My computer either freezes or restarts unexpectedly, what do I do?

Question

It's a Compaq, and has Windows XP. I deleted most everything on it, and it was working fine. I've recently downloaded AIM, iTunes, and installed a wireless receiver, and it's back to freezing or restarting.

Answer 1

does it only do it when ur on the net .. or only wen ur downloading somthing .. if so it may be u need to redo ur nic driver .. or it may simply be overheating check ur fans and look for dust bunnies ..

Answer 2

Try booting into safe mode by pressing F8 when your computer is first starting up.

I'd recommend trying safe mode with networking so your still have internet access.

If the computer keeps locking up while running and rebooting while in safe mode, then you need to do a good physical inspection of the inside of the computer.

Look at the fans, make sure they are working, and the heat syncs are clear.

Next, look at the capacitors around the CPU, if they are bulging and leaking, then you've found your problem.

Another common cause of those symptoms is a failing/weak power supply.

Those are a few ideas for you to explore and ponder..

Answer 3

It is probably because there are some regsitry errors and remnant,corrupt files and temp files in your computer to cause "computer freezing".You need to clean you computer.
Every time you install and uninstall hardware and software on your computer and surfing online you create junk in the registry cause "computer freezing".
Basically, the registry files contain information and settings for all of the software, hardware, operating system software, and anything else running on your computer. Mess any of these files up, and the computer does not know how to function. The computer goes to start up the software, looks for the registry files, and either can not find it or finds something that does not look like it is suppose to look like. It then just sits there: it does not know what to do next. This is where the “hanging” or “freezing up” of your computer comes from.So You need to scan and clean your computer with registry cleaner.Good Regisry Cleaner can fix computer freezing prominently.It also can improve your computer and Internet performance dramatically up to 300%!
There are some comparison and review of TOP 5 registry cleaners.
http://computer-speed.info
You can download and scan your computer for free.

Answer 4

Do you have a good virus scanner installed and updated regularly - every day or two.

Do you have anti spy and ad ware software installed and updated regularly - every day or two. (be careful with adaware and spybot - they miss a lot of potentially harmful code)

Do you do manual scans at least once a week with each one.

Have you password protected your wireless router? If not, you may have to reset your router and set it up again with admin password and client login and password.

Look up the model number of your wireless router on the internet for instructions how to do the above.

Hope this helps.

Good Luck.

Answer 5

you must've picked up some virus along when downloading...if you already tried to defragment your pc and shut-down then I suggest you run Spyware to clean up your pc from suspicious files. Try the link and download, and its free! Run program once a week.
http://www.download.com/3000-8022_4-10401314.html

Answer 6

Run a virus scan. If that doesn't work, use a restore point on your computer.