Random freezes with windows 7 - 64 bit

Anonymous

I use to run Vista home premium x86 on a acer computer. This summer I downloaded Windows 7 rc x86. A month ago I bought all new parts and since I could use 64-bit system now I installed a 64-bit Windows 7. Then did the problem start. Every new and then the computer freezes, some days over 30 times. I thought it was hardware problem and tried a lot of hardware finders and nothing helped. I also installed windows 7 rc my mothers laptop (The same version I use to have that work fine) that used to run on Vista home basic.. But her computer didn’t freeze it just got a black screen now and then.

The I started to suspect that it was because it was a beta version so when windows 7 were released I bought two of them a 32-bit and a 64-bit. But the problem didn´t go away. It´s still there and It´s kind of frustrating and even more now when I’m trying to write a essay.

I used windows upgrade advisor and it didn´t see any problem with an upgrade to windows 7. What can I do?

original title: Random freezes with windows 7

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Anonymous

Guys,

I might have the answer to your problems. This might fix your sleep/suspend problems and your random freezing problems. Bottom line is that the default and "auto" values in Win 7 and your BIOS might not produce a stable computer...even with a virgin install.

RANDOM FREEZES FIX:

My computer used to freeze randomly until I fixed the memory timings. I suspected bad memory early on and tested it with MEMTEST, but it passed with flying colors. I even tried swaping memory out, trying to eliminate bad memory and/or slots. It turned out that it was a memory frequency/timings/voltage issue. No more freezes! If you have a similar setup, this will most likely fix it. If not, then check your memory and/or power supply.

The "AUTO" settings in BIOS *may not* produce a stable setting. You have to goto the ASUS support website and download the latest memory QVL and lookup the memory settings for your particular brand there. For my memory (OCZX1333LV6GK(XMP)) I had to make the following adjustments in the BIOS:

DRAM Freq:1066 (even though my memory is rated at 1333 frequency, the QVL guide recommended a lower freq!)

7-7-7-16 for the rest of the timings. The other settings I was able to leave in "AUTO"

DRAM BUS Voltage: 1.6

*warning: be sure to consult your memory/motherboard documentation...the wrong value could damage your components!

SUSPEND/SLEEP FIX:

My computer used to hang when coming out of sleep or wouldn't completely goto sleep. This solution may be partially dependent on you fixing a random freezing issue if you have one.

In your "advanced" power settings, disable "Hybrid Sleep". That's it! My motherboard doesn't like hybrid sleep.

*If you have a desktop with a UPS, Win 7 will treat it like a laptop and apply the battery settings....sooo make sure you adjust the "on battery" settings!

My setup:

Processor:Intel core i7 920

Motherboard:Asus P6T

Memory: OCZX1333LV6GK(XMP) (ie. 6GB in 3 sticks)

Harddrive: 3 x WD Caviar Black drives in RAID 5

PSU: X3 1000W

Video card: 2 x NVIDIA 9800 GTX+ SLI

*I have all of the ASUS overclocking/energy savings programs uninstalled

*I have the latest BIOS 0801 and all the latest drivers installed

Nick

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966 additional answers

Anonymous

2009-11-14T00:58:05+00:00

Please can we STOP this being a discussion thread (or a blame game) and try to see how we can resolve the issue? The less noise the better please - the noisier we make the thread the more you are hindering getting a possible solution - and I want a solution. Please either report your issue (accurately) or suggest possible solutions. It's understandable the fraustration but please save this for another thread.

----->

Folks check out the last three hotfixes of this document, 974476, 976972 975599. I hope MS gets out a 976972 kb document ASAP.

http://blogs.msdn.com/usbcoreblog/archive/2009/11/13/list-of-the-latest-usb-hotfixes-for-each-windows-version.aspx

They are all USB Windows 7 hotfixes - but where can I find a definitive list of all Windows 7 RTM hotfixes? Maybe we could all scan down such a list. Microsoft?

Many Thanks...
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Anonymous

2009-11-14T00:40:33+00:00

I'm going to be right behind you, ForceMd. It'd be one thing if I felt Microsoft was taking this seriously, it's totally another when they're obviously NOT doing that. I'm going to reinstall Vista and leave the half-baked Windows 7 alone until I can be assured that these problems have been successfully dealt with.
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Anonymous

2009-11-14T00:40:10+00:00

Well I managed to get a couple of BSODs when shuting down - and the PC finally took a couple of dumps, no idea if they are related or not to this freezing issue, but WinDBG's points on the first dump to "probably" tdx.sys and the second to ndis.sys. Of course that doesn't tell us everything....

Problem signature:

Problem Event Name: BlueScreen

OS Version: 6.1.7600.2.0.0.256.4

Locale ID: 2057

Additional information about the problem:

BCCode: 1000009f

BCP1: 0000000000000004

BCP2: 0000000000000258

BCP3: FFFFFA80024E5040

BCP4: FFFFF80000B9C510

OS Version: 6_1_7600

Service Pack: 0_0

Product: 256_1

Remember folks most issues are down to 3rd party drivers, maybe 5% or 10% of full system crashes is down to Microsoft code (maybe). So we've got to be nice to MS (and in return they've got to help us).

Thanks..
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Anonymous

2009-11-13T23:20:03+00:00

After pouring over this and many other helpful sites like this, I have given up. I uninstalled Windows Vista 7 (64bit) and reinstalled Vista (64 bit). My PC was freezing randomly with no way to shut down the PC unless I did a hard reset (flipped the power switch, or hold down the power button for 5 seconds).

FYI, I have a Dell Studio XPS 9000 with ATI 4350 video card (onboard Audio with Realtek drivers). I had installed all Windows 7 updates from Dell's website. I even reflashed my BIOS even though the upgrade app from dell said I already had the latest BIOS. Windows kept freezing. I had begun to monitor my PC using Procmon as suggested above, but in the end I decided it was not worth it. I shouldn't be fighting with my brand new PC while risking damage to my hard disks by continuously hard resetting my PC. I've been back on Vista 64bit for a little over 24 hours with no problems. Truthfully, besides the eye candy and extra little UI shortcuts, I didn't notice much of a difference. Windows 7 does use less RAM in idle than Vista, but having 12GB of DDR3, I am not missing that.

It's enough to make me go to a MAC and deal with the software drought.
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