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
    2010-02-19T04:27:35+00:00

    I am using a desktop running Windows 7 Ultimate x64, not a laptop.

    Go to Control Panel-->Power Options

    By default "Balanced (recommended)" is selected as the power profile.

    I created a new profile for myself but the setting that was causing my issue is in the "Balanced" plan where the minimum processor state is set to 5%

    Go to Control Panel-->Power Options-->Change plan settings-->Change advanced power settings-->Processor power management-->Minimum processor state-->select and change from 5% to a higher value, 75% is working for me.  The minimum processor state is above the "System cooling Policy" and the first of three choices in the "Processor power management" sub-menu.  Below is a link to a screenshot of where to find it.

    http://img51.imageshack.us/img51/3229/powersettings.jpg

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  2. Anonymous
    2010-02-19T04:38:24+00:00

    Win7 Ultimate x64 here, too. You have an Intel or AMD? Because as you can see in my screenshot, I don't have that option in the balanced plan. I'll try creating a custom profile and see if that setting shows up.

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  3. Anonymous
    2010-02-19T06:23:16+00:00

    Not sure why you don't have that setting exactly, could be that not all hardware (motherboards?) support it.

    I don't think this will fix everyone's issues, sounds like there are a bunch of things going on in this thread, but would explain why several people are having success changing the Power setting to "High Performance" because that has the minimum processor speed at full 100%. 

    I can say that it worked for me after much troubleshooting with the bios, hardware and software settings and hopefully will solve the issue for someone else.

    My system is:

    OS:    Windows 7 Ultimate x64

    MB:     Asus P5Q3 Deluxe/WiFi

    GPU:   Sapphire HD 5850

    PSU:   Enermax Infiniti EIN650AWT

    CPU:   Intel Quad Q9550 LGA775

    CPU-HS: COOLER MASTER GeminII S RR-CCH-PBU1-GP

    RAM:   Mushkin 996657 DDR3 1600 2x2GB

    HDD1:  Western Digital Raptor X WD1500AHFDRTL

    HDD2:  Western Digital Caviar WD1001FALS 7200RPM 1TB

    DVD:    Sony Optiarc AD-7241S-0B

    • "In the default "Balanced/recommended" power setting, under the advanced settings, in process power management, the "Minimum processor state" default is set to 5%.  This setting seems to be too low for one of my harware components.  Presumably when the power went this low it was not enough to operate something and it froze and was unable to recover. I changed the minimum processor state up to 75% and my system has not froze."

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  4. Anonymous
    2010-02-23T09:34:13+00:00

    Wow... I'd been bugging the guy who built my latest machine for weeks on end when I eventually decided to give Google a chance only to find **this!**I have been having the exact same sort of a problem for nearly a month now and it all started roughly a week after I had some of my hardware upgraded and Windows 7 Enterprise installed. My hardware specification is not so different from those listed above (an ASUS MB, and Intel Quad CPU, an ATI Radeon HD 4800 GPU, 4 gigs of RAM and a 500 gig Samsung HDD) and the computer is still fairly "clean". The only left-over from my old configuration now is the 160 GB HDD that I use to store files on.

    Anyway, the problem seems to be at its peak when I play World of Warcraft. Apparently, it does not matter whether the GPU has to deal with a lot of graphics or not, the framerate is always at 60 FPS. And it may sometimes run smoothly for hours or crash/freeze every 20 minutes (I think the record so far is 5 crashes within 10 minutes). The sreen then either goes blank or becomes garbled (as if the graphics card were fried, which it's not), sometimes an odd monitor message gets displayed that this is not the recommended resolution, all this against a backdrop of a continuously looping high-pitched sound (I think someone already mentioned this "screetch of death"). Once there was even a BSOD. Anywho, as far as the game itself is concerned, I have noticed that the freezes occur more often than not with the end-game content, like while I'm immersed in a latest-patch instance and such.

    On top of that, the system occasionally locks up while I am using the mouse wheel to scroll up or down a voluminous webpage (does not have to be image, plain text is sufficient to bring this around). And in a few cases it just froze when it was idle, or refused to wake up from sleep.

    I have tried most everything that has been mentioned above: put the system in High Performance mode (well, apparently it always was there), used Driver Genius to track down any drivers that might be outdated (there were 4, all of which were subsequently updated without solving the problem), tinkered with the Power Options a little, the list goes on. I even replaced the mouse, wrongly assuming that it might be it that was responsible (the webpage-scrolling freezes). Still, the problem persists... Funny, that, seeing that there are a lot of people who are affected by this, Microsoft does seem to be taking their time to come up with an all-in-one solution.

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