Desktop stalls, then freezes

m5rcc

Belated Christmas greetings to all!

I wonder if anyone could be so kind to help

I have a desktop that is now for whatever reason starting to stall (noticed as I listed to the radio by streaming), un-stalls itself after a few seconds, then freezes (as I am unable to move the mouse and keyboard doesn't work).

I have attempted to do all the logical things to check for virus or conflicts. Ran Avast and all appears well. Ran Malwarebytes Anti-Malware and no issues. Updated all the drivers just in case. Nothing to download on Windows Update.

I've cleared any dust in the fans to prevent overheating so I don't beleive it is that.

Any ideas?

Thanks in advance!

WTFH

What desktop, model, etc. what operating system? Does the issue only occur when connected to the Internet

m5rcc

WTFH wrote: »

What desktop, model, etc. what operating system? Does the issue only occur when connected to the Internet

It's my own build desktop that has been running problem-free for 2 years+:

Operating System
Windows 7 Ultimate 64-bit SP1
CPU
Intel Core i5 2500 @ 3.30GHz 35 °C
Sandy Bridge 32nm Technology
RAM
16.0GB Dual-Channel DDR3 @ 665MHz (9-9-9-24)
Motherboard
Gigabyte Technology Co., Ltd. H67MA-D2H (Socket 1155) 27 °C
Graphics
DELL 3007WFP (2560x1600@60Hz)
1023MB NVIDIA GeForce GTX 460 SE (EVGA) 27 °C
Storage
167GB INTEL SSDSC2CT180A3 ATA Device (SSD)
Optical Drives
Optiarc DVD RW AD-7260S ATA Device
XOTKRA HAJCXIFST6N SCSI CdRom Device
Audio
High Definition Audio Device

I'm always connected to the internet but have not checked when offline.

Robisere

Apart from listening to the radio, do you download videos, music or anything else that requires a heavy download?

Reason I ask, is that your download speed may not be good enough. Go here:
https://www.speedtest.net

- and carry out a speed test. Anything below 2 Mbps will affect your ability to stream music, radio or video. What is your ISP?

m5rcc

Robisere wrote: »

Apart from listening to the radio, do you download videos, music or anything else that requires a heavy download?

Reason I ask, is that your download speed may not be good enough. Go here:
https://www.speedtest.net

- and carry out a speed test. Anything below 2 Mbps will affect your ability to stream music, radio or video. What is your ISP?

No - don't download or stream heavy stuff.

Running an 80meg line on Fibre

Deru

Could be various things like clogged up registry or a program taking up the CPU. Also when it stalls, go into Task Manager and check the processes. Sort by process by clickking on the CPU column. Is anything taking up close to 100%? Could be a dodgy program or it could be your web browser.

If not....Do check disk. Start up command prompt, Run as Administrator....then do chkdsk /f /r

Reboot and let it run. Bad HDD was just my first hunch. Might not be that.

Next, do some tidy up. Get CCleaner from https://www.ccleaner.com. That clears out Temp files and redundant registry keys.

m5rcc

Deru wrote: »

Could be various things like clogged up registry or a program taking up the CPU. Also when it stalls, go into Task Manager and check the processes. Sort by process by clickking on the CPU column. Is anything taking up close to 100%? Could be a dodgy program or it could be your web browser.

If not....Do check disk. Start up command prompt, Run as Administrator....then do chkdsk /f /r

Reboot and let it run. Bad HDD was just my first hunch. Might not be that.

Next, do some tidy up. Get CCleaner from https://www.ccleaner.com. That clears out Temp files and redundant registry keys.

I can't go into Task Manager when it crashes as the whole PC is just frozen. I need to manually switch it off or reset it.

I'm running 16GB RAM - hardly anything runs to 60% let alone 100%.

I use Chrome and only have a handful of regularly used programs.

Will do a chkdsk.

HDD is a SSD and relatively new.

Ran CCleaner recently and have done a cleanup.

It just tends to freeze after 30mins usage...

TheSaint_2

Windows is designed to give highest priority to the mouse to ensure a good user experience. If the mouse stalls you know you have a serious problem. Especially as your i5 has multiple cores! You have a good setup there. I would recommend you go into control panel and do a system recovery. You should be able to roll back to a previous time.


This will knacker any programs you installed since that point, but it is better than a full reinstall.


If that doesn't work you may have a hardware fault, which is going to be hard to diagnose. Look in the device manager (under system on control panel) look for any problems. If it is hardware it is likely to be the processor, motherboard or graphics card.

m5rcc

TheSaint wrote: »

Windows is designed to give highest priority to the mouse to ensure a good user experience. If the mouse stalls you know you have a serious problem. Especially as your i5 has multiple cores! You have a good setup there. I would recommend you go into control panel and do a system recovery. You should be able to roll back to a previous time.


This will knacker any programs you installed since that point, but it is better than a full reinstall.


If that doesn't work you may have a hardware fault, which is going to be hard to diagnose. Look in the device manager (under system on control panel) look for any problems. If it is hardware it is likely to be the processor, motherboard or graphics card.

I think its the GFX which also runs the HD audio. Could be a poor driver. I'll try and install a genuine one from NVidia as opposed to relying on Windows Update driver and revert.

poppellerant

Have you used Intel SSD Toolbox to check that your SSD has the latest firmware installed? I've heard of SSD drives causing lock ups sometimes.

You should also use a program such as SSD Life to check your SSD's current health.

Also does your motherboard have the latest BIOS installed? Gigabyte indicates two revisions of your motherboard, 1.0 and 1.1, so you'll need to check which motherboard you having before updating the BIOS. Usually the revision is printed on the motherboard itself, possibly near the where the model number is printed or round about.

I have to admit, the first thing when I read your post was overheating. But, looking at your temperatures, all is good.

m5rcc

poppellerant wrote: »

Have you used Intel SSD Toolbox to check that your SSD has the latest firmware installed? I've heard of SSD drives causing lock ups sometimes.

You should also use a program such as SSD Life to check your SSD's current health.

Also does your motherboard have the latest BIOS installed? Gigabyte indicates two revisions of your motherboard, 1.0 and 1.1, so you'll need to check which motherboard you having before updating the BIOS. Usually the revision is printed on the motherboard itself, possibly near the where the model number is printed or round about.

I have to admit, the first thing when I read your post was overheating. But, looking at your temperatures, all is good.

Haven't used that but will try it.

I have updated my mobo BIOS to ver. F8, which is the latest, but that was giving me problems too, so it went back to the backup ver. F5.