What is going on when the computer hangs about 15-20 minutes of operation?

Answer 1

Anytime a computer hangs while a program is running it could be a couple of reasons. The main reason is just plain bad code writing by the programmer who wrote the program so it tries to do things it's not suppose to do. If you can fine the Manufactor's website they may have a fix for it. Second, sometimes too many applications are fighting for memory and they corrupt the memory module. The best thing to do is hit CTR-ALT-DEL to end the program and start over.

Another common cause is the over heating of the CPU, It is a good idea to check that the cooling fan is fully operational.

Answer 2

Presuming that we are talking about a Windows-based machine, the first idea (bad algorithm in the application) is possible but not probable unless it is something written by the user himself. After all, major software publishers have countless thousands or millions of copies of their software being used in the general public, so chances are that anything that could cause a lockup is already resolved. As for a bad stick of RAM, that will cause a blue screen, not a lock-up. And finally about the overheat or a failed fan, both will cause something other than a lock-up. In the case of the overheat, the computer will experience what is called a "thermal event" and shut itself off until such time that the thermistor built into the CPU has reached a temperature that is below its threshold. As for the CPU fan failing, the computer will start beeping up a storm to let the user know that all-important fan has gone south. After that, a thermal event will occur anyway.

So, what can cause lock-ups? There are several things. First, it can be a conflict between two pieces of software such as two drivers. Second, it can be a bad piece of hardware such as a network card or video card. Third, the hard drive may be going down due to bad sectors. Fourth, there could be a power surge or slight undervoltage (brownout) that caused a corruption of information stored in RAM that the computer didn't like. Fifth, the power supply could be dropping in its capability to supply proper amounts of amperage across the various voltages it supplies or its ability to generate the proper voltages could be failing. There are many more issues but these are just the ones that first come to mind.

The best idea when you have a situation like this is to contact a local professional computer technician and see what he can figure out. If he can come to you for diagnosis, then that is even better because it could very well be something environmental. An example of this is when I built a client a gaming computer about a year ago and he said that it kept locking up on him. Over the next week, I brought it back into the store three times and tested it for as much as 48 hours each time with no errors. So I eventually decided to test his environment. It turned out that he had medical equipment that was running on the same circuit on which is computer was connected and that was causing both the voltage and the frequency of the supplied power to fluctuate wildly. Relocating the medical device to another wall in his bedroom made the outlets in the living room (completely at the opposite end of the apartment) work normally. It turned out that the outlets in which the medical equipment and the computer were plugged were on the same branch circuit in the breaker panel and therefore why moving the medical equipment to another socket worked.

I hope all this helps. If you have any questions about this or other such issues, feel free to drop me a line.