PC Freezing

[nrestell]

Hi,

I recently bought the below PC from PCS and for a while all was fine. However, as time went on, the system started getting sluggish (regular "Not Responding" messages) and freezing for a few seconds at a time.

I assumed that it was a software conflict so I have performed a clean install of Windows 7 (64 bit) on a freshly formatted C drive. I have installed no other programs other than Windows (and the 72 updates it downloaded!). However, I am still getting the "Not Repsonding" message when I try to open more than one application at a time (e.g. Windows Update and Resource Monitor). I tried to view the resource monitor and it hung for nearly 90 seconds before becoming responsive - surely this is not supposed to happen on a system that has nothing on it?

In Resource Monitor, I did notice the programs that were hanging were red under CPU but the CPU Usage never rose about 18%. There are only 43 processes running (all windows related - nothing else is installed) and my memory is running at over 30% (upto 48% at one time) of the 4GB installed. I also noticed very regular Hard Faults/sec - between 7-10 every second or so.

Can any one offer any advice as to what is failing me? Is the harddrive, RAM or CPU that is at fault?

Many thanks,
Neil

Case
STYLISH PIANO BLACK ENIGMA CASE + 2 FRONT USB
Processor (CPU)
Intel® Core™i5-760 Quad Core (2.80GHz, 8MB Cache) + Turbo Boost
Motherboard
ASUS® P7P55 LX: USB 2.0 & SATA 3.0Gb/s, CrossFireX™ SUPPORT
Memory (RAM)
4GB KINGSTON HYPER-X BLU DUAL-DDR3 1600MHz, X.M.P (2 x 2GB KIT)
Graphics Card
1GB NVIDIA GEFORCE GT240 PCI EXPRESS (3D BluRay Ready!)
Memory - 1st Hard Disk
640GB WD CAVIAR GREEN WD6400AARS, SATA 3 Gb/s, 64MB CACHE
2nd Hard Disk
640GB WD CAVIAR GREEN WD6400AARS, SATA 3 Gb/s, 64MB CACHE
1st DVD/BLU-RAY Drive
10x BLU-RAY RE-WRITER DRIVE, 16x DVD ±R/±RW (£89)
Memory Card Reader
INTERNAL 52 IN 1 CARD READER (READS XD, MS, CF, SD, etc)
Power Supply
450W Quiet 80 PLUS Dual Rail PSU + 120mm Case Fan (£29)
Processor Cooling
INTEL SOCKET LGA1156 STANDARD CPU COOLER
Sound Card
ONBOARD 6 CHANNEL (5.1) HIGH DEF AUDIO (AS STANDARD)
Network Facilities
ONBOARD 10/100/1000 GIGABIT LAN PORT
USB Options
6 x USB 2.0 PORTS @ BACK PANEL (MIN 2 FRONT PORTS) AS STANDARD
Operating System
NO OPERATING SYSTEM REQUIRED
Office Software
NO OFFICE SOFTWARE
Anti-Virus
NO ANTI-VIRUS SOFTWARE
Monitor
IIYAMA E2271HDS 22" LED WIDESCREEN, HDMI/DVI-D FULL HD 1920x1080 (£149)
Warranty
3 Year Standard Warranty (1 Month Collect & Return, 1 Year Parts, 3 Year Labour)
Delivery
STANDARD INSURED DELIVERY TO UK MAINLAND (MON-FRI)
Build Time
Standard Build - Approximately 9 to 12 working days
Quantity
1

 

[NilSatis]

This could be one of a few things unfortunately.....firstly, power off the pc at the mains, and then open up your case, and check that all your SATA port connections are in correctly, and are not loose. I also have a few suggestions that may or may not involve the hardware or help!:

1) Make sure when you do a fresh install of windows 7 that the cd is dirt and fingerprint free, if you have an alternative cd/dvd drive then this may be a good time to try that. Or use a dvd drive lens cleaner and clean your current one. If you have an original cd and you are sure this is not the problem, check the hard disc that it is writing to. I notice you have two. Try and install on the other one. Can you format the drive that you are reinstalling the os on? If so, do it.
2) Sometimes, it may take more than one installation of win 7 to work, for various reasons if just part of the installation from cd is a problem then it will cause system instability. I think there is a more fundamental problem as it stopped working before an install of windows.....
3) Check your ram, there are various methods online that will show you how to do this.
4) Check your drivers, and gpu; boot in safe mode and see if the system still crashes then. Report back.
5) Check your temperatures...check the cpu temperature in the time the pc works, to see if the crash is temperature related. This could indicate problems with the motherboard or processor.
6) Is your ASUS motherboard Bios firmware up to date? Have you ever updated it? There are a few updates since its release, and there is a new bios update that appeared in February...to solve system instability issues. Lol, sorry you have to laugh at that.....http://support.asus.com/download/download.aspx?SLanguage=en-us (This will require reflashing the bios) ---if so, then don't panic; it is easier than it sounds, and either follow these instructions to do so, or maybe the kind people at pcspecialist may be able to help you better over the phone if stuck or not comfortable doing it:

