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I'm having an issue with my (new-ish) work laptop. Every once in a while it will freeze up - but not in the usual way. The keyboard and mouse work. Any applications that are already open will continue to work - I can send emails, flick between applications etc properly. However, I am unable to open any new Explorer windows (ie. clicking on the Recycle Bin, or Computer in the start menu does nothing). I can't start any new applications. I can't even tell the computer to reboot. Task manager refuses to open. What on earth is going on!

I have checked the memory (memtest86+), run chkdisk, system file checker, and uninstalled all but the most essential applications. What can I do now? I've tried "Process Monitor" but I'm not sure how to use the logs to find the fault.

Laptop is a Core i5 Lenovo W530 running Windows 7 (x64).

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  • I'm having the same problem when uTorrent has been running for some considerable time with high download speeds; under XP.
    – Jan Doggen
    Sep 9, 2013 at 13:08
  • You could have some sort of Disk IO problem. Have a play with the settings in uTorrent under Preferences > Advanced > Disk Cache
    – James
    Sep 9, 2013 at 13:44

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These symptoms suggest that explorer.exe itself is locked up.

As to why... You say this is a work laptop. Have your IT people put on a policy enforcement agent such as Sophos DG agent? If so, this can sometimes go off and check with some central server for permission before continuing with some action that you have started.

Check within process explorer for processes called kvoop.exe - these will be a giveaway.

If this is your problem, your only recourse is to your IT people.

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  • Yes we are running both Sophos and LANDesk, although there is no kvoop.exe process running as far as I can see. If all else fails I will have to check with them, their usual solution is to flatten the laptop and start over so we'll see! Thank you
    – James
    Sep 9, 2013 at 13:13

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