Computer occassionaly freezes after being idle for a while.

Update: my system now no longer freezes after being idle.  But it still returns to the logon screen all by itself after 10 minutes or so of inactivity, even though all power mgt is disabled, and screensaver is set to "none".  This is in Windows 7, and did not happen when we had Vista on the machine.

Regarding the freezing behavior that used to happen, on my system I found that on one of our 4 users, the 'application data' folder was missing the security entry to Deny Everyone permission to “List folder / read data”.  As a result it seems that we had some kind of recursive/infinate loop going on, e.g. in a search a single file came up 17 times, with paths such as:

C:\Users\Barry\AppData\Local

\Application Data\Application Data\Application Data\Application Data\Microsoft\Windows

\Temporary Internet Files\Low\Content.IE5\HZTG9H19\ykb_popupWindow[1].js

I added the Deny entry to the security table to match the other users, and the computer doesn't freeze any more.  You might want to check your 'application data' file.  Step 1: in the file explorer click on 'organize' then folder & search options > view > show hidden files folders drives.  Step 2: go to \Users<user>\AppData\local.  Right click on the Application Data folder > properties > security > advanced, and make sure there is a "Deny" entry in the table.

Hey Ryan MC,

Welcome to Microsoft Answers.

There could be various reasons for Windows feezing when idle. Here are few steps suggested to troubleshoot the above issue.

Step 1: Run Check Disk to check your hard drive disk for file system errors.

To do so,

1)       Open the Start Menu and click on the Computer button.

2)       Right click the hard disk drive that you want to check, and click on Properties

3)       Click on the Tools tab, and click on the Check now button under Error-checking.

4)       Check the box Scan and Attempt Recovery of Bad Sectors

This will automatically attempt to repair problems with files and folders that the scan detects.

5)       Click on Start to start scanning.

Depending upon the size of your hard disk, this may take several minutes to finish.

See if this resolves the above issue.

If this doesn’t, go to step 2:

Step 2: Perform Clean Boot:

This checks whether the problem is to do with third party software conflicts.

Here’s how you put your computer in clean boot state.

1)       Click Start, type msconfig in the Start Search box, and then press ENTER.

2)       User Account Control permission

3)       If you are prompted for an administrator password or for a confirmation, type the       password, or click Continue.

4)       On the General tab, click Selective Startup.

5)       Under Selective Startup, click to clear the Load Startup Items check box.

6)       Click the Services tab, click to select the Hide All Microsoft Services check box, and       then click Disable All.

7)       Click OK.

8)       When you are prompted, click Restart.

Now that your computer is in clean boot state, see if the problem recurs.

If it doesn’t, then we know for sure that a background program or startup item is causing this issue.

Follow the steps mentioned in the link below to find out the culprit.

How to troubleshoot a problem by performing a clean boot in Windows Vista or in Windows 7

http://support.microsoft.com/kb/929135

Having performed the above steps, make sure you return your computer to start normally.

Return the computer to normal startup mode.

To do so,

1)       Click Start, type msconfig.exe in the Start Search box, and then press ENTER.

2)       If you are prompted for an administrator password or for confirmation, type your password, or click Continue.

3)       On the General tab, click the Normal Startup option, and then click OK.

4)       When you are prompted to restart the computer, click Restart.

If you still face issue after clean boot, then problem some of the system files might be corrupt.

To fix it, go to step 3.

Step 3: Perform SFC Scan.

Steps to perform sfc scan:

1.      Click Start, click All Programs, click Accessories, right-click Command Prompt, and select Run as Administrator.

2.      Click Continue or supply Administrator credentials if prompted.

3.      In the Command Prompt window type the following, and press Enter:

sfc /scannow

4.      You should see the following on-screen messages:

Beginning the system scan. This process will take some time.

Beginning verification phase of system scan.

Verification % complete.

5.      Once the scan has completed you will receive an onscreen message resembling one of the following:

…  found no integrity violations

…  found corruption but repaired it

…  found corruption that it could not repair

For more information visit website   http://support.microsoft.com/kb/936212  

Regards,

Shinmila H - Microsoft Support

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