Preparation:

1. Document all your preferred BIOS settings (i.e. the settings you have changed from the default setting).
2. Download the BIOS file, which normally is compressed (zipped).
3. Unzip the BIOS file to a FAT/FAT32 formatted USB Flash Disk http://www.google.co.uk/products/catalog?q=usb+flash+disc&oe=utf-8&rls=org.mozilla:en-GBfficial&client=firefox-a&um=1&hl=en&biw=1280&bih=830&ie=UTF-8&cid=16479117487730074487&sa=X&ei=YQGATdnLBoyzhAfqnb22Bw&ved=0CH0Q8wIwBQ#with only one partition (or to a Floppy Disk or a CD-ROM). If the unzipped BIOS file is named like e.g. 'P7P55 LX.ROM', you can rename it to 'P7P55LX.ROM'. In case it is a longer name a truncated name will appear as 'P5B-AS~1.ROM' due to a limitation to max 8 characters in the filename (8.3).

Update:
1. Reboot.
2. Press (tap) <DEL> during POST (Power-On Self Test) to enter BIOS Setup.
3. Load BIOS Defaults (press <F5>).
4. Insert the USB Flash Disk containing the BIOS file P7P55LX.ROM. (Note that the USB Flash Disk has to be inserted before boot to enter BIOS, otherwise it won't be detected).
5. Save and Exit <F10>. (BIOS will now restart).
6. During BIOS restart, press <DEL> to enter BIOS Setup again.
7. Under Tools menu, select ASUS EZ Flash 2. It may take 20 seconds for the drives to show up. Select a drive in the left pane <Tab>. Use <Up> and <Down> arrows and <Enter> to select a drive. If you don't see the BIOS file in the right pane, check the other drives. Note that the drive letters are not the same here as in Windows and that no HDD's (NTFS devices) are shown here.
8. Select the BIOS file (e.g. P5BD1101.ROM) and press <Enter> to start flashing. Supervise the update, which includes the following stages: Erasing - Flashing (writing) - Verification. BIOS will automatically restart when the update is ready.
9. Disconnect the USB Flash Disk before/during the restart.
10. Perform a C.P.R. (CPU Parameter Recall) which resets the chipset. Power down, remove power cord from the PSU for 2 minutes and then power up.
11. Enter BIOS and load BIOS Defaults <F5> again.
12. Reenter your preferred BIOS settings - if you are using AHCI or RAID mode, don't forget to set 'Configure SATA as' to [AHCI / RAID]. Also remember the settings for the JMicron Controller, Audio and Memory Voltage. Check also that the Boot Device Priority is ok.
13. Save and Exit <F10> (automatic restart).
14. Press <DEL> to enter BIOS Setup and make a final check that all BIOS settings are ok. Save any changes.

A lot of info, maybe too much, but something to start on, and am sure people on here or other forums can add to it/give you alternative advice from experts but just do one step at a time and try and use a process of elimination to get to the bottom of it. If you are not comfortable with the bios reflash then try other steps before this. Someone may know more about these potential problems with your particular set up.....?? Good luck mate, let us know how you get on. :turned:

 

[pengipete]

Run Resource Manager and click on the Memory tab. Look down the list and see what specific task (or tasks) are causing those hard faults. A few hard faults is pretty irrelevent but there's obviously something running amok - the usual suspect would be security software (it's one of the reasons I stopped using "free" security software like AVG).

Regarding the 30-50% RAM usage - sounds about right with 4GB. Windows Vista and 7 both make use of available RAM for background tasks like indexing and defragging - they release the memory when you need it for something else (it's one of the reason why so many people slagged off Vista and called it a resource hog - they didn't understand how it works). On my PC with 6GB, I get around 20-25% usage - which works out to roughly the same amount of RAM being used.

 

[nrestell]

Thanks for the reply. I have tried a few of the things you suggested:

NilSatis:
1) The DVD was clean an dirt free. I will have a look at burning to the other disk later tonight.
2) This is the 5th or 6th time of reinstalling windows so I agree, something else is at play here.
3) I shall check this later too.
4) All the drivers are from Windows Update - should I get the latest ones from the relevant sites?
5) Temperature with no crash is 45 degrees. It went up to 51 degrees with multiple windows but annoyingly I can't get it to crash this morning! It did update to SP1 overnight so whether that has anything to do with it...
6) I updated this last night prior to the fresh install as I saw the latest one solved instability issues.

pengipete:
Watching this morning the most hard faults appear from Svchost.exe(Dcomlaunch) and was averaging about 10.

