Frequent Freezes are Back

Hi. I've had problems similar to the ones I'm having now, only now I dont have the money to get it fixed, so any help can be of great help.

Currently windows 7 freezes without getting past the opening windows 7 symbol. I attempt the system repair function but that freezes immediatly upon starting.

The problem before was with eithert the RAM or CPU frequency was too high and was causing it to lock up. I personally think it's the same issue but I can't be sure.

I don't have my system specs on me I can get them if needed. The only thing I know off hand is I'm using two 4 GB Mushkin RAM cards, a Nvidia GeForce GTX 260 video card, and an Asus Motherboard.
I can get the rest upon request.

Does it freeze and stay stuck on the windows symbol, or does it reboot while the windows symbol is on?

If it freezes, could you try loading it in safe mode (press F8 immediately after the bios screen) and tell us if that works?
If it reboots, then my first guess would go to RAM voltage.

Generally when the RAM or CPU (or rather, the FSB clock) frequency is set too high, it's the insufficient voltage or the heat that cause the system to enter a critical state and either reset or shut down.


If it just freezes, but still loads in safe mode, then you may be luckier than you think, as that would imply it's caused by a startup process of system service, and that's fixable (also, it's possible to isolate the specific one that's causing it...).

Nope safe mode wouldn't even load. It'd lock up on start up.

Thus far I've been able to start up twice after switching the CPU frequency to 800 Mhz.

Well then, stop overclocking. That would be the first step - I might suggest a BIOS reset. Second would be to make sure the interior is clean of heat trapping dust and dirt. And you may have to test your RAM - or use one stick at a time to see what happens. I usually swap in a known good PSU too - I like to start knowing I have good power.
It does not have to be insufficient - just incorrect (or out of a usable range) to cause a system to be unstable. Insufficient, to me, suggests "not enough" and while that is certainly one condition that causes issues, so do overvoltages.

Go into the BIOS and load the "Optimized" defaults for the BIOS, usually it's the F7 key then save and reboot.

What are your RAM specs? What is the recommended timing and settings for them?

What brand and model of motherboard are you using?

All these will help to get your system configured correctly.

As Digerati suggests, be very careful about overclocking the CPU or RAM unless you really are comfortable with it, and know what exactly it is that needs to be done.