Fixing random computer freezing problems

[Aakash]

Here are the hints to alleviate random computer freezes or lock ups. This is one of the nasty problems out there that people face and don't seem to know how to resolve it. The most common reasons for computer freezing or random lock ups are:-

System infected with Malware or Virus or other malicious software
If your system is infected with any of these and particularly one of deadlier ones, your system will eventually get a performance hit. You will notice slow-downs, sluggishness to a fairly good extent and even freezing. Freezing particularly when a malicious program tries to phone home or downloads something off the internet.

Since malware will invariably corrupt some of your files, usually important system files that are needed for certain processes, you may notice some programs randomly crashing or not starting at all.

Defective computer memory
This is one of the most common causes of freezing. A defective or corrupt RAM stick can cause random freezing, crashes, BSOD errors and corruption of data. Run a good memory tester to check RAM for defects. Memtest is one of the best I have found. You can also try installing memory cards one at a time to isolate the faulty one. Download Memtest from http://www.memtest86.com

Overclocked hardware components
Freezing may occur if you have tweaks settings of your computer hardware like processor, FSB, RAM way more than they can handle. Improperly overclocked machine is not only unstable but also can wreck havoc on components.

Device driver conflicts
Driver issues, especially for video drivers, are a common cause of system crashes. If you upgrade your audio video codecs, make sure you read install issues or conflicts in the documentation. Some of them can conflict with other programs or drivers and make system unstable and locking up at random intervals.

Cramped Hard drives and Disk errors
Check your drives to see if you have sufficient free space available on all the partitions and specially where your operating system is installed. Also, see if hard drives file table is intact and there are no disk errors. Run chkdsk or similar utility to fix file system errors.

Overheating
Heat and dust play an important role in shortening the life of your computer. Overheating is another known cause of freezing. It can be caused by problems with fans inside the case, dust buildup, or other cooling problems. Make sure the power supply fan and CPU fan are running and free of dust buildup.

Unnecessary programs, services and scheduled scans running in background
You may overlook it, a scheduled virus scan running in background can make a system extremely non-responsive. Same goes for all the unnecessary programs that keep sitting in the system tray and hog on resources.