New Windows 7 PC keeps freezing
Problem: PC will freeze. This usually happens like this, screen freezes, but mouse works, seconds later the mouse stops working, PC doesn't respond to anything. This whole time I can hear the hard drive doing something, but no grinding noises or anything like clicks. I think my PC always makes this noise with the hard drive.
I have had this PC for about a week now with Windows 7 and I can't see any cause of the problem. Windows has been updated, all the drivers have been updated, I have Microsoft Security Essentials installed and found no viruses.
The problem has happened during the initial start of windows while the PC is loading all the start with windows applications. It has also happened right after it was done that, right after I changed the IP settings, during web browsing a few times, and during other low stress times. I have also left the PC on to download games in Steam and it has frozen. It has never frozen during the times I have been playing games a few times this past week.
I have run HWMonitor and my heat settings are pretty low or average even during heavy stress so I don't think it's overheating. I also ran Windows Memory Diagnostic and it found no errors with either the short or longer test. Running "chkdsk /r c:" in CMD (run in elevated mode) which runs check disk after a restart found no errors. All of these applications that were running are on C:, so I didn't check other drives.
Any suggestions or thoughts?
PC Specs:
Windows 7 Professional 64 bit
i5 750 Quad Core
4 GB of dual channel ram
Asus P7P55 LX Motherboard
Western Digital 1 TB SATA hard drive
HIS Radeon HD 5770
Programs launching at startup:
ZoneAlarm
Start CCC (ATI Catalyst Control Center)
MSSE (Microsoft Security Essentials)
HDAudDeck (VIA Audio Drivers from Asus)
Intellipoint (Microsoft mouse drivers)
If this isn't the place for these kinds of requests, I understand.
Nope, this is the place!
I have a lot of my apps loaded on an E: drive on my work machine. Every so often, the HDD activity light goes solid and every app loaded on the E: drive freezes hard. Every app loaded on C: is fine.
I'm also running Windows 7 Pro x64 on a modified Dell Optiplex. The only other similarity I see is that my E: is a WD 750GB SATA.
I've scanned the crap out of that box and HDD, loaded all the current drivers, and everything else I have though of. It still does it, and I don't know why. I'm starting to think it's a Win 7 Pro x64 issue.
Hypatian wrote:
Are you sure it isn't a bum program locking up or interfering with another program on startup? I've had W7 x64 Pro installed for about 4 days now and not a single hiccup. My hardware specs are vastly different, though, running a dual-core Athlon and Nvidia GPU, so results may vary?
Steam: WipEout XBox Live: w1p30u7
I did a check disk of all the drives and a full scan for bad sectors etc of D: and found no errors. Then I went to check something using Chrome and it froze again. These aren't application freezes where I can Alt F4 or Ctrl Alt Del out of, this is a complete freeze. Then I restarted the PC and again it froze while loading the startup apps. I'll go find a list and post them here.
I also installed the VIA Audio Drivers from the Asus site yesterday as well as installing the Intel Chipset Drivers. Perhaps one of those is the problem. I'm uninstalling the VIA audio drivers to see if that helps. Windows had their own for it and they seemed to be fine, but I figured I may as well install the ones from ASUS.
Edit: Updated first post with list of startup programs.
I've had similar cases like this before and in those times it was either one of two things - irregular Amps from the Power Supply or a faulty stick of RAM.
So would you like to list out the specs for your PSU and maybe the hivemind here can get a better idea if it is indeed a PSU problem? Want to be looking at the As on the 12v rails. Anything less than 27A on either one and that could be the problem.
As for the possibility of faulty RAM, maybe get a memtest program, install it into a floppy disk, boot from that floppy and run a few test pass for a couple of hours and see if the problem can be replicated.
Chumpy_McChump wrote:
Twitter | Steam
I have a Corsair TX650W power supply which was recommended by others in the Help Me Build A PC thread. That one is supposed to have a single rail. I have run the MS memory test (Windows Memory Diagnostic) from a boot cd and it found no problems.
