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
    2011-02-02T10:08:55+00:00

    Well I appear to have a fix. It has been running over night and I've just gone to it now and it's running fine. So far I have 1. Applied usb updates from MS - no difference 2. Disabled media sharing - not sure 3. Disabled HomeGroup Provider - not sure 4. Disabled the onboard network card - very likely cause. I have raised another ticket with Acer support after the first ticket was deleted without reply, marvalous support Acer. There could be an updated bios fix that will sort this but I'm leaving it until advised by acer support. I think for others the solution is buried in drivers and functionality with Windows 7. I would serious suggest you start down the route of disablling hardware items then bring them back up one by one as I believe the root cause of these problems lie there. I'll update here when I get a reply from Acer support Regards Keithp3

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  2. Anonymous
    2011-02-03T07:11:25+00:00

    Well it looks like Acer UK can't be arsed to answer the question, the US support whilst not exactly helping did a least respond. I would NOT recommend anyone to buy an Acer UK product in future.

    Regards

    Keithp3

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  3. Anonymous
    2011-02-03T14:40:30+00:00

    So, I believe I finally have a solution. First, my history - after upgrading to Windows 7, I started to experience random freezes - the computer would continue to go on in some diminished capacity as if there was music playing, it kept playing, but the screen would not update, and the keyboard/mouse were unresponsive. Pushing the hardware 'sleep' button caused a hard reset. These events would happen about once a week for awhile, though pretty randomly, sometimes as frequently as once a day. I tried replacing the onboard network card with an Intel card and disabling the onboard NIC in the bios. I disabled the sound card. Freeze, freeze. I also tried very conservative memory timings, under clocking the memory. Freeze. So I downgraded to Vista thinking this would solve it. Nope, same thing happened a few days after installing Vista - it froze. So I replaced my RAM, all 12GB. A few days later, freeze. Finally I replaced my video card, making sure to get an ATI card, as I had an nVidia 9600 GSO. I figured if there was an issue with the nVidia drivers, it wouldn't make much sense to get a new nVidia card. It's now been a week and a half, and I have not frozen once. So there you have it - it was either a hardware issue with the video card, or a problem with the nVidia drivers.

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  4. Anonymous
    2011-02-04T15:06:25+00:00

    interesting point, jvanderberg. But my desktop is running an nvidia card with no problems, it's also heavily overclocked on both processor and memory. However there is very little I can change on my laptop, an Acer Aspire 7738g, which is also running an Nvidia card. Although the desktop is running an earlier version of the drivers, 260 I think. The laptop has the latest, version 266. I might try the earlier version to see if that helps it. This is not something that has happend from day one, it used to be working fine. And finally an answer from Acer support....just. They want me to return the unit at £55 courier handling + charge for fix...erm I think not. They do have an updated bios for download for this model but trying to find out from them what the update fixes is like trying to get blood out of a stone!! They are ignoring the fact that I've disabled the network card in the OS and completely ignored my 2 requests for the update on the bios. We'll see what happens

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