Debugging methods for Windows XP hangups
- by Cooper
I experience occasional 'freezes' on my desktop machine (Windows XP SP3). I've tried the normal debugging methods I know (watching Process Explorer, running ProcMon (hard to get a good trace because the hangups are so intermittent).
Are there any additional system debugging methods that might be useful in discovering what would cause these hang ups?
While this question is more about debugging methods than the actual issue itself (which is probably more of a superuser question), the symptoms of the hangup are:
All windows become non-responding.
Can be brought the foreground, but do
not repaint.
Taskbar/explorer windows are
non-responsive
Ctrl+Alt+Del, Ctrl+Shift+Esc, Win+L,
do not do anything (though the
actions are queued up, and when the
system unhangs, they are performed)
Oddly enough, usually I can still
scroll through the current page I
have open in Google Chrome, but I
cannot change tabs.
Hangup can happen when I have tons of
apps open, but also when I only have
Outlook, Chrome, and MS Communicator
(plus all the corporate spyware).
Usually the hang lasts between 30sec
and 3 minutes or so. After which I
can continue working as usual.