Here is a screenshot from CPUID Hardware Monitor of all the stats,
(Note: I'm not sure what Aux is, but it's always shown that ridiculously high temperature)
Also, just to be safe, I ran CCleaner's registry cleaner and removed Google Update from the start up list.
update: Not sure if this is a problem, but perhaps its a problem with Chrome / Google Update. Google Update used to start with windows and I use Chrome for browsing. I guess I should switch to Firefox and see if the problem goes away.
http://www.google.com/support/forum/p/Chrome/thread?tid=3d35e500109cbd9e&hl=en
Well, I just had a Corsair 650 fail spectacularly, and as it turns out, it had been providing inadequate voltage for the system as a whole. I'd been getting weird stutters on occasions when gaming, and the Intel Burn Test failed at anything higher than 'standard' settings -- I thought it was the program, but it wasn't. After the 650 blew up, I replaced it with an 850, and the system as a whole improved markedly: the Intel Burn Test now passes on maximum settings.
You can get that program here. What happens if you run it at one notch above 'standard'?
Elewis17 wrote:
Thanks, I also installed Intellipoint win7 64 bit drivers for my Wireless Intellimouse Explorer 2.0 since a lot of the issues seem to be when I click on things, although not always. I'm going to run that program as you suggested.
When did the issue start?
Did it ever work properly?
Did you install something (e.g. your chipset drivers etc) and then the problem started?
Which programs are loading when Windows loads?
Does this freezing happen if you boot into Safe Mode?
I'm assuming you built the PC yourself, based on your comments. First try Safe Mode, then try taking the RAM out and reseat it. Try the mouse and keyboard in different USB ports.
Steam
First Intel Burn Test info, then other info,
I ran the standard test and it was successful. I then ran the high test, and then the maximum, both were successful. The results are posted below for the second two.
I have a list of the startup programs in the first post. I've had this PC for about a week and didn't have any issues under XP which was installed for about 3 days before I formatted and put windows 7 on there. There has always been a freezing issue, but I think it has happened a lot more after I installed the Intel Chipset Drivers and the VIA Audio Drivers (I uninstalled the VIA Audio Drivers today) which I did a few days ago.
I have not reseated the RAM, but all the tests suggest it is ok. I have also not tried safe mode because the freeze happens so randomly. Sometimes it doesn't even load all the startup programs, sometimes I'm at the PC, sometimes its after I've been using it for about 30 min or so.
My Keyboard is PS2 and my mouse is a wireless Microsoft mouse with a USB wireless receiver (2.0 receiver). I did read that the Asus board had problems with some USB things and that the latest BIOS update fixed that. I did this update even before having Windows 7 installed.
Thanks for all the suggestions. I think I may try uninstalling a bunch of programs to see if that helps. I don't have many, but if it works then, I can slowly reinstall them.
Sorry, I missed your programs launching at startup.
First thing I would do is uninstall or disable ZoneAlarm. Something you have may not like Win7, and that's a good candidate, but I'm not sure. I don't bother with 99% of security tools because they often end up causing more problems than they solve. Win7 has a firewall built in.
I'm surprised you only have 3 things loading at startup.
Try Winkey, then type msconfig, then look at the startup tab. Only 3 things there?
I know what you mean about intermittent problems like this, they are the hardest to solve. That your PC was working fine under XP suggests the hardware is ok. That this only seems to happen after Win7 loads seems to suggest a software problem.
Steam
I don't want to run my PC without Zone Alarm, but if that is the only option, I guess I'll have to find an alternative (I don't consider the Windows Firewall an alternative).
Now I have 4 programs starting, since I installed the Microsoft Intellipoint (mouse) drivers that also loads.
I used to have Google Update and Adobe CS4 Service Manager running at startup, but I disabled those.
I tried a test as follows,
-Start windows
-Wait for everything to load
-Press a bunch of quick launch icons all at once, Steam, Pidgin, Chrome, Windows Explorer, Internet Explorer
-See what happens
First time it crashed.
Second time I tried without clicking on Chrome, no problem. Then I closed them all and included Chrome (without restarting), no problem.
I also did this in safe mode with no problems, but I only tried opening a bunch of stuff for a few minutes.
The website above had people suggest opening Firefox and then Chrome and then closing Firefox to fix the problem. I think I'm just going to uninstall Chrome (which I like to use as applications) and hope for the best.
