OT: Computer Crash & Recovery - Mystery SOLVED!!!

[RJ]

Thanks to Dr Dave - Reloaded, the problem has been solved!!  WoooHooo!!

Seems that I left a crucial bit of info out of my original post on this topic, one that might have saved a whole lot of grief, and repair suggestions that may not have been necessary.

The crucial bit of info?

What was I doing when the system crashed.  Duh. . .

The old computer (a Dell 4550) froze when I sent a document to be printed from the new computer (a Dell 9200) over my home network to a printer that was connected to the 4550.

Dr Dave, in a PM, made a suggestion that triggered the repair, outlined as follows:

From the near-frozen desktop, use Ctrl+Alt+Del to get to the Task Manager.  Tab to "Performance".  Discovered 100% of CPU was being used - strange. . .  Tabbed to "Processes", and found a file called spoolsv.exe to be utilizing 98 - 99 of the CPU.  Tabbed down to that file, and deleted it.  Within a few seconds, the mouse began operating.  Progress!!

From there, went into Control Panel and deleted all the printers.  Then did a search for "spoolsv.exe", and found it in Windows/System32.  Opened it, and, altho all the printers had been deleted, there were SIX print jobs listed in this file.  Deleted all six, closed program, shut down machine, then did a cold boot.

BINGO!

System booted normally, mouse worked, keyboard response was back to normal.  Everything was just like it was before the freeze.  WoooHooo!!

Did a Google search for spoolsv.exe, and discovered that it's the print spooler, and yes, it's prone to either freezing the machine, or making it terribly sluggish - exactly what happened to me.  It can also be a trojan, and if so, it will be found in another folder somewhere.  May also have a slightly different spelling, too.

So, my hat's off to Dr Dave, as well as to everyone else who scratched their heads over this with me.  I sincerely appreciate the help from each and every one of you.

And yes, I'm in the process of backing everything up!!

Now back to our regularly scheduled busnut ramblings. . .

[Dallas]

Glad to hear the problem is solved!

Cudos to Dr. Dave! 

I normally just threaten my computer with the mig welder and it straightens right up!

Dallas