All games freeze soon after starting.

[Ronaldxlr]

I recently reinstalled Windows 7 Proffecional 64bit on my computer. I was having several problems prior to doing so including explorer.exe crashing on startup, very slow start up, and my recovery drive was repeatedly reformatted to a RAW partition. All these problems got resolved with a reinstall but were replaced by a new problem.

The reinstall I used left my personal files and programs intact. Now whenever I run a game, any game I run into the same problem. What happens is the game starts up fine with no problems, but when I perform certain actions (e.g. Battlefield 3 – if I fire my weapon it will trigger a freeze, Arkham City – throwing a punch or using a gadget will trigger a freeze etc) the game will freeze up but the sound will continue playing. I can use Ctrl, Alt,Delete to start up the task manager and end the process. This closes the game but the process hangs as it is and cannot be stopped, even though the computer carries on functioning fine. I can even start a different game but the difference is the game won’t crash or freeze anymore. It seems as through if one game crashes it somehow stops it happening again to other games.

On a side note I do not get any errors if I disable Windows Audio Service in MSConfig for start-up services.
The fixes I have tried include:
Running in safemode –for Windows 7 and for individual games
Running the games in DX9, DX10, DX10.1 and DX11
Running with CPU overclocked and without overclocking
Running with GPU overclocked and without overclocking
I have tried increasing Virtual Memory (currently at 50GB)
I have tried a few specific fixes for individual games
I have also tried with Crossfire enabled and disabled
Updating all drivers, Updating the BIOS and Installing Win 7 updates

I tried all these fixes to no avail, the only thing that resolved the issue was disabling the Windows Audio Service, however this leaves me with no sound at all. I have no idea what do try next or what could be causing the problem and I need help. At this point I am willing to try just about anything.

My specs are :
i5-2500K at 4.5GHz
Asus P8P67 Pro Motherboard B3
XFX AMD Radeon HD 6870 Black Edition
MSI R6870
12GB ram
800W PSU

 

[smarteyeball]

All these problems got resolved with a reinstall but were replaced by a new problem.

The reinstall I used left my personal files and programs intact.

A fresh install, on 'over the 'top' installation? (leaving you with a 'Windows.old" folder?

It seems as through if one game crashes it somehow stops it happening again to other games.

Hmm.

I have tried increasing Virtual Memory (currently at 50GB)

That can be set back to 'system managed'. It's not the issue.

Updating all drivers, Updating the BIOS and Installing Win 7 updates

Did this include sound drivers? And are you using onboard or a dedicated sound card?

Digital or analogue?

Headphones or speakers? (If using headphones are they plugged into the rear jack, or the front panel jack?

I tried all these fixes to no avail, the only thing that resolved the issue was disabling the Windows Audio Service, however this leaves me with no sound at all.

What is your BIOS set to - Ac97 or HD?

The fact that disabling the sound seems to 'solve' the issue, it would definitely be the first place I'd concentrate on.