WinXP Laptop hanging (almost) everywhere

[DarkStar]

Afternoon everyone.

A client brought in a Toshiba Satellite L30 - 114 yesterday morning, with the problem that it freezes whenever one clicks on 'Turn off Computer' in the Start menu.

It's running Windows XP Home SP3


We've scanned for viruses, malware and spyware - all clean.

This machine is causing endless problems. We can't get Windows Update to run (as IE hangs whenever trying to open it, or won't even open at all). Whenever we try to open System Properties (right-click My Comp - > Properties), nothing happens. It doesn't even pop up.

Turning it off is a mission, as we have to hold the power button down.


We've tried a repair-install and it didn't help.
Can anyone think of what the hell is going on?


*EDIT*
I should mention that none of the issues occur in safemode, and yes I have removed all items from startup to no avail.

[Monty]

Back up, format, reinstall

[Ron2K]

Before trying Monty's extreme solution, try looking in Task Manager for any CPU/RAM hogs.

[DarkStar]

I had a look, no resource hogs whatsoever. Although, I did find that I could not end explorer.exe.

Well, I've done a reformat and reinstall, but the machine still has all the issues.

[DeeVeeDee]

Sounds like faulty hardware.
Probably a long shot but does the bios allow you to enable and disable CPU cache ?
Make sure its enabled, or try to reset the BIOS to defaults.

Also try to remove hardware some laptops allow you to take out the Wifi, Modem ect ect.