I shall check my connections later tonight and in the meantime I shall just see if it plays up any more.

Many thanks for your help guys.

Neil


PS. Just noticed I posed this in the wrong forum - can it be moved to Techincal Support > Desktops please?

 

[Gorman]

nrestell, are the drives set to run in AHCI mode?

BIOS-Storage configuration

 

[vanthus]

If gormans suggestion doesn't fix It have a look In event viewer,It may have logged the problem.

 

[nrestell]

If gormans suggestion doesn't fix It have a look In event viewer,It may have logged the problem.

I will check what Gorman suggested later on and report back. I had a look in event viewer this morning but couldn't see any log that was of the time of the freezing.

Neil

 

[pengipete]

Did you install the latest chipset drivers after installing Windows and before installing any device drivers? Not doing so would be the most obvious cause of the problem?

If that doesn't apply, can you unplug all non-essential peripherals - USB dongles, external wi-fi etc - and see if that clears the problem. If it does, plug them back in one at a time until the problem reappears then tell us which device was involved. If you have no external devices, can you confirm that your PC only has exactly what is listed in the build-details you posted - no extras such as sound or TV cards, for example.

Failing that, (and this one may sound a bit weird) go into the Sound/Playback settings and disable all enhancements.

Failing that, can you tell us if you have used Windows Media Player and set-up network sharing and whether you've installed anything at all not included on the Windows DVD - including security software.

 

[nrestell]

Did you install the latest chipset drivers after installing Windows and before installing any device drivers? Not doing so would be the most obvious cause of the problem?

I did do this just before I left the house this morning (asking my other half to see if the PC freezes at all during the day's use) on the suggestion by NilSatis (No.4). So hopefully that may have solved it.

If that doesn't apply, can you unplug all non-essential peripherals - USB dongles, external wi-fi etc - and see if that clears the problem. If it does, plug them back in one at a time until the problem reappears then tell us which device was involved. If you have no external devices, can you confirm that your PC only has exactly what is listed in the build-details you posted - no extras such as sound or TV cards, for example.

I can confirm that nothing has been added to the PC from the list above other than my VirginMedia Modem and Wireless Router.

Failing that, can you tell us if you have used Windows Media Player and set-up network sharing and whether you've installed anything at all not included on the Windows DVD - including security software.

No, I have not used WMP since the fresh Win7 install and have not got network sharing set-up.

Thanks for the ideas folks, I shall see if it has behaved at all through the day and report back later tonight.

Neil

 

[pengipete]

Chipset drivers are the foundation for all other drivers. Installing them after you've already installed device drivers may not be enough. If nothing else works, re-install Windows and install the chiopset drivers before doing anythng else. Ideally, the install order should be Windows, chipset drivers, Windows updates, onboard device drivers (USB, driver controllers, network ports, on-board sound etc) then graphics card and finally other devices.

 

[LFFPicard]

Failing all this...

If you have access to another PC that can burn discs grab yourself this.. http://www.ultimatebootcd.com/
The best diagnosis tool in my opinion.
It is CD bootable and has loads of tools for testing hadware, make sure you select the appropriate one for your make etc and start with the memtest and then CPU and then hard drive. These take time, so best to leave them running and go eat/watch tv or even goto sleep/work. If it has issues it will halt and give you the error message.

If programs are not responding alot my first thought before reading the whole thread was writing issues with the memory. So do a memtest and see how it goes.

 

[nrestell]

nrestell, are the drives set to run in AHCI mode?

BIOS-Storage configuration

I changed the setting from IDE to AHCI and the PC wouldn't boot. Startup repair kicked in and couldn't help but offered the problem as "Bad Driver". Had to go back to IDE to get it to boot up.

Neil

 

[Gorman]

yes that will happen, i was curious if the drives had been installed with AHCI on as the green drives are not a fan. Can rule that out then.

 

[nrestell]

Failing all this...

If you have access to another PC that can burn discs grab yourself this.. http://www.ultimatebootcd.com/
The best diagnosis tool in my opinion.
It is CD bootable and has loads of tools for testing hadware, make sure you select the appropriate one for your make etc and start with the memtest and then CPU and then hard drive. These take time, so best to leave them running and go eat/watch tv or even goto sleep/work. If it has issues it will halt and give you the error message.

If programs are not responding alot my first thought before reading the whole thread was writing issues with the memory. So do a memtest and see how it goes.

I have run a battery of tests from this disc and all have come back clear - things like Memory checks, CPU checks and HDD check (including surface check).

I shall check the cable is sitting correctly tonight and then failing all else, I shall try to install Win7 on the other drive to see if that makes a difference.

Neil