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
    2010-03-08T07:10:23+00:00

    Same problem, never used to happen with vista 64 on the same machine. I've tried a lot of the suggestions here and other places but it continues. Totally random, and no error reports as I have to do a hard shut down (can't even access the task manager.) Happens about twice a week (comp in on 12 hours a day). Specs: Dell studio xps 434t 12 GB ram ( 4x3gb sticks) intel i7 940 processor x58 chipset Dell Ox501h main board Radeon 4870 graphic card (1GB) No over clocking or radical tweaking. I am at loss with this one as according sys diagnostics and Bios diagnostics everything is fine. This seems to be directly caused by w7 64 bit OS itself.

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  2. Anonymous
    2010-03-08T12:01:13+00:00

    OK, this has become really annoying, so I decided to re-install Windows 7 and keep a log of what happens. I have narrowed the problem to only happening when I play videos in YouTube, system freezes, intermittent black screen and severely unresponsive mouse etc.

    10:00 AM - Re-install Windows 7 and Install Kasperskey Anti-Virus, Update Windows 7 with Importamnt Updates. - Youtube seems fine.

    10:31 AM - Change Windows Power Management to Performance and change Advanced settings for maximum performance. - Youtube crashes after about 20 minutes, requires re-boot.

    10:40 AM - Change Power Management back to Balanced but disable monitor power off and sleep, left advanced settings at default.

    10:50 AM - Commence YouTube test 11:55 AM - No problems so far......

    YouTube has never lasted this long before, at most I was getting 20 minutes last night then the system would freeze up. I haven't updated the graphics card drivers yet until I can get a better idea whats causing the problem, I will run the system "as is" for the rest of the day before I start updating drivers or installing software. Below is my System Info.

    OS Name Microsoft Windows 7 Professional

    Version 6.1.7600 Build 7600

    Other OS Description  Not Available

    OS Manufacturer Microsoft Corporation

    System Name STEVE-PC

    System Manufacturer Gigabyte Technology Co., Ltd.

    System Model P55M-UD2

    System Type x64-based PC

    Processor Intel(R) Core(TM) i5 CPU         750  @ 2.67GHz, 2661 Mhz, 4 Core(s), 4 Logical Processor(s)

    BIOS Version/Date Award Software International, Inc. F6, 23/11/2009

    SMBIOS Version 2.4

    Windows Directory C:\Windows

    System Directory C:\Windows\system32

    Boot Device \Device\HarddiskVolume1

    Locale United Kingdom

    Hardware Abstraction Layer Version = "6.1.7600.16385"

    User Name Steve-PC\Steve

    Time Zone GMT Standard Time

    Installed Physical Memory (RAM) 4.00 GB

    Total Physical Memory 4.00 GB

    Available Physical Memory 2.72 GB

    Total Virtual Memory 7.99 GB

    Available Virtual Memory 6.61 GB

    Page File Space 4.00 GB

    Page File C:\pagefile.sys

    Name ATI Radeon HD 4650

    PNP Device ID PCI\VEN_1002&DEV_9498&SUBSYS_21C51458&REV_00\4&932E434&0&0018

    Adapter Type ATI display adapter (0x9498), ATI Technologies Inc. compatible

    Adapter Description ATI Radeon HD 4650

    Adapter RAM 1.00 GB (1,073,741,824 bytes)

    Installed Drivers atiumd64.dll,atidxx64.dll,atiumdag,atidxx32,atiumdva,atiumd6a.cap,atitmm64.dll

    Driver Version 8.632.1.2000

    INF File oem1.inf (ati2mtag_R7X section)

    Color Planes Not Available

    Color Table Entries 4294967296

    Resolution 1920 x 1200 x 59 hertz

    Bits/Pixel 32

    Memory Address 0xE0000000-0xEFFFFFFF

    Memory Address 0xFBDE0000-0xFBDEFFFF

    I/O Port 0x0000CE00-0x0000CEFF

    IRQ Channel IRQ 4294967294

    I/O Port 0x000003B0-0x000003BB

    I/O Port 0x000003C0-0x000003DF

    Memory Address 0xA0000-0xBFFFF

    Driver c:\windows\system32\drivers\atikmdag.sys (8.1.1.921, 5.76 MB (6,037,504 bytes), 18/08/2009 04:48)

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  3. Anonymous
    2010-03-08T13:54:38+00:00

    Hi,

    I have commented this subject earlier, and I gave up on this freezing situation, I though I had it fixed with the memory setting/changes.

    I have this night made an memtest on the ram I've added a link to the picture:

    ttp://www.billedeupload.dk/photo/2010-03/0914e959/Billede0024.jpg.htmlThe

    the test ran for like 7-8 hours and errorsdid appear, anyone you can understand this and tell me whats wrong?

    or what I should do about it...

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  4. Anonymous
    2010-03-08T17:41:51+00:00

    Hi,

    I have commented this subject earlier, and I gave up on this freezing situation, I though I had it fixed with the memory setting/changes.

    I have this night made an memtest on the ram I've added a link to the picture:

    ttp://www.billedeupload.dk/photo/2010-03/0914e959/Billede0024.jpg.htmlThe

    the test ran for like 7-8 hours and errorsdid appear, anyone you can understand this and tell me whats wrong?

    or what I should do about it...

    contact your memory manufacturer with this screenshot and information. I'm pretty sure you have either memory timing or voltage or CPU power that is not correctly calibrated in your computer or more specifically in the BIOS. This is something either your memory maker or Mobo maker tech support should be able to deal with right away.

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