Windows 7: Windows 7 freezes - programs open very slowly

I have two Dell Vostro 420 machines both with 6 Gb of RAM and both running Windows 7 Professional 64 bit. Each machine has exactly the same hardware components but different video cards. I only visit "legitimate" websites - no websites that might be known for viruses, etc.

Up until about 4 days ago each machine was running OK. I have run Malwarebytes Anti-Malware scans, SuperAnti-Spyware scans, ESET NOD32 Version 5 Anit-virus scans and Webroot Malware and Anti-virus scans on both machines and they come up clean.

I defrag the hard drives, keep the recycle bin empty and I have checked for disk errors on reboot.

The startup list only has 5 or 6 programs for each machine.

When I open a program - Adobe Photoshop CS5, Microsoft Office 2007, etc. it takes 1 minute or more for it to open. When I am using the programs all of the sudden both machines will freeze for between 1 and 3 minutes. Sometime they will recover but many times I need to reboot. It's just as if the machine is off doing something else. Many times when I do a mouse click especially right mouse clicks the circular hour glass starts rotating for ever and will not stop. I am not able to open Task Manager with Ctrl-Alt-Del, nothing happens. On rare occasions I will get a message saying that Task Manager can't open and to hit the Esc key and power cycle the machine. The only way to recover is to power cycle the machines.

I have not run sfc /scannow yet. That might be my next step. I am trying to do a Repair Install as the last resort.



I normally have automatic updates turned ON to install updates each morning at 3 a.m. as the machines run 24/7. Since both machines started acting the same pretty much at the same time I am thinking it might be a bad Windows update. This morning on one of the machines I was able to do a system restore back to November 11, 2011 and I have turned automatic updates OFF until I see if the machine is fixed. At some point in time I will have to turn the automatic updates back ON.

I have not run any memory tests, etc. because I think it would be very unlikely that both machines had memory issues at exactly the same time.

I use both of these machines for my work so it's important that they are operational. Any ideas the forum has would really be appreciated.

Thanks!

Bill

Have you tried doing a diagnostic startup on both machines? Troubleshoot Application Conflicts by Performing a Clean Startup

As well as writhziden's suggestion ...

* Please list the AntiVirus Software that came preinstalled on your systems. How did you uninstall this?

*Are you currently running Eset Nod & Webroot {together} on both computers?
When were these downloaded?

*Type event viewer, in search (by start button) > Windows Logs > Application & System.
Look for RED critical errors that say app hang, app crash, or anything that relates to the problem.
Note the event ID, Source Codes and Google search them.

I tried to do a system restore to a previous period in time last night and there were to restore points available. That is strange because when Windows 7 does updates a many times a Restore Point is created. I have only one Anti-virus application installed and this is the only Anti-virus the machine has ever had. I am only running one AV program.

This afternoon I inserted the Windows 7 Professional 64 bit install disk to do a Repair Install with the procedure published by Brink. This procedure has worked perfectly on another of my machines. After the install disk checked my system for compatibility I got the following message which makes no sense to me as I am using a Windows 7 Pro 64 bit disk to Repair Install a Windows 7 Pro 64 bit machine. This is the same disk I used to originally install Win 7 on this machine.

The following issues are preventing Windows from upgrading. Cancel the upgrade, complete each task, and then restart the upgrade to continue.

You can’t upgrade 64-bit Windows to a 32-bit version of Windows. To upgrade, obtain a 64-bit version of the installation disc, or go online to see how to install Windows 7 and keep your files and settings.

32-bit Windows cannot be upgraded to a 64-bit version of Windows. To upgrade, obtain a 32-bit version of the Windows installation disc.

Windows needs to be restarted so necessary changes to system files can be made before continuing.

It appears the machine is confused regarding what I am trying to Repair Install.

Have you seen this happen before and how to fix this issue. I really don't want to do a custom/clean install of Windows as I will have to re-install all of my software, etc.

