Windows 7: Thoughts on Win 7

Hi,
I had XP for years, no problems, then the mb crashed and burnt, bought new PC with Win 7 about 3 weeks ago, in which time it has crashed (frozen) at least 30 times!!! It has improved since and the problem now is that after starting I can almost guarantee it will freeze on the 1st thing I click on. After re-booting it might still do it again and need another start or it might be ok, if it runs ok it will be ok all day & night, how strange. I need expert advice as to what it might be, if I return it to the shop they will charge me saying my software is a problem!! Can anyone help please. No exotic software is on the PC, just regular stuff.

As you no doubt know by now freezing isnt usually caused by hardware. Freezes such as this are often caused by conflicts in software, too little ram, and many other things.

Several things you can try

1-run a system file check to verify and repair your system files
(type cmd in search>right click and run as admin>SFC /SCANNOW)

Let us know the results

2-check event viewer (type eventvwr in search). go to the windows log>application tab. Look for critical errors (they have red in the left hand column) that say app hang, app crash, or anything related to the problem.

When you find them note the event ID and source codes and tell us hat they are.

3-boot into safe mode (with networking). Does it still do it then? If not it is probably a software conflict.

4- go into device manager (type device manager in search). Are there any "unknown drivers" with yellow question marks on them?

Let us know the answers

Ken

Thanks ZigZag for the tips, although I have used computers since the Sinclar ZX81 I have never got into the nuts and bolts of the PC so I might be a bit slow in getting the answers you asked for, good job I've got all day.
Roger

Roger let us know if you need help. Had some experience with the sinclar myself {grin}

The old adage in windows always was that 90% of freezes are due to graphics issues - normally the driver not always the case and depending on where the system was purchased there may be a lot of start-up items that are not needed ( the famous Bloatware syndrome with the major OEM suppliers).

I would, After following ken's advice, check if there is a later driver for the graphics available on the graphics manufacturer's site.

I would also check what items are in start-up, as you say if the system is OK after initial start-up, it runs OK for a while it may be that two or more start-up items are clashing.

And with me it was the ZX80

Hi,
I have so far run sfc/scannow, no integrity problems. I next checked device manager, no yellow warnings on anything. I next checked event manager, there are lots of critical events the most recent is EV41 kernal power, happens between 2 to 6 times a day and has happened 88 times since the PC was built. I have not had a conclusive test yet with safe mode due to fat fingers but will try again and let you know results.
Roger

Update. Windows found a new Nvidia driver, this made it worse (more crashes) so I rolled back to the old driver. I have changed start-up to "Selective start-up load system services only", will see if that does any good. IE8 has crashed twice this evening, switching to Firefox. Will XP run on my machine if I/we cannot get Windows 7 sorted? I never had any problems at all with XP, bless it. I have hidden all pills and tablets etc. just in case I am tempted.

Something seems to be on the blink in your graphics. I would bring the thing back and ask for a new one or my money back. I have not had a single blue screen on 3 Windows7 machines in over 6 months.

Before bringing it back, do you have access to a bigger PSU? 400 watts seems awful low with a graphics card that can use 300 watts. Between the CPU and Graphics card, you may be running out of power.

Just my 2 cents worth.

Usually kernel-power warnings, if they're not telling you the system crashed, are telling you there's a hardware issue. What specifically are you seeing in your kernel-power errors? If the entire OS is freezing, that's not good. There are ways to test if it's hardware or software, but it requires a PS/2 keyboard (not a USB one).