Troubleshooting Help

CheapLikeAFox

CheapLikeAFox

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So here's the issue: In the last week or two my comp has started freezing on me. No error message, no blue screen, nothing. Just mid email or web page browsing the computer just freezes. No alt control delete or any other keyboard or mouse response - just a frozen screen.

I have Windows 7 and the event log shows nothing before the freeze, but logs immediately after the freeze since I have to do a hard reset.

I tried memtest86 and my memory passed. Tried the SeaTools for my one HD and it passed fine too, but the OS is loaded to a Kingston SSD so I don't know if there's a way to test that.

Anybody have any other tips to figure this out? Sometimes it goes an entire day on with no issues, other times it happens within 10 minutes of powering on. I really don't want to have to take out and test component by component, but it might be my only option.
 
Which event log are you looking at?

Event Viewer > Windows Logs > System is usually the one to check. If nothing is showing up there, I would prod around in the Application log as well.
 
[quote name='techedgamer89']First things first, are all of your drivers up to date, because one faulty driver could cause this issue with your computer.[/QUOTE]

Thanks, I am probably 100% sure not all my drivers are updated so I will look into that today.


[quote name='red flare graf']Which event log are you looking at?

Event Viewer > Windows Logs > System is usually the one to check. If nothing is showing up there, I would prod around in the Application log as well.[/QUOTE]

Yeah, that's the one I've checked each time. I will look into the application log now too.
 
Temperatures are something else I would check, just to be sure. Usually a PC will reboot if the CPU overheats, instead of hanging, but if nothing is showing up in the event logs then it could still be the culprit.. I use Core Temp to monitor my CPU and the GPU Observer gadget for Windows 7 to monitor my video card.

You can also try a selective startup to eliminate any programs that could be the cause, but it might be hard to troubleshoot that way if the crashes appear to be random. Microsoft explains it here: http://windows.microsoft.com/en-us/windows-vista/Run-Selective-Startup-using-System-Configuration

Everything said in the thread so far is pretty much all I can think of, and after that I would probably resort to reinstalling Windows 7.. I hate to do it, but it's really not a stressful process. Just back up your files. Not having anything in the event logs to go by kinda stumps me.
 
Hmmm, I downloaded Speccy and my temps seem pretty OK so far. I just had Sniper Elite V2 crash on me and I saw the display driver crashed. I also checked the application logs and apparently my Brother Printer driver/service has been reporting non stop errors for days on end. I wonder if that's the problem all along.
 
Unplug the printer, delete the software/drivers for it. If problem goes away, try reinstalling using lastest software/drivers from Brother's website. Else . . .

Open up the chassis, grab a nice bright flashlight and visually inspect the motherboard and as much of the inside of the power supply as you can see. Look for busted caps, frayed wires, etc. Also take a whiff of the inside and see if anything smells acrid/burnt.
 
AHHHH, so the problems went away for a few weeks then randomly it shut down yesterday and then shut down just now. So frustrating.

It never has done it while gaming, always while doing other things. This time I was typing and listening to music. The headphones when to this odd buzzing sound and then I realized everything had frozen. Yesterday it did while steam was running but I was just DLing something.

So this weekend hopefully I will have time to open her up and see what is going on. Speccy still shows good temps, still no error logs/messages. I did update my MOBO Bios though as it was out of date.

Oddly, I was listening to music when I update bios and while it was updating the same weird buzzing noises took over my headphones as I heard when it froze. Hope it's not a MOBO problem. I would hate to have to buy another and then basically rebuild this thing again :(
 
Sorry if this isn't helpful as I didn't read all the replies. I have heard of many similar experiences with SSHD users. If the drive is old (2-3 years is seeming to be a lifespan of many cheap ssd's) this may be your issue. I'd try to look up hardware reviews for your ssd and see if others are experienceing similar lockups.

just off the top of my head it could be a mobo issue which is failing to maintain the system bus. That is a bit more rare than a hd crash though (in my experience, don't know the actual statistics).

good luck.
 
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