PC Freezing

[Susco]

Starting today I experience several times already that my PC freeze.

 

It means everything remains on the screen, but mouse or keyboard don't move any more. There is no blue screen or whatever

 

Only thing I can do is force close with the power button.

 

I run a system restore already.

 

Also ran a windows repair, and it says it detected hardware problems, but doesn't say which hardware problems.

 

What am I most likely looking at, memory - VGA or SSD ?

Edited March 30, 2021 by Susco

[ozimoron]

It could be your mouse. Is the battery charged? Is it a Bluetooth mouse? Try opening a text editor, turn off the mouse and see if the keyboard works again. If you have a browser open,  pressing the space bar on the keyboard will usually force the page to scroll to the bottom (this is the case for firefox on linux anyway). Try turning off bluetooth and using a wired mouse (buy a very cheap wired mouse to test it). Are you using any other devices with bluetooth connections with a bluetooth mouse? Do you have a USB stick plugged in when this happens?

 

None of these are definite fixes. It may be that your mainboard is shot but intermittent issues point to a peripheral playing up. Unlikely to be a video card but who knows. Even less likely to be a disk problem or memory. They normally fail totally. That said, run the disk utility to defrag the disk.

Edited March 30, 2021 by ozimoron

[OneMoreFarang]

Does this problem happen faster if the PC was on for some time?

Maybe you have an overheating problem. I.e. a fan which does not work anymore or a cooling element which is not correct on the chip anymore.

 

I recommend you open the BIOS screen of your PC (often by pressing DEL when the PC starts). Then leave that on for some time and then try to navigate in the BIOS. If you can't navigate (it freezes) then the problem is independent from your operation system like i.e. an overheat problem.

If the BIOS works fine even after hours then the problem is somewhere else, i.e. a Windows problem. Then other analysis steps follow. But first I suggest you do the test with the BIOS.

[OneMoreFarang]

16 minutes ago, Susco said:

What am I most likely looking at, memory - VGA or SSD ?

Memory has sometimes bad contacts, because someone touched the contacts with their fingers. You can remove it and clean the contacts with an eraser.

VGA could be contact like the memory or a fan problem.

SSD problems are rare and show often (not always) in different ways.

The part which often fails is the power supply.

 

 

[carlyai]

There used to be a mode you could run your Windows in, think it was Safe mode. Just loads the basic drivers etc. Have a read up on Safe Mode.

Could be VGA or memory or other hardware. Could try swapping your VGA card or memory modules 1 at a time.

If you don't get any other responses you could try these things.

Is it a heat problem? Blow a  portable fan on the unit.

 

[Susco]

It is not the batteries in the mouse, I thought that was obvious from my description in the OP.

 

Everything freezes, most of the time it happens when I open an extra program or extra browser.

 

It freezes up while opening, so the screen may remain frozen half way the start up of the program.

 

I don't think it is overheating either, as I believe that would result in a BSoD.

 

There is no time to have the Bios open for a few hours, as I'm working on my PC and it is open all day.

 

It happens also infrequently, sometimes after 4 hours, sometimes 3-4 times in a row

[Oldie]

6 minutes ago, Susco said:

It is not the batteries in the mouse, I thought that was obvious from my description in the OP.

 

Everything freezes, most of the time it happens when I open an extra program or extra browser.

 

It freezes up while opening, so the screen may remain frozen half way the start up of the program.

 

I don't think it is overheating either, as I believe that would result in a BSoD.

 

There is no time to have the Bios open for a few hours, as I'm working on my PC and it is open all day.

 

It happens also infrequently, sometimes after 4 hours, sometimes 3-4 times in a row

 

Could be many things like a broken board. Start with a memory test. Look at this link and let us know the results. Did you check the Event Log? 

 

https://www.howtogeek.com/260813/how-to-test-your-computers-ram-for-problems/

[Susco]

Just now, Oldie said:

 

Could be many things like a broken board. Start with a memory test. Look at this link and let us know the results. Did you check the Event Log? 

 

https://www.howtogeek.com/260813/how-to-test-your-computers-ram-for-problems/

 

I did a memory test before, and windows told me they detected hardware problems.

 

The memory test (2 parts) completed, and windows said it would show the results on next login.

 

When the PC rebooted, nothing was shown

 

 

[2530Ubon]

11 minutes ago, Susco said:

It is not the batteries in the mouse, I thought that was obvious from my description in the OP.

 

Everything freezes, most of the time it happens when I open an extra program or extra browser.

 

It freezes up while opening, so the screen may remain frozen half way the start up of the program.

 

I don't think it is overheating either, as I believe that would result in a BSoD.

 

There is no time to have the Bios open for a few hours, as I'm working on my PC and it is open all day.

 

It happens also infrequently, sometimes after 4 hours, sometimes 3-4 times in a row

Sounds like RAM might be the issue. Windows comes with a built-in memory diagnostic tool. To run it, press Windows Key + R, type mdsched, and press Enter.

[Oldie]

1 minute ago, Susco said:

 

I did a memory test before, and windows told me they detected hardware problems.

