PC getting progressively worse?

Hi all,

Earlier today my system began freezing whilst browsing on firefox 7, mouse or keyboard was unresponsive and I could only hard-reset the PC. Thinking this was a one off, I tried to resume but 45 minutes later it happened again. After another restart I attempted the 'repair system files option' on boot, and after this supposedly complete although how successful it was wasnt immediately apparent, it tried to boot back into windows but froze again on the loading screen.

So I restarted again, and things seem to be getting progressively worse. The system is now incredibly slow with hard drive operations, such as opening folders, deleting installing etc. But the CPU usage is low according to task manager.

Things I've tried....

I have run Hijack This! and could find no evidence of anything suspicous, further to this I have NOD32 installed and it's upto date and I havent taken any risky behavior (websites, downloads etc) scan came out clean.

I have also run Prime 95 to eliminate hardware causes and I havent found any problems nor have I got it to produce a crash.

I have run windows built in boot diagnostic memory scanner, to no avail.

Right now it's running the bsod program by J. Griffiths (an admin here) and it's been running for well over half an hour now at the 'this may take 1-2 minutes point) system is still responding though.

Sadly I didnt have a restore point saved.

Please advise,
Vastly appreciated.

Windows 7 64bit (upto date) Running trouble free since 04/2010
Gigabyte AM2+ US3 mobo firmware F6
Phenom II 945 (temps 52c idle 59 load)
4 GB DDR 2 6400
Geforce 9600 GT
Samsung spinpoint F3 500gb
Samsung CDRW/DVDRW
3.5' FDD

Lizzy123 said:

Hi all,

Earlier today my system began freezing whilst browsing on firefox 7, mouse or keyboard was unresponsive and I could only hard-reset the PC. Thinking this was a one off, I tried to resume but 45 minutes later it happened again. After another restart I attempted the 'repair system files option' on boot, and after this supposedly complete although how successful it was wasnt immediately apparent, it tried to boot back into windows but froze again on the loading screen.

So I restarted again, and things seem to be getting progressively worse. The system is now incredibly slow with hard drive operations, such as opening folders, deleting installing etc. But the CPU usage is low according to task manager.

Things I've tried....

I have run Hijack This! and could find now evidence of anything suspicous, further to this I have NOD32 installed and it's upto date and I havent taken any risky behavior (websites, downloads etc) scan came out clean.

I have also run Prime 95 to eliminate hardware causes and I havent found any problems nor have I got it to produce a crash.

I have run windows built in boot diagnostic memory scanner, to no avail.

Right now it's running the bsod program by J. Griffiths (an admin here) and it's been running for well over half an hour now at the 'this may take 1-2 minutes point) system is still responding though.

Sadly I didnt have a restore point saved.

Please advise,
Vastly appreciated.

Windows 7 64bit (upto date) Running trouble free since 04/2010
Gigabyte AM2+ US3 mobo firmware F6
Phenom II 945 (temps 52c idle 59 load)
4 GB DDR 2 6400
Geforce 9600 GT
Samsung spinpoint F3 500gb
Samsung CDRW/DVDRW
3.5' FDD

Griff isnt an admin here and his app shouldn't take that long. Did you run it as admin?

There are several ways to find what the problem is. The best is to go into event viewer (type eventvwr in search). Event viewer (local) and look for the critical errors listed in the last day, week, etc. Then go to the windows log>application tab. Finally the windows Logs>system tabs.

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.

zigzag3143 said:

Lizzy123 said:

Hi all,

Earlier today my system began freezing whilst browsing on firefox 7, mouse or keyboard was unresponsive and I could only hard-reset the PC. Thinking this was a one off, I tried to resume but 45 minutes later it happened again. After another restart I attempted the 'repair system files option' on boot, and after this supposedly complete although how successful it was wasnt immediately apparent, it tried to boot back into windows but froze again on the loading screen.

So I restarted again, and things seem to be getting progressively worse. The system is now incredibly slow with hard drive operations, such as opening folders, deleting installing etc. But the CPU usage is low according to task manager.

Things I've tried....

I have run Hijack This! and could find now evidence of anything suspicous, further to this I have NOD32 installed and it's upto date and I havent taken any risky behavior (websites, downloads etc) scan came out clean.

I have also run Prime 95 to eliminate hardware causes and I havent found any problems nor have I got it to produce a crash.

I have run windows built in boot diagnostic memory scanner, to no avail.

Right now it's running the bsod program by J. Griffiths (an admin here) and it's been running for well over half an hour now at the 'this may take 1-2 minutes point) system is still responding though.

Sadly I didnt have a restore point saved.

Please advise,
Vastly appreciated.

Windows 7 64bit (upto date) Running trouble free since 04/2010
Gigabyte AM2+ US3 mobo firmware F6
Phenom II 945 (temps 52c idle 59 load)
4 GB DDR 2 6400
Geforce 9600 GT
Samsung spinpoint F3 500gb
Samsung CDRW/DVDRW
3.5' FDD

Griff isnt an admin here and his app shouldn't take that long. Did you run it as admin?

