Seems to be OK in Safe Mode but otherwise, constant crashes/freezing.

I'm not very computer savvy so please bear with me.

This is a problem that has been happening for about a week. I'll boot normally and while it takes a bit longer than before (hanging Welcome screen with the glowing circle), once I reach the desktop it seems to operate sluggishly but normally. Firefox takes about a minute to open its first window, then subsequent windows open normally.

After about 3 - 5 minutes, the computer eventually freezes and will not respond to any mouse clicks, either on the task bar or desktop icons. I cannot open any program, cannot launch the Task Manager, and any program I'm running freezes. I cannot shut it down so I have to unplug it and pop the battery. About a week ago, this behavior was infrequent. Now it is constant.

My anti-malware is Malwarebytes. My registry cleaner is CCleaner. My anti-virus is Bitdefender. I'm unable to run complete scans per above.

I performed a clean boot and the problems described persist. Windows informs me that my drivers are all up-to-date. I'm not sure what to do.

Thanks in advance for any help.

P.S. Firefox recently gave me an error I hadn't seen before: my profile was missing. I researched the error and created a new profile. This did not fix anything. I also received an error re. Windows Explorer but I can't remember what the error said as it appeared very quickly on my screen, then disappeared.

Right click on taskbar and choose Task Manager then keep your spy eye under processes tab. Check and see which process consuming the large portion of your virtual memory. Right click on any particular process and choose Go to details. See if the holding programs is legitimate or not. Do uninstall it if that's not needed anymore or used occasionally.

Also, uninstall Firefox and reinstall it to check and confirm that if that's not causing the problem.

Good luck though!!

alexgrossman said:

Right click on taskbar and choose Task Manager then keep your spy eye under processes tab. Check and see which process consuming the large portion of your virtual memory. Right click on any particular process and choose Go to details. See if the holding programs is legitimate or not. Do uninstall it if that's not needed anymore or used occasionally.

Also, uninstall Firefox and reinstall it to check and confirm that if that's not causing the problem.

Good luck though!!

Thanks for your ideas, Alex!

In looking at the Task Manager, there doesn't seem to be anything consuming a large amount of memory save Firefox. I uninstalled then re-installed Firefox and nothing has changed re. performance. One of the first things I did once this crashing began is regularly delete my history, then I performed a defrag. I checked the Event Viewer but I'm not computer literate enough to understand how to decipher what's going on.

In writing this text, the screen will freeze, the glowing cursor appears, then about 30 secs. later I'm able to continue typing. This tells me something might be running in the background but other than the task manager, I don't know how to find out.

Thanks again for your help. :)

Layback Bear said:

How old is this laptop?
When was the last time it was cleaned inside and outside.
These problems can be caused by over heating.
It's a good place to start.

Hi, Layback Bear. Thanks for your ideas.

I purchased this laptop 3 years ago. The only cleaning I've done is apply compressed air to the fan area in the direction of the vent and I've cleaned the ports, first with the air, then with Q-tips. I've not noticed that it's getting hotter than normal but I have been playing a graphics-intensive game and was wondering if my video card was dying.

As I wrote above to Alex, in writing a response to him and now to you, the glowing circle appears for about 30 seconds and I cannot input text, then it disappears and I can resume typing. (I'm typing this in normal mode, not Safe Mode.)

Thanks again for your help! :)

Try a clean boot. How to perform a clean boot in Windows

Also try a check disk Disk Check

townsbg said:

Try a clean boot. How to perform a clean boot in Windows

Also try a check disk Disk Check

Hi, Townsbg. Thanks for responding!

I did a clean boot early on. I had forgotten to do a disk check, though. I just performed one and there has been no change in performance, although some bad sectors were repaired.

So neither tool seems to have helped. I'm stumped!

Thanks again for your help. :)

Voiceover,

I strongly suspect that the glowing circle could because of failing or bad hard drive and would recommend you to replace it. Also, check out your memory sticks and ensure that it's not causing the problem. You can test it by running on single stick if you've two. In case you've only one RAM, then try spare or purchase a new one.

Good luck though!!

Layback Bear said:

I see you use Bitdefender.
Many have very good luck using it but some have reported some problems.
As a test remove it with their online removal tool and give MSE a try.

Thanks, Layback. I tried to download MSE but the computer crashed before it finished. Harrumph!