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

2010-02-17T07:19:06+00:00
So I am having an issue with Windows 7 64 bit freezing as well. My problems began when I installed a Creative Fatal1ty xFi Pro series sound card. From the moment I installed it I had issues with freezing. After some tinkering it seemed to have work this weekend. I got in some good Internet usage, Itunes music Playing, and played some civilization IV with no problem for two days. In the past 24 hours I cant get Windows to work for more than 2 minutes without freezing. Only in safety mode can I get any work done. So the X Fi drivers it installs are from 1/9/09. I dl the creative drivers which were in dated july of 09. I also installed a 4mb fix from creative to no luck. Any one have these type of issues with the X fi series of sound cards. I actually had to swap in an old SB live sound card because my original sound card I purchased when I built this computer was an xfi and I couldnt get windows 7 to recognize it.

specs:
Any help would be greatly appreciated.
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Anonymous

2010-02-16T11:13:55+00:00
Here's an update to my problem.

I've been running my PC for several days now without a problem. I think disabling Aero may have done the trick. I can play sounds without fear of freezing. The only problem now is I can't use the snazzy themes, but it's just aesthetics.

Well, I noticed a few things myself, without disabling Aero. I bought a new Dell Studio last december and upgraded to Win7 from Vista 64bit and didn't have any issues whatsoever- until two weeks ago. That's when these annoying feezes started. Here are some of what I noticed:
- For me, the freeze is related to the windows explorer, everything that isn't directly linked to it works just fine so long as you don't minimize. And my freeze only starts when I launch a web broswer, i.e launch a browser then click on the taskbar a few times = FREEZE!
- Most programs already launched and NOT MINIMIZED work just fine, so long as you don't interact with the explorer (save, open files etc.). I'll probably run a test to see which programs are which.
- MOST IMPORTANTLY, closing the browser fully restores the explorer, at least for me. In some cases relaunching the browser does not trigger the freeze again.
- ALSO IMPORTANT: I'm a Google Chrome fanatic, or was till this started (freeze whenever I launch chrome and click more than twice on taskbar), so you guys might want to check on that. I also have IE completely blocked (really hate it) so you might want to check that too. Opera doesn't cause the freeze every time (it's what I'm using now) and, as far as I can tell Firefox doesn't trigger it at all (I'll need to run more tests on this).
- Ok. Just tested. So far, Firefox DOES NOT TRIGGER THE FREEZE but Google Chrome ALWAYS DOES. Opera is 50-50, and I'm sure I don't need to repeat my dislike for IE. I'll do more testing and keep you all posted.
- ALSO, haven't had my system "Recover from a Serious error" yet, mostly cause I can still shut down properly. The trick is to enable user account password request and to set the PC to sleep whenever you press the power button (mine could go to sleep mode). If the system enters DEEP FREEZE (i.e. you minimized the web browser or something else like that), just press the power button, wait for the PC to go to sleep then press again. At the password screen select Switch User and select restart from the power options at the bottom right of the screen. This way you can still shut down properly-although you'll lose any unsaved data.
It follows that if you surf the net all the time you're likely to enter the freeze most of the time.

That's it from me for now. Was this useful? I need to know so I can decide what to do next...

Dell Studio 1555

Intel Core 2 Duo P8600 (2x2.4GHz)

ATI Mobility Radeon HD 4570

4GB RAM

HDD 500GB

IDT High Def Audio (have two drivers, IDT and ATI, and both run fine, I think)
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Anonymous

2010-02-15T17:10:04+00:00

Is there anyone at all from Microsoft who is following this topic?

Has it been superseded by a more worthy topic?

Are we not worthy?

Do you even give a ____?
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Anonymous

2010-02-15T16:47:44+00:00

Is anyone from Microsoft still following this topic?

If so... it'd be nice to hear from you.

Bump!

Is there anyone at all from MS who is at all remotely interested in the problems you have caused?

Us guinea pigs have had efuking nuff.
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