Computer Freezes upon starting up and reaching desktop

[Altissium]

I have a Windows 7 Home Premium 64bit.
About one month ago, my computer began to freeze randomly about once a week whenever its on, or whenever I start up the computer. I divided the process of my computer freezing into 3 separate parts.

1. Everything stops loading. E.g. If I have a website loading, it will try to load but will make no progress. My applications begin freeze when I click on them.

2. My desktop turns white-ish. And everything is frozen. About 10-15 seconds afterwards, a pop up will appear saying something similar to "Microsoft Windows This application has stopped responding" [End Application] [Cancel] Sometimes the pop up is frozen. If I click on [Cancel], the desktop will continue to freeze]. If I click on [End Application], my desktop will be blank, leaving just the wallpaper, then it will be frozen again.

3. I press Ctrl-Alt-Del during part 2, then my screen turns black. 10-15 seconds after turning black, a pop up will say that Ctrl-Alt-Del is not working and if my computer remains unresponsive, I can press ESC to leave this screen or I can hold the power button to turn off my computer. I usually press ESC. When I press ESC, there is a chance my computer will unfreeze shortly afterwards, or it just remains frozen.

I have tried System Restore along with Last Known Good Configuration and the issue is still unsolved.
Now, I just turn my computer to sleep to avoid this problem but it still appears every now and then.

 

[Judithw29]

Try running a malware scan! If that does not work have you updated or installed something latly if so uninstall it

 

[Judithw29]

You can reinstall the software again if you want

 

[Altissium]

I'm also quite sure I have no malware on my computer. I have daily scans done with Eset Smart Security along with an occasional sweep with Anti-Malware Bytes

 

[archer]

Hi, Welcome to Seven forums.

Try to boot in Safe mode and check if you are able to login without any issues. If yes, then the issue could be video drivers. Uninstall the current drivers. download the latest drivers for the card. After uninstalling the old drivers, use Driver Sweeper to clean out the bits of old driver. Reboot and then install the latest drivers. Reboot in normal mode and check now.

Keep us posted.

 

[Altissium]

Oh right, Safe boot. I forgot about that. I tried that a week ago and I was able to start up my computer with no problems at all. I don't know how to uninstall my video drivers as I'm afraid I may make a mistake. Is there a guide or tutorial available somewhere here?

 

[archer]

Go to control panel, Program and features. In the list look for Catalyst control center. Select that and uninstall that. It will ask for options to remove it completely, select this. After uninstalling it will ask for reboot. Reboot the PC. Reboot in normal mode this time and check if you are able to login without any failure.

NOTE: Download the latest drivers from here before. Link will take you to AMD website. You can select your graphic card, OS and download.


Once you have the drivers with you and you have uninstalled the old drivers, run Driver Sweeper to clean out the bits of the old driver (Old and new drivers may clash and cause issues). Once all is done install the downloaded drivers and then reboot.

 

[Altissium]

I uninstalled my drivers and I rebooted my computer. I ran Driver Sweeper and it prompted me to reboot my computer so I did as it told me to. I ran my computer in safe mode whenever I did rebooted it. After my computer was on in safe mode, I tried installing the drivers but I realized that drivers can't be installed in safe mode. I rebooted my computer in normal mode but it froze at the "Starting Windows" screen. Then it made a start up sound. The kind you would hear when your computer transitions from the "Welcome" screen to your desktop.

 

[Judithw29]

I had the same problem and it was because I had my printer hooked up through USB when I unhooked that to start pc it stop freezing

 

[Judithw29]

If you have anything hooked up through USB unhook then try again, also I had a paid subscription through a well known antivirus malware and my Oc still got that hi jacked browser and ransoms ware so be careful my pc also started to slow and freeze the same way when that happened just be safe

 

[Judithw29]

Also when this thing hijacked my browser my top of the line well known antivirus did not even pick up anything was wrong with my pc. This is a new bug going around

 

[gregrocker]

Work through the steps for Troubleshooting Windows 7 Failure to Start.

If it will run in Safe Mode then you can use these Troubleshooting Steps for Windows 7.
Test the Hardware, establish a Clean Boot, utilize the System Resources to check for Problems and Solutions, enable Automatically deliver drivers via Windows Update (Step 3) then run all rounds of Important and Optional Windows Updates with reboots until there are no more.

If either or both of these sets of steps don't reveal the problem then I would back up files, delete all partitions to create a new one during booted Clean Reinstall - Factory OEM Windows 7

 

[Altissium]

Okay, I figured out why it got frozen at the Starting Windows screen. I forgot to boot into safe mode when I used the Driver Sweeper, so I went into safe mode and used it again. My computer now boots up normally however the original problem still persists. But it appears that it doesn't freeze permanently anymore. So I guess it's gotten a bit better.

 

[gregrocker]

Have you tried to System Restore to a point before the problem began?

 

[Altissium]

Unfortunately, no. I used to have older restore points available but when I checked system restore awhile ago, they were gone.

 

[gregrocker]

I would invest now in a perfect Clean Reinstall - Factory OEM Windows 7, test the hardware first from Troubleshooting Windows 7 Failure to Start, then back up your files and wipe the HD with Diskpart Clean Command to get it cleanest for reinstall.

If testing the hardware reveals problems then we can help you deal with those, but troubleshooting the issue beyond Troubleshooting Steps for Windows 7 may end up taking longer than getting a perfect install which you can then save with a backup image so you never have to reinstall again.

Add to the optimizations it suggests to keep a perfect install apportioning more System Restore points space.