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

2009-11-25T05:39:12+00:00

I had this problem start on me even back when I was running XP x64 which is the reason why I switched to Win 7 in hopes that it would alleviate my problems. Sadly it didn't and now I've been wrestling with this for about a week. Finally tonight I broke down and started removing hardware pieces one by one until the errors stopped.

My system setup is:

MB - ECS A790GXM-AD3

CPU - AMD Phenom II X3 720 2.8 GHz Black not overclocked

GPU - HIS ATI4850 IceQ4 not overclocked

Audio - Onboard

Memory - 2GBx2 G.Skill not overclocked

Power Supply - 600W Rosewill

HDD - Wester Digital Caviar Black 500GB

Other - Samsung DVDRW+/- drive, Dynex wireless adapter,

All of my drivers are up to date with either the latest provided by the manufacturer or at least the ones from MS.

After reading that network cards with non-win7 drivers can cause this I removed the wireless card to no avail. Then I read up on a couple of forums that bad RAM could be causing these types of problems so I removed 1 stick and boom no freezes. At first I though, OK i just have a bad RAM stick, simple enough but after switching the supposedly good RAM stick with the one that was bad it worked just as well. NO FREEZES. I placed the second RAM stick back in and the freezes came back again. I wonder if this problem is isolated to those of us who are running more than 3.3 gigs of RAM like the old x86 restrictions were. It seems like windows has no problems running with just 2 gigs but when I pop 4 gigs in it doesn't like it.

I think I will try the memory frequency tweak from earlier to see if this helps, my memory is states as 8,8,8,21 but it is currently running at 9,9,9,33 so hopefully it will help somewhat. I really want my 4 gigs back for photoshop and indesign.

If anyone else is running on more than 2 gigs try this and see if it helps. I hope it's not a stupid restriction carried over from 32bit, more ram is the main reason i run x64.

EDIT: I placed the sticks in the other two slots of the same color and so far no errors. I may have a Motherboard issue...Great!!!

I will add more if anything changes.
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Anonymous

2009-11-24T18:22:54+00:00
Hello,

I 've got also this problem with random freezes. Using retail version of Windows 7 64bit. I've done a few things at the same time so I'm not really sure what's has solved the problem but I did the following :

- installed the two USB hotfixes
- removed AVG9 and installed MS Security Essentials
- Updated to the latest NVIDIA drivers 195.55.
I've found these solutions on several forums.

Since then I've got no freezes anymore and this is already for 5 days !

ASUS P5W DH Deluxe with Bios 3100

4 GB ram Corsair XMS

Intel E6750 @ 2.66ghz

Point of View NVIDIA 8600 GTS

Windows 7 64bit retail
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Anonymous

2009-11-24T00:01:10+00:00

I finally decided to go back to Vista until this issue is resolved. I believe my problem is with nvidia and from what I hear it won't be until Feb next year that it gets fixed. I've had enough of the freezing. Had to stick with Vista SP 1 though. SP 2 seems to cause freezing for me also.
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Anonymous

2009-11-23T23:15:45+00:00
I have a 100% repro for locking up the desktop (and shortly thereafter the mouse) and needing to reboot. It's programmer-specific though, and you need IncrediBuild (IB) installed. I'm on Win7 Home Premium 32-bit retail with all updates.
1. Open the IB progress window (the thing with all the green bars for each compiled/linked file) either in VS or from the tray icon (don't need VS running).
2. Zoom in and out with the mouse wheel or pan around by left-click-dragging (basically make it redraw).
3. Should lock up in a few seconds, usually partway through a redraw.
It might only happen if there are lots of green bars, but for me this will lock up in exactly the way everyone describes in about two seconds. The only time I lock up is when this window is visible. It might be an IB bug (and I submitted it to them) or a GDI bug or something else in the display pipeline.

Anyone else have IB and want to give it a try? I haven't gotten a lock up so far with that window hidden. I'll see if I can convince another programmer here to risk a reboot (but also they're all on x64 so it's not a true repro).
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