Random freezes with no BSOD

Hi. I hope I'm posting this in the right place.

The problem I'm experiencing is that my computer is randomly freezing. By freezing, I mean that the computer completely locks up. No mouse movement, nothing. I'll try to give as many details as I can but if there is any further information that would help, please let me know.

First off, my machine has the following spec:
Alienware M17x R1
Windows 7 x64 Home Premium
Intel Core 2 Duo Mobile
NVIDIA GTX 260M
8GB DDR3 RAM
2, 1TB SSHDs

The freezing problem seems to occur randomly during usage, and I cannot seemingly force it to occur. It usually happens within about an hour or so of use, but can be as little as a couple of minutes or as long as a couple of hours. However there are a few important points. First, during the diagnostics I have run (e.g. Memtest86) I've not experienced any problems. Further, I've managed to leave the computer on overnight running malware scans without the issue occurring which leads me to believe that my interaction with the computer may be triggering the problem. I've not been able to narrow it down further than this, but it does seem to occur more when I'm making use of the internet (e.g. Google Maps, Apple Updater etc.).

When the computer freezes, I cannot do anything except power it off. I do not get a BSOD. About a second before the freeze happens, I notice massive lag. All music stops playing. However I am still able to switch the track pad on and off using the function keys. I also notice that shortly after the freeze, the fan starts, suggesting some kind of busy wait (deadlock?).

I first noticed the issue a couple of weeks ago. I'm not aware of having made any significant changes, although I did install a small program that claimed to stop Windows from restarting (it didn't really work). However I have since uninstalled this in case it was causing the issue.

In terms of what I've done so far to solve the problem, I started by doing hardware checks. However Memtest86 reported that my memory was fine and Seagate Dos tools reported the same for my SSHDs. I also ran a full virus scan with Malwarebytes but no problems were found. I ran a full disk defrag (Smart Defrag) and cleaned the registry (CCleaner) but neither solved the problem. I installed a Windows hotfix for a deadlock issue but that too did nothing. I read about some potential problems with different memory frequencies and some fixes possible through the BIOS. As my BIOS did not offer these options, I flashed the BIOS and updated to A7 (the latest) but the only result was to break my RAID 1 setup. Following the advice from other threads on these forums, I then switched on Windows Driver Verifier to try and force a BSOD. However whilst it was on, I just got another freeze with no BSOD.

I'm afraid at this stage I'm out of ideas so that why I'm here asking for help. In accordance with the advice in this sub-forum, I ran the DM Log Collector and have attached the results. However as I'm not actually getting a BSOD, I'm not sure if this will be of any help or not.

As I say, if there is any further information that would be of use, or if you have any advice on further diagnostics to try, please let me know.

Many thanks in advance for your help.

Well it sounds like a driver issue.
Please run Driver Verifier by following these instructions.

http://www.sevenforums.com/tutorials/101379-driver-verifier-enable-disable.html

Please create a restore point before enabling driver verifier as it can make the system unbootable.
Follow these insructions.

http://www.sevenforums.com/tutorials/697-system-restore-point-create.html

Hi Thedoctor. Thanks for your response. Well those were the instructions I followed last time I used driver verifier, and as I said, the computer still just froze without a BSOD. However I've switched it back on again now (it makes my computer incredibly slow - is that normal?) so maybe next time, I might get a BSOD instead of a freeze?

Hi Laurie, yes driver verifier will slow your system. If there is some bad driver it should cause a BSOD, if you get one, disable DV.

It sure seems like you're overheating. Have you blown out all the vents, use it on a hard surface?

Britton is the hardware expert here

If you get any blue screens us know and I'll take a look.

@Britton
Thanks for the thoughts. I don't think it's too likely to be an overheating issue though. I've had processor overheating problems before, but in that case, the computer wouldn't so much freeze as power itself off. Anyhow I still thought I'd check so I've been running CoreTemp all afternoon but the temperatures have been staying very stable, although I've still been getting the freezes. I've taken the opportunity to clear out the vents though as it probably needed doing anyway!

Since I switched Driver Verifier back on, I've had two more freezes, neither of which triggered a BSOD. I've also noticed that going on YouTube seems to greatly increase the chance of a freeze (although it has occurred without YouTube being open). I'm not quite sure what to read into that. It certainly seems to increase the chance of an error a lot over other forms of internet use.

I'll leave Driver Verifier running in the hope that it will trigger a BSOD at some point, but is there anything else I can try in the meanwhile? Also I noticed in those instructions that it said specifically not to check any of Microsoft's own drivers for testing. Given that I'm still not getting a BSOD, is it worth checking those drivers too?

