The Hindu Business Line : Why system hangs suddenly

In the Tip-Off column of eWorld dated March 3, 2008, a reader had raised the problem of frequent hanging of system. While eWorld’s response was useful, I would like to add more details, in this context.

There are two other causes of frequent computer hang-ups.

1. Presence of bad sectors in the hard disk: Bad sectors are unreadable or unusable areas of the hard disk that are mainly created due to mechanical errors in the hard disk. When such an area comes in contact with the read/write head of the hard disk while reading data, unfortunately the damage suffered spreads over other good sectors. These bad sectors are physical damages and so the only option is replacing the entire hard disk.

The best thing is to salvage as much data as possible and bail out of such a hard disk. However, every partition can be tested for whether it is really a victim of bad sectors through the following methods:

Right-click any partition and choose properties. Under the Tools tab, run Error Checking. Make sure you check ‘Scan for and attempt recovery of bad sectors option’ while doing so.

Norton Disk Doctor is another application from Symantec which does the same but with more stability. The Linux operating system has a package called ‘bad blocks’, which has several options and features that give you more control over scanning and testing of bad sectors. It needs utmost patience and knowledge to understand its manual page and use its features.

I have been using this tool for the past five years and have been quite successful in testing disks and recovering them.

Though actual recovery of the damaged sectors is not possible, usage of the remaining undamaged part of hard disk is possible through efficient planning of partitions, leaving the damaged sectors as deleted partitions without any filesystem.

2. The system might get heated due to an improper cooling system – by way of an inefficient exhaust system and the failure of processor fans or SMPS fan.

Please make sure the fans are in working condition and the processor doesn’t get heated up when the system has been working for a while.

Excessive heat is also a reason for turning the machine into some abnormal system, and it finally leads to hang-ups and freezes.

Awareness of these two scenarios will help computer users tackle the problem of system hanging better.

Contributed by a reader, Sriram K

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