freezes and other odd bugs.

[marbanasin]

So yesterday I installed some drivers, graphics card and other hp software that originally came with my computer. And starting last night and then in class today a couple times after letting my computer sit idle, and I'm talking for only a few minutes on a couple occassions, it froze.

First it just looked like I couldn't highlight anything with the mouse, then the mouse would stop altogether. Last night I could use cntrl-alt-dlt to open the task manager at which point things would return to normal, but today I had to shut it off by holding the power button.

So any help would be awesome. I'm a relative computer newb so you may need to explain what you need from me. I have windows 7 64x which looks like it's more of a problem, lucky me.

thanks in advance.

 

[Jonathan_King]

Seeing as the problems came after driver updates and the like, perhaps a System Restore will help.

http://www.sevenforums.com/tutorials/700-system-restore.html

 

[marbanasin]

would I lose all the drivers and software if I do that?

 

[Jonathan_King]

The drivers, yes. Other software, probably. But that's a good thing. We can say that something you installed last night probably caused the problem. Now me just need to know what it is.

 

[marbanasin]

okay, bye bye itunes library.

wait do I pick the date to restore to? As in two days ago so I only lose the stuff I added yesterday.

 

[Jonathan_King]

The files themselves should not be touched, just settings and registry entries and the like.

 

[richc46]

would I lose all the drivers and software if I do that?

I agree with Jonathans solution and offer an explanation. For all users experienced or not, the system restore is the easiest way to solve this problem. Alternatives would be more difficult and possbily cause additional problems that would be difficult to solve, and ultimately resulting in the use of system restore.

The best way would be to follow Jonathans advice and then install one driver at a time, until we discover the cause of the problem. This will enable you to solve the problem and avoid its return.

Whatever your decision, I with you the best of luck.

 

[marbanasin]

cool I'm performing it now.

 

[marbanasin]

it will only let me go back as far as half way through yesterday. I believe hp quickplay will still be on there and possibly the graphics card driver.

 

[richc46]

Go back as far as you can. We can get rid of the rest manually. It may work with the remainder still installed.

 

[marbanasin]

okay, system is restored, back to a ridiculously fuzzy display.

 

[Jonathan_King]

Thanks for taking over for me while I ate dinner, Rich.

Now try updating your graphics card drivers, and don't change anything else.

Your goal is to gradually reinstall everything, observing the results of each change. That is the way to determine the culprit.

 

[marbanasin]

okay will do. The question is how do I prompt a problem?

 

[Jonathan_King]

okay will do. The question is how do I prompt a problem?

Huh?

What do you mean?

 

[marbanasin]

well in order to test if something isn't working. My system seemed to be working, and then all of a sudden it would freeze, normally after idling. Also my task bar at the bottom would occasionally disappear. The point is, it could take a while to see that a driver or software is the culprit.

 

[Jonathan_King]

I see. Well, you can create a Restore Point before changing something. If it happens again, you can better diagnose it.

 

[marbanasin]

okay. Well I think one of the culprits is either the fingerprint scanner software or youcam, my webcam software. for whatever reason HP's software doesn't seem to support 7. Quickplay would be my next suspect but I never really tested it prior to installing the other two.

 

[Jonathan_King]

Good luck! I would be interested in learning the results.

 

[richc46]

Thanks for taking over for me while I ate dinner, Rich.

Now try updating your graphics card drivers, and don't change anything else.

Your goal is to gradually reinstall everything, observing the results of each change. That is the way to determine the culprit.

No, thank you. Usually I can only help one; now I was able to help two people.

 

[marbanasin]

okay guys, graphics card driver just finished downloading, I'll install it now and try to get the results back to you two after I slowly get everything else up. thanks so much.