Computer freeze ups and Form1

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Enigma
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Computer freeze ups and Form1

Post by Enigma »

My in-laws computer freezes up within minutes of booting into XP. Also when it boots up, an unknown file called Form1 appears in the taskbar but I can't do nothing to it other than close it. But recently even doing that freezes the computer. What is this Form1 and is it the source of the lockup? If not, what can I do other than nuking it?
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Re: Computer freeze ups and Form1

Post by Ace Pace »

As far as I recall, Form1 is the default name for any .net window application. Sounds like a bad malware application or just a crappy program. Instead of closing it, please download Process explorer and run it when the computer boots. This will(should) show you where the program with the window Form1 is running from and then you can delete it (as stage 1).
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Re: Computer freeze ups and Form1

Post by Enigma »

Can't run the program when the computer locks up within 5 minutes of going into XP. I'm thinking RAM since the problem accelerated when I added a 2GB RAM stick.
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Re: Computer freeze ups and Form1

Post by General Zod »

Enigma wrote:Can't run the program when the computer locks up within 5 minutes of going into XP. I'm thinking RAM since the problem accelerated when I added a 2GB RAM stick.
Do you have more than 3gb of ram installed? Because an xp system most likely won't be able to handle it. If the machine's old enough that might be the issue.
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Re: Computer freeze ups and Form1

Post by Ace Pace »

An XP system handles more than 3GB of RAM perfectly fine, it just won't recognise anything above the 4GB limit (minus device address space and more technical arcana).


Enigma, try running in safe mode and see what happens then.
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Re: Computer freeze ups and Form1

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Had 5GB installed yesterday. I took out the original two 1GB sticks out and left the 2GB stick and a GB stick in. I booted up the computer but once it loaded XP I got a BSOD pertaining to the win32k.sys. I rebooted the computer once again and for about two minutes it was fine. I quickly downloaded process explorer and unzipped it but the second I double clicked the program it locked up.
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Re: Computer freeze ups and Form1

Post by Ace Pace »

Safe mode?
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Re: Computer freeze ups and Form1

Post by Enigma »

Same thing happened in safe mode but I think I narrowed down the problem. My in-laws use a security camera program on the computer. I removed the link from the Startup and rebooted and the computer seems to work fine but the moment I accessed that program the computer locked up.

But why did it lock up before in safe mode if the program wasn't loaded?
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Re: Computer freeze ups and Form1

Post by Enigma »

Scratch that. It still froze without that sec cam software.

But I did notice something. The computer slows down and locks up when loading up a program like the Vistapro4server (sec cam software) or process explorer. Faulty RAM?
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Re: Computer freeze ups and Form1

Post by Enigma »

EDIT: I also got a BSOD saying DRIVER_IRQL_NOT_LESS_OR_EQUAL.
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Re: Computer freeze ups and Form1

Post by JohntheGreat »

Is the RAM you have in there more or less identical? It doesn't sound like it. In my experience, for RAM to play nice with other RAM, it has to be virtually identical. Same size, same DDR, same bus speed, etc. This might be your problem, compounded by a serious infestation of malware.

Just a thought.
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Re: Computer freeze ups and Form1

Post by atg »

Thereare some Live CDs you can download you could test the RAM with. Otherwise at this point I'd be trying a fresh install of Windows.
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Re: Computer freeze ups and Form1

Post by Enigma »

JohntheGreat wrote:Is the RAM you have in there more or less identical? It doesn't sound like it. In my experience, for RAM to play nice with other RAM, it has to be virtually identical. Same size, same DDR, same bus speed, etc. This might be your problem, compounded by a serious infestation of malware.

Just a thought.
I used three identical 1GB sticks (two crucial and one corsair) and the computer still locks up. I've also used one GB and one 2GB sticks (both Crucial) and the result is the same.
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Re: Computer freeze ups and Form1

Post by Enigma »

atg wrote:Thereare some Live CDs you can download you could test the RAM with. Otherwise at this point I'd be trying a fresh install of Windows.
Problem with that is the moment I use a program or leave the computer alone it locks up. It seems that it locks up the moment the computer's resources are used.
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Re: Computer freeze ups and Form1

Post by atg »

Enigma wrote:
atg wrote:Thereare some Live CDs you can download you could test the RAM with. Otherwise at this point I'd be trying a fresh install of Windows.
Problem with that is the moment I use a program or leave the computer alone it locks up. It seems that it locks up the moment the computer's resources are used.
You would need access to another PC then to download & burn the CD. You then boot directly from the CD, and run the tests without running Windows.
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Re: Computer freeze ups and Form1

Post by Enigma »

Quick question, does dust in the computer contribute to lockups?
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Re: Computer freeze ups and Form1

Post by General Zod »

Enigma wrote:Quick question, does dust in the computer contribute to lockups?
Are we talking "just enough dust to be visible" or "holy shit the bunnies are mating and have formed their own colony" kind of dust?
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Re: Computer freeze ups and Form1

Post by atg »

Enigma wrote:Quick question, does dust in the computer contribute to lockups?
If there is enough to block the effectiveness of cooling fans/heatsinks on the CPU or graphics card then yes.
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Re: Computer freeze ups and Form1

Post by Enigma »

General Zod wrote:
Enigma wrote:Quick question, does dust in the computer contribute to lockups?
Are we talking "just enough dust to be visible" or "holy shit the bunnies are mating and have formed their own colony" kind of dust?
When I first opened the cover, there was a build up of dust against one of the RAM sticks which I have since removed the dust from it. But to answer you question, it would be in between but leaning towards the dust bunnies. But the temp for the chassis was 37 degrees Celsius and the CPU at 55 degrees Celsius.
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Re: Computer freeze ups and Form1

Post by Slysdexia »

If that PC has some age on it, 55C could be the threshold of extreme anti-self-destruct countermeasures implemented by the motherboard, CPU, or both. Worth noting is that the (likely silicone based) thermal grease (usually a white or gray paste) has probably liquefied and run away from the CPU/heatsink contact point, or has simply dried with age, creating poor or nearly nonexistent thermal evacuation from the processor's silicon (different material) die leading to this situation. There's a strong chance of some long term side effects to this overheating, like a warped motherboard or flaky CPU (had an old sempron that'd only run at 70% it's new clock speed after an overheat). Data corruption is extremely likely with windows crashing frequently, so don't be shocked if your install grenades too. For the time being, if you can't remove the heatsink and replace the thermal grease is to open the case, remove all dust, and aim a box fan in the side of the open case to try to keep the temps low enough to get important data off to a safe place.

Hope this helps.
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