I've been experiencing lockups on my windows 7 computer with no response to input from the keyboard or mouse (the only way to fix it is a hard reboot, if anyone has any extra knowledge on this problem or whats causing it, that would be nice) and people have said that uninstalling sp1 can fix it? Is it safe?
[EDIT] I cannot un-install service pack 1, my bad. Any other help for this lockup problem?
Normally people will suggest that your computer is freezing due to a few things.
1. OS problems, check your windows event log to see if anything is showing anything before the lock ups
2. Memory problems, run memtest86 from a live cd/usb stick for a few hours. You'll know if somethings wrong
3. Hardware problems, motherboard or CPU is failing.
Really what you have to do is eliminate possibilities.
- Make sure its not your VGA, see if you can reproduce using your onboard graphics, if your locking up but can still telnet or access shares, or even ping the machine it means its your VGA. You should get event log information about this tho.
- Make sure its not your (system) hard drive. Try installing to a new disk. I'm not actually sure if event logs will get some info if your hard drive is failing. But to be honest I don't think the system should lock if the hard disk is failing. Could always run SMART.
- Make sure it's not your RAM, run memtest86
- Motherboard and CPU problems will be the worst, as either could be at fault and there is no test you can do to ensure either is the problem, since if either is failing it is the last thing the computer will do before being restarted.
[editline]8th June 2015[/editline]
As an FYI last time I had lockups it was my motherboard, replacing it resolved the issue. But don't go right for that as it COULD be software.
Seconding above. I'd start by running memtest. That's a pretty common cause of partial lockups, followed by crashes.
As for the possibility of hard drive lockups, it could be a bad hard drive as well. In fact it's quite likely if it fairly consistently triggers on a specific action, like opening a specific program, the screensaver starting, etc. I've seen quite a few of those.
Testing for motherboard and CPU problems can be a real bitch. It's [i]usually[/i] not the CPU. Generally if it's been working, it will keep working.
[QUOTE=Ybbat;47903350] But to be honest I don't think the system should lock if the hard disk is failing. Could always run SMART.[/QUOTE]
Depends on what's trying to access the hard drive.
For instance, I can't boot the Windows installation on my dying drive anymore because it's trying to access some files on there, and those files just happen to be on a "sore spot" that guarantees the file op will block indefinitely. On my Linux boot, I can reproduce this by touching those files, and the shell and whatever process I'm using will hang until I forcibly kill them and/or disconnect the drive physically (the OS is unaffected because it's on a different drive). The drive also just stops reading and writing for long periods of time even when I'm not touching those files, so that's how I know it's not a filesystem problem.
If his drive has similar issues...
There are essentially 3 ways a modern system is likely to hard freeze like that:
- Bus issue - replace motherboard. Number one cause.
- Memory controller issue - replace CPU (very very unlikely unless you have been overclocking hard 24/7 or doing something else outside manufacturer spec e.g. running a sandy bridge cpu at 1.65v ram from release until today)
- GPU issue - replace GPU and/or PSU (unlikely, bad GPUs tend to result in artifacts/reboots/BSODs)
(It goes without saying that you should remove any overclocks before deeming any of the above a hardware issue.)
It is probably not:
- RAM issue - bad RAM will never fail as if a bus is 'stuck' and you will always get a BSOD or random crashes.
- Hard disk - at worst the mouse cursor will still move
- Any kind of software issue - at worst you will get BSODs
[QUOTE=Darkimmortal;47904913]It is not:
- RAM issue - bad RAM will never fail as if a bus is 'stuck' and you will always get a BSOD or random crashes.
- Hard disk - at worst the mouse cursor will still move
- Any kind of software issue - at worst you will get BSODs[/QUOTE]
I've seen all 3 of these cause hard lockups.
[QUOTE=Zephyrs;47905735]I've seen all 3 of these cause hard lockups.[/QUOTE]
- RAM: Very very rare to get freezes (as opposed to BSODs/crashes/etc) when talking in terms of a system that was previously working with no hardware changes. RAM-related freezes will be motherboard incompatibilities or a CPU IMC that can't keep up, and in both these cases a RAM replacement fixing it will be coincidental.
- Hard disk: We are talking about a system that generally works here, very unlikely to be at fault
- Software: could certainly be a bad driver, but again we are talking about a system that worked previously, and hopefully the OP will have already considered any driver updates that occurred prior to the issue beginning.
I have two sticks in the ewaste pile at the moment that when put into a relative's laptop cause the mouse to freeze after 5-10 minutes, after which things wildly vary from BSOD's to graphics driver crashes. If you run memtest on it, one of the sticks is bad.
I've seen countless hard drives that had sectors broken in such a way that the rest of the disk performed perfectly. My laptop would hard lock if I tried to open nvidia control panel. A relative's desktop would do it every time she opened excel and went to open a file. I could literally name a dozen instances of this specific thing happening.
Software gets updated, and breaks things all the time. Most people have automatic updates on for everything. Graphics drivers have been routinely known to cause this exact problem. Windows updates can (rarely) cause this as well.
Stop insisting that it cannot be those things. It's nothing but misinformation.
[QUOTE=Zephyrs;47910053]
Stop insisting that it cannot be those things. It's nothing but misinformation.[/QUOTE]
I'm not insisting that it cannot be those things, I am suggesting that the OP think about trying a different motherboard, after having ruled out software and testable things such as RAM, HDD.
Without prioritising/testing things, he might as well build an entire new PC with all the parts he will need to replace.
That is entirely different than what you originally said.
Sorry, you need to Log In to post a reply to this thread.