Scenario 6: The computer hangs or freezes

If the computer hangs or freezes, also referred to as a lockup, your computer stops responding to any input. The mouse pointer freezes, keyboard input is ignored and the image on the screen does not change. To check if your computer actually freezed, check if the num lock light on the keyboard still goes on and off when the numlock key is pressed.

However because the most obvious sign of a lockup is the frozen mouse pointer, many users think there is a problem with the mouse and they end up buying a new one. A bad mouse can loose the capability to move the pointer, but then the keyboard commands will still be accepted and the numlock light will go on and off as discussed earlier.

To resolve a lockup, check if you recently added hardware, try to undo the change to check if the problem is gone. You can also boot windows into safe mode and do a system restore.

There is an additional test you can do to determine a hardware problem: boot the computer and enter the BIOS. Let the computer run for a period long enough to normally encounter a lockup and check if it happens while in the BIOS. If this happens you probably have a hardware or BIOS problem. If it doesn’t happen, it is probably your windows that hangs and you are probably better of reinstalling it.