Computer freezes after a couple of minutes unless.....

[Horatio Poke]

During the last couple of days my computer (notebook) freezes after only a couple of minutes use unless:-

1. I run it in safe mode, or
2. I remove my anti-virus program from the system

I've tried installing a number of AV programs and the problem is present with all of them - AVG, Avast, 360, to name but a few.

 

If I run the notebook from a Linux distribution on a flash-drive all works OK, without the slightest problem.

My notebook is several years old now.  It has been a bit, but not overly, slow to start and shut down for a while now.  The OS is Windows 7.

 

I'd be grateful for any suggestions as to how I might resolve this problem.

Thanks.

 

 

[Crossy]

Have you tried an AV scan in safe mode?

 

[wgdanson]

Uninstall the 'un-necessary' AV programs, just keep Defender. Run CCleaner or Glary Utilities. Do a Windows repair.

 

Sorry I did not read your full post. INSTALL WINDOWS 10. An SSD and 8GB RAM.

Edited January 17, 2019 by wgdanson

[Vacuum]

The quick solution (best in my opinion ) use the Linux distribution. The slow solution, reinstall the W7.

[MalandLee]

3 hours ago, Vacuum said:

The quick solution (best in my opinion ) use the Linux distribution. The slow solution, reinstall the W7.

Fully concur... Over time you will wonder why you EVER used windows....

[manarak]

36 minutes ago, MalandLee said:

Fully concur... Over time you will wonder why you EVER used windows....

there are so many programs that don't run on linux.

windows is still king of app diversity, especially games.

[Horatio Poke]

Thanks everyone for your replies.  You've given me plenty to consider.  Thanks again.

 

18 hours ago, Vacuum said:

The quick solution (best in my opinion ) use the Linux distribution. The slow solution, reinstall the W7.

I couldn't agree more.  I'm a big fan of Linux.  I used Linux for many years but returned to Windows for the reasons as outlined below by @manarak.  Also I found that whenever I shared a Linux generated file with a Windows user (WindowsUser=AlmostEverybody) they wouldn't be able to open it or else when they did open it the formatting would be lost/corrupted.

 

13 hours ago, manarak said:

there are so many programs that don't run on linux.

windows is still king of app diversity, especially games.

So true.

 

Thanks again everybody.

[chrisinth]

Have you tried looking in Task Manager to see what is causing the freeze, you might get a heads-up as to what is using the confuser's resources.

 

What are the percentages of usage on your CPU, memory & disk? And what is causing it? As others have said, a reformat should help, changing the HDD for an SSD with a clean install definitely will help.

Edited January 18, 2019 by chrisinth

[Horatio Poke]

Following several installs, running and uninstalls of a variety of anti-virus and anti-malware programs the computer seems to be pretty much back to normal - fingers crossed.

 

21 hours ago, chrisinth said:

Have you tried looking in Task Manager to see what is causing the freeze, you might get a heads-up as to what is using the confuser's resources.

 

What are the percentages of usage on your CPU, memory & disk? And what is causing it? As others have said, a reformat should help, changing the HDD for an SSD with a clean install definitely will help.

Thanks for your input.  Task manager has always been inaccessible when the display freezes.  At the moment all readings appear to be in acceptable ranges.

[SheungWan]

52 minutes ago, Horatio Poke said:

Following several installs, running and uninstalls of a variety of anti-virus and anti-malware programs the computer seems to be pretty much back to normal - fingers crossed.

Thanks for your input.  Task manager has always been inaccessible when the display freezes.  At the moment all readings appear to be in acceptable ranges.

I would tend to regard the initial breakdown as an advance notice to review options. If you are determined to use Windows then I would go with the suggestion to move to Windows 10 and remove existing anti-virus software in favour of Windows Defender. As for sharing files, if we talking standard W. Office files consider sending/linking files saved on Google Drive. PS, re games, is this really an issue for you?

[johng]

Have you checked the hardrive for bad sectors ? 

chkdsk C: /f /r /x