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
    2011-08-26T16:16:59+00:00

    I had the same problem with a windows7 professional 64-bit OS that I installed on my lenovo.  I upgraded from vista home premium 64 bit, so I suspected driver incompatibilities.  

    I turned off my sound driver and synaptics touchpad drivers and I've been on for 4 days so far without a freeze.  I'll go back and turn one one and then the other to narrow it down further.

    Hope that helps someone

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  2. Anonymous
    2011-08-25T07:47:07+00:00

    Update: Still the same with underclocked CPU and Memory.

    I have no antivirus software exept from the malware detector from microsoft... and my OS partition is only a month old.

    I want to confirm that this is a win7 so I downloaded Ubuntu last night and set it up.

    Been running nice and smoothly for 12 hours now. Wait and see...

    Will let you know. I might use Ubuntu for web browsing and watching movies and use windows just for gaming... It's a pain in the **** but this has been driving me crazy for the last 12 month and I cannot understand what is wrong!!!!!

    Now the only thing I want is a computer that doesn't freeze...

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  3. Anonymous
    2011-08-23T19:59:22+00:00

    I've had a similar problem with freezing ever since I upgraded my PC to Win7 64 bit.  Even though I essentially rebuilt with new parts.  It's been doing it for months, sometimes on startup other times when in the middle of anything from surfing the web to encoding videos.  I suspected the graphics card - then realised onboard so decided to check out this forum. I uninstalled Skype as a test and no joy, now worth saying that I have iTunes on here, but due to a problem with updating my ipod Touch 4G I decided to uninstall W7 SP1 a while ago (ipod fixed, still freezing though).  Since then I have done all the recommended W7 updates (except for SP1). 

    Following an observation on this forum that some users have AVG as a common antivirus solution, I uninstalled it (which is a challenge) and put on Avira.  I only had the free version of AVG (v11?), which is now replaced by free Avira.  Since then I have not had a single freeze up (48 hrs!)...clearly there are a number of problems being experienced on these pages, I've not tweaked voltages or speeds, just uninstalled a (rather good) free antivirus.  This may help some of you, although by no means all.  Of course I'd be impressed with the dedication of anyone who can read through the (currently) 69 pages of comments and solutions.

    Good luck!!

    For completeness here is my spec...

    Motherboard: Asus M4A78T-E

    Processor: AMD Phenom II (x4) 955 Black 3.2GHz AM3

    Graphics: Onboard (ATI Radeon HD3300 GPU)

    Sound: Onboard (VIA VT1708S 8-Channel HD Audio)

    RAM:4GB  DDR3 1600

    PSU: 1000W

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  4. Anonymous
    2011-08-23T18:27:31+00:00

    I probably tried every single possible action mentioned in the last pages and I still get random freezes! 

    i7 920

    p6t SE ___> bought a p6x58d-e but still the same.

    6gb corsair xms 1600----> bought dominator c8 6gb, still the same!

    xfx5870. tried all drivers since release date, no fix... tried without HDMI plugged

    Tried with & without all differents USB to see if it was drivers issue. No luck.

    Tried the power saving trick, no luck.

    tried the memory CAS delay trick, no luck.

    tried without ALL apple software uninstalled, no luck.

    tried with modded version of win7 64, no luck. Now running legit basic win7 64.

    tried the hotfixes mentioned before, no luck.

    I am now trying with underclocked memory and CPU.

    from 2.66GHz---->2.00ghz

    memory from 1600mhz---->800mhz

    This is really driving me crazy. With all the parts that I changed I really beleive that is a software issue and that microsoft sould look into that a lot more!

    Any more tricks you might have, let me know, I'll try! :)

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