Laptop freezes while in use

[xlav]

HP laptop with XP Home OS freezes during use and applications can't work. How can I fix this?

 

[ATLMatt]

Does it respond at all, or does nothing happen when you move the mouse, press CTRL+ALT+DEL, etc.

How long after turning it on does it take for this to happen?

What is on the screen when this happens, black screen, blue screen, normal screen, etc?

Is there a specific application that is usually running when it crashes?

 

[macten88]

I'd blow the dust out. It may be over heating....

 

[xlav]

This happens after machine is turned on, and screen normal,no response from mouse.

 

[macten88]

Is the keyboard locked up also?

 

[wahnula]

Look for clues in the Event Log...right-click My Computer, Manage, Event Viewer. It's a good place to start.

Tony

"Buy what you like, or you'll be forced to like what you buy"...me

 

[xlav]

When start up get normal screen, if click any icon all icons disappear, and only screen saver left. No response from keyboard or mouse. Laptop takes unusually long to start up. Can boot to safe mode, keyboard and mouse work here.

 

[xlav]

When starting up a RUNDLL message box says - Error loading C:\WINDOWS\ system32\zsmscc07001.dll , the specified module could not be found

Hour glass keeps running.
Yahoo Messenger and Windows Messenger sign-in boxes appear. I close the sign-in boxes. Hour glass keeps running after I open MS Word or MS PowerPoint. Can't create a new document because hour glass keeps running. Can't close documents either, not responding. After a while screen goes black. This happens if I am on battery only or if I use ac adaptor. Laptop not powering-up after about 3 failures.

 

[wahnula]

You possibly have a Trojan:

http://www.bleepingcomputer.com/startups/zsmscc-20463.html

http://www.castlecops.com/s15736-zsmscc.html

Both these sites claim it as malware, if you can get into Safe Mode (F8 during boot) run the following:

Trendmicro Online Housecall
Spybot S&D
Adaware
A squared free
AVG A/S free

These are all free tools, Google the name or go to

http://www.download.com

Best of luck.

Tony

"Buy what you like, or you'll be forced to like what you buy"...me

 

[xlav]

Num Lock doesn't work.

 

[xlav]

Ran AVG anti-spyware and found trojans. Removed them but when ran anti-spyware again trojans still there. Shut down XP and screen says 'Please Wait.....Saving your settings' for about 3 hours. What could cause this? Can I connect a desktop keyboard and mouse to the laptop, how is it done?