I may try to uninstall the Intel Chipset Drivers or disable the Catalyst Control Center (although I do use that to adjust some Gamma settings).
Thanks again.
The Windows firewall is really pretty good. An external firewall is always better (like on your router), but I'm okay with putting Windows machines on public networks if I have to, using just the built-in firewall.
Is there something that Zonealarm does that you really want?
Note that the Windows firewall is on by default, so if neither you nor Zonealarm turned it off, that could be causing a conflict.
Elewis17 wrote:
Windows Firewall is off. I like Zone Alarm because it asks me if I want applications to access the internet. A lot of times, I don't want them to and I like to know when they ask. I've also used it a long time and although I have had some problems, I think it does a pretty good job.
I did the test I said above again where I started the PC and clicked all the icons. Again, when doing it with Chrome, it crashed. I uninstalled Chrome and hopefully my issues are gone. Others on that site above have said that Chrome someone made their other browsers not run properly when it was installed. I don't know if that is true, but it may have been one of the things.
I didn't think it could be Chrome before because sometimes my PC will freeze during the very beginning while it loads the start up programs.
Because your problem is intermittent, the Chrome thing is likely coincidental. I doubt very much that's the problem. I also would strongly doubt that the Catalyst panel has anything to do with it either.
My strongest feeling is still zone alarm. I'm not clear on if you disabled it yet or not.
Btw, the windows firewall often asks me if I want to allow a program to access the internet or not. If you press Winkey and type Windows Firewall, the top choice should be 'Windows Firewall with Advanced Security' - click that and you'll see how you can use it to control almost anything you can think of regarding in and outbound traffic. It's a pretty darn good firewall, in the event that ZA is what's causing your problem.
Either way, good luck. These intermittent problems are the worst.
Steam
Thanks for the info on windows firewall. They must have greatly improved it since last I checked (a few years and OS's back). I have not uninstalled or disabled Zone Alarm yet. I will try to see if I still have this problem for a few days. If it lasts even a single day without the problem that will be great. I just uninstalled Chrome an hour ago or so and haven't really had problems since.
Thanks again.
I think, at this point, I'd probably try a full wipe and reinstall, and then using Windows with the absolute minimum possible extra software installed, to see if I could still duplicate the problem.
If it's still squirrely, after watching my 650 blow up, I'd probably try replacing that first. Your symptoms do sound a little like mine, and having been so recently bitten, that's what I'd experiment with.
Elewis17 wrote:
You really do. Zone Alarm has been on a death spiral since Zone Labs was bought by Check Point. It's a source of problems now, not a solution to them.
You should follow me on Twitter: @legion
Steam: *Legion* | Xbox Live: Legion SB | PSN: Legion_SB | Origin: LegionSB
I want a firewall that acts like Zone Alarm in the following way. I want to have all programs blocked from both incoming and outgoing internet access as well as the "Program X is trying to modify thing X" notifications. I also want notifications the first time this happens with the easy method of saying "allow," "deny," and "remember settings." I looked at Windows Firewall with Advanced Settings and it doesn't look like you can configure the program settings this way. It may be that I'm just used to it, but I found that that method has worked well for me in the past. If there is another (free) one out there that works better, then that should be fine. Otherwise I'll have to make due. It's definitely not for everyone and I can believe that it's been more buggy lately.
Update on PC issues: Since uninstalling Chrome, I haven't really had the problem. Hopefully it is fixed. I had to reinstall the VIA audio drivers which seem to be working fine.
Sygate was another firewall with decent outbound protection, until they were bought by symantec and discontinued. The best I can suggest is comodo AV/firewall if you want that level of control, it offers varying levels of 'learning' depending on how much you want to know about what's trying to get to the internet. I'll add my voice to those that have heard nothing good about zone alarm recently, and recommend you move on.
For what it's worth I'm running windows firewall behind a router NAT, and my system is clean (touch wood), but I think a lot of what makes a system secure is being a tiny bit paranoid and not going to places or running apps you don't trust.
