Windows 7 freezes

[johncage]

but the freezing only started after i switched to windows7(fully reformatted upgrade). several things established here. acpi is trash in windows 7 and microsoft needs to take a really good look at this. i have tried turning off eist, c1e and although these work for awhile, they eventually break down as countermeasures to a deeper problem in windows 7.

 

[Digerati]

but the freezing only started after i switched to windows7(fully reformatted upgrade).

And that could be significant or it could be a coincidence. While certainly a few folks are having these problems, there are about 100 million Windows 7 users out there who are not.

 

[RobertT]

Yah I get the same problem with Win7.

First let me say I had two (legit) copies of Win Vista 32bit and 64bit.

On my WinVista 32 bit, I can run 1GB of Wintec DDR memory on my rig. When I install a second stick of the same memory to give me 2GB, Vista 32 bit freezes after the desktop loads.

Now if I install WinVista 64 bit, I can run both sticks without no freezes or issues what so ever.

If I do a clean install of my Win7 OEM 64bit on a JBOD array, it will freeze during the install process or if completely installed with 1GB of ram then power down and add the second, it freezes at the desktop.

The rig is old but works for now.

AMD Athlon 64bit 2.8 Ghz single core
Wintec 1GB PC3200 DDR x2
Abit NF8 mobo
Creative Soundblaster 24bit
Western Digitial 1TB drive (Black edition)
Logitec Wireless Keyboard and Mouse combo
Asus Lightscribe DVD/CD-R burner

Win7 works great with only one stick of ram installed, however 2GB's does give it some speed. So what could the issue be?

 

[quix]

Yah I get the same problem with Win7.

First let me say I had two (legit) copies of Win Vista 32bit and 64bit.

On my WinVista 32 bit, I can run 1GB of Wintec DDR memory on my rig. When I install a second stick of the same memory to give me 2GB, Vista 32 bit freezes after the desktop loads.

Now if I install WinVista 64 bit, I can run both sticks without no freezes or issues what so ever.

If I do a clean install of my Win7 OEM 64bit on a JBOD array, it will freeze during the install process or if completely installed with 1GB of ram then power down and add the second, it freezes at the desktop.

The rig is old but works for now.

AMD Athlon 64bit 2.8 Ghz single core
Wintec 1GB PC3200 DDR x2
Abit NF8 mobo
Creative Soundblaster 24bit
Western Digitial 1TB drive (Black edition)
Logitec Wireless Keyboard and Mouse combo
Asus Lightscribe DVD/CD-R burner

Win7 works great with only one stick of ram installed, however 2GB's does give it some speed. So what could the issue be?

Does it do it regardless of the order of the sticks?
What I mean is, will it boot with either one alone and work? Or only one of them?
It's possible the second stick is defective. But with old rigs it's harder to tell, can be anything... Could be bad voltage to the memory buses, could be bad power supply, could be bad motherboard (causing bad voltage distribution to the memory buses), etc...

If both memory sticks work when used alone, then I'd look at the memory settings in the bios.
Could be memory frequency and/or memory voltage (generally, when using just one stick, you could run on insufficient voltage on the memory bus, but once you start adding sticks the voltage gets divided between them--and none of them get enough to work properly... on newer boards you would experience this trying to go over 4 GB with 2gb sticks that would work fine at 2.0 V but for 4 sticks you suddenly need 2.2 V---this is the bios setting for memory voltage that I'm talking about, not the supply voltage).


Does win7 32bit run well?

 

[johncage]

And that could be significant or it could be a coincidence. While certainly a few folks are having these problems, there are about 100 million Windows 7 users out there who are not.

100 million? wth?

 

[quix]

100 million? wth?

2 months ago:
http://www.theinquirer.net/inquirer/news/1594794/windows-sold-90-million-licences

 

[Digerati]

100 million? wth?

Remember, Google is your friend.

http://tech.icrontic.com/news/windows-7-now-on-10-of-all-pcs-worldwide/

 

[hamhamwich]

I had a problem with 7 freezing over the last few days. My problem seem to happen when I was surfing the Internet.

