Windows XP computer will run perfectly fine for around 10 minutes after booting up and then freeze for 10 seconds. This cycle will repeat over and over again and I do not know what is the cause of the problem. Could you point me in the right direction?

These problems are normally due to some process running in the background which are occupying system resources causing the computer to stall and appear to be frozen, although it is just busy doing something in the background which you cannot see. The process of tracking down which background program or process is causing this deadlock over resources is mostly trial and error. As a starting point, we will try disabling all background programs and processes to check whether the problem continues. This will at least allow us to determine whether a background process is actually causing the problem or whether we need to investigate alternative explanations for the problem. Go to the “Start” menu > “Run” and type “msconfig” (without the quotes) and click OK. The System Configuration Utility window will appear. Click the “Startup” tab. This will list all programs and processes which load on Windows startup. The entries which are ticked indicate that entry has been enabled and will start when Windows loads. We are going to disable (untick) all the entries so none of these programs or processes load on startup. However, before doing so, write down the name of each entry which is enabled so that they can be re-enabled at a later time. This is very important. To make things easier, you may find that all the entries are enabled or there are only one or two which are not enabled (in which case you can probably just write down the entries which are not enabled, and later you can re-enable all processes except those few). Once you have finished the list that provides enough information to determine which programs are currently enabled, untick all the entries on the Startup tab. Alternatively, you can click the “Disable all” button. Next, click the OK button and restart the computer.

As the computer restarts, none of the programs or processes which would normally load on startup should run, as these have been disabled. You may receive a message warning that the computer is running in Selective Startup mode. This is nothing to be worried about and simply informs that you have selectively defined which programs and processes you would like to load on startup (since you have disabled some processes from loading). You can tick the box not to show that message again and then click OK to dismiss the message.

Now that Windows has finished booting, use the computer and check whether the problem occurs. If the problem does not occur, then it seems one of those background programs or processes was causing the problem. It is now a process of elimination to determine which program or process is the cause of the problem. Return to the System Configuration Utility Startup tab. Using the list which you wrote, re-enable one of the processes that you disabled during the previous procedure. Click OK and then restart the computer. Once the computer has finished restarting, conduct some tests to check whether the problem has returned. If the problem has returned, then you know the process or program that you just re-enabled is causing the problem. In this situation, disable that program or process again and note that down as being a problematic process. At this point I would recommend that you enable one more process, restart and test again. This will ensure that no other programs or processes (additional to the one identified) are also causing the problem. Of course, you may also find yourself in the situation where the problem does not return after re-enabling a certain process. This indicates that the most recently enabled process is not causing the problem. As such, you can leave that process enabled and then repeat the process by enabling another process, restarting and testing again.

By the end of this process you should have a list of one (or more) programs or processes which when enabled, cause the computer to freeze or hang every 10 minutes. At this point all other programs and processes which you previously disabled in the System Configuration Utility should also be re-enabled. As you have now determined the processes causing the problem we now need to find out the purpose of these processes and how they can be fixed so they do not cause the problem. In the first instance, you should determine the purpose of the process or processes. If you cannot immediately determine their nature by their name, use Google or another search engine to search for the process name which should provide you with information. If you find that you do not need these processes, as you may not use their functionality (as is the case with add-ons which may install themselves with new devices such as printers or cameras) then you could just leave these processes disabled. However, in the event that you do need to use the functionality of those processes the research that you have conducted will hopefully yield information from other users who have experienced similar issues and they may have provided details on how the problem can be fixed. Alternatively, you may also wish to check the software manufacturer’s website in case there are any updates or patches to address this issue.

Should you find it difficult to find any information on the processes and they have a relatively random name (such as axjahsa.exe or alike) this may indicate the processes are part of a virus or malware infection on the computer. In this situation you should download the latest updates for your antivirus scanner and complete a scan of the computer. If you do not have antivirus software installed then you definitely should. In the interim, you can download and install AVG Free (www.avgfree.com.au) which is a free antivirus product for Windows. However, in this situation I would also recommend that you download and install Ad-Aware Free (www.lavasoft.de), Spybot Search and Destroy (www.safer-networking.org), and Windows Defender (www.microsoft.com/downloads). Between these three utilities most malware, spyware and adware should be detected and removed from the computer. I suggest that you install and run one utility multiple times (with reboots of the computer in-between) until it no longer detects any malware on the computer (or until it cannot remove particular pieces of malware, as they keep reoccurring on each scan). At that point the utility has probably done as much as possible and it is time to move onto the next one.