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Questions tagged [troubleshooting]

DO NOT USE. Burnination [status-planned] (go to tag info / Meta for details) Troubleshooting is a form of problem solving that uses logical, systematic steps to solve the problem.

231 votes
6 answers
690k views

Troubleshoot High CPU usage by the "System" process

I have noticed that from some time my system is freezing and its probably caused by the high CPU usage which is caused by the system process. All applications I'm running is the Skype, TeamSpeak and ...
Scott's user avatar
  • 2,423
116 votes
4 answers
426k views

Windows 10 high memory usage (unknown reason)

A few days ago I updated my PC to Windows 10. However, after some use my PC started to slow down until it was impossible to use – it was due to high memory usage. After a restart, everything came back ...
Lukas's user avatar
  • 1,263
81 votes
6 answers
399k views

How do I find what's eating up all of my system's memory? (not SuperFetch)

How does one diagnose/discover memory-related problems, if Task Manager appears to not be reporting correctly? I must have a memory leak or something -- I'm at 75% usage of my 12 GB of memory, but ...
Coldblackice's user avatar
  • 5,994
80 votes
4 answers
271k views

Windows Update doesn't work and consumes 100% of CPU (Win7 SP1) [duplicate]

I've observed a strange behaviour with Windows Update (Win7 SP1). The process svchost is consuming an entire core of my Virtual Machine (VirtualBox) doing nothing (i.e., there is no network traffic ...
cantoni's user avatar
  • 991
79 votes
17 answers
211k views

How do I troubleshoot a Windows freeze or slowness?

A machine is described as being "really slow" or "freezing". How can I troubleshoot/resolve this issue? What should be the first steps to take?
75 votes
3 answers
140k views

Is there any way to recover unsaved notepad++ docs?

I had to immediate shut down, and I lost about 20 unsaved tabs, is there any way to recover these?
guest123123's user avatar
59 votes
5 answers
27k views

What is the proper way of debugging a slow Windows installation?

You know the drill - you've been asked to check why your cousin's computer is running slow. I was right there yesterday. Being a Mac user since 2007 I haven't really dug deep in Windows internals in ...
Niklas's user avatar
  • 693
51 votes
10 answers
11k views

Which malfunctions cause old computers to slow down and crash?

I've had a few computers of my own break after a few years of use, and I've seen computers owned by friends and family do the same thing. They either slow down (even running the original software ...
Mr. Jefferson's user avatar
41 votes
6 answers
23k views

How do I get to the root cause of high Deferred Procedure Calls?

I've got a Dual core processor, and one of the two is constantly at 100%. Looking in ProcessExplorer shows me that it's Deferred Procedure Calls. Reading around the net seems to give me tons of ...
Benjol's user avatar
  • 1,798
40 votes
5 answers
46k views

What is the purpose of using a large ping packet?

While analyzing some traffic logs, I noticed a node pinging its gateway with a large ping packet size, ranging from 700 bytes to 1 MB. It's a constant ping from node to gateway and the size per ping ...
injector's user avatar
  • 950
40 votes
1 answer
119k views

How can I view the active threads of a running program?

I know I can see all running processes in Task Manager. But how can I see the single threads that run inside these processes?
Oliver Salzburg's user avatar
39 votes
4 answers
3k views

How do I troubleshoot when I have no clue where to start?

I am looking for hints, tips and answers on how to get started on troubleshooting when: The problem is intermittent The problem could lie literally anywhere - operating system; free source software; ...
Chris Walton's user avatar
38 votes
5 answers
209k views

How to find my DNS Server address in Windows 7

What is the easiest way to know my current DNS server's IP address or domain name? I am trying to troubleshoot my broadband Internet connection under Windows 7.
rakib's user avatar
  • 383
32 votes
5 answers
49k views

GIMP stuck on "Loading Data Files: Fonts"

I load up GIMP and it gets stuck on "Loading Data Files: Fonts" every time. I have deleted my GIMP profile multiple times, I cleared my font cache, I even searched for corrupt fonts, (0kb font file ...
GusN's user avatar
  • 355
30 votes
5 answers
46k views

How to test a power supply?

