Random freezes with windows 7 - 64 bit

I purchased a Gateway DX4300-11 late last year. It came with Windows 7 64-bit. After the first couple of days it never worked good with freezes every few hours to every few minutes depending on what I was doing. I tried numerous things including reloading the operating system and continually checking for new drivers and other updates. I even installed a SATA card to see if the problems were related to the SATA controller on the motherboard since while running some of the performance tools I noticed very high disc usage. Last week I loaded Windows 7 32-bit and have not had a freeze since. I did notice that my Yuan TV tuner is no longer recognized so perhaps that is the issue and I do not plan to install new drivers for this till after I have had more time to see if things continue to work well. It is currently disabled. I did not need 64-bit anyway. I have little expertise compared to other people on these boards but wanted to share this since it was so exciting to have a computer that worked good after all my efforts to fix it.

SORRY FOR THE DELAY, THIS PROBLEM HAS ME FRUSTERATED TO THE MAX. THIS PROBLEM HAS NO INCIDENT TRIGGER POINTS, AND RANDOM WITH NO EXPECTED INTERVULALS, FROM ANNOYING TO EXTREMELY FRUSTRATING. THE OLD SYSTEM HAD SOME WIERDNESS TO IT. THIS IS A BRAND NEW SYSTEM WITH EACH AND EVERY PERIFERAL REPLACED IN BETWEEN ABYSS CRASHES. NEW TOWER AND COMPONENTS. THE ENTIRE SYSTEM WAS BROUGHT UP TO THE COMPUTER SHOP AND RUN WITH NO CRASHES. THREE DIFFERANT TIMES. I CONTACTED QWEST AND BOUGHT A BRAND NEW MODEM. SAME PROBLEM, SAME RESULTS. I CALLED QWEST AGAIN AND THE SERVICE GUY RAN ME A TEMPORARY CABLE THAT RUNS FROM THE BOX OUT ON THE STREET LITERALLY STRAIGHT TO THE COMPUTER. ACTUALLY IT RUNS STRAIG THEWIRELESS MODEM. SAME PROBLEM-CRASH INTO THE ABYSS. BACK TO THE COMPUTOR STORE-RUNS FINE -ALL NIGHT LONG. I HAVE TO GIVE TOM AT 'DOVES NEST' HE ASKED ME WHAT I WOULD REALLY WANT. I TOLD HIM THAT IT WAS ACTING LIKE THER WAS APROGRAM RUNNING IN A LOOP, AS IF THE HARD DRIVE WAS CURRUPTED. TOM HAD THE MOTHER BOARD OUT IN FRONT OF ME BEFORE I COULD FINISH THE SENTENCE. KEY BOARD IS RESPONDING SLOWLY NOW BEAR WITH ME. WE HOOKED IT ALL UP AND RAN IT THERE AGAIN-ALL WAS FINE. KEN SUGGESTED WE TAKE IT TO HIS HOUSE, HE HAS THE SAME INTERNET PROVIDER AND HE LIVES JUST ARROUND THE CORNER. IT RAN FINE. TOOK IT HOME-CRASHED INTO THE ABYSS IN THREE MINUTES. POWER COMPANY CAME OUT-POWER TO THE BOX PERFECT. POWER IN THE PLUG I'M USING FINE  

                  IT OCCURED TO ME IT COULD BE A VOLTAGE DROP. VOLTAGE TO THE BOX IS CORRECT, QWEST HAS A TEMPORARY CABLE STRAIGHT TO THE COMPUROR, ITS HOOKED TO A WIRELESS MODEM, THERE IS NO PHYSICAL CONTACT TO THE COMPUTOR THIS SHOULD ELLIMINATE ANY GROUND PROBLEMS CONNECTED TO THE CABLE, YOU CAN'T TRANSMITT A CONDITION LIKE THAT. WHAT EVER IS GOING ON HERE IS UNDETECTABLE OR UN MEASURABLE BY ALL THE SERVICE PEOPLE THAT WERE NICE ENOUGH TO LET ME CHECK THINGS OUT WITH DIFFERENT CONFIGURATIONS AND THEM USING ALL THE INSTUMENTS AND PROGRAMS YOU CAN IMAGIN.

                  NEXT STEP; I AM WAITING FOR A U.P.S. FROM WHAT I'VE READ AND LOOKED AT, THER IS NO CONSIDERATION OF A POWER DROP THROUGH A SURGE PROTECTOR. I FOUND A U.P.S. WITH A BUILT IN SURGE PROTECTOR AND IT REGULATES VOLTAGE TO A STEADY 120VOLT. MY UNDERSTANDING IS THAT POWER COMING IN IS SOMEHOW DELAYED AND STORED (IN CAPACITORS?)(BATTERIES?). IN A MANNER THAT CREATES A RESERVE IN ORDER TO OUTPUT AN AVEN STEADY UNINTERUPTED FLOW. THE POWER TO THE BOX - NOT AN ISSUE. THE CABLE - GROUNDING AND OTHER ISSUES HAVE BEEN ELIMINATED. I'M WILLING TO BE THE HARD WARE IS NOT THE ISSUE. IF THIS WORKS - GREAT.

