One of my PCs hangs

[countrydj]

I have 3 PCs, all XP Pro, all mapped to a 'file server' on a p2p basis. The file server is a Linux computer using Samba to connect to a Windows network.

The file server holds the data for a wholesale program. The 3 PCs each have the program installed.

During one particular process of editing deliveries, one of the PCs just hangs. The other 2 work fine.

 

I have copied the program files from a working PC to the non working PC and it doesn't make any difference.

 

It seems obvious that the non working PC is faulty in some way, but I can't figure out what would cause this.

 

Could it be hardware or software. ?

 

All the PCs are fairly new, have dual core processor, and 2Gb of RAM. The virtual memory is quite high.

 

Has anybody got any suggestions ???

 

Thanks,

 

John C

[Plastic Nev]

Hi and welcome to Extreme Tech Support - Free PC Help.

 

Can you please confirm that all three computers are exactly the same make and model or is there differences?

Also this problem does only occur on just one of the three and does not happen at all on the other two?

Thirdly, is it always the one process that makes it hang or is there a few others, or is it completely random?

 

If that one process only, do the other computers handle the same process OK?

 

I think at first glance until you can answer and confirm the above, the problem could be down to a faulty RAM module, or maybe even some hard drive sector fault if there is a call for the same information from the hard drive every time.

 

Let us know the answers to the above and we can go from there.

 

Nev.

[countrydj]

Hi Plastic Nev ...

Thank you for taking the time to reply.

The 3 computers are NOT exactly the same, but they are very similar being dual core and 2Gb RAM.

I built them myself.

Originally, all 3 computers handled all processes OK.

Now 2 of them still handle all processes OK but 1 computer has gone faulty.

The faulty computer handles all processes except 1. i.e.edit deliveries. It is NOT random.

 

Your ideas of it being the RAM or the Hard Drive are all that I can think of.

or maybe even some hard drive sector fault if there is a call for the same information from the hard drive every time.

I have defragged and optimised the hard drive, and there were no faults shown. Also, the files should have different 'homes' now.

However, the computers are remote (60 miles away) so I can't just trial things without travelling.

 

I realise that I will have to travel eventually, but I am trying to figure out anything else that could be wrong before I make the journey.

 

Many thanks for your suggestions.

 

John C

[Plastic Nev]

Hi again, thanks for the information, makes it a little more complicated with it being such a distance away.

 

A thought now and considering it is only one process, I suspect some sort of file corruption in the software for handling that task as it is a lot too specific for it to be hardware perhaps.

 

However, just to rule out the possibility of a hard drive fault, although you have de-fragged the drive have you tried a full disk check?

To save me some typing, follow these instructions in this link=

 

http://agsci.psu.edu/it/how-to/use-disk-check

 

If that comes back as a nothing wrong report, I can only ask if it is possible to put a date on when it first started to happen, and if not too long ago, try a system restore back to before that date.

 

Otherwise perhaps a full reinstall of the software rather than copying it over as you have already tried that.

 

Nev.

[countrydj]

Hi Nev...

Thanks again for your invaluable advice. I must admit, I should have thought of this myself.

However, The CHKDSK test came back OK.

 

While I was checking the logs, I noticed the entry for Application Hang.

Event Type: Error

Event Source: Application Hang

Event Category: (101)

Event ID: 1002

Date: 11/05/2013

Time: 11:14:30

User: N/A

Computer: HFB03

Description:

Hanging application ntvdm.exe, version 5.1.2600.5512, hang module hungapp, version 0.0.0.0, hang address 0x00000000.

 

For more information, see Help and Support Center at http://go.microsoft.com/fwlink/events.asp.

Data:

0000: 41 70 70 6c 69 63 61 74 Applicat

0008: 69 6f 6e 20 48 61 6e 67 ion Hang

0010: 20 20 6e 74 76 64 6d 2e ntvdm.

0018: 65 78 65 20 35 2e 31 2e exe 5.1.

0020: 32 36 30 30 2e 35 35 31 2600.551

0028: 32 20 69 6e 20 68 75 6e 2 in hun

0030: 67 61 70 70 20 30 2e 30 gapp 0.0

0038: 2e 30 2e 30 20 61 74 20 .0.0 at

0040: 6f 66 66 73 65 74 20 30 offset 0

0048: 30 30 30 30 30 30 30 0000000

 

I followed the link given and this is what it came up with:

Details

Product: Windows Operating System

ID: 1002

Source: Application Hang

Version: 5.2

Symbolic Name: ER_HANG_LOG

Message: Hanging application %1, version %2, hang module %3, version %4, hang address 0x%5.

 

Explanation

The indicated program stopped responding. The message contains details on which program and module stopped responding. A matching event with EventID 1001 might also appear in the event log. This matching event displays information about the specific error that occurred.

 

 

User Action

No user action is required.

 

 

 

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

 

 

Currently there are no Microsoft Knowledge Base articles available for this specific error or event message. For information about other support options you can use to find answers online, see http://support.microsoft.com/default.aspx.

 

 

 

If Microsoft has no idea what the problem is - I have no chance.

 

If you have any more ideas I would be very interested.

 

Thanks,

 

John C

Edited May 11, 2013 by countrydj

[ukbobboy]

Server Access Rights

 

Hi John C

 

Just had a thought about your problem, you said that all three XP PCs are connected to your central server and only one PC is giving you a (very) partial access problem.

 

Is it possible that the access rights of this troublesome PC has been changed in some way?

 

Saying that, I agree with Plastic Nev's solution, i.e. restore the PC to the time before the problem occurred. However, if that does not work then it will have to be a full reformat and re-installation of your O/S and all applications.

 

 

 

UK Bob

[countrydj]

Hi UK Bob..

Thanks for your input.

Unfortunately, I did a very silly thing the other day: I deleted all the restore points, so I can't wind it back.

 

I will probably travel over and pick up the PC on Tuesday and examine it on my bench.

 

I will try new RAM and if that fails I will try a new HDD.

 

If these two fail I will have to reinstall.

 

Thanks,

 

John C

[Plastic Nev]

OK John keep in touch and let us know how you get on.

 

Nev.

[countrydj]

Hi Guys...

 

I brought the computer back to my workshop to work on.

 

I changed the RAM. No difference.

I changed the CPU. No difference.

I Ghosted the hard drive to a new hard drive. No difference.

I then suspected the Motherboard.

 

However, before such a drastic operation, I decided to setup a new hard drive with a new installation of Windows XP Pro.

I then copied the program to the new drive and it worked OK.

 

I just carried on and installed all the required programs and returned the computer.

 

The strange thing is that the offending program is a database program (I don't know which database it is, but there were plenty around in the 1990s) and NOT a Windows program.

The program does not have to be installed, it is just copied to the hard drive and then pointed to the Data files.

 

Anyway, thanks very much for all your suggestions.

 

THANK YOU.

 

John C