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

2010-04-19T15:21:28+00:00

Hi,

Just a heads-up to a similar thread on THW: http://www.tomshardware.com/forum/2852-63-5850-win7-driver-issues#t32416

In my case, the issue is (I think at least) with the ATI drivers. Not sure if everyone here is using ATI driver, but try de-installing them and running for a few days using standard VGA. For me that seems to be stable, so at least I pin pointed the issue to either my graphics card (HD 5850) or the ATI drivers. Currently I have a case open with both ATI (AMD) and Sapphire for this.

But it's very frustrating for sure.
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Anonymous

2010-04-19T07:19:15+00:00

Hi It's happened again. I stopped the Aero from working yesterday & let Windows Defender do a scan & it found nothing wrong, then this morning I let AVG do a scan but my pc did a hard hang after 1hour 10 mins.

After rebooting, I immediately went to the Event Viewer which showed that the Windows Desktop Manager had "failed". I have noticed this on Event Viewer many times so after checking the "Properties" of the DWM (Desktop Window Manager), it showed that there are "no dependencies" for this to operate so I have disabled that as well.

I have also stopped many items from Auto Start Up when first booting up & found that my pc took ages to display anything on the monitor.

I am really at a loss now like many other people & I am seriously thinking of reinstalling Vista as I had no major problems with that & I have had more updates for Windows7 than I had for Vista.

I have also let the Event Viewer send any problems to MS through the Action Center on Windows 7.

Summat has to be done soon for things are getting worse.
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Anonymous

2010-04-18T16:22:32+00:00

Hi, I've just spent all Sunday reading this thread about hard hang & freezing of a computer. I too have the problem which started "out of the blue" about a week ago.

Going off this thread, it appears that the freeze or hang happens in different circumstances, ie: watching utube, playing games or watching a film.

With me, it started when the AVG did a scan and I had to reboot. I thought it was the AVG & they told me to reinstall it. I did & the problem continued. Then I found it happening on ANYTHING. Even if I left my pc for a while, I came back & there it was, a hard hang again.

Reading this thread, I disabled Aero and as yet, touch wood, after 3 hours, my pc has not gone wonky.

I hope MS sort this out as it was driving me mad. And by the looks of it, thousands of others!

Good luck to everyone in trying to solve it & I'll keep an eye on this thread to see if MS has solved it with a hotfix.
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Anonymous

2010-04-17T00:01:43+00:00

Similar to the Obysk reply, my solution was to disable the 2nd sound device

To be clear, I disabled my second MONITOR, not my sound device to create a stable machine. Somebody looking for answers on this thread may find this usefull. I still haven't had one freeze issue or any problems since my last post.
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