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In search of ... a Gateway cure ...

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barney:
OK, I really don't know how else to entitle this.

The Dell i7 laptop is effectively dead.  I have a Gateway 15.6" laptop with an Intel i3 which has been a functional backup system.  However, I've been spoiled to the 17.3" screens.  Heavy, but the visual real estate has become crucial to mine eyes  :o.

So, I let myself be seduced by the price of a Gateway 17.3" laptop.  It has an AMD 4-core processor, the first non-Intel box I've ever had, I think.

Problem is, I cannot run it for more than eight (8) hours, often less.  The system quits working.  It tells me it's out of system resources.  Or it tell me there's no thread available (?!?).  I have to power off with the hardware switch.  What's more, now the 15.6" box has the same problem!  The contagion made me think of course, of malware, but every tool I have says that's not an issue.  Problematic, at best, but I'm reasonably reassured  :-\ this is not a malware problem.

OK, that's the background.  What I want to find is some analytic(s) that will tell me where there is a resource shortage.  Typically, CPU will be less than 35-40% usage, memory normally 60% or less usage.  Task Manager, Process Manager, et. al., don't tell me anything worthwhile.  So, is there anything other than serendipity that can tell me what's going on?  (Oh, pardon the typos - I dislocated & separated my right shoulder a week agone, so my typing skills are somewhat ailing  :'(.)

If it matters, there's very little similarity in software loads on the two (2) boxes.  some sidebar apps and a few note apps are all they have in common, save for the Gateway software.  Both running Win7 Ultimate.  The Intel CPU is i3 M 330 2.16GHz, the AMD is A6-3420M.  Both have 4G RAM.  The Intel box has an Intel video driver, and the AMD box has a Radeon  HD 6520G.

app103:
If both systems are having the same issue, I'd start by looking at the list of software that they have in common, even if that list is short.

barney:
Already did.  Nothing stands out.  With two (2) different processors & two (2) different video configs, even the Gateway software is pretty much disparate.  That's part of what bumfuzzles me.  These boxes have very little in common - name don't count  :P - but when I added the 2nd box to the network, both [apparently] came down with the same condition.  No way that should happen.  I'm inclined to think drivers, but I don't have anything that'll let me examine that theory in fine:  all my tools are pretty coarse for something like this.

But when the system(s) basically say resource shortage or no thread, there is some measure I'm not taking, not able to take, or don't know to take, to determine that resource.  Without that determination, I'm hard put to redress the issue - I don't even know the issue  :mad:.

4wd:
- but when I added the 2nd box to the network, both [apparently] came down with the same condition.  No way that should happen.-barney (April 01, 2012, 12:00 AM)
--- End quote ---

Just to clarify, are you saying that:
a) the Intel Gateway was already doing it and then when you added the AMD Gateway to the network it started doing it, or
b) they were both running fine until they were both added to the network, or
c) the AMD Gateway started doing it when connected to the network and then the problem migrated to the Intel Gateway when it was connected.

Would it be a good idea to try them both when they aren't connected to any network, have them standalone and running a burn-in program, (eg. Super-Pi), for 12 hours or so.

That should isolate it to network related or not, then you can start by putting network settings back to basic levels, (eg. no Homegroup, etc.).

mouser:
If it's really reproducible then I suggest what app suggests, that it sounds like a software issue.
I would post the exact error the next time it occurs, and post us the ctrl+alt+del process list sorted by highest Mem Usage.
There are other more detailed tools for showing use of system resources, but that would be a good start.

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