Windows 7: Windows 7 Not responding

Most of the posts that I have read regarding the "not responding" issue are old. Am I the only one still having the problem? I'm running Windows 7 64-bit Home Premium.

It mostly happenes when I'm running Firefox, though does occassionally also happen when running other programs, so have to assume that it's Windows, not Firefox that causes the problem. If anyone can help I would be extremely grateful. Thanks.

Could we get your system specs and network setup?


There are several ways to find what the problem is. The best is to go into event viewer (type eventvwr in search). Go to the windows log>application tab.

You want to look for critical errors (they have red in the left column ).

When you find them you want to look for critical errors that say app hang, app crash, or anything that relates to the problem.

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

Let us know if you need help with any of this.

Ken

by 'not responding' do you mean no longer reacts to keyboard and mouse input? Only way to recover is to turn it off and back on?

Thanks for both responses - I'll do my best to answer the questions.

I'm running a Toshiba Tecra with Intel(R) Core(TM)2 duo CPU T7500 @ 2.20GHz with 4.00 GB of installed memory. System type is 64-bit. Windows 7 Home Premium.

Not sure if this is what you want re network setup, but there are two laptops (mine included) and a desktop attached to an internet router. The laptops connect via wireless, the desktop via cable.

Regarding the "not responding" question - the computer freezes, but then goes back to normal operation after about 30-45 seconds. No reboot is required.

Regarding the crital errors - I don't have anything that refres to app hang, app crash, etc. The only common error I have had today (a number of times) is the following:

"Activation context generation failed for "c:\program files (x86)\real\realplayer\plugins\rmxrend.dll". Dependent Assembly Microsoft.VC90.DebugCRT,processorArchitecture="x86",publicKeyToken="1fc8b3b9a1e18e3b",type="win32",v ersion="9.0.21022.8" could not be found. Please use sxstrace.exe for detailed diagnosis."

I can locate sxstrace.exe, but get no result from attempting to run it.

FYI - it's just happened again. i have run the event viewer and there is no record whatsoever of any problem!

So it hangs for under a minute, then starts responding again. Hmmm...

I've been having the same problem on Windows 7 32bit Windows 7 Home Premium on a Dell 5150.
After no keybord input to the PC for 10 minutes or more it is totally unresponsive except for the mouse pointer which moves around as normal. If I double click on a folder, or try to open a program, or hit CTRL ALT DEL, nothing happens for up to 3 minutes - then the action opens as normal. I looked for a fault report and "somewhere" is saw many reports that said the driver for my ATI X800 video card had failed to respond for 10526ms i.e. over 10 seconds. Although my delays were a lot longer than 10 seconds I was suspicious of the video card as it has an out of date driver as there are no Windows 7 drivers available for it. I have now replaced my video card with a Geforce 9500GT with Win 7 drivers and the problem has gone.
There is another possible solution and Hotfix for it - maybe worth trying:
see The desktop stops responding for some time after you resume the display on a computer that is running Windows 7
ps: I got this tip from the Windows Secrets Forum at Microsoft Windows XP, Vista, 7, Internet Explorer (IE), Firefox, Windows Update there's some very interesting information there.
I haven't tried the hotfix as my problem has gone away, although I have had just one freeze yesterday for a few seconds. I'll be interested to see if anyone has tried this hotfix.

oops my post above doesn't seem to have put the links in. Can't seem to get them to stick in the message!
Search for Microsoft Hotfix kb/2300639
and search for Windowssecrets.com

@clpratt - thanks for the info and links, but they aren't indicative of the issue I'm having. Appreciite your input, though.

@Ken - Was the info given above adequate? If not please let me know what else is required. Thanks.