There are several ways to find what the problem is. The best is to go into event viewer (type eventvwr in search). Event viewer (local) and look for the critical errors listed in the last day, week, etc. Then go to the windows log>application tab. Finally the windows Logs>system tabs.

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.

Hi and thanks for helping.

I should have mentioned event viewer (doh) but I did run griffiths program as admin and it's still taking forever to complete as I write even.

The critical error (6 of them) is as follows ...

Source : Kernal-Power
Event ID : 41

'The system has rebooted without cleanly shutting down first. This error could be caused if the system has stopped responding, crashed, or lost power unexpectedly.

One thing that I forgot to mention is my PSU, a Coolermaster GX 550W PSU. Actually, that had been bought to replace an OCZ Stealth 600w that failed within 3 months. Oddly, the Coolermaster also failed and I had to OEM it for a new one back in Spring.

Now, when these failed the system would not boot, that's it. But I can't help thinking maybe something is wrong again with the PSU, I've been incredibly unlucky with them or there is something wrong with the wall outlet. I plug into a surge protector of course.

Do you think my PSU might be behind this? (still not sure if it's hardware as I have run Prime 95 for 20 or so minutes without errors or lock ups / bsods)

I think everything you're experiencing points toward a dying harddisk. Please back up any important data you can't afford to lose before you do anything else. If it really is the HD, the longer you're using it and the more you do to try to find out the problem or fix it, the worse it will get until the HD is completely dead.

I'm not saying it couldn't be something else, but I'd hate to see you lose irretrievable files by the time it's too late.

Corazon said:

I think everything you're experiencing points toward a dying harddisk. Please back up any important data you can't afford to lose before you do anything else. If it really is the HD, the longer you're using it and the more you do to try to find out the problem or fix it, the worse it will get until the HD is completely dead.

I'm not saying it couldn't be something else, but I'd hate to see you lose irretrievable files by the time it's too late.

Hi thanks for your good thoughts, I was starting to think the same but I booted on my second hard drive with a seperate windows installation, and this too is periodically freezing up. I also managed to complete about 70% of HD tune's health check on my main hard drive and didnt find any bad blocks.

I'm not sure if we can rule out hard drives at this point, but if so, do you think the next possibility would be the PSU?

Lizzy123 said:

Corazon said:

I think everything you're experiencing points toward a dying harddisk. Please back up any important data you can't afford to lose before you do anything else. If it really is the HD, the longer you're using it and the more you do to try to find out the problem or fix it, the worse it will get until the HD is completely dead.

I'm not saying it couldn't be something else, but I'd hate to see you lose irretrievable files by the time it's too late.

Hi thanks for your good thoughts, I was starting to think the same but I booted on my second hard drive with a seperate windows installation, and this too is periodically freezing up. I also managed to complete about 70% of HD tune's health check on my main hard drive and didnt find any bad blocks.

I'm not sure if we can rule out hard drives at this point, but if so, do you think the next possibility would be the PSU?

Freezing can be software or hardware. Please run these two test to further narrow the focus.



1-Memtest.

*Download a copy of Memtest86 and burn the ISO to a CD using Iso Recorder or another ISO burning program. Memtest86+ - Advanced Memory Diagnostic Tool

*Boot from the CD, and leave it running for at least 5 or 6 passes.

Just remember, any time Memtest reports errors, it can be either bad RAM or a bad motherboard slot.

Test the sticks individually, and if you find a good one, test it in all slots.

RAM - Test with Memtest86+



2-Driver verifier

I'd suggest that you first backup your data and then make sure you've got access to another computer so you can contact us if problems arise. Then make a System Restore point (so you can restore the system using the Vista/Win7 Startup Repair feature).

In Windows 7 you can make a Startup Repair disk by going to Start....All Programs...Maintenance...Create a System Repair Disc - with Windows Vista you'll have to use your installation disk or the "Repair your computer" option at the top of the Safe Mode menu .

Then, here's the procedure:
- Go to Start and type in "verifier" (without the quotes) and press Enter
- Select "Create custom settings (for code developers)" and click "Next"
- Select "Select individual settings from a full list" and click "Next"
- Select everything EXCEPT FOR "Low Resource Simulation" and click "Next"
- Select "Select driver names from a list" and click "Next"
Then select all drivers NOT provided by Microsoft and click "Next"
- Select "Finish" on the next page.

Reboot the system and wait for it to crash to the Blue Screen. Continue to use your system normally, and if you know what causes the crash, do that repeatedly. The objective here is to get the system to crash because Driver Verifier is stressing the drivers out. If it doesn't crash for you, then let it run for at least 36 hours of continuous operation (an estimate on my part).

If you can't get into Windows because it crashes too soon, try it in Safe Mode.
If you can't get into Safe Mode, try using System Restore from your installation DVD to set the system back to the previous restore point that you created.

Driver Verifier - Enable and Disable