Sounds like your lappy overheating!!

probably coz it's a PC! haha

No ideas...I would be freaking out but the overheating thing makes sense. Any other programs running in the background?

Gotta be the laptop. Is everything turned off? Wifi Bluetooth etc.

get a mac

I don't think the brand was the problem, whether the mac fanboy's like it or not. It more then likely wasn't the OS either, so telling someone to buy a mac is pointless. More then likely it is a heat issue, look at to the HP forums for your model and see if it has been known to have heat problems, if so:

A: Invest in a laptop that does not have heat issues (PC or Mac doesnt matter)
B: Get a USB cooling fan to keep the laptop relativity cool (they do work quite well)


More then likely i would do both, get a nice new decent laptop, freshly reinstall the OS and then use the other as a back-up with the cooling pad.


If its not heat it could be just about anything.....a file could have caused it to crash, virus, just about anything so just asking what could have caused it is pretty open for interpretation.

i knew someone would say that. lol

i am not the smartest when it comes to computers but i'm not sure that it was overheating. it didn't feel hot.

the only other program i had open was itunes and i wasn't connected to any wifi.
i think imma have to get me another laptop... this one is almost 2 years old.

THANKS!

You don't have to be a computer genius to use a Mac, shit just works 98% of the time, if you are looking to get a new laptop for Serato, consider a Mac, you won't be sorry.

were you selecting a file when it froze on you. The once it froze you keep pushing the mouse. If so that's. Why it could of froze. But for real you should get a mac.I had a hp. Also and had some issue's with it no overheating problems. But files that had virus. From people I got music from. So I went to mac and haven't look back. Its wayyyy better. you don't have to worry about a virus and hardware issues as much. Pc are not a good choice for a dvs I think.I'm no mac fanboy and I use to fix my own pc. But that crash could of been a number of things.

virus
heat
external harddrive lost power.
wifi (tryed to connect)
beta version
itunes

when I gig I always rescand I'd tags.

juss noticed you said it happened again 15 min. That was a heating problem. Hp do get hot. And not to where you feel it.

Why did you have iTunes and Serato at the same time?

HP do have heating issues. make sure it's well ventilated, and no point in having itunes and serato at the same time.

And don't get a mac. You could get 2 good laptops for 1 overpriced mac.

I have a Macbook Pro unibody and I play with vsl. This exact same thing happened to me. I put a normal fan on it and I have never had a problem ever since. I would put it down to the laptop overheating.

LOL @ all this get a Mac shit. Mac users are happy being retards when it comes to computers. "I don't know how it all works, but it's a Mac so it just works"

Faaaack off. I'm using a 3 year old stock Dell with an 80g drive, 1gb ram and a duo core 1.7ghz processor. Hardly a workhorse by todays standards. I surf porn with it, I download shit. I watch movies from TV links and other questionable sites, I NEVER turn it off and I gig out with it 4 times a week. My gigs are 6 hours a night, and currently on Thursdays I dj from 5:30-10:30, head to a spot a few blocks away and spin from 11-3 for a toal of 9 hours playing, come home, turn it on and repeat the process.

The difference I know where I'm going when I'm online, I know how to recognize potentially dangerous situations, and if the computer starts acting funny, I know how to nip it in the bud because I didn't just hand my life over to the faith of the computer "just working"

If you're retarded and need training wheels, buy a Mac. If you know what you're doing, buy a Mac or a PC based on what works for you, not what the spoonfed drones tell you.

Before you Mac lovers get all pissy, I'm only funnin'... or am I?
;p


Anyway dude, HP's as stated are known to have heating issues, I've never been a fan of them because of the proprietary parts, I like to build computers as a hobby out of old ones (self taught hobbyist, nowhere near professional), I snagged an HP desktop once and it took some work trying to get other brands working well within, so between that and hearing of other issues, I've been reluctant with that brand.

Secondly, are you using an external? That could be it, I had problems with one I was using at a spot with dirty power. We would get spikes and failures, and over the course of a couple of weeks my drive was pretty much ruined. What started happening was I would select a file and then have the exact same issue as you. Restart, same thing again, different file. Then I couldn't get it going at all (this is the first day it happened) so what I did was go into my back up folder, copy the database, pasted back into the main scratchlive folder. Success.

However, over the next two weeks more power issues when finally it just started freezing like crazy. I made it through the final night, went home and I could no longer even build overviews because the corrupted files would freeze Serato. What was happening was everytime the power was shutting down it was fucking my files.

