Windows 7 freezes

[TrainableMan]

Adobe flash is a separate app from Adobe Reader (which handles PDF files).

Adobe Air is yet another Adobe application - it's purpose is similar to Microsoft's Silverlight but does not have a wide following. Adobe has tried to slip Air onto everyone's machines whenever they use the download manager to install flash or reader so they can sell it to developers as an established medium already installed on 90% of the computers in use today (90% is a number I made up because I can't remember the real # and don't care enough to try and find it). The only reason is is installed on most machines is because Adobe often doesn't even mention it and just slips it in there so you have to actually be aware of their deceptive practice and go to Control Panel \ Programs and Features and actually select to uninstall it.

So in conclusion, yes you need flash. You also need a PDF handler, either Reader or an alternative as Nibs pointed out. Air you likely have and most likely do NOT need.

 

[Jimmy_Banana]

What is Adobe Shockwave Player 11.5? Can I uninstall this also?

 

[TrainableMan]

It is used, at least for the most part, to provide 3D games; if you installed it then it was likely to play something. Unless you are desperately low on harddrive space I would leave it. http://www.adobe.com/products/shockwaveplayer/

 

[Jimmy_Banana]

Cool thanks for the info

 

[electromikey]

Hi,

I had a similar problem recently, where windows 7 would keep freezing on startup when it reached the logon screen. It only did it every other time however, the rest of the time everything would run smoothly.

After a lot of fiddling around i realized it only froze when my lan cable was connected. I tried disabling the 'network device' and everything ran smoothly. I'm still not sure why the problem occured, but it turns out the ethernet driver/network adapter which windows update had automatically downloaded was somehow incompatible. I changed the 'sis191 10/100 ethernet device' for one i found called 'sis 191 version 2.0.1039.1080' and thereafter everything has been working well!

I spent well over a week confused out of my mind before i managed to fix the issue, so this might save someone a great deal of time!

 

[creditfloat]

Win 7 Startup Freeze Resolution

I have a:
Lenovo Ideacentre K320
8 GB Ram
Intel Core i7-870 processor
64-bit

Windows froze and could only get it to boot up and stay up via Safe Mode. I'm somewhat technically challenged, but read through the majority of the posts on this thread. The first option I chose, which was to set the Power to High Performance worked (Control Panel-System-Security-Action Center-Troubleshooting-System and Security-Power / Next - Auto applied fix to timeout setting, which was the result of setting the Power to High Performance). Simply can't believe it was that simple, but it worked for others and worked for me as well. I wanted to thank the people on this forum, I registered just to post this resolution. Hoping for the best for everyone.

 

[TrainableMan]

creditfloat, we're glad you were able to find a solution that worked for you. welcome to Windows 7 Forums

 

[kanna]

Hi,

I'm glad I found this forum. I recently bought a new computer which came with Windows 7 and all was working good until not long ago it started randomly freezing up.

When I watch a video, it will freeze up the video but the audio will still be running. My mouse still moves but I can't click on anything and then eventually the mouse stops moving too. I have to hit the restart button on my harddrive to get it running again.

I've tried numerous solutions suggested but it's still happening.

I've run CCleaner, use MSE, Malwarebytes and SuperAntiSpyware.

Here are my specs:

Processor: Intel Core i7
Memory: 12288MB RAM
DirectX Version: DirectX 11
Display Device: ATI Radeon HD 5700 Series

I'm not very computer savvy when it comes to the technical issues. I don't know what else to do.

Please help.

 

[TrainableMan]

What application are you using to watch videos? Windows Media Player, Media Center, VLC, Cyberlink PowerDVD, WinDVD, other? or are you talking about streaming video in a browser, if so what browser and version?

As with most slowdowns it is a lot of ifs and maybes.
1. Make sure you have the latest video drivers & BIOS
2. Try setting your control panel \ power options to high performance
3. Also depending on the application used there may be a setting to prevent sleep/hibernation during playback.
4. I would also make sure your system is not downloading A/V updates or Java updates or windows updates. Or running background virus scans etc. These items can be watched for with process explorer (like task manager it tells you what programs are using CPU) and TCPView (tells what programs are utilizing network ports). Find links in out Freeware Database.
5. The other idea that came to mind is a possible audio/video codec issue. Try a different player like VLC.which comes with many of its' own codecs (also listed in our Freeware DB).
6. And if it is in a browser then the problem could be your add-ons or flash. Perhaps try a different browser or running it with add-ons disabled.

 

[kanna]

I use Media Player Classic and VLC - it will randomly freeze in either player.

1. How do I go about checking for the latest drivers and BIOS? - I know nothing about this.
2. I have Power Options set to 'Balanced' which has turn off display set to 10mins and put computer to sleep in 30mins. I didn't change this.
4. Will check out process explorer.
5. I have Combined Community Codec and K-Lite installed
6. It usually only freezes when I'm watching a video which I have downloaded.

EDIT: It just froze again before. I wasn't watching a video. I had winamp playing and it made a funny noise and I couldn't close it. Then I tried to check if my browser was still working but no that froze too. I was loading a youtube video. I don't know what the problem is anymore. I've had to restart about 5 times today already.

