Windows 7 freezes

[JazzBlueDubber]

same problem here. it's getting very frustrating now. i have had windows 7 installed now for around 4 week.

it has random freezes most of the day, my cursor will stop moving and it will boot my internet of if i leave the computer idle.

the only way to get out of the freeze is to hit the windows key located on the keyboard. i have had my task manager open when the freezes happen and i dont see any high cpu usage etc.

all my drivers are up to date.

any help would be great.

 

[Jumpman23]

Yeah when the freezing gets really bad my cpu usage doesnt even go up. I put xp on yesterday and it still froze so maybe its something wrong with my hardware idk.

 

[L. Spiro]

My freezes are ridiculous. Windows 7 is simply useless; I can not even run it for 5 minutes.
No blue screens etc., just the freezes people have been reporting.


My configuration is in my profile but to save you the trouble:
* Operating System
#1: Windows 7 Ultimate 64-bit
#2: Windows XP 32
* CPU
Core i7 975 Quad 3.33GHz
* Motherboard
ASUS P6T
* Graphics Card
ATI Radeon HD 5870 x2 (Crossfire)
* Memory
12 GB Corsair DDR3
* Sound Card
#1: Sound Blaster X-Fi Titanium Fatal1ty Championship Series
#2: ESI Juli@ Professional Audio


I have updated everything of which I could think. I know that I have an exceptional configuration but it is all working together fine in Windows XP. But I can not rule out the possibility that one of these pieces of hardware has poor support for Windows 7, or poor support for 64-bit platforms, or both.


But the way it sounds, this is a Windows 7 problem.
How could such a severe bug make it to the market?
What can we do about it in the meantime?


L. Spiro

 

[Jumpman23]

^what power supply do you have spiro?

 

[clifford_cooley]

I'm not sure if it will work for you.

I read somewhere, someone was having freezes till they overclocked their memory modules. This setup was an ASUS board with socket 775 and DDR3 memory. Who knows it could work for you too, even if you have a different setup.

 

[L. Spiro]

* Power Supply
AQTIS G-PowerX 1250W (AP-1250GLX80+B)

Works in Windows XP.


Overclocking is a bit scary; this computer already runs hot, especially since the motherboard puts the 2 graphics cards right next to each other and they get poor ventilation.
I have already lost saved gamestates due to corrupted save files caused by the computer overheating at just the wrong moment, and I have to play with the air-conditioner on (in the middle of winter!) as it is.


L. Spiro

 

[Jumpman23]

well i cant even use my pc atm, just sitting there looking at it while using the family comp. computer cant even start windows now, and if it does it would take around 30mins

 

[quix]

* Power Supply
AQTIS G-PowerX 1250W (AP-1250GLX80+B)

Works in Windows XP.


Overclocking is a bit scary; this computer already runs hot, especially since the motherboard puts the 2 graphics cards right next to each other and they get poor ventilation.
I have already lost saved gamestates due to corrupted save files caused by the computer overheating at just the wrong moment, and I have to play with the air-conditioner on (in the middle of winter!) as it is.


L. Spiro

My freezes are ridiculous. Windows 7 is simply useless; I can not even run it for 5 minutes.
No blue screens etc., just the freezes people have been reporting.


My configuration is in my profile but to save you the trouble:
* Operating System
#1: Windows 7 Ultimate 64-bit
#2: Windows XP 32
* CPU
Core i7 975 Quad 3.33GHz
* Motherboard
ASUS P6T
* Graphics Card
ATI Radeon HD 5870 x2 (Crossfire)
* Memory
12 GB Corsair DDR3
* Sound Card
#1: Sound Blaster X-Fi Titanium Fatal1ty Championship Series
#2: ESI Juli@ Professional Audio


I have updated everything of which I could think. I know that I have an exceptional configuration but it is all working together fine in Windows XP. But I can not rule out the possibility that one of these pieces of hardware has poor support for Windows 7, or poor support for 64-bit platforms, or both.


