Computer Unexpectedly "Freezing" When Opening A Large Program

[theexampleguy]

Before I begin i must apologize if i have broken any unwritten rule on the forums, i am new to the site.

Now, i have had my computer for some time now and thing have been working great. To make a long story short, whenever i open a large program such as a video editing program or a PC game the computer will become "Unresponsive" or "Frozen". Ctrl+Alt+Delete does nothing, my mouse icon doesn't move, even the lights on my keyboard turn off. The only way to exit this is to do a Hard Reboot. I am quite confuzled by this. I have run many virus scans and cleaned out my system to no avail. Tech Support refuses to help me because i am no longer under warranty. I even bought a new video card, nothing seems to help. I am not Tech challenged but will not pretend to know what i am doing. Any suggestions for me?
Also, i get a window every so often telling me Windows Explorer has stopped working.

I am Running Windows Vista Home Premium 32- Bit, Service pack 1.
It's an HP desktop if that helps.
The rest of my specs should be included elsewhere on this page.

 

[raybay]

What we need most is the model of HP, as well as the age of the system, hardware and memory configuration... and how you are connected to the internet.. If memory has been upgraded, did you do that yourself, or did it arrive that way... We assume you upgraded to SP1 yourself.
When Windows Explorer ceases to work, and the keyboard lights turn off, that can be a serious error ... so first thing is to save your data.

 

[theexampleguy]

I am connected using a modem and an Ethernet Cable. My Computer is an HP Pavilion a6430f AMD Desktop. Memory came upgraded, the machine is only about 1 1/2 old.

 

[raybay]

Could it be that the freezing is occuring because there are files coming down that old and slow internet connection on a telephone cable and modem at 33.6 mbps or even 52 mbps?
Big files slow down everything on a modem connection... slow enough to seem like freezing.

 

[snowchick7669]

Big files slow down everything on a modem connection... slow enough to seem like freezing.

But wouldn't that cause the freezing to happen at random not just when opening Games? And/or when downloading mail or software off the internet. Am just a little confused by your statement, as I have never come across this issue myself before

I'm gathering you are talking about a 56k dial up modem?

 

[theexampleguy]

No, there is no mistake here, it's frozen, i am 100% sure it's frozen, sometimes for hours on end. Sometimes i like to let a video render then leave the room for about an hour. What usually will happen is the render completion will be at about 20 - 30% then the machine will freeze. Any music or audio thats playing, the pitch it plays is repeated.

 

[snowchick7669]

There are a few things that can cause machines to freeze when opening/using large resource applications.

1. You system may be overheating, I've had this happen to myself quite a few times and it will often sound like its jerking with the audio. You could monitor your system temps using a program like speedfan. It;s a free download. See how much the temperature rises when running these types of programs

2. Your actual system memory may be faulty, this may not show when your machine isn't put under stress but can show when using programs that need more RAM then usual and can hit bad memory addresses. You can test your RAM using a program like memtest. There are instructions here.

3. Sometimes Malware can cause these types of problems as they hog up your RAM and cpu usage while running in the backround. Then when you actually want to use your machine's resources, it can overload the machine and cause it to hang. Have you run any scans on your machine at all?

Other then that, it may be a rule of elimination as to nailing to culprit

 

[theexampleguy]

Thanks, i will try that.

 

[LookinAround]

Could it be that the freezing is occuring because there are files coming down that old and slow internet connection on a telephone cable and modem at 33.6 mbps or even 52 mbps?
Big files slow down everything on a modem connection... slow enough to seem like freezing.

Good points snowchick7669

And Raybay, do you know what the heck you're talking about?????

1) The OP referred to a "modem". That implies NOTHING about speed. "Modem" might just as well refer to a cable modem as a dial up modem
2) And besides that WHO CARES? I can download big files via my 56Kbps dialup data modem! It will take forever to download a big file as the speed is throttled by the download speed but that hardly ties up resources on my computer (unless you;re still running an archaic machine? Which the OP is NOT!) So, Raybay, why bother to ask for computer specs and then ignore them? LOL
3) Let's not forget the OP couldn't even hit Ctl-Alt-Del to work....

/* EDIT */
Hi theexampleguy :wave:
A couple other things i just happened to catch..

1) Your specs says memory 650GB?? That must be disk your disk space. As snowchick7669 points out memory might be an issue. Just how much do you have???
2) I also just happened to note you're running Vista SP1??? When did you last run Windows update??? i think you should also be running Vista SP2

 

[snowchick7669]

Yes LookinAround, I am as well intrigued and awaiting clarification