Random freezes with windows 7 - 64 bit

Anonymous
2009-10-28T19:01:43+00:00

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

Windows for home | Previous Windows versions | Windows update

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Anonymous
2009-11-14T19:44:19+00:00

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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  1. Anonymous
    2010-06-11T11:38:26+00:00

    System crashesDevice

    I had a similar problem and resolved it by updating all my device drivers like this :-

    click start and in search programs and files box type in device manager

    in the left hand pane click on Device manager.

    In device manager open all devices by clicking on the small arrows to the left of each device.

    Then right click on each device in turn (to update each driver individually)

    click on Search Automatically for Updated Driver software

    If an updated driver is available it will be downloaded and installed.

    If your driver is up to date it will notify you that the driver is up to date.

    Go through this routine for every device in device manager.

    Then all your drivers will be up to date.

    There are a number of programs on the market to buy that will do this process for you automatically,

    One is Uniblue, and another is Driver Detective.

    Just put "uniblue or Driver Detective" into your search engine to go to their download websites.

    I have both programs and they work very well, they are  worth the money spent.

    I hope this helps you out.

    lankybob 11/06/2010

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  2. Anonymous
    2010-06-11T11:35:39+00:00

    Blue screens and system crashes .

    I had a similar problem and resolved it by updating all my device drivers like this :-

    click start and in search programs and files box type in device manager

    in the left hand pane click on Device manager.

    In device manager open all devices by clicking on the small arrows to the left of each device.

    Then right click on each device in turn (to update each driver individually)

    click on Search Automatically for Updated Driver software

    If an updated driver is available it will be downloaded and installed.

    If your driver is up to date it will notify you that the driver is up to date.

    Go through this routine for every device in device manager.

    Then all your drivers will be up to date, thereby reducing the number of  system crashes.

    There are a number of programs on the market to buy, that will do this process for you automatically,

    One is Uniblue, and another is Driver Detective.

    Just put "uniblue or Driver Detective" into your search engine to go to their download websites.

    I have both programs and they work very well, they are  worth the money spent.

    I hope this helps you out.

    lankybob 11/06/2010

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  3. Anonymous
    2010-06-11T08:03:28+00:00

    under "environment variables " - processor_architecture - is listed AMD64

    I'm running an intel 64 i3

    any harm in changing that to intel64?

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  4. Anonymous
    2010-06-09T10:53:20+00:00

    Hi all

    I had all the problems that eveyone here seems to be having with Windows 7 64 bit machines.

    After using Device Manager to individually update each driver on my computer

    ( it changed about (5) of the drivers that i thought were updated by my manufactorer )

    and also checking all of the programs on my computer using :-

     start\control panel\system and security\find and fix problems\

    then click run programs made for previouse versions of windows

    i clicked on programs one at a time to find any incompatible programs.

    There were quite a few that were incompatible.

    For each one i tried the recommended settings several times until the program ran correctly.then clicked on save settings.

    Ones that didnt run correctly i uninstalled.

    Also in th advanced power settings, I disabled "hybrid sleep" and also stopped using a screen saver, as most of my crashes started after the computer came awake after the screen saver had been on.

    After doing all this my computer runs much better than before.

    And seems to be running much quicker than before,at least it is usable when i need it to be, and all of my drivers are the best and are all updated, and I have had no more blue screen crashes, so far anyway.

    I hope these changes help your goodselves too.

    lankybob 09/06/2010

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