2 separate Net framework, an IE8 and killbits updates

[Roddy]

Hi

I am sending this from work as I cant actually use my home PC at the moment (not the Win7 OS anyways - the Vista HP SP2 works faultlessly!).

On my home PC's WIN7 OS I have continual 'lockups'...easiest way to describe it. The PC just stops working after a few minutes...my Gadget clock with a second hand just stops - time freezes. The only way to get any action is to hard boot.

So last night I did another system restore back to Sept 21 configuration.

NO PROBLEM with system, worked fine. So I went to Windows Update and downloaded the 5 Office 2007 updates on offer. After, still no problem.

But when wanting to close down I noticed that the PC was offering up the "Shut down and install Updates" pop-up. So I went back to Windows Update to see what was on offer and there were 2 seperate .Net updates (one for Win2000, WinXP and Vista) and the other for WIN7. Also, a Killbits update and a cumulative security update for IE8.

I left all checked and installed all. Rebooted, and ... bugga ... back to the lockedup PC I went!....so ...my longwinded question is...why the 2 .Net updates???

I am going to restore again tonite and then hide the .Net Win2000/XP/Vista .Net update and only install the Win7 one, and I am then one by one going to install the killbits and IE8 updates...to try an isolate the cause.

Failing that...........???

Could prefetch or search function be causiing this? But going from the 'second' hand on my gadget clock, the whole PC is in a frozen state.....

Rgds
Rod from
downunder !

 

[H2SO4]

Roddy, maaaaate

The .Net updates don't have the architectural wherewithall to completely lock up a machine, though I don't doubt your observations regarding their presence being apparently linked.

Can you explain the symptoms of the "lockup" in greater detail? Does the mouse pointer still move? Does ctrl-shift-esc bring up the Task Manager? Can the machine be pinged from another box on the network? Can you connect to its shares?

Answers to those questions would help us to understand just how "dead" the OS really is, and hence on what level to try troubleshooting.

 

[Roddy]

Gday matey!!!!! No, when it LOCKS, it LOCKS...I have no cursor movement, no ctrl-alt-delete....no task manager, nothing on screen at all that functions. So to troubleshoot is a bit of a problemo....The 2 lights on my PC tower are hard-on green. I have to hard reboot to get back...

...yet this a.m. as I type this, I had set off on my path of enlightenment and had installed both .Net framework updates and the killbits update BUT NOT the cumulative IE8 update (KB974455) - this I will investigate when I gets home later today but right nowall is working fine....no lockups....

....mmmmm, bugga if that's it, coz now IE8 is not as secure as it should be? but at least my WIN7 IS!

Rgds
Rod

 

[Roddy]

The trick (to MY system at least) is to let WIN7 boot up and then not use it or do anything for 5 minutes after DESKTOP appears, than all seems fine. It flies.

I have NOT installed the IE8 Cumulative Update ...

...last night I tried using it pretty much straight after booting in....whilt it did NOT completley lock up, the cursow was jumpy and mostly non respondent whilst a IE8 page took several minutes to try and load (nothing seemingly happening- then all of a sudden all was well - page loaded - mouse control back etc).

This am, I booted in, had a shower, came back and started using PC - fully respondent to start with.

Though thinking back, last night before closing down I went to msconfig and disabled all Apple services (bonjour - itunes helper etc).....so maybe they were the problem?

Rgds
Rod

 

[H2SO4]

The trick (to MY system at least) is to let WIN7 boot up and then not use it or do anything for 5 minutes after DESKTOP appears, than all seems fine. It flies.

I have NOT installed the IE8 Cumulative Update ...

...last night I tried using it pretty much straight after booting in....whilt it did NOT completley lock up, the cursow was jumpy and mostly non respondent whilst a IE8 page took several minutes to try and load (nothing seemingly happening- then all of a sudden all was well - page loaded - mouse control back etc).

This am, I booted in, had a shower, came back and started using PC - fully respondent to start with.

Though thinking back, last night before closing down I went to msconfig and disabled all Apple services (bonjour - itunes helper etc).....so maybe they were the problem?

Rgds
Rod

The fact that the mouse pointer is also stuck is significant. The portions of the OS which deal with mouse movement are relatively "low-level", in the sense that you'd really have to be another low-level component - like a driver - in order to interfere.

Hence, my suggestion, if you're keen on more testing, would be to temporarily uninstall your anti-virus, 3rd-party firewall, and any other similar non-default "security" utilites you may have installed yourself.

As a secondary thing, try making sure that the BIOS and hardware drivers (NIC, video...) are also up-to-date.

If the lockups still persist afterwards, there are additional steps you could take, but it's best to rule out the simpler stuff first.

 

[Roddy]

Hi H2SO4...thanks for taking time and interest!

When my PC completely locks up, it DOES COMPLETELY lock up...no cursor movement, no ctrl+alt+del, clock stops and tower lights hard-on green, I CAN only hard boot to get back into it.

I am using Avast free AV and Draytek router with inbuilt firewall.

All my drivers are up completely up to date...one thing though, I do have a Bamboo tablet, and had to disable it's driver as it WAS conflicting with mouse driver. Even though Device Manager says it IS disabled, I DO have full Tablet functionality! Another thing, I use one microsoft wireless controller to cover both my microsoft mouse and microsoft keyboards. Initially I used separate wireless connectors and that was causing mouse to be jumpy, so I reinstalled Intellipoint and the newer controller and then have had no issues with mouse in Vista or WIN7 (apart from when it locks....!)

I have no idea how to ensure bios is up to date. Never looked into/at it....

Rgds
Rod