After reading many many forums all with potential solutions I recived some advice on a forum that zonealarm firewall may be the problem.

I then did some reading on the zonealarm forum. They have a sticky there stating that zonealarm firewall has a conflict problem with Microsoft security essentials that causes computers to freeze.

I had both zonealarm firewall and Microsoft security essentials installed on my computer.

I have since uninstalled Microsoft security essentials and my computer has run freeze free for over a day.

I just wanted to post this here as it might help someone in the future.

 

[Digerati]

I had both zonealarm firewall and Microsoft security essentials installed on my computer.

I have since uninstalled Microsoft security essentials and my computer has run freeze free for over a day.

You need to be aware of 2 things - ZA and MSE are two totally different things that have totally different functions. MSE is NOT and does not include a firewall. It is an anti-malware program and I might add, a very good one. You MUST have a good anti-malware program running at all times to be safe so if you did not replace MSE and are now running without a good anti-malware program, then you made a big mistake! And a scary one that needs to be corrected now, or sooner!

Frankly, I used to be a long time fan of ZA but over time, their arrogance took over and they became more and more bloated, and compatibility problems went on the rise - so I dumped it, and I'm glad I did. In October I migrated all my systems to Windows 7. At that time I also migrated my security to Microsoft Security Essentials and Windows Firewall, which is an excellent FW too.

If you are not using an anti-malware program, you need to immediatly and I do not hesitate recommending MSE and WF. The price is right and they do a most effective job. Don't let anyone tell you WF is a bad firewall - it NEVER was, and the latest version is better than ever. And MSE is rated among the best AMs too.

 

[hamhamwich]

If you are not using an anti-malware program, you need to immediatly and I do not hesitate recommending MSE and WF. The price is right and they do a most effective job. Don't let anyone tell you WF is a bad firewall - it NEVER was, and the latest version is better than ever. And MSE is rated among the best AMs too.

Thanks for the advice Digerati.

I have replaced Microsoft security essentials with Panda Cloud AV. I also use Spyware Blaster, Spybot S&D, Windows Defender and Malwarebytes.

I agree with you that zone alarm is not the program it once was but Im not ready to dump it just yet.

 

[Digerati]

I agree with you that zone alarm is not the program it once was but Im not ready to dump it just yet.

If it is not giving you problems, that's fine. It is still an effective firewall.

 

[catilley1092]

I'm along with Digerati on that issue, MSE and Windows Firewall are two excellent programs. I've always used the Windows Firewall that came with whatever OS that I was running, and zero problems with the firewall.

 

[Digerati]

Yeah, WF got a bad rap when if first appeared in early releases of XP and was called ICF - Internet Connection Firewall. It was only one way, protecting from unauthorized incomming threats only so the complaint was it would not stop malware from making unauthorized outgoing access attempts. That's true, but those doing the complaining were ZoneAlarm, the biased IT media, and MS bashers. But the bottom line fact is, in order for malware to "call home" with your credit card number, for example, the malware had to have somehow made past all your defenses on the way in. Annd for that to have happened, it meant the user failed at user discipline and did not keep the computer properly patched, updated, scanned or blocked, then failed to avoid risky practices and sites. Hardly the fault of WF. The only real complaint was ICF was not enabled by default. That was fixed in SP2 or SP3, and it was made two-way as well.

 

[Angelo]

Hi guys, New member here.

After Spending hours reading this thread, I finally decided to post my problem. Let me first mention that I tried a couple of the solutions mentioned here and by mentioning that my comp freezes whenever it feels like it ( while booting up, when idle, at the login screen, etc...).

I should start by saying that I built a pc 2 days ago;

core i5 750
6 gb of ram ocz 12800
wd 1tb hdd
mobo: gigabyte h55m-ud2h
psu: corsair 400watts
wireless logitech keyboard and mouse
VC: x1650xt 512 ram.

The motherboard doesn't have a video chipset built in even tho it has all the video outputs.