One of the toughies, MS driver may cause a problem 1 in 500 times maybe, but you can enable them too. I don't know if you done all of these yet:

Some hardware tests to run.


Hard drive(s)test(s):

RAM (memory) test:

Just to add, I recommend using SeaTools.

http://www.sevenforums.com/tutorials/313457-seatools-dos-windows-how-use.html

Make sure you run memtest86 for at least 8 passes.

Ha ha! I finally got a BSOD! It was rather strange actually. I just switched my computer on after I'd powered it off from another freeze, switched it back on, walked out of the room, and came back to see the last couple of seconds of a BSOD. It must have happened during boot up, as I'd only been out of the room for a moment. Anyhow I think this is where I'll have to put upon your expertise and ask for your help in understanding these dump files. I've run the DM Log Collector again and I've attached the resulting zip file to this post. If you could possibly take a look at it for me, it would be greatly appreciated!

I may be wrong, as I only got to see the screen for a moment and didn't have time to photograph it, but I believe the error being displayed was "IRQL Not Less Than or Equal".

On the other tests, I've run all of them except for the Furmark stress test. Also with Memtest86, I wasn't aware of the need to run for more than one pass, so I'll definitely be sure to do that in future.

The zip folder is empty again, did you run it as admin?
You must run it as admin.

0xA bugchecks are IRQL_NOT_LESS_OR_EQUAL
These are caused mainly by buggy device drivers, so it is important we get some new dump files.

I still think memtest86 needs a go for 8 passes.

Yep, you got me there. Sorry about that! I really should have checked. I'm pretty sure the files are there this time.

OK I'll run Memtest86 overnight then so it gets to do a full eight runs.

You should enable Special Pool in the Driver Verifier settings.






EDIT: I've found out your graphics driver is significantly outdated.


Please update it, if you are unsure how here's some instructions.

http://www.sevenforums.com/tutorials/327414-nvidia-drivers-avoid-problems.html#post2740806

You don't have to pay attention to this but I just wanted to go into detail.

I'm fairly new but here's my analysis:


It looks like what happened is an APC Interrupt has occurred when the IRQL level is too high.


The IRQL for an APC Interrupt to complete is 1 and because Windows priorities the highest IRQL first the Interrupt cannot complete as a result a page fault has occurred so a bugcheck is then initiated.

Now I'm not too sure about the verify free pool functions that are happening before, I need to look into that.

Thanks for taking a look Thedoctor.

OK so I've run Memtest86 for a full 8 passes, and it passed all of them, so I think that's OK. I've now followed your instructions and switched Driver Verifier back on with Special Pool checked. Just to clarify though, I only checked Special Pool. Is that what you meant, or did you mean me to tick some of the others as well? Anyhow for now, I'll just keep using the machine and see if I can force it into another BSOD.

No what you've selected is fine.
Just let us know what happens.

Since I switched Driver Verifier back on with the new settings, I've experienced a lot more freezes, particularly whilst browsing the web. This makes the computer quite hard to use, as I'm having to restart it quite often. However I've still had no more BSODs.

As an additional test, I ran the Furmark test, but I wasn't entirely clear from the tutorial how I should know if it had passed or not. I ran it for a couple of minutes and I got an alert message saying that the temperature had exceeded 100 degrees, and as the text was in red and block capitals, I figured it was probably time to stop the test in case it damaged anything.. I didn't notice any visual artifacts though, which was the other thing the tutorial said to look out for.

Your GPU is overheating, is your case big enough?
Is their sufficient airflow?
You might need to get a new GPU.

Well the computer is a laptop and I can't easily remove the graphics card, so I'm not sure there is much I can do on that front. Having said that, I've had the computer for over four years now and it's been working fine. Is an overheating graphics card the kind of thing that could cause these freezes? If so, what could have changed to make it start overheating? The fans are still working so is there some kind of thermal paste like on a CPU that could have dried out or something?

Thermal paste has nothing to do with GPUs.
Well the problem with laptops being so compact is there isn't enough airflow so overheating can damage components.

You could change the graphics card but it depends whether it's soldered in or not.

I'm pretty sure it's soldered in. The manual that came with it has guides for replacing most components, but it says nothing about the GPU. I can hardly even see it when I disassemble the machine, as it's hidden behind other things.

But I mean, how sure are you that the GPU overheating is causing the freezes? Is it just an off chance or is it definitely going to be the problem? I ask because it's not clear to me that the GPU is overheating when the freezes occur. With normal use, it seems to be humming along at 61-2 degrees; it was only when I ran the Furmark test that it started overheating.