 

[TrainableMan]

1. For video driver, what make/model video card does your computer have? For BIOS what make/model computer or motherboard do you have?
2. I would suggest you try the high performance setting to see if it helps eliminate the problem. This is probably the easiest so I would try this first.
5. I thought I read somewhere it is best to avoid having to many codecs installed but I couldn't find the source when looking just now. CCCP and K-Lite have numerous overlapping codecs; I only have K-Lite installed. I would suggest uninstalling both of them and then just reinstall K-Lite and see if it does all you need and also hopefully solves your problem.
7. Of course it could be a hardware issue too but I would try the simpler things first.

 

[kanna]

I have an Intel Core i7 with the following:

1. Video driver: ATI Radeon HD 5700 Series. BIOS: Phoenix - AwardBIOS v6.00PG. I have no ide what motherboard I have.
2. I have set my computer to high performance.
5. I'll see how it goes tonight and if the high performace setting doesn't help. I'll try fixing the codecs.

I do have an instant backup thing going but I have turned it off for now. Could this be a contributing factor to the freeze?

 

[TrainableMan]

Are you W7 64-bit or 32-bit?

Anything running in the background could slow video playback; that was the purpose of installing process explorer. You open VLC and process explorer, sizing the windows so you can see both on the screen at the same time. Then watch your video and if it suddenly slows down, glance at process explorer to see what is using the CPU.

As for the driver version of your graphics card, go to control panel \ device manager and find Display Adapters and expand it. You should see your HD5700 listed; right-click and choose properties. Under the Driver tab, what is the driver Date and version?

 

[kanna]

I have W7 64-bit.

Driver Date: 2/02/2010
Driver version: 8.702.0.0

 

[TrainableMan]

AMD catalyst driver 11/17/2010
I would probably get the first one (integrated rather than OpenCL), and if you play Call Of Duty: BlackOps or the others listed there then also get ATI Catalyst Application Profiles.

Note I use the custom install and then I don't select the trial game and some other options I don't use. And I don't play any of the games but I still get the Profile Updates and install them, just in case I ever do.

 

[kanna]

I'll see how I go. Thanks.

EDIT: I've tried to download that driver 3 times already and each time it stops downloading halfway. I can't get it to complete the download.

 

[florinelul]

windows 7 freezing randomly on my asus notebook

hi all,

i've come across this problem a couple of days ago and i busted my head for quite some time with it. i hope anyone who reads this will find it easier for them to get their problem fixed. so here's my issue and how i SUCCESFULLY dealt with it:

i own an Asus K52 Series notebook and had been running Windows 7 (32 bit) for the past 3 months with no visible problems whatsoever. even so, i've never had to use the ethernet adapter before because i've been using a wireless router or had wifi access. but as i moved to some other place a couple of days ago and plugged in the LAN wire things started to get out of hand. at random points during browsing the web Windows froze or i got a nice BSOD (IRQL_NOT_LESS_OR_EQUAL). it sometimes took 1 minute or 5 or maybe an hour until the system froze again.
i've had a very hard time finding the source of this problem because i had recently installed Ubuntu on dual boot and also added a second screen (which could point to graphic adapter problems). after i uninstalled Linux and reinstalled Windows and all my drivers, the problem persisted. i finally narrowed it down to browsing the web - but, as it all worked just fine over wireless, it had to be the LAN adapter.
reading forum threads i came across a pattern where Asus motherboard notebooks had a defficiency over PCI Express (Thrax suggested it could be related to ACPI). either way, the only thing connected via PCI Express on my notebook was the Ethernet adapter (LAN) and this turned out to be the actual problem. but modifying power options in order to not apply power savings on the PCI Express didn't work. as i read further, IRQL_NOT_LESS_OR_EQUAL BSODs are usually triggered by bad / incompatible drivers. hence i updated my ethernet adapter driver from the Asus website (support.asus.com) and VOILA the problem had gone away!

 

[TrainableMan]

florinelul, I'm glad you got it working and thank you for sharing your solution.

kanna, try a download manager yo see if it can resume the download rather than start over. FireFox has one built-in or you can add one to IE, for example IE7Pro includes MiniDM (Mini Download Manager).

 

[kanna]

I just tried downloading again and it downloaded in about 10 secs. I think my computer was having a mental yesterday. It was extremely slow.

After setting it to high performance last night, it didn't freeze at all. I used it from 7pm to 2am and no freeze.

Do I still need to install the video driver? I'm too scared to do anything now since it might start freezing up again?

 

[TrainableMan]

If it only took 10 seconds you probably downloaded the profiles (3rd item on the list) or it may have ended early and is corrupt.

I would definitely recommend updating the video driver because they are a common cause for problems but if you want to see how it goes for a few days, maybe put it off till next weekend, that's fine; if it freezes again I would try the driver right away.

When you are ready to install the video driver, remember ...

Always create a restore point prior to installing new drivers. To create a restore point type restore point into the start menu search and select the first match. Then click the Create button and give it a description like Prior to Catalyst drivers.

When you run the download it has to first expand the files to a temporary directory. You have to go in there and run the setup to actually install.