After installing win7 Home Premium x64 for the first time the comp worked fine for about an hr... Then it started to randomly freeze..

So I started to troubleshoot the problem,
uninstalled all the programs,
unplugged all the peripherals ( card reader, mouse, keyboard, wireless USB adapter) then I proceeded to play around w the ram ( tried them one by one)
I also tried another motherboard, sticks of ram, video card, and psu
after all this I reinstalled windows again.. As you can assume, that didn't solved my issue either...
At this point idk what else to do.. The only thing I have tried is the hard drive..

Any ideas of what the problem could be?? I haven't installed any drivers, expect for the USB wireless adapter..

I would appreciate any feedback regarding this issue..
Thank you all for your time!

 

[clifford_cooley]

mobo: gigabyte h55m-ud2h

The motherboard doesn't have a video chipset built in even tho it has all the video outputs.

Of coarse not. You don't have a chipset because the graphics are built into the processor.

Enhanced Intel HD Graphics integrated with the processor
Integrated HDMI/ DVI/ DisplayPort interface for smoother HD video playback

Read more here - http://www.gigabyte.com.tw/Products....aspx?ProductID=3309&ProductName=GA-H55M-UD2H

I wish I could help but BSOD's and Freezing is something I don't experience. The only advise I coud give is already mentioned in this thread.

 

[Angelo]

Yea now I know that.. I have to admit that I didn't take my time to do my hw when ordering the motherboard..

Which advice would that be? I read several pgs of this thread n read many advices lol..
Thanks for your feedback

 

[johncage]

best advice so far: dump this buggy piece of crap called windows 7. try to find a disk of windows xp sp 2 or later, because newer hardware requires its features. the problem, in the end is windows 7 for me as well as numerous people. i've tried everything, literally. like you, i exchanged and tested parts. i have had more frustration with windows 7 in one month than i ever had in my entire 10 years of software and hardware experience. microsoft might want to go back to doing thorough qa rather than sending out betas for the everyday nitwits to test. amazing how this problem apparently didn't exist while the nitwits were testing it. they were too busy telling each other it's a beta to report legitimate problems. "oh, it'll get fixed come release day..."

 

[quix]

Yea now I know that.. I have to admit that I didn't take my time to do my hw when ordering the motherboard..

Which advice would that be? I read several pgs of this thread n read many advices lol..
Thanks for your feedback

Have you tried setting the power settings to performance (instead of power saving)?
Have you tried adjusting the RAM voltage in the bios?
Also, if you've got nothing better to do (and if setting power settings to performance and adjusting the RAM voltage didn't help), I would leave the machine running in safe mode for a few hours just to see if it freezes there too...

 

[Digerati]

best advice so far: dump this buggy piece of crap called windows 7.

That's pretty lousy advice! XP was designed more than 10 years ago to support hardware and software from the DOS era when security was not an issue. Win7 was designed for today's hardware, software and security environment and the fact it is working fine for more than 100 million users is concrete proof Mr. Cage is misinformed or misguided, and incorrect - and in any case, one of the "few" with problems. This points to him, or his hardware as the problem, not Windows 7 - frustrating for sure, and I am sympathetic to that. But clearly he is venting, an in a tiny minority and whose frustration should not be pushed on everyone else.

Same with Angelo - the computer working fine for an hour clearly indicates the OS works. Random freezes is a classic symptom of heat, and the fact this is a brand new build could indicate an assembly problem - such as loose conncetion, poor (or no?) application of TIM, extra stand-off under the board, or a bad PSU, among other things.

My advice to Angelo is to start a new thread with your problem so you can get the dedicated attention your problem deserves.

 

[Angelo]

I have taken this computer apart a countless amount of times now. Heat is for sure not a problem neither is the PSU because I keep having the same problem with another power supply. Right now I'm not home but before I left the house I left the computer on safe mode.. So I guess I'll see if it froze when I get bck. Could this be a hard drive problem? I'm kind of ruling out drivers because the comp froze on me twice while I was installing windows.

Thanks everything for your feedback.