PC freezes

MrsE_2

I have a trackball as my mouse.

Sometimes (& lately more & more often) the pointer on screen disappears & I have to switch PC off at the pulg & turn back on for the mouse pointer arrow thing to come back.

It used to do it once in a blue moon, lately its doing it twice a day.
Its annoying & I don't think its good for the PC to be swiched off that way either, is it?

Its a logitech, if that makes any difference.

Is it the trackball or the PC?

Anyone know, thank you.

totalsolutions

To power off the PC with a keyboard use ALT+F4 OR Windows key + U OR ctrl+esc, U OR windows key+R then type shutdown then press enter key. There may be others.

MrsE_2

Just done it again & it wouldn't turn off by the keyboard, I had to pull the plug. Its not just the arrow/pointer that goes, the whole PC freezes.

I really want to stop it doing it anyway, more than restarting it everytime.

Does anyone know where the problem lies, is it the PC or the trackball?

superscaper

MrsE wrote: »

Just done it again & it wouldn't turn off by the keyboard, I had to pull the plug. Its not just the arrow/pointer that goes, the whole PC freezes.

I really want to stop it doing it anyway, more than restarting it everytime.

Does anyone know where the problem lies, is it the PC or the trackball?

If the entire pc is freezing why do you think it's the trackball? It could be practically anything.

MrsE_2

superscaper wrote: »

If the entire pc is freezing why do you think it's the trackball? It could be practically anything.

Because at the exact moment it happens the arrow/pointer disappears from the screen

Do you think its the PC?

superscaper

MrsE wrote: »

Because at the exact moment it happens the arrow/pointer disappears from the screen

Do you think its the PC?

But that'd probably happen anyway if the computer was freezing for any reason. Have you installed the latest logitech drivers? Have you cleaned your computer (removed malware)? Have you physically cleaned your computer (removed dust clogs in fans to prevent overheating etc)? What's your operating system? Instead of using the plug can't you use the power button to switch off and on (hold down button to switch off)? Are you using any specific apps at the time? Do you keep windows updated? Have you tried a spare mouse or used the trackball on another pc?

arealhighlander

The pointer is disappearing because the PC is freezing, I doubt it is a mouse problem.

You need to find out what is making your PC start to freeeze, have you installed any new software or hardware lately?

Cricri

You shouldn't pull the plug but press the power button for 4 seconds.
Also, use a program like Process Tamer:
http://www.donationcoder.com/Software/Mouser/proctamer/index.html
If a process is hogging your whole CPU resources, it will be set to lower priority so that you still have control of the PC.
It will also allow you to do Ctrl+Alt+Delete to find out which application is hogging the CPU (again, assuming this is the problem).

MrsE_2

Have you installed the latest logitech drivers?, NO, should I?
Have you cleaned your computer (removed malware)? Yes
Have you physically cleaned your computer (removed dust clogs in fans to prevent overheating etc)? Yes, was opened not that long ago & was cleaned inside, they do get dusty:eek:
What's your operating system? Windows XP
Instead of using the plug can't you use the power button to switch off and on (hold down button to switch off)? I will try that next time
Are you using any specific apps at the time? Just AOL
Do you keep windows updated? Automatic, yes
Have you tried a spare mouse or used the trackball on another pc? No, no spare (but could get one) & other pc is a rarely used laptop.

MrsE_2

arealhighlander wrote: »

The pointer is disappearing because the PC is freezing, I doubt it is a mouse problem.

You need to find out what is making your PC start to freeeze, have you installed any new software or hardware lately?

Not that I can say it started happening after X

MrsE_2

Its just done it again.

No keyboard keys would make it shut down.

So I held in on/off button.

It make a funny buzzing noise (was on mute, I always have it on mute).

Eventually it switched off. When I turned it back on a "found new hardware" wizard came up, for a multimedia controller?

I clicked next to install, but it just searched for ages without doing anything, so I cancelled it.

I have seen that before, but I can't remember what, how or when it was up.

Any ideas?

Thanks for reading.