But the way it sounds, this is a Windows 7 problem.
How could such a severe bug make it to the market?
What can we do about it in the meantime?


L. Spiro

Sounds like you could use a new case... And either water cooling or a bunch of good quality fans (I like Noctua, because they're quiet and use oil-pressure bearings that in 2 years of heavy overclocking haven't failed NOR started to make any noise yet... However, they're on the expensive side at around $17-20 CAD a piece. There are certainly cheaper options).

As for your freezing... That that it freezes so quickly after startup is good. Makes it a lot easier to test.
I had the same deal and it turned out to be a corrput service (or faulty, etc... and yes it was a windows service... No idea how it went and got itself corrupted).
Boot into safemode and see if it doesn't freeze. If it doesn't then you can start going through the services and processes that windows runs (using msconfig).
Turn off all startup processes and try normal mode with it. No crash? Turn half back on and try again... Keep isolating until you find the cause.
If it's not the processes, leave them all turned on and do the same with the services and try to isolate the faulty service.
Once you find the cause, post back and let us know.

My faulty service was workstation.

Edit: also, it's important to run your ram at the spec voltage rating, which for high frequency RAM is usually high (mine are spec'd to 2.3V for 1066mhz ddr2, with out overclocking settings in the motherboard, the board runs them at 1.8v and 800mhz). The RAM warranty covers usage up to the specified voltage levels, so you shouldn't have to worry about doing that.

well i cant even use my pc atm, just sitting there looking at it while using the family comp. computer cant even start windows now, and if it does it would take around 30mins

If it takes so long to start, sounds like you need to reinstall.

 

[L. Spiro]

Cooling is not a problem when it freezes (it is during gaming, but surprisingly it almost never freezes when I game; it overheats and shuts down, but this is a different problem).
For general use, especially 5 minutes after a boot, it runs cool. Windows XP runs fine, for example, when not gaming, and never freezes.


Also, I have only essential services running as it is.
I reformatted only a week ago and this problem happened both before and immediately after the reinstall.
It has not frozen yet while in safe mode, but I have to use it more to verify anything.
I will try disabling services etc., but aren't there a lot of people having this same freeze? And since the same computer runs fine with Windows XP (and by now I have already moved all of my tools and games to Windows XP and made it my main OS) it will probably end up being a service that I either can not disable (essential) or I can't update.


Anyway I will try it when I have the time.


Thank you for the advice. But I suspect I will be screwed in any case until Microsoft patches it.


L. Spiro

 

[Ngust]

I am not sure if this has been posted already but I have found a solution that works for me. I had to sign up for this because I understand how frustrating this is and no one deserves to go through this!!

Anyways in safe mode, Click the windows button and in the Search programs and Files box type "Power Options". If the power setting checked happens to be Balanced, you *may* have just found your problem. Click Show additional plans, and click High performance.

Honestly, I went through everything in BIOS 20x over and anything else you can imagine, and this fixed it for me. I hope it works for anyone having this problem! And if anyone installed windows 7 with no problems, can you check if your on balanced or high performance? I'd like to get down to the bottom of this in case I have to install W7 in the future ( I had to install it on a different computer and switch HDD.)

 

[quix]

Yes. There are many people having this problem. For some merely changing the power preferences and uninstalling their current anti-virus software solved the issue. For some, however, it didn't. So far I've only seen one other person besides me actually try going the services route, and it worked for him as well (for me it was the workstation service, for him it was Windows Update service).

My guess is that what happens is that Windows Update tries to patch a running service and somehow messes things up. This then leaves you with a faulty service that probably introduces an infinite loop into a low-level thread, which renders anything above it completely useless until you perform a hard reset. The reason the system doesn't actually crash is because this happens somewhere below normal kernel layer (e.g. in the services layer or something like that), and that means the entire operating system gets stuck (as opposed to an application getting stuck hogging up all the memory, and forcing the operating system to reboot in order to free up the memory).
Basically, Microsoft trying to patch is what got us all screwed up in the first place.