 

The memory test (2 parts) completed, and windows said it would show the results on next login.

 

When the PC rebooted, nothing was shown

This is why I sent you this link. Please read it. 

[Susco]

2 minutes ago, Oldie said:

This is why I sent you this link. Please read it. 

 

Event log shows a few times error : kernel power

[Oldie]

Just now, Susco said:

 

Event log shows a few times error : kernel power

Did you find the results of the memory scan and what is it? 

[KhunBENQ]

2 minutes ago, Susco said:

Event log shows a few times error : kernel power

That's the normal consequence of the forced power off(s).

Some flag for proper shutdown has not been set.

 

[KhunBENQ]

If the systems freezes completely without a blue screen and a hardware fault is suspected then my guess would be CPU overheating.

Other hardware faults should more likely end in a blue screen/crash.

Memory (RAM) fault will crash (blue screen).

If it's a desktop PC you could open and check the cooling fans of power supply and CPU (both running?). Is the heat sink of the CPU clogged with fluff or the like?

[Susco]

30 minutes ago, Oldie said:

Did you find the results of the memory scan and what is it? 

 

Log Name:      System
Source:        Microsoft-Windows-MemoryDiagnostics-Results
Date:          30-Mar-21 17:11:00
Event ID:      1202
Task Category: None
Level:         Error
Keywords:      
User:          SYSTEM
Computer:    
Description:
The Windows Memory Diagnostic tested the computer's memory and detected hardware errors. To identify and repair these problems, contact the computer manufacturer
Event Xml:
<Event xmlns=
  <System>
    <Provider Name="Microsoft-Windows-MemoryDiagnostics-Results" Guid="{5F92BC59-248F-4111-86A9-E393E12C6139}" />
    <EventID>1202</EventID>
    <Version>0</Version>
    <Level>2</Level>
    <Task>0</Task>
    <Opcode>0</Opcode>
    <Keywords>0x8000000000000000</Keywords>
    <TimeCreated SystemTime="2021-03-30T10:11:00.181426800Z" />
    <EventRecordID>60705</EventRecordID>
    <Correlation />
    <Execution ProcessID="3400" ThreadID="3404" />
    <Channel>System</Channel>
    <Computer>
    <Security UserID="S-1-5-18" />
  </System>
  <UserData>
 
      <CompletionType>Fail</CompletionType>
    </Results>
  </UserData>
</Event>

Edited March 30, 2021 by Susco

[KhunBENQ]

As long as the system runs you could try to monitor CPU temperature and other parameters with "Open Hardware Monitor".

https://openhardwaremonitor.org/

 

The popular "Core Temp" tools seems to be plagued with AdWare.

 

[Oldie]

37 minutes ago, Susco said:

 

Log Name:      System
Source:        Microsoft-Windows-MemoryDiagnostics-Results
Date:          30-Mar-21 17:11:00
Event ID:      1202
Task Category: None
Level:         Error
Keywords:      
User:          SYSTEM
Computer:      
Description:
The Windows Memory Diagnostic tested the computer's memory and detected hardware errors. To identify and repair these problems, contact the computer manufacturer
Event Xml:
<Event xmlns="http://schemas.microsoft.com/win/2004/08/events/event">
  <System>
    <Provider Name="Microsoft-Windows-MemoryDiagnostics-Results" Guid="{5F92BC59-248F-4111-86A9-E393E12C6139}" />
    <EventID>1202</EventID>
    <Version>0</Version>
    <Level>2</Level>
    <Task>0</Task>
    <Opcode>0</Opcode>
    <Keywords>0x8000000000000000</Keywords>
    <TimeCreated SystemTime="2021-03-30T10:11:00.181426800Z" />
    <EventRecordID>60705</EventRecordID>
    <Correlation />
    <Execution ProcessID="3400" ThreadID="3404" />
    <Channel>System</Channel>
    <Computer>Eric-PC</Computer>
    <Security UserID="S-1-5-18" />
  </System>
  <UserData>
    <Results xmlns:auto-ns2="http://schemas.microsoft.com/win/2004/08/events" xmlns="http://manifests.microsoft.com/win/2005/08/windows/Reliability/Postboot/Events">
      <CompletionType>Fail</CompletionType>
    </Results>
  </UserData>
</Event>

Have to do now something else. I am not sure if you can do this. But if then take out the memory and put it back in again.  Perhaps this helps. Then run the test again. Can do the same with the graphic card if this does not help.

Edited March 30, 2021 by metisdead
Edited to remove the name of the Computer.

[KhunBENQ]

3 minutes ago, Susco said:

Microsoft-Windows-MemoryDiagnostics-Results

Am I proofed wrong?

Freeze by memory error?

Have you done any changes to the hardware recently?

[Susco]

5 minutes ago, KhunBENQ said:

If the systems freezes completely without a blue screen and a hardware fault is suspected then my guess would be CPU overheating.

Other hardware faults should more likely end in a blue screen/crash.

Memory (RAM) fault will crash (blue screen).

