Programs keep going "Not responding"

Chomeur

I'm running Windows 10 and am sick of programs going into "not responding" mode. This probably happens 20 times a day at least. I can be typing in Word and it suddenly goes into this mode. I keep typing and about 20 seconds later it wakes up again, and what I have typed in the interim appears. Other programs freeze in a similar manner - Chrome, Notepad++, Excel.

AndyPix suggested installing and running MalwareBytes https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/6033382/how-do-i-set-file-associations-in-windows-10&highlight=malware. But all that does is find a lot of "potentially unwanted programs" contained in a Chrome user data folder, and then offers to quarantine them. I can do that but the freezes still continue. And I don't think that the problem is with Chrome because applications freeze even if Chrome is not running.

So any ideas how to fix this?

Thanks.

grumpycrab

Looked for computer spec here https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/comment/76145863#Comment_76145863
but couldn't find anything...so might have to start from scratch...
1. how old is computer? was W10 an upgrade or did it have W10 from new? version of W10? (winver in search will tell you)
2. how much memory
3. ssd or old fashioned disk? how much space free.
4. which anti-virus program(s) do you run
5. do you have Trusteer Rapport installed? recommand providing a screenshot of installed programs (control panel -> uninstall a program -> sort by Installed by date - latest first
6. recommend providing a screenshot of running programs. Ctrl + Shift + Esc -> [More Details if not already shown] -> Details tab -> sort on CPU - highest first.

Neil_Jones

Programs don't go into "not responding" for fun, there is usually an underlying issue for it.

Since all programs are affected this could be some other software installed on the machine, you don't have more than one anti-virus package installed by any chance do you? Doing this means they will spend more time fighting with each other than anything else.

Rapport can cause Chrome issues (Rapport in all honesty causes more issues than it claims to solve) but it shouldn't affect Office or Notepad++

The other potential cause is hardware.

Chomeur

1. Just one year old. W10 was new. Version 1809 (OS Build 17763.805)
2. 16GB
3. I have two drives, the first is ssd, the second is from my old computer and is a "Hard Disc Drive". 323GB free out of 446GB on the first, 54GB free out of 293 GB on the second.
4. Windows Defender.
5. No. https://ibb.co/09Y45dV
6. https://ibb.co/3mQfnh5


Thanks for your help.

Chomeur

Neil_Jones wrote: »

Programs don't go into "not responding" for fun, there is usually an underlying issue for it.

Since all programs are affected this could be some other software installed on the machine, you don't have more than one anti-virus package installed by any chance do you? Doing this means they will spend more time fighting with each other than anything else.

Rapport can cause Chrome issues (Rapport in all honesty causes more issues than it claims to solve) but it shouldn't affect Office or Notepad++

The other potential cause is hardware.

Just Windows Defender, I believe.

I tried Rapport once and quickly got rid of it, and that was not on this PC.

grumpycrab

Chomeur wrote: »

1. Just one year old. W10 was new. Version 1809 (OS Build 17763.805)

What I would do first...install the latest Windows10...
1. backup any important documents
2. you can either use windows update OR -preferred- download the latest windows 10 image from
https://www.microsoft.com/en-gb/software-download/windows10
- onto your own computer is fine rather than external media -
then install it manually by double-clicking on the image.
This will do an upgrade install and 1. don't allow downloading any updates at this stage and 2. keep data and apps when it asks
This should be quite quick with your ssd.

PS. the hard disk might have something to do with it; but we'll assume not at this stage; install the latest W10 - and there'll be some updates to do AFTERWARDS.

PS2. close betangel before doing the update

Chomeur

Thanks. I've updated W10 and it seems a lot better, so fingers crossed that it stays that way. Do I need to do anything about the updates you mention, or will W10 tell me about them anyway?

that

From your screenshots (https://ibb.co/3mQfnh5), BetAngel seems to take a good bite of memory

Dfrgui (defrag) should not be running on an ssd ever.

could be worth while running malwarebytes and Bleachbit or ccleaner.

tonyh66

Why is there 9x chrome.exe's in the running list?

Chomeur

that wrote: »

From your screenshots (https://ibb.co/3mQfnh5), BetAngel seems to take a good bite of memory

Dfrgui (defrag) should not be running on an ssd ever.

could be worth while running malwarebytes and Bleachbit or ccleaner.

a) yes I'm not surprised.
b) Thanks, I didn't know that and have now turned it off. Maybe there should be a warning of this in the defrag program?
c) I ran malwarebytes this morning, and as I mentioned, all it came up with is "potentially unwanted programs". After I ran it, it closed Chrome, so I'm not that inclined to run it very often.

Chomeur

tonyh66 wrote: »

Why is there 9x chrome.exe's in the running list?

No idea. I have two Chrome windows and about a dozen tabs open typically.