Recently I've been having a REALLY annoying problem with my computer. At random times, annoyingly enough often in the middle of games, my mouse and keyboard lock up and refuse to do anything.

Those whom I know in person to be wise on the matters of computers have offered no advice except for "Format C: and reinstall everything" which I refuse to do on the grounds that it'd take me ages to get back everything that I'd lose from that.

So, my question is: What possible causes, and solutions, can the computer-wise on this forum suggest to my problem?

[ 11-09-2002, 06:46 AM: Message edited by: Neb ]

I think that your computer locks up due to overheating [img]smile.gif[/img] Thats one of the main reasons for computer crashes. You could use a good heatsink and an extra fan or to, perhaps taking the computer cover off will help too :D

No, you misunderstand, the computer works perfectly. It's only the mouse and keyboard that locks up. Everything else keeps running.

And taking the computer cover off actually makes the overheating worse, sometimes, since the fans will be unable to properly circulate cool air inside the case or some such thing.

Well alot of people are saying that their MSN keeps stuffing their computer (myself included)

Nah, it happens whether MSN is on or not. And it started happening a good long while after I installed MSN. So MSN is not the cause. I haven't installed any updates lately, either, so they can't have caused it.

I'm betting it started after I added you [img]tongue.gif[/img]
Your computer hates me so it locks up to prevent you from talking to me!...Yes, that's it...*cough*

Right..... Now does anyone feel like making a serious suggestion besides those already made? It's really a damn annoying problem.

It's possible your mobo is getting flaky. Also reinstalling winblows may not be a bad idea. Perdiodically doing that can solve a lot of issues. (That's whay I maintain recovery cds with my latest configurations! :D )

Reinstalled Windows not too long ago, actually. And what do you mean by saying that my Motherboard is getting flaky? And is the only cure a new Mobo?

Run adaware and a virus scanner.

Alexa - one fairly common spyware - has been giving me all sorts of problems at work. Its everywhere, and it seems to be able to screw up damn near anything. Its about .01 steps away from being an actual virus. Although its never caused this particular problem that Ive seen.

Other that that, its probably some obscure .dll conflict that even the windows programming team could never hope to resolve. Reinstall windows.