[rubicon]

I have a DELL Inspiron and find that periodically it locks up. Why?

[Jima64]

When I used pc's a lot they would sometimes lock up if I tried to do too many things at once. Also bad website addresses and links, full caches . Really no telling what your specific problem is.

[Arctic Fox]

Originally Posted by rubicon

I have a DELL Inspiron and find that periodically it locks up. Why?

I have never owned a computer that didn't occasionally lock up, albeit some more than others. Operating systems are so complex and voluminous these days that there are bound to be some lines of code that can cause a conflict.

I run CCleaner and Malwarebyte regularly to clear out accumulated rubbish. Otherwise, just do regular back-ups and hope that a simple reboot will get you going again.

[twoplanekid]

It’s the hardware (hard drive, memory, motherboard, power supply) and or software (corrupt windows, virus, spyware, poor program) and or environment (heat, cold, poor power, bad web site or web service ) or end user.

[TNLAKEPANDA]

Usually if it is an older computer you running out RAM memory. Older computers do not have enough for today's processing needs.

[rubicon]

Originally Posted by TNLAKEPANDA

Usually if it is an older computer you running out RAM memory. Older computers do not have enough for today's processing needs.

TNLAKEPANDA running out of RAM memory or perhaps its this end users failing memory

Are you familiar with White Bluff Tennessee?

[retiredguy123]

In other words, nobody knows why computers lock up. I have owned several laptops, and they start out running fast, but after 6 months or so, they slow down. I have never gotten a real answer as to why this happens.

[Polar Bear]

Originally Posted by alscheller

In other words, nobody knows why computers lock up. I have owned several laptops, and they start out running fast, but after 6 months or so, they slow down. I have never gotten a real answer as to why this happens.

Do you have reasonable protection software? Mcafee, Norton, other?

[Nucky]

Originally Posted by Polar Bear

Do you have reasonable protection software? Mcafee, Norton, other?

Norton is include with Comcast for free. The support team had me run a little known program called Norton Eraser. It changed the operation of my wife's Dell a whole lot....but not for long. In my non professional opinion it is better to buy a computer with the best memory you can afford from the factory instead of adding the memory once you have a problem. Better yet, my Mac is in a Pack Rat Storage Container in Orlando. If all goes well we will be reunited early next week. I should be grateful for this Dell computer, it only seized up 6 times in 30 day's.

[Polar Bear]

Heheh. I'm on my 5th (counting my kids') Dell laptop in the past 10 years. Great luck with all of them. (Well...maybe it's not all due just to luck. )

[retiredguy123]

I have always used Norton, but it doesn't seem to help much with speed. Every time I run a scan, it almost never finds problem. The Norton eraser didn't help at all.

[biker1]

You might try periodically reinstalling the OS.

Originally Posted by alscheller

I have always used Norton, but it doesn't seem to help much with speed. Every time I run a scan, it almost never finds problem. The Norton eraser didn't help at all.

[Nucky]

Originally Posted by alscheller

I have always used Norton, but it doesn't seem to help much with speed. Every time I run a scan, it almost never finds problem. The Norton eraser didn't help at all.

Had pop up errors and warnings before installing Norton and now it doesn't happen anymore and for free its for me. Maybe its just a coincidence.

[Wayne Sallee]

They are designed to lock up to teach you patience. :-) :-)

twoplanekid answered it well.

I'ts like asking "Why do cars stop working?"

There are a million reasons why computers give problems, but the first thing to do is to check to see if it is a hardware problem, or a software problem. Software problems require patience to fix, but are fixable, Some hardware problems are not worth the money to fix, like replacing the motherboard in an old laptop. Test your memory, and test your hard drive.

Wayne Sallee
Wayne@WayneSallee.com
Wayne Sallee . Com