3 of 8 computers in office freezing up regularly.

[DonS]

Hey all

Looking for any thoughts on this, as I am honestly out of ideas.

Details:

• Client with medium office, mix of offices and cubes, 8 computers total, 3 with these issues (all run Windows 7)
  
• Computers with these issues (all different models) are hard freezing daily, sometimes multiple times, requiring manual power down and restart
  
• These computers have been tested for viruses/malware/spyware: clean
• Tested hard drive: good
• Tested RAM: no issues
• Tested Boards, physical inspection. No issues reported by onboard diags, no bad capacitors
• SFC: no issues
  
• All computers use proprietary software to connect to Wells Fargo
• Outlook is also hosted exchange offsite
• Random piece of info: one of the computer users has reported that her emails are being sent, but not all being received. After they contacted the hosting company, they said it was not an issue on their end but "possibly an issue with their network" (not sure how relevant this information is, but including it as I have zero go on at this point)

Any thoughts or ideas on this would be most welcome. Please let me know if anyone would like additional information I may not have included here.

 

[Slaters Kustum Machines]

What applications are open during the lock ups? Do all three have the exact same software? What about scheduled tasks for a certain piece of software or BIOS updates?

 

[nlinecomputers]

Anything in the event logs? Could be electrical issues? Dirty power? Open ground? Bad network switch?

 

[DonS]

Rapid fire those off!

1) Nothing of note in the event logs on all three computers. Nothing that matches either between them.
2) I replaced the power supply on one unit, just for a test, no change, lock ups continued
3) Dirty power/open ground: 2 computers are in the same cube area, but plug into different outlets. The third computer is across the building. So not sure it would be that. But not an electrician either.
4) Bad switch: I would think all the other computers on site would be having issues as well. It has consistently been these three.

 

[BlackLabTechs]

I would try running a driver update package against them too. Like Snappy Driver Installer. If for nothing else than to at least get a report of what drivers are out of date and how far out of date they are.

 

[BlackLabTechs]

3) Dirty power/open ground: 2 computers are in the same cube area, but plug into different outlets. The third computer is across the building. So not sure it would be that. But not an electrician either.

The 2 outlets in one cube are most likely on the same circuit so it would effect both if that was the case. The one across the building could be on a different circuit but same leg of power (circuits on same side of panel). I'm no electrician either but putting in a UPS on one workstation to provide clean power would be a good test.

 

[DonS]

Solid idea. I have that on the list. Still taking suggestions across the board though.

"I'm no electrician either but putting in a UPS on one workstation to provide clean power would be a good test."

 

[glennd]

power

 

[nlinecomputers]

Making sure the network equipment is also on a UPS is also a good idea. I've seen issues that have blown out a few ports on a switch

 

[nlinecomputers]

The other thing to try is a nuke and pave on one system. If that clears it up then you know it is software.

 

[discipulus]

Do they lock up in safe mode? Could be caused by something that's connected to them - keyboard, mouse, etc.

 

[DonS]

Another good idea that is on my list. Problem is they have a huge amount of proprietary software and setups on their computers which makes this a huge pain. I wish it was as easy as just a nuke and pave and see what happens. That said, I am probably going to do this as well, they already have a spare computer sitting there doing nothing.

"The other thing to try is a nuke and pave on one system. If that clears it up then you know it is software."

 

[Markverhyden]

Power would be at the top of my list as well. One situation I've run into in the past is a bad ground for the building, etc. A good UPS is certainly a great way to test. I'd also check around. See if you can see the main grounding. Ask if there has been any changes to the site, such as new equipment installed, etc. I'd also get a good cable tester, one that will report if voltage is on the line to test the cat5 runs.

On the email issue. If they show up in her sent folder then Outlook completed a handshake with the Exchange server. In another thread they discussed using tools to trouble shoot Exchange/Outlook issues.

https://www.technibble.com/forums/threads/office-365-issue.68380/

 

[gikstar]

Have you checked to see if multiple virus scanners are installed?

