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
    2010-02-08T15:23:25+00:00

    Hi Jai, to close the AERO feature in Windows, right click your desktop, click personalize, click the link Windows high contrast themes and select anyone under this category. You will see your display rollover to the basic theme and the aero feature will officially be closed.

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  2. Anonymous
    2010-02-08T19:41:43+00:00

    I have this problem as well. Originally, I thought this was a hardware error, but after following one of the tips of this page, it does seem to be an audio page. Thank you all for your posts!

    I have managed to keep my Windows7 from crashing (yes, it would crash on the Windows7 start-up jingle) By deactivating every audio file option in the msconfig.

    Of course, I have no sound, but at least I can move forward in my troubleshooting.

    I turned off the following services in my system configuration:

    Windows Audio Endpoint Builder

    Windows Audio

    Creative Audio Engine Licensing

    Creative Audio Service

    I'm going to try following passionfly1 advice to see if that will work for me!

    [EDIT]

    After nearly 3 hours with technical support (I hope you all know you have tech support for free within 90 days of your activation)

    It was discovered that I have 2 sound cards (I knew that) But Windows 7 updates BOTH drivers and sets them both to primary sound cards after automatically updating them for you. This causes the freezing and congestion that was clogging up my computer.

    What I was told to do: And so far is has worked (For those of you with multiple sound cards [because one was integrated into your motherboard])

    1. Detirmine which one you will not use and remove it from the following places (For me, I removed my integrated sound card)

    a) Uninstall it from your device manager

    b) Uninstall the drivers from your documents and settings folder

    c) (optional) If your turning off your integrated sound card like me: You will need to set your internal sound card to disabled in your bios.

    I hope this helps you all! And before you try all this, please remember: Turn off your sound software in MSCONFIG before trying all these steps. At least it will confirm if you have the same problem as me.

    [EDIT]

    I still have the problem. It didn't work, but I hope it works for someone.

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  3. Anonymous
    2010-02-09T06:44:27+00:00

    I am having the same problem and even more. I just bought a brand new Acer Aspire 7540-1284 w/ windows 7. Even writing this is really hard to do because the cursor keeps moving to a different place other than where i'm typing--does the same thing in Notepad.

    Anyway I would like to try your answer but I have no idea where I get all this info that you've included in your answer. I don't know what the name of my motherboard. Where do I find this info. Then how do I make the changes in the bios?

    I've already changed my sleep settings to not use hybried or even hibernate because it takes up so much memory.

    I've also disovered that it's really hard to get to the "app data" file--it doesn't even show up but if you do a search for it, it will show  up in some file then you just  go to that file location & go from there. In app data you will find that alot of programs that u delete are still there even tho i use a good uninstaller--Revo Uninstaller thats supposed to get rid of all file

    Also--how can I delete all the language files in Windows file? I've deleteed alot of lang. files in other programs--thepe ake up alot of space.

    About how bad it is to  tythpe is--it took about 10 min!

    PLEASE HELP!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

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  4. Anonymous
    2010-02-09T23:02:41+00:00

    No freezing for over a week - but do I have the solution? If I do, I'm not sure what it is. Just HATE calling Dell...

    I have a quad-core XPS 435MT with i7-940, 6GB of RAM, Win7-64. Tried everything that Google could find in various forums. Power settings, drivers, disabling some services, yada-yada.

    A week ago I pulled 2 random sticks of RAM (out of 6 that I have). No freezing since then. Toooo weird. My six slots for RAM are numbered oddly. I.e. 3 banks of pairs, 4-1, 5-2, 6-3; so I guess I pulled slots 6 and 3. For sure, now, I'm running this beast in dual-channel, what with 4GB of RAM.

    I know I'm onto something here. Several memory tests didn't reveal issues. My suspicion is the triple-channel, vs motherboard, versus quad-core .

    I suppose I could start swapping the RAM sticks and wait for a freeze. However, I suspect it's more to do with trying to run triple-channel when the rest of the system is just not ready for it.

    For what it's worth...

    I'll update if I find a definitive answer to the RAM dillema.

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