My computer powered off the other day on its own, and now when I push the power button, nothing happens. My assumption would naturally be that the power supply is done (possibly well done) but is ...
Sam Hoice's user avatar
  • 403
29 votes
2 answers
58k views

Process Monitor: Entries with BUFFER OVERFLOW

I´m trying to solve IE 8 performance problems on my system at the moment. I analyzed my system with Sysinternals Process Monitor and found lots of "BUFFER OVERFLOW"s entries in the Log (See ...
LaPhi's user avatar
  • 432
27 votes
3 answers
18k views

Laptop randomly waking up = Hibernate / Low Battery?

A (Windows 7) laptop has been annoying me since the day we got it. When it is put to sleep (the lid closed), it seems to intermittently wake up randomly during the night (i.e., 10pm, 1:30am, 7am, etc.)...
Synetech's user avatar
  • 69k
23 votes
8 answers
109k views

What registry key or windows file determines where monitors are placed in a multi monitor environment?

I have a laptop with a USB to VGA adapter which allows me to add a third monitor to my laptop (the second monitor uses the onboard slot). It worked fine on Windows Vista - you could go into Windows' ...
user avatar
23 votes
13 answers
21k views

Why are my hard drives failing?

I have a small Ubuntu server running at home, with 2 hard drives. There are two software raids (raid1) on the disks, managed by mdadm, which I believe is irrelevant, but mentioning it anyway. Both of ...
K. Norbert's user avatar
22 votes
3 answers
34k views

How to diagnose Blue Screens in Windows 7 (64bit)

Using programs like WhoCrashed and BlueScreenView you can see the BSOD and the errors but how do you tell exactly what's causing the BSOD? I'm not sure if it's because of bad hardware, bad driver ...
user avatar
22 votes
3 answers
36k views

How do I troubleshoot hardware issues related to a computer freeze/crash?

What are some common guidelines and issues related to hardware being the issue of a computer crash? What should I look for and how do I troubleshoot these problems? What are some tools that are ...
20 votes
4 answers
5k views

Router restarts after big git push or big file upload

My problem is that modem (Modem / router #1 presented below) restarts itself, when I make git push with a lot of files (I'm not sure how big the push must be to break the connection, but smaller ...
Bartłomiej Zieliński's user avatar
19 votes
2 answers
28k views

How can I view the call stack of a running process/thread?

Someone asked me to get a call stack or stack trace of a running process so that he could analyze it for me. How can I get that information?
Oliver Salzburg's user avatar
18 votes
7 answers
21k views

Why does restarting a computer fix things?

The title say sit all, but why does restarting a computer tend to fix things? It seems like IT folks always ask, "Have you restarted your PC?" But Why?
RSolberg's user avatar
  • 1,230
18 votes
4 answers
11k views

What does this dtrace error mean?

When running iotop -C 5 12 on my late-2010 Macbook Pro (10.6.7) I get repeated instances of this error: dtrace: error on enabled probe ID 5 (ID 19507: io:mach_kernel:buf_strategy:start): illegal ...
Chris R's user avatar
  • 1,911
18 votes
4 answers
70k views

Google Chrome sometimes loses its pinned tabs?

In some occasions; for instance, when I don't leave the browser open long enough and close it again; then upon reopening the browser lost all my pinned tabs. Does anyone know why this happens and what ...
Tamara Wijsman's user avatar
18 votes
5 answers
39k views

How can I kill an unkillable process?

I closed an application, but the process remained in the list. I try to stop in from the task manager, but nothing happens. No error messages, process just stays in the list. I try to debug it, but ...
skevar7's user avatar
  • 1,035
17 votes
5 answers
707k views

How can I "turn on wireless capability" in Windows 7?

On my laptop I have a strange bug or something that fairly frequently causes wireless networking to become spontaneously disabled. Network connections drop out & all available APs disappear. ...
Mark McDonald's user avatar
17 votes
5 answers
1k views

Any game kills my sound

Every time I quit a game such as Braid, Fallout3, AVP all sound on the PC dies (Control Panel > No Audio Devices) I installed a new sound card (SB Audigy) and updated to the latest drivers, and it ...
loopywolf's user avatar
  • 311
15 votes
16 answers
66k views

Windows 7: Wi-Fi connection drops intermittently - only returns after "Troubleshoot connection" resets the adapter

On our laptop (running Windows 7) the Wi-Fi connection drops intermittently. Symptoms: Connectivity is suddenly lost, and the "signal strenght" indicator in the tray shows zero strength and a yellow ...
sleske's user avatar
  • 23.2k

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