 

[ZenTree]

Put one of the computers in a different location if possible. Different power, network points etc. If the same computer freezes there you've ruled out the previous power, network switch etc issues and narrowed it down to the computer itself. Obviously this depends if people are willing to work on a different desk but I like the fact it narrows down a large swathe of possibles in one go.

If you have a spare known good computer then put that in the place where this one is freezing as well and see if it follows.

 

[HFultzjr]

I would go with dirty power 1st.
UPS good 1st check.
Then I would try a "Known Good Power Supply"
Then I would clone to a "Known Good Hard Drive"
I have seen both power supplies and hard drives act weird, even though I thought (tested) good.
Sounds like it going to be a process of elimination until the culprit is found.
Have you tried one of the computers in a different environment, such as your shop?
Anything else in the building that could be "sucking" power during the times they go down? UPS will check this.

 

[YeOldeStonecat]

I'm in agreement with others here....check power (put in a APC 550 or something similar....try to eliminate brown outs/dirty power).
Even though hard drive tests come back..what are they? WD Blues? Clone 1 rig to a good quality HDD and see how that works.
What are the system specs? Make/model? Do they have enough RAM?

...I see you mention Wells Fargo banking...did the bank have them install that horrible Trusteer Rapport browser security plugin? That thing will take even decently powered systems to their knees! I've seen that security plugin take i5/8 gig systems to a crawl. If these systems you're dealing with are slightly older, and less horsepower...like PentiumD/4 gig systems...it might bring them nearly to a stand still and make it look like a hard lockup. You don't "need" that Trusteer bar...you can uninstall it. The banks just try to get you to install it.

 

[DonS]

Checking back in. Thank you all for some great thoughts and suggestions. Much appreciated as always. I am going to start trouble shooting with these on Monday. I will follow up with results.

 

[ComputerPro]

I'm in agreement with others here....check power (put in a APC 550 or something similar....try to eliminate brown outs/dirty power).
Even though hard drive tests come back..what are they? WD Blues? Clone 1 rig to a good quality HDD and see how that works.
What are the system specs? Make/model? Do they have enough RAM?

...I see you mention Wells Fargo banking...did the bank have them install that horrible Trusteer Rapport browser security plugin? That thing will take even decently powered systems to their knees! I've seen that security plugin take i5/8 gig systems to a crawl. If these systems you're dealing with are slightly older, and less horsepower...like PentiumD/4 gig systems...it might bring them nearly to a stand still and make it look like a hard lockup. You don't "need" that Trusteer bar...you can uninstall it. The banks just try to get you to install it.

LOL. I hate when clients install Trusteer because their 'bank' had them do it. Terrible stuff.
Based on what the OP said, I would definitely try to reposition a few sytems to localize the issue down as quickly as possible. Put a working system in place of one that always locks up and vice versa. I'd try to keep them as close as possible to minimize user interruptions. I would also run this by the owner / manager so they are on board with the swapping of the systems. At least this way you'll narrow it down to a systems issue or an issue with that network run back to the switch and the stations electrical source.

 

[cypress]

I'm in agreement with others here....check power (put in a APC 550 or something similar....try to eliminate brown outs/dirty power).
Even though hard drive tests come back..what are they? WD Blues? Clone 1 rig to a good quality HDD and see how that works.
What are the system specs? Make/model? Do they have enough RAM?

...I see you mention Wells Fargo banking...did the bank have them install that horrible Trusteer Rapport browser security plugin? That thing will take even decently powered systems to their knees! I've seen that security plugin take i5/8 gig systems to a crawl. If these systems you're dealing with are slightly older, and less horsepower...like PentiumD/4 gig systems...it might bring them nearly to a stand still and make it look like a hard lockup. You don't "need" that Trusteer bar...you can uninstall it. The banks just try to get you to install it.

Thank you!! I had a client this weekend who I will be seeing this afternoon with that crap installed. The computer is i5 desktop with 8GB RAM so it should be running well, but I couldn't figure out what was keeping it slower than usual. Defrag helped alot, after removing Norton it did even better, when I asked him what Trustee was he couldn't even figure out.

He has it running on the Chrome Browser. I will uninstall that garbage when I arrive on site today.