By definition, most Windows services are "essential". The question as how to how essential they really are is a fairly open one.
Generally speaking, if you disable ALL services in msconfig, the ones that are truly essential will be automatically enabled anyway (i.e. you cannot actually disable them).

The number of services running in safe mode is somewhere around 10-20. The number of services running in normal mode is more than 100 (even after a fresh install of windows with nothing else on it).
That's a large difference, and it's fairly safe to assume that if it was one of the 10 non-disableable services that was corrupted, you probably wouldn't have been able to boot up at all. That your system freezes only after startup (even if it's within seconds or minutes from startup) is indicative of the fact that something is triggering a critical crash after the system is already running, which means it's probably not one of the essential services.

Shouldn't take more than 10 reboots to isolate the service if it is indeed a service causing the freezes--by halving the enabled services with each iteration.

Fixing the service merely involves renaming the service's corresponding .dll file and then running the system file scan utility which will then automatically replace the now "missing" .dll with a fresh one from the online windows repository (if available, and, if not, from the offline repository of older ones that came with your install version).
The reason you have to do this is that as far as Windows is concerned you shouldn't be touching the services or their .dll's at all (or anything within System32 for that matter)... I actually agree with that. The problem lies in the fact that Microsoft completely failed to implement a proper update mechanism to update .dll files.


Either way, good luck with this.

 

[quix]

It installs with Balanced by default.
W7 power settings use ACPI 2.0 or 2.1, either of which should work with any motherboard manufactured within the last 4 years, AFAIK (except for FOXCONN boards most commonly found in bundle desktops, they apparently still use parts and bioses from the 1980's).

I am not sure if this has been posted already but I have found a solution that works for me. I had to sign up for this because I understand how frustrating this is and no one deserves to go through this!!

Anyways in safe mode, Click the windows button and in the Search programs and Files box type "Power Options". If the power setting checked happens to be Balanced, you *may* have just found your problem. Click Show additional plans, and click High performance.

Honestly, I went through everything in BIOS 20x over and anything else you can imagine, and this fixed it for me. I hope it works for anyone having this problem! And if anyone installed windows 7 with no problems, can you check if your on balanced or high performance? I'd like to get down to the bottom of this in case I have to install W7 in the future ( I had to install it on a different computer and switch HDD.)

 

[L. Spiro]

In regards to power settings, I think I have mine set to high performance, but I may be getting my installs mixed up. I will check when I get home.


As for kernels, I have written kernel drivers before and I understand your idea (as to why there is no response etc., since the lock must happen at a higher IRQ than even the mouse, which is pretty high). I will see how it goes.


L. Spiro

 

[L. Spiro]

Disabling only the Workstation service solved my problem, as far as I can tell.
Been running for a few hours now without a crash.


Thank you for the hint.


L. Spiro

 

[quix]

sweet.

This service is crucial to network sharing (e.g. you don't get to share/view network shares with it disabled), so you do want to have it fixed.

Before you fix it, make sure to leave all homegroups you're a member of. I didn't, and that left me stuck in a homegroup that I cannot leave (and has no other computers on it either). This effectively killed the homegroup feature for me.

Go here for how to fix the service: https://www.w7forums.com/windows-7-random-freezes-potential-solution-t3275.html

The workstation service file is wkssvc.dll located in system32\
To change file permission within the System32 directory, you need to open the file properties, go to the security tab, click advanced, then go to owner tab and change yourself to the owner (since you're going to be getting a new file with the original permissions, there's no need worry about leaving yourself the owner of the old corrupt file). Close all properties windows. Then open up the file properties again, go to security and edit the permissions to give yourself full control (modify). This will let you rename the file.
Once the file is renamed run cmd as administrator and type sfc /scannow and this will discover that you're missing the wkssvc.dll file and replace it with a new one from the repository.

If this solves your freezing problem, please chime in at the linked thread to mention it worked for you as well, so prudent users who, like me, wait for more than 1 person to try out an experimental method before diving in, will be able to make a more informed decision whether or not they want to go the services repair route.