                 NOW THE QUESTION ARISSES THAT IF THIS IS IN FACT THE PROBLEM. WHY IS THIS SECOND OR NANOSECOND DROP NOT MEASURABLE AND DETECTABLE. THIS IS OBVIOUSLY AN ISSUE, THER HAS TO BE A BETTER WAY OR A MOST CHEAPER WAY, AS I"M INTO MY COMPUTOR FOR $1,200 PLUS. U.P.S.  A VOLTAGE DROP EVEN FOR A NANOSECOND AT TODAYS SPEED CAN REMOVE QUITE A BIT OF PROGAM. THER HAS TO BE AN AESYIER WAY. I"M TRYING TO GET SOME BUSINESS DONE AND WITH ALL THESE LOCKOUTS EVEN READING MY OWN E-MAIL CAN BE A SEVERAL DAY PROBLEM. I AM A PROGRAMMER THQAT HAS JUST RETURNED AFTER 14 YEARS AWAY. EVERY THING IS SO DIFFERENT I'M TRYING TO LEARN ALL AOVER AGAIN BETWEEN LOCKOUTS.I DON'T KNOW IF MICROSOFT RESPONDED, I WOULDN'T KNOW WERE TO LOOK AND MY LAST ADVENTURE INTO THEIR SITE WAS A JOKE, I HIT E-MAIL MICROSOFT- IT TOLD ME NOTHING AND THER WAS NO WERE TO PROGRESS TO THAT I COULD EVEN ENTER SOMETHING THAT WOULD SEND.

                  I DON'T YET KNOW HOW TO GET BACK ON TO THIS SITE HERE AND REPOST EVERY THING I JUST TYPED. IDON'T SEE VOLTAGE DROP CONDITIONS MENTIONED ANY WHERE AND I'M CURIOS TO SEE IF ANY BODY IS EXPERIANCING THE SAME PROBLEM. I HAVE NO OLD VERSION HISTORY. I GET THE BLUE SCREEN FROM THE ABYSS - NOT BLUE OF MICROSOFT BLUE - A TRANSPARENT AQUA  BLUE THAT HAS A DEPTH TO IT LIKE YOU COULD ALMOST REACH INTO THE SCREEN. LOCKED COMPKLETELY OUT INCLUDING THE ON OFF BUTTON ON THE TOWER. NO ICONS OR ANYTHING ELSE ON THE SCREEN. RESET BUTTON ON THE TOWER IS THE ONLY THING THAT STILL WORKS. BRAND NEW EQUIPMENT, HARDWARE. NEWLY LOADE AND ACTIVATED WINDOW 7 HOME PREMIUM. I DON'T HAVE TIME TO READ BUT A FEW OF THESE RESONSES BECAUSE OF THIS PROBLEM. YOUR CAME CLOSEST. ANY RECOMONDATIONS WOULD BE APPRECIATED , REMEMBER THIS WHOLE SYSTEM RUNS FINE IN TWO OTHER SEPERATE LOCATIONS, ON SAME AS MINE AND THE OTHE A FOUR GIG SET UP WITH A DIFFERENT PRVIDOR. WOW WHO WOULD OF THOUGHT -THE POWER.THIS IS A PROBLEM THAT THE COMPUTOR SHOULD BE AWARE OF.  I'LL KNOW THURSDAY, MY U.P.S ARRIVES. GOD I HOPE IT WORKS. (CRASHING AND LOCKED OUT)

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

I have an ASUS motherboard with G.SKILL RAM - and the auto detect settings for the DRAM timings were incorrect.  I entered in manual times after checking what they should be on the G.SKILL website, and all is now fine.     Thanks for posting

Over the past weekend (August 13/14/15, 2010), I took three steps to resolve my problem of Windows 7 64-bit shutting down unexpectedly:

1. When I checked "reliability" (start > type RELIABILITY > enter, click on a yellow warning symbol, look at the technical details), "reliability" indicated that "Update Manager" was having a problem with Corel.  I knew that Corel was WordPerfect X3.  So, I bit the bullet an purchased WordPerfect Home & Student Office X5 and updated WordPerfect.  (I know, why WordPerfect?  I need it for court filings.)
2. Checking further, I found that "Update Manager" refers to InstallShield.  On my computer, Installshield was checking periodically for updates for some Roxio programs and for WordPerfect X3.  I un-clicked Installshield from start-up and removed as much of it as I could find in the computer.  I will update the Roxio programs and WordPerfect X5 on my own. Check this URL for more information on uninstalling the Update Manager:    http://consumer.installshield.com/faqs\_us.asp
3. I updated the driver for my Nvidia GeForce GTS250 PCI-E 2.0 card to the latest driver available.

I have not had a warning in "reliability" or an unexpected shutdown since 8:05 PM on August 13, 2010, other than when my Uninterruptible Power Supply software stopped working at 12:25 am on August 14, 2010.

My sense is that the problem goes to InstallShield.  While I was in the process of determining how to remove it from my computer, I determined that my computer was missing a number of files and the computer was failing to connect to the Internet so as to be able to check properly for updates.  This failure to connect might have been the reason for the warnings or for the unexpected shutdowns.