Windows Randomly Freezes and Recovers

aceroom · 18 Jan 2013

So I recently purchased a new HP pavilion laptop. It has a Core i7 Gen 3 processor, with NVIDIA GEFORCE 630M and a Broadcom wireless chipset. It came with Windows 7 and I upgraded it soon after purchase to Windows 8 using a promo offer. Well, now I am back to Windows 7 due to some crashes but I noticed this problem in both operating systems.

The system would hang completely, save for mouse movements (No clicks though) and I would not be able to do anything. The strangest thing is that within a minute or so, it would recover. I thought, initially, that the problem was with flash (And I use Google Chrome) so I changed the plugins option to on-demand and the problem still persists. I do have all the latest drivers for all the devices. I am wondering now if the problem is with either the Wireless card (Either wifi or bluetooth). I had a similar sort of problem isolated with Microsoft Word (Meaning only that application froze and recovered). My friend told me the he had the same problem on his Dell Laptop and disabled this particular bluetooth transmit addon which remedied the problem.
Now, I am disabling the Bluetooth network adapter and checking if the issue persists but I cannot do the same with the Wifi as that is quite necessary.

Does anyone have any idea as to what might be the problem and how I could rectify it? Thanks.

Here is my driverlist.txt from SF Diagnostics.
http://dl.dropbox.com/u/83674441/SF_...DriverList.txt

And my dxdiag:
http://dl.dropbox.com/u/83674441/SF_...013/dxdiag.txt

gregrocker · 19 Jan 2013

Is this the HP Factory Preinstall or did you run Factory Recovery to go back to Win7? If so HP has the worst load of corrupting crapware in the industry, which throttles Win7's native perfect performance. That's why most tech enthusiasts prefer to Clean Reinstall - Factory OEM Windows 7. Read the Special Notes for HP Owners at the end.

At the minimum I'd Clean Up Factory Bloatware.

Otherwise work through these Troubleshooting Steps for Windows 7 starting with the hardware tests.

aceroom · 19 Jan 2013

I did the HP Factory Reset (Went back to the way I got the laptop) including all the HP software. I would not prefer to do a clean install again. I did the factory reset only two weeks back. I'm trying out some of the things on the Factory Bloatware page. I'll let you know how it goes. There are a couple of things in the startup that I am not able to figure out:
HP Auto
HP Client Services
HP Quick Synchronizatio
HP Software Framework Service
HP Service
HPWMISVC

The Beats Audio technology, the HP CoolSense and HP 3D Driveguard (For enhanced audio, for better cooling - uses the accerelometer apparently, to protect the HDD in case of falls respectively) are services that I would like to keep enabled. I'm wondering if disabling these would affect that.

On a sidenote, If the problem indeed is with the bloatware, I'd prefer to stick with Windows 8. I bought the upgrade offer for very less. I was not able to download an ISO. If you're suggesting a clean install with the bare minimum of the HP software, how can I do that with the Windows 8 upgrade.

gregrocker · 19 Jan 2013

Clean Install with Windows 8 Upgrade

You should always burn the ISO to a DVD or write to flash stick so you have a reinstall and repair method. You own the OS for life to reinstall as often and in the way you want.

I always disable all msconfig>Startups and >Services except AV after Hiding MS Services. The ones you mention may provide useful safeguards and enhancements but may just as easily cause issues since they probably duplicate superior versions built into the OS. It is up to you to weigh this to decide. If it has a driver associated with it as some HD monitors do then I tend to let it ride along. Even Windows Update will often provide this driver.

aceroom · 19 Jan 2013

All right. Thanks for your help. I've done the disabling of these sevices minus one or two for the safeguards. I'll try to see if the issue is still prevalent in the next two days.

On the Windows 7/8 debate, what would you recommend for a laptop computer? I've been a long-time Linux user (On my older laptop) but want to use Windows on this PC because configuring the graphics drivers is too big of a pain right now. Assuming that I will only be using Windows, which is a better option. The last time I upgraded to Windows 8, I got a BSOD within 3 days (Of both installing the OS as well as buying the PC) but this could have been due to the bloatware. And within a couple of weeks, it somehow got FUBAR. I did like the new desktop theme on Windows 8, enjoyed the boot speeds and the login screen.

Juxxize · 19 Jan 2013

hi aceroom, i'm no techie but i had the same issue with my HP windows 7 laptop and i had to factory reset it mine too.

gregrocker · 19 Jan 2013

Without touchscreen I'd go with Win7 which provides a more productive desktop experience if that's what you want, or in Win8 recover the Win7 start screen using Windows 7 Start Menu for Windows 8.

If you prefer the social media functions as primary purpose then Win8 simulates Ipad pretty well for this. It's basically a phone or tablet GUI.

Juxxize, HP Factory recovery reinstalls the worst load of crapware in the industry, which throttles Win7 from its native performance. Best to Clean Reinstall - Factory OEM Windows 7 which are essentially the same steps for 8.

aceroom · 19 Jan 2013

Nope, disabling those services didn't work. I'm going to try removing some of the default bloatware (UNINSTALL Completely).

Jacee · 19 Jan 2013

You can disable and stop them in services ... without a totall uninstall, to see if that helps.

aceroom · 19 Jan 2013

Had tried that initially, it did not work. I've uninstalled a majority of them now and checking if there is a positive effect.