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

Locked Question. This question was migrated from the Microsoft Support Community. You can vote on whether it's helpful, but you can't add comments or replies or follow the question.

0 comments
Answer accepted by question author
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

Was this answer helpful?

80+ people found this answer helpful.
0 comments

966 additional answers

Sort by: Oldest
Most helpful Newest Oldest
  1. Anonymous
    2010-09-20T10:32:15+00:00

    had another crash...

    windows takes about 10 mins to boot......

    Was this answer helpful?

    0 comments
  2. Anonymous
    2010-09-26T13:34:37+00:00

    This thread is now nearly a year old and MS haven't acknowledged the problem. I had a similar problem on an Acer 8930G, Windows 7 Ultimate 32 bit, which eventually developed hardware problems - suddenly turning off as if the plug had been pulled. Now working on a Toshiba Qosmio 500, Windows 7 64 bit, 6Gb RAM, i7 processor - and it is not yet 2 weeks old and I have had 6 freezes in 12 days. No BSOD, have to hard reboot, and event viewer shows Event ID 41 (The system has rebooted without cleanly shutting down first. This error could be caused if the system stopped responding, crashed, or lost power unexpectedly.) and 6008 (The previous system shutdown at 23:50:37 on ‎25/‎09/‎2010 was unexpected.). Installing the Hotfix at http://support.microsoft.com/kb/2265716/en-us had no effect.

    There are threads all over the net about these freezes and no solution from MS except the hotfix mentioned above. I don't think it is a hardware issue with my Toshiba - it's less than 2 weeks old - and has a health monitor which does not show high temperatures. I have a Nvidia GeForce GTS 360M (mentioned as a possible cause) with the latest driver, but I haven't tried disabling it yet. I haven't used clean boot or safe mode yet either as I would have to leave the computer in that state for an average of 2 days to see if they had any effect (freezes are on average once every 2 days). So far they have always occurred when I am not using the computer, when it is locked.

    Bill Gates - how about a bit of philanthropy in this direction?

    Was this answer helpful?

    0 comments
  3. Anonymous
    2010-09-26T16:10:37+00:00

    On August 9, I posted that I believed that I had solved my system freezing issue.  At that time, my system had been stable since June 3. 

    On September 16 @2:41p, my system froze while using it (screen visible, but not updating; mouse and keyboard frozen; hard reset required).  And it froze again on September 17 @7:06a and September 20 @2:19a.  In the latter 2 events, the system was unattended.  The September 20 freeze also included a perpetually lit HDD activity light.  These are the same symptoms that plagued my system from the initial installation of Windows 7.

    I looked at the Windows Reliability Monitor, and found that I had upgraded my ATI Catalyst drivers from 10.8 to 10.9 (i.e., the monthly upgrade) approximately 3 hours before the first freeze.  I reinstalled the 10.8 drivers on September 20, and system stability appears to have returned.

    ********

    Update on 9 Oct 2010:  no freezes since removing ATI Cat 10.9, and returning to 10.8 (~20 days now).  I contacted ATI Tech Support, was escalated, and they advised "We have seen quite a few reports [of this] however we cannot reproduce it in our labs.  Please tell the customer to stick with what works for him for now until further notice or until 10.10 is released."

    Was this answer helpful?

    0 comments
  4. Anonymous
    2010-10-01T20:31:47+00:00

    Has anyone stopped to consider the one thing we all have in common when it comes to this "freezing issue"?

    Windows 7.  That's the problem.

    I had Win 7 Ultimate 32 bit on another machine and when I finally got fed up with the freezing, I downgraded it to Win XP pro with no problems.  I now have this Win 7 64 bit machine and here I am, back to the freezing even though all of the hardware is new out of the box and all drivers are fully updated, along with the OS.

    I feel compelled to say it - it's not the hardware - it's not the drivers - it's Win 7. Period.  Unless or until Microsoft can get their act together and fix this obviously widespread problem, I will downgrade this machine to XP as well. Perhaps then I can get some real work done instead of dicking around as though I'm beta testing what should be a fully functioning operating system.

    Was this answer helpful?

    0 comments