OS freeze with ASRock Z77 Extreme 6

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Punya33

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Jun 3, 2013
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Hi guys, I recently changed my SSD (old Samsung SSD 830 had unrecoverable clusters, now I'm wondering if this was the cause) and updated to Win8, and now I have some serious problems with my system.
I have no idea if the problem is the new SSD, the new OS or maybe an old problem with the whole system that killed my previous SSD.

Problems:
- DVD-ROM disappears after Windows boot (I see it on BIOS and during the beginning of Windows loading, but disappears when booting is done)
- HDD activity led always on (it's properly connected to system panel header, I've used it for years)
- After installing all drivers (latest versions available), I still have two unknown devices: "Controller PCI Simple Communications" and "Unknown device"
- Windows keeps freezing on some actions (for now, I've found those: insert USB drives, running Samsung Magician, installing Broadcom LAN drivers...), and requires 4 secs of power button to reboot

Configuration:
Motherboard: ASRock Z77 Extreme 6 (UEFI 2.70, latest available)
CPU: Intel Core i7-3770 3.40GHz
HDD: Samsung SSD 840 250GB (plugged to Intel SATA3 slot)
RAM: Corsair Vengeance Red 8GB Dual Channel DDR3 1600MHz
Video: Sapphire Radeon HD 7770 Vapor-X 1GB GDDR5
Audio: Asus Xonar Essence ST
OS: Windows 8 64-bit

Apart the SSD and Win8, I've used the remaining configuration for months without problems but the old Samsung SSD 830 failing (still, no freezes, just corrupted clusters/files).
I really have no idea on how to proceed... Any help would be much appreciated. ; )
 
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chesteracorgi

chesteracorgi

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Apr 11, 2011
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Did you do a clean install of Win 8? If you cloned it from the previous disk (Samsung 830) it may have legacy errors. If you did not clone the OS then you should reinstall the OS.

I am running a very similar system:

ASRock Extreme6 Z77
3750K CPU
GSkill Sniper 2133 RAM 4 X 4GB
2X Samsung 840 Pro 256 GB in RAID 0
GTX 470
Win 8 64 Bit

I would first do either a re-install or a repair windows. If that does not work, then I'd do a full clean install of windows (from a wipe partition disk with a new format). I would see if that runns and then, one by one, install updated HW drivers. After each single HW driver install I would reboot to see if there is a problem.

Do not import any old data or files from the old system until you have stabilized the installed OS, and updated all virus & forewall software. I use MS's Windows Defender (which is included in Win 8). If the problem is viral or malware you want to have you defenses up before you import the problem.
 
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Punya33

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Jun 3, 2013
2
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10,510
Tnx for the answer, chester.

Yeah, I did a clean installation (actually, I already tried 3 formats and reinstallations, always getting freezes) and installed Avast before plugging the LAN cable, updating it and all Win8 security updates as soon I got online.

I just resolved the problem with DVD-ROM disappearing and USB crashing when connecting drives uninstalling ASRock XFast USB Utility, but I still have the other freezes and HDD activity led issues. =(
I'm starting to wonder if this is a software/driver-related problem, after all, and not a hardware-related one... Still, I'm using the latest drivers specifically for Win8 64-bit, so that seems strange.
I'll try reformatting again and installing drivers one by one... Hopefully, I'll find what's causing this mess.
 
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chesteracorgi

chesteracorgi

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Apr 11, 2011
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After a clean install try running the system without installing any of the drivers from ASRock. Win 8 has the ability to detect and install the correct drivers for most hardware (including video drivers). Establish restore points prior to each driver installation: this will save you from having to do a reinstall again. Run each new driver for a while before intalling the next one.

BTW try running only Windows Defender for a bit. Avast may be creating conflicts with Windows Defender (which is included in a Win 8 install). In fact, before I would do an install of the OS I'd uninstall Avast and check the system with Windows Defender. Running two antivirus programs at once is always problematic.
 
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