Hey,
Since last weekend when I defragged my computer, it seems to completely freeze up regularly whether it’s just by using too many programs, listening to music in WMP or playing a game like 'Guild Wars'. My computer has been perfect for about a year now and hasn’t had any problems running any programs or games.

The computer completely freezes and you cannot move the mouse, I have to switch it off via the front button and let it do the scan disk. Sometimes it happens a few times an hour. I’ve done a virus check with Norton and used ad-aware and they have found nothing.

Spec:
Mirosoft Windows XP - Home
Proccessor : Mobile AMD Athlon 1800+
RAM : 512MB
Graphics Card : NVidia Geforce FX5200 (256MB)
HDD: 80GB

The games seem to run smoothly and this has never happened before its just lately.

Thanks for any help,

Did you do a chkdsk /f before the defrag?
You can still do that anyway.

Have you done anything else other than defrag?

Nope nothing else, it happened just after i defragged it, I don't know if its a conisidence

Just wondering how much free space is left on that harddisk. You need a minimum of 15%, if there is less space, the defrag probably got 'stuck' halfway in a file.
If needed, make more space by deleting your Temporary internet files, emptying the Temp directory, uninstalling no-longer-used programs etc. Then run another defrag, AFTER chkdsk /f

Actually there is only 27% free space and theres a picture of the analysis from the defrag attached, its pretty red but defragging it doesnt solve it. There is also a file which is 800MB which will not be moved.

Attached Images

Defrag.jpg (42.6 KB, 5 views)

Open the PC and check that all fans (CPU/PSU/graphics card/mobo/chassis) are working properly and that they are not full of dust.
You may have an overheating problem.
The 800MB file is probably pagefile.sys and is perfectly legal and needed.

Download Diskeeper trial and see if that has more success.

Okay I think that solved it. I deleted unused games and programs and got 30% free space and then used that defraggmenter you advised. Ive not crashed in ages.

Thanks all!

Great, I hope it continues to run smoothly.

Darn, its been a day or two and its started crashing again. I'm going to check all the fans like realblackstuff said, i ran a memory test for my RAM and there wern't any problems.

Do you think that it could be the HDD if it still crashes after i've checked the fans?

Is it SMART enabled? If not it is probably not very new. A new disc would not cost an arm & a leg and would be need at some time in the future.

There is a great little program HDD Regenerator from www.dposoft.net which can revive your harddisk. Not the cheapest, but it works like a charm, especially on older disks.

Cool, I'll try it out but last night I took the side of and cleaned the fans out, where there was alot load of dust. Im not sure if it could have been the ventillation as the tower is in a fairly enclosed space, I had to drill a hole in the back of the desk for the fan at the back. When I pulled the tower out and took the side off the computer didnt crash, even if i tried, so unless it crashes again I think it might be okay now.

Thanks for your help everyone,

I advised you to do so already last week!
Dust is deadly! Hang that over your desk!