[AccessD] [dba-VB] [dba-SQLServer] HELP, server completely unresponsive

Bill Patten bill_patten at embarqmail.com
Mon Sep 28 11:44:55 CDT 2009


John,

I have found that hard drive activity can pause a computer and not show up 
in process windows. I think you said you were running server 2003, which 
does not have the built in HD monitoring of Server 2008, Vista and Windows 
7.

You can download process monitor and select file summary from the tools menu 
and it may give you a clue as to what is going on. The default screen shows 
much more activity and what is doing it than the task manager.

http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/sysinternals/bb896642.aspx

HTH

Bill

I also mentioned What's Running last week which is also free and shows much 
more detail as to what is running.




--------------------------------------------------
From: "jwcolby" <jwcolby at colbyconsulting.com>
Sent: Monday, September 28, 2009 9:15 AM
To: "Access Developers discussion and problem solving" 
<accessd at databaseadvisors.com>
Subject: Re: [AccessD] [dba-VB] [dba-SQLServer] HELP,server completely 
unresponsive

Max,

That is exactly the problem, NO process is taking the ticks.  Often even SQL 
Server is not taking
the ticks.  The CPU usage is almost zero, but the cursor won't move, Alt-Tab 
takes 15 seconds before
it switches and even thin it is more seconds before the screen redraws.  It 
is like Windows
executive itself is out to lunch.

This is the strangest thing I have ever run into.

John W. Colby
www.ColbyConsulting.com


Max Wanadoo wrote:
> If it is responding, then Ctrl-Alt-Delete to Task Manager and click on
> processes to sort them and see what process is taking the ticks.
>
> There are other *thread* software around mentioned here before which gives
> more granularity of the processes.
>
> Max
>
> -----Original Message-----
> From: dba-vb-bounces at databaseadvisors.com
> [mailto:dba-vb-bounces at databaseadvisors.com] On Behalf Of jwcolby
> Sent: 28 September 2009 16:19
> To: Discussion concerning MS SQL Server; VBA; Access Developers discussion
> and problem solving
> Subject: Re: [dba-VB] [dba-SQLServer] HELP, server completely unresponsive
>
> Well I thought that assigning three processors to the SQL Server software
> was the answer, and it in
> fact did make a difference in some cases, but there is still something
> happening that "locks up" the
> server.  IO started a long running update query going this morning and
> immediately afterwards I was
> able to move around, look at other stuff.  Then I went away to do other
> things.  When I came back it
> was "locked up" - with the Management studio application full screen, and
> the cursor immovable.  Of
> course I thought it was locked up, and I have always believed that it was
> literally never going to
> come back.
>
> I just happened to to an Alt-Tab, then went off to my lap top to do other
> stuff.  When I came back I
> was at Windows Explorer, not Management Studio.  So the machine is in fact
> responding, but
> glacially.  The mouse cursor is locked up, cannot be moved.  I use a KVM
> switch, and when I move to
> another machine the cursor is moving just fine, when I move back to this
> machine it is locked up.
> However the cursor changed from the insertion pointer icon to the arrow 
> icon
> when i switched from
> Management Studio to Windows Explorer, so again the machine is definitely
> not unresponsive, it is
> just responding glacially.
>
> This time I have SQL Server assigned three processors, and I was observing
> that SQL Server pegged
> three of the processors when it began processing the query so I am
> comfortable that it in fact is
> correctly using just three processors.
>
> So what is happening that would so completely freeze up the server that 
> the
> cursor won't even move?
>
> Weird.
>
> Has anyone else out there ever experienced this?  Found a solution?
>
> John W. Colby
> www.ColbyConsulting.com
>
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>
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