloaded the hard drive testing suite from the Fujitsu web-site, but that reports the drive as functioning perfectly.

So, if you have another hard drive, it might be worth copying everything across onto it and try using that instead.

Alex

Cuddles, you can try this,
next time your pc freezes, or won't start first thing
listen if you can hear the fan working away at the back of the pc, or not
if its silence, let me know ?

don't worry about updating any drivers, I just wanted to know if you had recently done this or added a new device.

wheezergeezer said:

Cuddles, you can try this,
next time your pc freezes, or won't start first thing
listen if you can hear the fan working away at the back of the pc, or not
if its silence, let me know ?

don't worry about updating any drivers, I just wanted to know if you had recently done this or added a new device.

Click to expand...

Alex
yes I had lots of trouble with 98 crashing all the time and so switched to 2000, which has been fine up until now! I have another drive, so that's a good option thanks.

wheezergeezer
the fan is always on.

I've loaded spybot and Adware as suggested and have scanned & corrected stuff, but pc still just suddenly locks up...aghhhhhh
Been trying all day to fix this all day. Thanks for the support folks.

Cuddles,

I had a similar problem - have you downloaded and patched SP4 (i think)

yes I have.

wheezergeezer said:

Cuddles, also try looking in device manager.......start,control panel,admin tools,computer management,
click on device manager,(left panel),
on right panel , click on the + sign and see if there are any yellow or red warnings
if so make a note and let me know.............if you find any don't worry !

Click to expand...

My system event viewer has come up with the following errors (I have only 1 pc):

Error
source: service control manager
The TVICHW32 service failed to start due to the following error:
The system cannot find the file specified.

Error: this came up twice.
source: DCOM
The server (1BE1F766-5536-11D1-B726-00C04FB926AF)did not register with DCOM within the required timeout.

Error:
source: service control manager
The remote access connection manager service depends on the telephony service which failed to start because of the following error :
No attempts to start the service have been made since the last boot.

Error:
source: service control manager
The following boot-start or system-start driver(s) failed to load:
FireTDI
MRxSmb
NetBIOS
NetBT
Prodrv04
RasAcd
Rdbss
Tcpip

Error
source: service control manager
The Computer Browser service depends on the Server service which failed to start because of the following error:
No attempts to start the service have been made since the last boot.

Error:
source: service control manager
The System Event Notification service depends on the COM+ Event System service which failed to start because of the following error:
No attempts to start the service have been made since the last boot.

Error:
The Messenger service depends on the NetBIOS Interface service which failed to start because of the following error:
A device attached to the system is not functioning.

Error:
source: service control manager
The TCP/IP NetBIOS Helper Service depends on the AFD Networking Environment service which failed to start because of the following error:
No attempts to start the service have been made since the last boot.

Error:
The DNS Client service depends on the TCP/IP Protocol Driver service which failed to start because of the following error:
A device attached to the system is not functioning.

Error:
source: service control manager
The DHCP Client service depends on the NetBios over Tcpip service which failed to start because of the following error:
A device attached to the system is not functioning.

Error:
Source :server
The server could not bind to the transport\Device\NetbiosSmb because another computer on the network has the same name. The server could not start.

Error
Source: server
The server could not bind to the transport \Device\NetBT_Tcpip (E2A175AC-CEDOA-47E6-9644-A39E0D632DE8) because another computer on the network has the same name. The server could not start.

Could someone please 'translate' these errors for me,and suggest what I need to do to fix my pc?
Thanks

What have you got under network and dial up connections?

Racer said:

What have you got under network and dial up connections?

Click to expand...

If I click on 'local area connection', the following are ticked:
client for Microsoft networks
mcafee desktop firewall
file & printer sharing for microsoft networks
internet protocol (TCP/IP)

Under Local Area Connection , I have:
Type: LAN Connection
Status: Enabled
3Com Etherlink XL 10/100 PCI For Complete PC Management NIC (3C905C-TX)

Thanks for your help.

If you have no other computers, then disable LAN connection
That is causing a problem

Racer said:

If you have no other computers, then disable LAN connection
That is causing a problem

Click to expand...

okay thanks, just trying to work out how to do that......

Go to
Start then settings, network and dial up connections, then move down to Local area connection then
Right click and then 'disable'

Yes, good advice from Racer - it would appear that you are on a network where another computer has the same NetBIOS name as you, hence: "The server could not bind to the transport\Device\NetbiosSmb because another computer on the network has the same name. The server could not start."

Alex

Racer said:

Go to
Start then settings, network and dial up connections, then move down to Local area connection then
Right click and then 'disable'

Click to expand...

Okay I just tried that, but then I lost my internet connection.
I guess I need to connect to the internet in another way?