I had a few back ups so I switched over drives (got a USB powered external) and no more crashes.

Same problem can be found in Macs as well

DJ Pesh proved one of them

I play a couple of corrupted files on my Mac every week, no crash (knock on wood & prays to Steve Jobs). Broken icon, but haven't had a chance to replace the bad tunes yet... (makes note to do that this week).

Yep, may be retarded but the shit just works....

Just saying....

do your thing man, whatever works for you...

I play corrupted files as well, no problem, they've been in there for years. But this had fucked my entire drive, read my situation again Art. It clearly wasn't a PC/Mac issue, if you'd like to turn it into that be my guest but it ain't the case.

Next time I'll word it a little more carefully so you Mac users can follow along.

;p

And just so you know, the same drive that actually still functions on the PC... refuses to work on my teammates big shiny "hey look at me I'm a Macbook". So that whole myth about "it just works" is bull. I've been to plenty of Mac facilities where the computers are some of the crankiest machines I've ever come across.





Egggzackly, most computer problems can be traced back to the user, where some others are just down to a bad model/make. I use both PC and Mac, my only real complaint about Mac is no right-click, (well that and maybe when I'm using Serato I forget that Option/Alt-Command/Control are switched around) other than that I'll use whatever gets the job done and won't buy into any hype that computer illiterate sheep love to spread.

*oops meant to add "environment" to list of problems, sidetracked today and not paying attention what i'm typing.

Props to DJs Shamann and Knockout for stating the TRUTH!!

certain hps have serious usb issues, and the rest overheat like a mofo. if you want to stay pc consider dell. if you looking for something to work long term, get a mac.

Probably some of the best advice I've heard on this forum.

Don't consider either a dell or an HP. My ACER does a great job. I suggest you head down to www.newegg.com or www.tigerdirect.com and check out the laptops. You'll get a LOT of bang for you buck compared to what hp, dell, apple will try to rip you off with. There are even macs on that site, but I don't but macs because they're useless for the things I do outside of djing.

Almost everything is rated and reviewed by other people who've bought the laptops. Read what they say about them. I got a 2.2ghz dual core 64-bit amd laptop with a graphics included, surround sound out, hdmi+vga out, and a great hd display for $500 flat on newegg.

Thanks everyone!! I got a usb powered fan yesterday and didn't have any problems at last nights gig which was about 4 hours. I still plan getting another laptop though... A PC!! lol
I have no reason for having itunes and serato open at the same time... itunes is pretty much always on my computer. I was not using an external drive, I don't really like bringing those to the club. When serato froze i was not selecting a file, it was like the middle of the first verse of the song and I was still thinking about what to cue up next. Once again thanks to all of you for the advice!!

I agree with you 100% I use what ever get the job done as well. I own both Windows and Macs, but I seem to use Windows more. Maybe because I am a undercover computer geek!!! LOL



Dell is a great company. I have one of there cheapest laptops and works like a charm. Acer is a good company and I wish I had one, like you said they are cheap and got a big bang! Newegg no longer sell Macs for whatever reason. (Maybe wrong, but I haven't seen them on there in a long time!)

My buddy and I both have just had bad luck with dells. My bad luck started around day 1 and got terrible within 2 years, my friends also broke at 2 years and their customer service was crap and pretty much stole money from him.

i had a few dells. won't ever get another one.

i have a laptop that i use ONLY for serato. this is the safest way. when it starts to malfunction, i will just buy another one. its expensive but if you're serious about djing its worth it.

Yeah if regularly replacing a laptop is what is required, then CDJs are worth it haha.

Yea me too... i am thinking about buying a new one though as gig lappy is about 3 years old now... bout time to upgrade and the laptops i have been seeing are super cheaper for a lot more then my computer offers.

Mac or PC.... you have to educate yourself on computers.... if you plan on using Serato. Sitting there staring at a screen and not knowing what the fuck to do while your audio is falling apart is a terrible feeling.

Getting a new laptop will not cure the issue if it was a corrupt file or a backround program or service that killed your set. After you set it up like your old one... you'll be back to where you started...

Some corrupt files play fine... some don't...

Learn how to activate Dr. Watson (if your on XP) and how to take screen shots so people can help if ish goes down.

Learn how to pinpoint issues so you can be in control if one arises in the future... learn as much as you can about computers.

While at home push the fuck out of Serato... GET IT to crash.... learn how to recover quickly...

In the end... depending on Serato with no audio backup (CD, Vinyl)... "not knowing about computers" is not an option.

Nice one.