Computer stops responding, continues normally after ~2min

Okay, for the last hour i consulted google about this problem and i am not even sure how to adequately describe it. I'll try anyway.

Here's whats happening: My PC boots normally, everything seems fine and suddenly it stops responding. I can still move the mouse, buttons are still responding when i hover the mouse over them, but nothing new can open. No program, no browser Tab. the Longer this goes on, the more stuff freezes. Chrome usually says "waiting for cache...". After about a minute nothing responds anymore. I can still move the mouse.

Then i hear my HDD make this characteristic "HDD-crackle-Sound", and everything continues to function normally. If i press STRG ALT DEL while this is happening, the screen goes black (i can still move my mouse) until the crackle and everything goes back to normal.

The thing is, the HDD is not my boot drive. Windows is installed on a SSD, the HDD is just for storage. I am no expert, but i think it shouldn't freeze my system like that.

I tested both drives with SeaTools and it showed no errors. HD Sentinel said everything is fine, too.

Apparently, even Downloads continue while this is happening (could be that it just shows them as continuing, though. Maybe a display error, i don't really know) and i am completely at a loss how i should even tackle this thing.

This also happens randomly while using the PC, but in random intervals, there seems to be no real pattern to it, nor do i do anything specific to cause this, usually just browsing.

There are no errors, no crashes, no logs of any kind relating to this issue, no... anything that even hints at a problem.

Only thing i could find is a tip to remove the AMD HD Audio Driver when using on-board Audio, because there are some known conflicts. Didn't help the issue.

I would really appreciate some help. If i can post anything in addition to my normal specs, please let me know.

If this is in the wrong Forum, i apologize. I posted it in Hardware & Devices because of the Crackle the HDD makes the second everything returns to normal. I really have no other clues as to what it could be. I don't think the Drive is the cause, though. It appears as if the OS waits for something to happen.

Edit: I forgot to mention, after it resumes business everything i clicked on or did otherwise activate happens all at once. Programs launch, tabs switch, new tabs open (several if i clicked more than once) and so on.

Edit2: I do not use BitDefender anymore because it caused BSODs on my system. Forgot to remove it from my specs.

Since BitDefender caused BSODs and their support hasn't responded back yet I'm using MSE + Malwarebytes at the moment. I did scans with both of them already and they found nothing.

I just ran a scan with AdwCleaner which actually did find some stuff. (it created 3 logs after 2 scans, i attached all of them.)

After i let it remove everything it found, i ran another scan and one item popped up again.

Folder Found : C:\Users\Slyve\AppData\Local\Google\Chrome\User Data\Default\Extensions\nnjjahlikiabnchcpehcpkdeckfgnohf

Right now i am running a scan with the ESET Online scanner.

When it rebooted this time, there was no delay. Although it doesn't happen everytime the PC starts up, most of it happened right after the boot.

If this was because of some crappy piece of adware, this was a pretty embarrasing performance on my part. I was so fixated on some conflict, driver issue or hardware fault that i didn't even think of running a couple more ad or malware scans.

I will finish the scans and see what happens. If they don't find any more stuff and the problem persists i will try the clean startup.

I may not answer back today because i am running out of time, in which case i will continue with this tomorrow. Thank you for the input so far!

Okay, i wasn't able to do anything related to my PC problems for a while, but i finally got around to it.

I did a scan with a couple of tools (adwCleaner, Malwarebytes, Eset, Kaspersky and Norton (I used the trials for the Kaspersky and Norton Scans and removed the programs afterwards with the respective uninstallers before installing anything else - except norton, i still use the trial because my paid bitdefender License caused me some BSOD trouble and the support hasn't provided a solution yet.)) and they didn't find anything of interest (couple of tracking cookies, that kind of stuff)

I am pretty convinced that there is something wrong with one of my harddrives, even though the tests come back positive.

When i start SeaTools, my system stops responding (just like it does when the error occurs) for about 5-10 Minutes. The clicking noise happens 3 or 4 times, as if there are several hang ups after each other.
(Edit: The whole system hangs at that point and the HDD light on the tower is shining the whole time. Only the mouse is still working. SeaTools is looking for compatible ATA Drives when this hangup occurs)

I also keep getting random BSODs with a 0x124 error code, which, from what i read, means hardware trouble. I don't think these are 2 unrelated issues, but i have no idea how to narrow it down to the correct disk. (Edit: I followed the suggestions in this thread !Click me! (except the re-installation of the OS and the part switching) but nothing helped.

I am currently running the Long tests via seatools again, maybe it missed it the last time. (Mostly a desperation measure because i don't have any spare parts lying around to test it that way.)

I'll add the last MiniDumps from the BSODs. Maybe there is something in there.

If there is anything else i could try, please let me know. Even though the errors are only happening every couple of days, i hate the fact that there is something wrong with my Computer that i can't fix. Also, if it is one of the drives, i could send it back to the manufacturer, they both still got warranty.

I just ran a couple more scans just to be safe and they found multiple things. I've attached the logs.

I have no idea how anything managed to get onto the PC the last week. I barely used it at all.

In any case, i will probably flatten the whole thing and re-install windows. This is annoying as hell.

If I am lucky, it is just adware, malware or a virus, which should be gone if i flatten the whole system drive. If it is not gone after the newly installed OS, i will probably come back once i finished crying

Wish me Luck!

Okay, PC is completely fresh, i installed just a couple of essential things (mainly drivers)

PC crashed 3 times with a 0x124 already.

I'll try to list all the stuff i installed in the last 2 days, which could be important.

BitDefender (Thought I'd give it a try with a fresh Windows Install. Caused BSOD and got the Boot.)
Norton Security 30-Day Trial.
USB, Audio and Chipset Driver. (Directly from the site of my MB manufacturer.)
GPU Driver directly from AMD.
Windows Live Mail.
Windows Updates. (About 220 or so in total.)

Edit: Forgot LAN Driver. For some reason windows didn't have one for my OnBoard Realtek LAN card (which i thought was pretty damn basic, so this was kind of a surprise), so i downloaded it from the realtek site via Phone. After that i downloaded everything directly onto the PC

The one thing i noticed it that the BSODs with the 124 codes happen quite a lot more often when i am playing Europa Universalis 4, which is a pretty CPU heavy game (and the main reason i upgraded my CPU.)

I would really appreciate any kind of help regarding my options of figuring out which part is faulty here. I don't have any spare parts to test it that way, unfortunately. Had to sell the old parts to be able to get the new ones, since i didn't want to buy second hand.

I'm getting kind of desperate, here...

richc46 said:

124 is a BSOD code. It means a hardware problem. Post in our BSOD section and you will get help. Many times 124 means hardware. You can begin testing with memtest while you wait for our experts.

I went ahead and did that. Thank you.

Since the "Hang Ups" are completely gone, I'm pretty sure they were ad- or malware related. Since i flattened Windows not one of them happened.

Thank you very much for your Help and Time!