PC slows to a crawl until rebooted, seemingly at random.

This has been going on for about a week now and I don't understand what it is. Sometimes when I start the computer, log in, or sometimes just out of nowhere it just becomes unresponsive and I can't really do anything. Task manager, start menu, and anything else take minutes to load up. I've ran all kinds of tests, all of which passed, as well as formatting and reinstalling windows. I also have a 6 hour long test running right now called Hot CPU Tester Pro 4.

I'm at my wit's end. I don't recall changing anything that should have begun these crashes. I upgraded my CPU and PSU recently, but everything had been working great after I installed them. I thought it may have been updating my nvidia driver, but I went back to the previous driver and it's happening just the same.

Any ideas? I've tested the HDD, memory, and CPU multiple times so far with all tests passed. I don't know what else to do, or even WHAT is causing the issue to begin with.

Specs are

Phenom II X4 965 Black Edition Deneb
12gb ram
GTX 460
Biostar mobo
750w PSU

Check whether it is a startup program or service causing the slowdowns: Troubleshoot Application Conflicts by Performing a Clean Startup.


Please provide us with your Event Viewer administrative logs by following these steps:

1. Click Start Menu
2. Type eventvwr into Search programs and files (do not hit enter)
3. Right click eventvwr.exe and click Run as administrator
4. Expand Custom Views
5. Click Administrative Events
6. Right click Administrative Events
7. Save all Events in Custom View As...
8. Save them in a folder where you will remember which folder and save as Errors.evtx
9. When asked, save the display information in English.
10. Go to where you saved Errors.evtx
11. Create a new folder by right clicking in a blank area within the folder Errors.evtx is saved in. You could also click New Folder at the top of the directory under the directory path box.
12. Name the new folder Errors.
13. Place Errors.evtx and the LocaleMetaData folder into the new Errors folder.
14. Right click the Errors folder -> send to -> compressed (zipped) folder
15. Upload the .zip file here.

Please upload your msinfo32.nfo file. To get this: Start Menu -> Type msinfo32 into the Search programs and files box -> When it opens, go to File, Save -> Save as msinfo32.nfo and save in a place you will remember -> Let it finish the process of gathering and saving the system info -> Right click the .nfo file, click send to compressed (zipped) folder -> Upload the .zip file here.

okay, there you go.

You have avast! and ad-aware antivirus installed. Remove one or the other. Having two security programs that accomplish essentially the same task in realtime can cause freezes/crashes/instability because they try to utilize the same resources or scan the same system files simultaneously.

HOTCPU is not installed properly. You receive a number of errors associated with it:

Code:

Log Name:      System
Source:        Service Control Manager
Date:          5/31/2012 12:04:22 AM
Event ID:      7000
Task Category: None
Level:         Error
Keywords:      Classic
User:          N/A
Computer:      Danny-PC
Description:
The 7ByteIo service failed to start due to the following error: 
The system cannot find the file specified.

I also see indications of possible registry corruption at the system level. You may need to Repair Install Windows 7.

my PC is doing it right now. it took me about 10 minutes to open task manager and to get back into this window. everything has frozen up for about a minute after each sentence that I've typed. it's like it's queuing up everything I've clicked, spending a long time frozen, then very slowly executing it all while freezing every 5-10 seconds. ugh it just froze for like 10 minutes.

okay, I'll get rid of ad-aware and hot cpu. though I had both avast! and ad-aware installed side by side for at least a year and never had a single freeze or slowdown or anything. and I'll try to repair install as well.

you don't think this is a hardware issue?

It could be hardware, but it does not give me that impression. I had similar issues due to various antivirus programs in the past, so I am inclined to believe this is software related. Also, antivirus software is constantly getting updated via the definitions and program updates to them, so they may work for some time and then suddenly stop working together due to one of those updates. You may consider removing both and then installing one at a time to test. If you remove avast!, make sure to use the avast uninstall utility.

I don't want to speak too soon, but since removing ad-aware and repair installing, I haven't had the issue yet. though it has gone this length of time before, so I'll have to wait until tomorrow or the next day before I can be sure.

That's good news that stability has been better so far. Continue to monitor and let us know in a few days how the system is responding.

I haven't had the issue again, do you think it's safe to say it's been resolved?