If it's a desktop PC you could open and check the cooling fans of power supply and CPU (both running?). Is the heat sink of the CPU clogged with fluff or the like?

 

Just checked, the case is a large coolmaster, all fans running, and a large coolmaster heatsink with fan running on the cpu

[KhunBENQ]

Just now, Oldie said:

But if then take out the memory and put it back in again.

Check the contact pins, clean gently.

It's not too often that RAM memory suddenly fails.

[Susco]

1 minute ago, KhunBENQ said:

Am I proofed wrong?

Freeze by memory error?

Have you done any changes to the hardware recently?

 

Not made any hardware changes . 8GB of memory installed

[Oldie]

1 minute ago, KhunBENQ said:

Am I proofed wrong?

Freeze by memory error?

Have you done any changes to the hardware recently?

My CPU reduces the speed if it gets too hot. 

[Susco]

Thanks for the advice so far @Oldie @KhunBENQ, I hope I make it through the night, and tomorrow I will clean memory and VGA.

[Susco]

27 minutes ago, Oldie said:

Have to do now something else. I am not sure if you can do this. But if then take out the memory and put it back in again.  Perhaps this helps. Then run the test again. Can do the same with the graphic card if this does not help.

 

In the task manager it shows my full memory.

 

[Susco]

But is this normal? I have firefox only open with 4 tabs

 

[jackdd]

How often does this happen?

If regularly, just boot from a Linux flash drive or similar and use this for a while. In case the freeze happens there as well, you know it's a hardware problem. If it doesn't freeze it's a software problem.

In case the freeze happens just every now and then it's not so easy to figure out.

[Susco]

We are now 5 hours further, and we haven't had a crash since.

 

I believe it had something to do with the free Panda AV and malwarebytes.

 

Yesterday there was an update for Panda which I had to install.

 

After I got the second crash this morning I tried a scan with Malwarebytes, which was already bothering me for weeks that a new free update was available.

 

When I opened MWB, it asked me if I wanted to install the update, to which I finally agreed. Right after the update was installed, the pc crashed, and did so each time I opened MWB, even with the PC in safe mode with networking, but not in safe mode with internet disabled.

 

The first 2 system restores also wouldn't succeed, because a file was not accessible, and there was only 1 restore point available.

 

After I removed the Panda AV it would successfully complete the system restore

 

The Panda AV would show in the task bar that it was deactivated, and I could not enable it. When I opened the console, it would tell me that it was active, but in the taskbar would still show the red x.

 

I have both uninstalled. Malware bytes would not uninstall, even after 5 attempts with Iobit, it would still be there.

 

At the end I had to download a software program from the MWB site to clean everything.

Edited March 30, 2021 by Susco

[irishman25]

14 hours ago, ozimoron said:

It could be your mouse. Is the battery charged? Is it a Bluetooth mouse? Try opening a text editor, turn off the mouse and see if the keyboard works again. If you have a browser open,  pressing the space bar on the keyboard will usually force the page to scroll to the bottom (this is the case for firefox on linux anyway). Try turning off bluetooth and using a wired mouse (buy a very cheap wired mouse to test it). Are you using any other devices with bluetooth connections with a bluetooth mouse? Do you have a USB stick plugged in when this happens?

 

None of these are definite fixes. It may be that your mainboard is shot but intermittent issues point to a peripheral playing up. Unlikely to be a video card but who knows. Even less likely to be a disk problem or memory. They normally fail totally. That said, run the disk utility to defrag the disk.

update your drivers and check the air flow screen for dust never use your laptop on your bed HEAT.

[KannikaP]

12 hours ago, Susco said:

We are now 5 hours further, and we haven't had a crash since.

 

I believe it had something to do with the free Panda AV and malwarebytes.

 

Yesterday there was an update for Panda which I had to install.

 

After I got the second crash this morning I tried a scan with Malwarebytes, which was already bothering me for weeks that a new free update was available.

 

When I opened MWB, it asked me if I wanted to install the update, to which I finally agreed. Right after the update was installed, the pc crashed, and did so each time I opened MWB, even with the PC in safe mode with networking, but not in safe mode with internet disabled.

 

The first 2 system restores also wouldn't succeed, because a file was not accessible, and there was only 1 restore point available.

 

After I removed the Panda AV it would successfully complete the system restore

 

The Panda AV would show in the task bar that it was deactivated, and I could not enable it. When I opened the console, it would tell me that it was active, but in the taskbar would still show the red x.

 

I have both uninstalled. Malware bytes would not uninstall, even after 5 attempts with Iobit, it would still be there.

 

At the end I had to download a software program from the MWB site to clean everything.

AVs and Malware Bytes are really unnecessary with W10. Simply let Defender do what it has to do.

A clean re-install of W10 would probably do it good.

Edited March 31, 2021 by KannikaP

[Susco]

2 hours ago, KannikaP said:

AVs and Malware Bytes are really unnecessary with W10. Simply let Defender do what it has to do.

A clean re-install of W10 would probably do it good.

 

I have Windows 7 and have really no intention to change to Windows 10