P.s. apart from the homegroup issue, my w7 ultimate 64 has been running smoothly with out a single hiccup since repairing the workstation service. It's been 3 weeks (I think, hard to tell the date of older posts on this forum).

 

[thomps]

Freeze Issue

I am having the same problem. I am running the RC on a Dell Dimension 9100. It freezes for about 3 minutes and then unfreezes. This happens randomly. Sometimes every 20 minutes or so. Sometimes not for a couple hours. I ran the Beta on the same machine and did not have this problem.

I have the same issue on the same Dell machine.

 

[Ratel]

I am having freezing issues where I have to restart my computer everytime. it happens sometime while windows is still loading or shortly after I make it to the desktop to where I can go 1 week without any problem and it randomly freezes.

I am using
Asus M4A785TD-V Evo
AMD Phenom II x2 550 Dual-core black edition 3.1ghz w/7mb cache
Mushkin Hp3-10666 High performance DDR3 SDRAM, 4GB dual
XFX Radeon HD 5770 1GB GDDR5 PCI-E w/ Dual DVI, HDMI

 

[mushy_eyes]

Hey guys - I'm having a weird freezing issue as well... hopefully, someone will be able to help me

Firstly, I'm using a Dell Latitude D630
OS: Windows 7 Ultimate 32-bit
Processor: Intel Core 2 Duo T9300 @ 2.50GHz
Memory: 3072MB RAM
Display: NVIDIA Quadro NVS 135M
Approx Total Memory: 1394MB

Now the problem:
I've been using the laptop for a while (so it didn't freeze at startup), and each time it happens, it happens when I'm trying to log in to something on Google Chrome (updated it to the latest version), but when it happens, it's not the first time I've tried to log on that day.

What's weird, though, it doesn't seem like a "real" freeze (aka. the ones I would get in XP).
That is, the typing cursor still blinks, the clock still runs, if I unplug the network cable it notifies me that it's been unplugged, MSN alerts still pop up and down, etc.
However, the mouse won't move, and I can't Alt-Tab, or Ctrl-Shift-Esc, and if I'm playing music or watching a video, it'd stop.

I wait a few minutes, and nothing happens (besides the "Safely Remove Hardware and Eject Media" icon disappearing from my taskbar)

Is it just Chrome... or the laptop... or what? Anyone have any idea what's going on?

Thanks

 

[Buhjesus]

Fixed my computer

Everything was fine until I updated my Vista OS to Windows 7. I have an Acer Aspire 1700. I was experiencing the same freezing problems that all of you have described. My computer was freezing randomly especially when playing videos. When it would freeze it would also make this screeching sound come out of the speakers. I figured it had to be something with the Video Driver so I updated it for Windows 7 through Nvidia, which is the manufacturer of my Video Card, and that still didn't work. So now I figured it had to be a application that I installed the was causing it. So I started to uninstall applications using Control Panel/Uninstall Application and I noticed that my Nvidia Driver was still dated 2009. Although I update my driver to the latest version, the old 2009 driver was still there. I then uninstalled all my Nvidia drivers then went back to Nvidia website and ran a clean install of the 2010 version for Windows 7. Been running my computer for several days now using Boxee and Windows Media Center and have not experienced any freezing. I would suggest that you download your latest driver application and save to your computer before you completely uninstall your video drivers. Cause once you uninstall it your screen will become somewhat distorted and it's harder to navigate through websites. I'm sure this will work regardless of who is the manufacturer of your video card. Good luck. Hope this helps.

tl;dr
completely uninstall old video drivers before updating to a windows 7 driver.

 

[xxxnullifierxxx]

FIXED MINE!!!! in my situation i disabled webroot security essentials. One of the things is having a antivirus engine running in Win 7 especially on a 64 bit machine. The high performance power option had nothing to do with it. That is probably not the case for most of you, but anyone with new Webroot, disable it