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
    2010-06-02T17:30:43+00:00

    I too am having same problem, but it didn't start till a couple weeks after install, I have checked everything on my end and have come to the conclusion that it has something to do with one of the updates for windows 7, it has only started this freezing issue in the last week, I will try to restore back a month and see what happens.

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  2. Anonymous
    2010-06-02T16:39:40+00:00

    I am the lucky one, maybe the one and only... but I am probably tempting fate. I sympathise with MS over this, as it is much more likely to be non-MS software, maybe a number of different applications. I have a long and undistinguished career in software, and this reminds me of a page-boundary problem which used to occur when some 16-bit software was re-written for the (then) new 32-bit platforms. Despite being supposedly compatible , some software would get confused about page boundaries, and write to the last logical blocks of page memory near a page boundary and then lose up to 3 bytes when that page was swapped out and then back in again. In other words the OS was taking out active pages which had actually split on a boundary. It is very unlikely to be exactly the same problem, but I would be very surprised if it is not something pretty much like it, W7 being a paged system as usual. (One might try upping the pagefile storage on disk as another direction to try.) My only reason for posting this unhelpful comment is that I have just the vaguest idea of how difficult it can be to track this sort of problem. If I were MS, I would offer half-a-dozen users to have their machines picked up and brought back to the lab to see what the ____ is going on. My own experience has been that games, nVidia, Logitech and various A/V have given these sort of problems in the past. As a user, if I start to get frozen, I will probably drop down to 32 bit until the freeze seems to have passed.

    dumbo knowall

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  3. Anonymous
    2010-06-02T07:50:02+00:00

    I've been reading these answers as I have been having the same problem - random freezes-since I went to Win7 last year.

    So far I've put in a new Graphics card, motherboard, hard drive, power supply, tried clean installs at least 4 times and still get these infuriating random freezes for no apparent reason. Bear in mind that I'm not a gamer, all I'm running is a browser (Chrome because I don't trust IE8) and Office 2007 and trying to run a small consultancy, but with this problem the machine is virtually unusable.

    As you say Microsoft don't want to know. Once they've had your money you're on your own.

    The most sensible thing for me to do now is bin my Windows based system and say "Hello Apple", if more of us did this then perhaps Microsoft might get the message

    Which Anti Virus are you using? Have you tried just using Microsoft Security Essentials? It has worked for me. I haven't had a freeze for three days now :o)

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  4. Anonymous
    2010-06-02T07:22:09+00:00

    I've been reading these answers as I have been having the same problem - random freezes-since I went to Win7 last year.

    So far I've put in a new Graphics card, motherboard, hard drive, power supply, tried clean installs at least 4 times and still get these infuriating random freezes for no apparent reason. Bear in mind that I'm not a gamer, all I'm running is a browser (Chrome because I don't trust IE8) and Office 2007 and trying to run a small consultancy, but with this problem the machine is virtually unusable.

    As you say Microsoft don't want to know. Once they've had your money you're on your own.

    The most sensible thing for me to do now is bin my Windows based system and say "Hello Apple", if more of us did this then perhaps Microsoft might get the message

    Was this answer helpful?

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