Yeah, I quit using it a couple of years ago when it started to slow my rig down. It got so bad it would take me about 15 minutes just to boot up because it was doing some crazy system check and update.
Yonder wrote:
Are you running Nortons? My GFs laptop is demonstrating similar behavior and we've pinpointed the change that caused it as installing Nortons. I've made a few setting changes to it and switched her to Chrome (from Firefox) and we'll see if that helps. If not, we're going to uninstall Nortons and go with McAfee. I use McAfee and have had no problems.
Zone Alarm doesn't auto update and I use Microsoft Security Essentials for anti-virus. There is a list of boot-up applications in the first post and that is pretty much all that's running on my PC other than starting things like games, Steam, Firefox, etc.
However unreasonable it seems, I think Chrome was the problem. No problems so far since uninstalling it.
I seriously doubt it was Chrome. Chrome doesn't do anything unless you run it, and even then it's very benign. To me, that's like saying Wordpad was the problem
. Far more likely that your Chrome uninstall and the cessation of the problem was coincidental. You mentioned in a previous post that at the same time you also reinstalled the VIA audio drivers. This is far more likely to be the fix than Chrome. Just my 2¢.
I guess it's a moot point as long as everything is working now.
Steam
I used Comodo for a while on my new PC until it started causing significant grief when trying to install software like Alcohol 120. It even caused problems installing software like SnagIt (which is just ridiculous...)
Given that I was running NOD32 and behind a router, I just uninstalled it and switched to Windows firewall. Haven't had any problems since.
Edit: FWIW, note that using the Router firewall and/or Windows firewall was included by popular demand on LifeHacker's Hive Five for Best Windows firewalls (You might try the ESET Smart Security mentioned on that article)
Your Average Geek (painfully literal, I am)
Twitter | Alter-Ego
Yes. A NAT router/firewall is a million times more important than a software firewall.
It's trivial for malicious code to simply switch a software firewall off. It can't do the same to a firewall that's physically separate from the machine.
You should follow me on Twitter: @legion
Steam: *Legion* | Xbox Live: Legion SB | PSN: Legion_SB | Origin: LegionSB
I have been having this same issue for some time now. i built my machine last july and ran xp with no problems. I pre-ordered win 7 with my hardware but didnt install it until christmas break. I had issues getting it installed (4 attempts before it worked) and have had problems with freeze up ever since. I have been on the phone with microsoft tech support and on numerous other forums trying to figure out what the problem was. all of my drivers are the newest version,s and windows 7 specific, so i don't see how any of those can be the problem. something that has often been suggested is changing ram setting in bios off of auto as that has been known to cause problems. i did that and it seemed to fix the problem but it did not. at first the problem was completely random. recently it has started only occuring when im browsing the internet. i found out that internet explorer 8 has been causing this so i downloaded firefox and it seemed like my computer was finally running smooth! and then an automatic update for firefox installed and here i am again
Judging from what ive seen on other forums this is actually a common problem and i havent found any lasting solution. at this point im wore out and ready to admit defeat. it seems like im going to have to live with it and hope that microsoft will get this fixed sometime soon.
Good god man. Paragraph breaks! Learn to like them.
Your Average Geek (painfully literal, I am)
Twitter | Alter-Ego
Just curious. When you installed Win7, did you format and do a 'clean' install, or did you do an "over the top" upgrade install?
Steam
I haven't been having the same issue since uninstalling Chrome, but I have had other freezes. Just yesterday one occurred while playing Team Fortress 2 and another happened while doing something else which I can't remember. Those freezes have been different though. In those, I could often move the mouse or try to Alt-Tab and see some things flash on the screen, but couldn't Ctrl-Alt-Del or Alt-F4 out of them.
I think the problem may have something to do with Superfetch in Windows 7 which at any time may pre-load a program into memory. It makes sense to me that while doing this, it may have a problem for some reason and freeze. It can do this at any time and adapts how it works based on the user's behavior. Urownarrogance, you may want to try disabling that service since it isn't a necessity by any means for Windows to run properly.
If Superfetch is breaking, that means your hardware is screwed up. You should focus on fixing the real problem, not just slapping bandaid after bandaid on it.
Elewis17 wrote: