Windows 7 64bit "not responding" programs very frequent

Symptoms:
libreoffice 3.5 crashes all the time and says "not responding".
steam has crashed saying the same thing.
Chrome and file explorer are fine though.


Possible reason:
I have been using a new SSD for a while now (OS installed on this) and have had no problems until 2 and half weeks later.
Just installed spybot search and destroy recently also.


Solutions tried:
[Solved] Programs Not Responding - general-discussion - windows-7
And used the solution where I remove a RAM stick and set the BIOS to default settings. This worked for about 45 minutes (longer than usual) and then the same problems occurred again.
Then tried uninstalling avira antivirus - no use.
Un-installed spybot to see if that was it, but could not reverse changes it made (advised when un-installing) as it said their were no changes.


I am thinking this is a hardware issue or maybe a virus?
Please advise

Could be a corrupted file system. Did you run a disk check?

• Run Disk Check with both boxes checked for all HDDs and with Automatically fix file system errors checked for all SSDs. Post back your logs for the checks after finding them using Check Disk (chkdsk) - Read Event Viewer Log.
  For any drives that do not give the message:
  Windows has checked the file system and found no problems
  run disk check again as above. In other words, if it says:
  Windows has made corrections to the file system
  after running the disk check, run the disk check again.

Did that and got results for my slow HD (mechanical not OS HD) - image attached.

Restarted to get fast SSD but could not get the results as it goes into Windows too quick.

That behavior usually requires a Repair Install of Windows 7 to resolve the disk check problem. You could try reverting to a restore point using System Restore first if you'd like.

In my experience, though, this error occurs due to a corrupted operating system, and unfortunately, those corruptions are usually not detected using standard methods to fix them. I had a similar issue when I first started on these forums: Recently installed software interferes with checking (System) disk

Ah it did do the chkdsk (saw the stages 4-5) but I was messing with my iPhone so it is possible it displayed the log but I missed it. Sorry should have said there is no way to record it.

Just reinstalled Windows 7 yesterday to solve this problem
- I am using open office now and it has crashed once within about 8 hours. Might just be unlucky.
- Running the Chkdsk in Windows it paused for a while then continued when selecting the scan options. This happened for both drives (SSD needed a restart as OS on there).

I think your right as the Windows install took absolutely ages, like 3 hours - what would that mean?

That is very strange for the Windows install to take that long on an SSD drive. There are ways to optimize SSD installations:
SSD Alignment
SSD - Install and Transfer the Operating System
SSD / HDD : Optimize for Windows Reinstallation
SSD Tweaks and Optimizations in Windows 7

Okay thanks.

If I get 2 more crashes I am going to do those 4 instructions.

This "Not Responding" problem has been around since day 1 of Windows 7.
The problem is with Windows Context menu system, especially the "Send To" items. It only takes one rogue entry to cause problems. Seems every vendor thinks their application needs quick access.
There are tools around for editing the context menu. Disable everything then enable each item one a time until the rogue entry is discovered.
When installing applications if their is an option to prevent adding items to the Context menu use it.

it has nothing to do with hardware or a corrupted installation. It is a bug in the Right Click Context Menu especially in Windows 7 64 Bit OS.

Check any application that returns a Not Responding problem to see if that application has entries in the context menu and using shexview (google for it) and remove the offending entry.
Problem is Microsoft allow any man and his dog to add entries into the Menu and so often the entries are badly designed.
To come to this conclusion I have reinstalled Windows, replaced the motherboard and CPU, memory and the problem just got worse whenever new software or updates were installed.
Microsoft refuse to admit it but the whole right click concept is flawed.