Tom's Hardware > Forum > Windows Vista > Vista General Discussion > WINDOWS FREEZING... WHY? >:O
Ask the community Add a reply
Word :    Username :           
 
djfsolo   04-03-2009 at 02:18:26 PM

Alright this is really starting to piss me off. I built my system back in January, so it's fairly new. It's been working GREAT, until about a week ago when it started freezing at random intervals (could be 15 minutes or 8 hours after boot).

I had this problem when I initially built the computer, but (I thought) it was because my ram wasn't properly set up in the bios. Once I had that set up stable and passing memtest/windows mem diagnostic in flying colors, the computer acted perfectly.

I was playing Crysis one afternoon, when suddenly out of nowhere, the screen goes gray and the computer completely freezes. No task manager, no nothing, 100% unresponsive. Reboot, everything's fine, when suddenly that blue screen popped up with all the jabber on it (no I'm not an experienced user) among which I remember "windows memory dump." Rebooted again, and ever since, the computer has started freezing at random intervals.

I checked the ram again, which appears to be 100% fine. I then suspected overheating, but this is in an Antec 1200 case. Tons of ventilation. The CPU cores are at 35-40c, GPU at 52c. As far as I am aware, this system is running cool.

Which led me, with my lack of experience, to blame Windows. I've now reinstalled windows and it still freezes... so naturally, I'm a little pissed as I went through the hassle of a reinstall.

Do you guys have ANY idea what could be causing the freezing? Possibly the GPU? I'm really not sure. Are there other tests I can run on my hardware? As I have now reinstalled windows, I have ruled out any system drivers/files being corrupted or something causing the issue, although I'm not sure if that is even possible.

Computer build is as follows:
Intel Q6600 2.4 ghz quad core processor
8gb G-skill DDR-800 ram
WD 500gb hd, WD 1tb hd
EVGA GTX-260 core 216 gpu
Antec 1200 case
Antec 1000W quattro power supply
Gigabyte EP45-UD3R motherboard

nothing is overclocked, the ram is actually set on slightly lower voltages to guarantee error-free performance.

thank you for any help

Add a reply
Sponsored Links
Register or log in to remove.
notherdude   04-03-2009 at 04:19:20 PM
- 0 +

few ideas:

1. Try removing one stick of RAM. Some systems have issues when you fill all 4 slots. If this turns out to be the problem it might be fixed by adjusting RAM settings.

2. If you have another PSU laying about try running the system with it for a while - it is possible you could have a flaky PSU with intermittent performance

------------------------------ tehhardpro wrote :


notherdude u have an old hand. Having an old hand doesnt make sence. Cuz its old. get a new one.. seems like ur hand doesnt understand what it is writing. So placve it in ur rig instead of vista human orgnoids will amke more sense
Reply to notherdude
Scotteq   04-03-2009 at 04:48:28 PM
- 0 +

Here - Dug these up for you:

How to generate a system health report:
http://www.vistax64.com/tutorials/ [...] eport.html

checking the Reliability Monitor for errors:
http://www.vistax64.com/tutorials/ [...] nitor.html

Troubleshooting Sequence:
http://www.vistax64.com/tutorials/ [...] uence.html

------------------------------ Which Chip? Well, it depends on which set of thieving b@stardz you choose to support: The ones who use insider trading to enrich themselves while running their company into the ground, or the ones who illegally pay vendors to not support the first group.
 Reply to Scotteq
seogoat   04-03-2009 at 06:07:15 PM
- 0 +

try setting the vista paging file size

Reply to seogoat
notherdude   04-03-2009 at 07:04:21 PM
- 0 +

If you can run memtest for many hours and get no errors then it might make sense to look at the video card - drivers, settings, or possibly a faulty card. Easiest way to rule it out is to try the system with another card in there for a while.

------------------------------ tehhardpro wrote :


notherdude u have an old hand. Having an old hand doesnt make sence. Cuz its old. get a new one.. seems like ur hand doesnt understand what it is writing. So placve it in ur rig instead of vista human orgnoids will amke more sense
Reply to notherdude
pat mcgroin   04-03-2009 at 07:44:17 PM
- 0 +

2 things

First a memory dump means that at one time at least you had a BSOD.
Do this
start|right click computer|properties|advanced system settings|advanced|strartup ahd recovery settings|uncheck the automatic restart box.
This will give you error message that you can write down to help solve any problems.

Second your memory should run at 2.0 \ 2.1 volts.
Your post states "the ram is actually set on slightly lower voltages to guarantee error-free performance."
Actually the exact opposite is true, turning it down will cause a great many errors such as the ones that you have.

Message quoted 1 times
Message edited by pat mcgroin on 04-03-2009 at 07:45:55 PM
Reply to pat mcgroin
notherdude   04-04-2009 at 12:45:43 AM
- 0 +

pat mcgroin wrote :

2 things

Second your memory should run at 2.0 \ 2.1 volts.
Your post states "the ram is actually set on slightly lower voltages to guarantee error-free performance."
Actually the exact opposite is true, turning it down will cause a great many errors such as the ones that you have.


Bingo! You want the RAM set TO mfg. spec and occasionally slightly higher - a drop of .2 v could cause occasional crashes, We see this a lot.

------------------------------ tehhardpro wrote :


notherdude u have an old hand. Having an old hand doesnt make sence. Cuz its old. get a new one.. seems like ur hand doesnt understand what it is writing. So placve it in ur rig instead of vista human orgnoids will amke more sense
Reply to notherdude
Ask the community Add a reply
Tom's Hardware > Forum > Windows Vista > Vista General Discussion > WINDOWS FREEZING... WHY? >:O
Go to:

There are 1222 identified and unidentified users. To see the list of identified users, Click here.

Forum map
Bestofmedia Forum ©
2000-2009 Bestofmedia Group
Page generated in 0.280 seconds
Please mind

You are about to answer a thread that has been inactive for more than 6 months.
If you still wish to proceed, please ensure that your posting is original and does not duplicate or overlap any prior responses to this thread.

Add a reply Cancel
Sponsored links
  • Ask the community now
  • Publish
Ad
They won a badge
Join us in greeting them