Thank you for being a valued part of the CNET community. As of December 1, 2020, the forums are in read-only format. In early 2021, CNET Forums will no longer be available. We are grateful for the participation and advice you have provided to one another over the years.

Thanks,

CNET Support

Question

Please help: Computer stops suddenly with no reason

Nov 2, 2012 7:40PM PDT

Hi guys, I've been having this problem for the past ~3 weeks. I'm just doing stuff on my PC and the mouse or keyboard stop responding at all. Videos on youtube also freeze as well. Apart from that, there's no apparent connection with the software or peripheral used at the time this happens; it could be any office software, or Firefox, multimedia player, etc. The screen doesn't show any action either except for Alpha Clock, a small application that's always on one corner and keeps going after everything else froze. Sometimes Alpha Clock also stops after a few minutes, some other times I just reset the PC right away and can't tell what could happen later. Windows' Toolbar does freeze along with all other activity though. As I said, online videos also stop playing.

Please help. I've been thinking it could be a RAM problem, what are your thoughts? The fans are all good. The PC is a 3+ year old Athlon Dual Core 2.61 GHz, 2GB RAM, Windows XP Home Edition w/Service Pack 3. Thank you very much for any hint that helps me solve this problem.

Discussion is locked

- Collapse -
Clarification Request
Why is Alpha Clock (and other apps)?
Nov 3, 2012 2:24AM PDT
- Collapse -
Answer
Issues
Nov 3, 2012 12:02AM PDT

And what happens when you boot into Safe Mode?