Thanks very much.

Bill

That is odd. I will try to look into the matter.

What happens when you restart? Does it continue installing, or give the same error?

Did you by chance get a MSDN DVD with both the 32 bit and 64 bit versions on it? If so, what is happening is that the installer is 32 bit, but you are trying to install 64 bit software. The installer sees you are running a 32 bit installation and trying to upgrade to 64 bit, then it sees that you have a 64 bit OS but are running a 32 bit installer... Quite the conundrum. It is explained fairly well at technet's forum

What you will need to do is burn the official 64-bit ISO (google "windows 7 sp1 integrated iso offical direct download link" {without quotes}) for your version or contact the retailer for the DVD you have if you are unable to download the ISO for some reason.

I have restarted 4 times and tried to do a repair install and I get the same compatibility message.

I purchased Windows 7 Professional OEM from a OEM computer builder in Kansas City. The disk has both 32 and 64 bit Windows as you mention above. This computer originally had XP Pro. I used the Windows 7 disk and selected Custom install 64 bit which formatted the hard drive then installed the 64 bit version of Win 7. Even with your explanation above I still don't understand why I am having this 32/64 bit compatibility issue if I am using the same disk for the Repair Install that I used for the original install.

I really appreciate your help.

Bill

Writhziden -

I did as you suggested -

I did a Google search on "windows 7 sp1 integrated iso offical direct download link". There were several sites to choose from. I selected a site and the following was one of the choices:

Download Windows 7 SP1 Integrated ISO Images

Official Windows 7 SP1 ISO Download Links (English)

Windows 7 Professional x64 SP1 – X17-24281.iso (bootable)

Does this mean that this ISO file is the entire Windows 7 Pro x64 with SP1 installation disk that I should use to do the Repair Install - the file is 3.2Gb? Should I use the product key from the OEM disk I purchased? What does bootable mean? The website looked extremely legitimate but how do I know the file is clean and pure?

The instructions on the website said if I downloaded the file on a Windows 7 machine (which I did) all I need to do is double click the ISO file and I can write the ISO image directly to a DVD.

Thanks very much for all of your help on this.

Bill

You installed from outside the OS, so it was not dealing with a 64 bit OS trying to install using a 32 bit installer. It was just running the installer.

Many of the programs you run in Windows are 32 bit based; you can see this if you look at your C: drive and see Program Files (x86) and Program Files. The Program Files folder has your 64 bit programs in it, and the Program Files (x86) has the 32 bit programs in it.

When your OEM disc was created, the developers had to make a choice: include a 32 bit based installer or 64 bit based installer. They chose the 32 bit installer (they should have done both and maybe they did, but I could not find a way to run the 64 bit version in my research if one was made). The 32 bit installer conflicts with your 64 bit version of Windows. Windows is seeing that you have a 32 bit installer and thinks you are trying to install a 32 bit version of Windows on a 64 bit version of Windows. When you select the 64 bit version during the installation process, you send a message to Windows that the 32 bit installer wants to install a 64 bit version of Windows, and Windows now thinks you are trying to install a 64 bit version of Windows on a 32 bit version of Windows because it is recognizing the 32 bit installer.

Don't know if the above clears things up or just makes it more confusing... It's a rather strange problem that seems to be common for these 32/64 bit coupled Windows installation discs.

The ISO file is the entire DVD for Windows 7 with Service Pack 1 installed, and yes, it can be used to do a repair install. Bootable means that if you want a clean install, you can do so by booting the DVD when the computer is first turned on instead of booting into windows. It gives the message "Press any key to boot from DVD..." You can use your OEM license, though you may have to do the activation by phone (I have done this a few times on both of my machines and never had problems other than the phone process is a bit tedious and annoying). I am not entirely sure how to answer the legitimate comment... If it is msft digital river content, it is safe.

For instance, the home premium version (not the professional version) was given in post #3 of the linked thread.