Fresh Windows 7 installation freezing randomly

[Chiba]

Hi,

I recently bought this Mini PC and installed Windows 7 Home Premium 64bit on it. The installation went through without problems, I did all the Windows Updates necessary and even though it was a fresh installation it started to freeze periodically. Sometimes the cursor would spin as if the system is working on something, sometimes nothing would happen at all. These freezes can last between half a minute to a few minutes.

I think the Mini PC itself should be strong enough to run Windows 7, so I'm excluding this from my list of possible reasons. The problem now is that I don't know where to start looking. Are there any logs maybe where I could see what is causing those freezes? I know this is very general for a start but maybe I can get there step by step.

 

[jumanji]

Hi and welcome onboard.

Didn't your ZOTAC ZBOX CA320 nano Plus come with Windows 8.1 installed?

Well, I am not going to put my finger into this thread - I am just kickstarting it - but if you perhaps give a full history on how you uninstalled Windows 8.1 and then installed Windows 7, someone else may perhaps pick up scent and help you.

Also give full specifications. My search says it has a 64GB SSD.

 

[Chiba]

I don't think any of those come with Windows pre-installed. If you check the specs you will see that it says 'Windows: User installed'. I got the Plus version instead of the standard one because it already came with an SSD and RAM which I didn't want to bother with separately. So the specifications are exactly as written on the official Zotac site, nothing changed.

I installed Windows 7 by first creating a bootable Windows 7 USB device with the official Windows USB Download Tool. There were no problems during the installation, I just followed the on-screen instructions. The freezes started shortly after booting Windows for the first time once the installation was done but at that time I thought it was simply because I was setting up all the necessary software and installing drivers so the CPU had to work a lot.

Usually I would check the task manager first to see what program is causing high CPU usage but of course that's not possible because the whole PC freezes. I put the All CPU Meter Gadget on the Desktop but it doesn't show any spikes in CPU usage once such a freeze is over.
Could it maybe be the RAM or even the SSD itself? Any ideas where to start looking and how to check it would be helpful.

 

[bigmck]

How long have you had it and at what point did the problems start? Have you activated the Win 7 as of yet? == Please fill in your complete System Specs. We need to know what the PC has.

 

[Layback Bear]

Have you use Windows Update yet and installed the updates. Their will be over a 100 of them. Some of them could be updates for drivers.

 

[Chiba]

I filled out my system specs now but I'm not sure about a few things such as motherboard. If something is missing please check the link I posted in the first post, it contains the exact specs.

The problem started pretty much from the beginning (about two months ago), so it could also be a defective hardware but I don't know how to check that.

I have installed all Windows Updates. The only ones I am missing are the optional ones. If you recommend me to install them I will try that tomorrow and report back.

 

[Layback Bear]

At this time I don't know what to recommend with Windows Updates. Microsoft is having a rough time with the last big batch of updates.

No I and most other don't go chasing through threads looking for specs. Please just install them in the same place you have the rest of your specs. Your power supply and security system you use would also be nice to have in your system specs.

Lets start at the beginning.

**Where did you get your Windows 7?

**Do you have a temp monitoring program you can use. I'm under the understanding that you have a passive cooling system. Is that correct?
This computer came pre-built without Windows correct?

This little program has many good uses. I do recommend it.

https://www.piriform.com/speccy

**Do you get any BSOD?

**Have you installed any Tuneup, Speedup, registry clean up programs? If so which ones.

Bigmck asked if you have activate Windows. Yes or No.

 

[Chiba]

I'd really like to fill out the other stuff but I simply don't know some of them. It's a mini PC so the motherboard is probably very small and seems not to be listed separately in the specs on the website. Same goes for the PSU. I can try to see if some info is written on the PSU itself if you tell me which kind of information you need about it.

Windows 7 is from my own Windows 7 DVD from my old computer. I just created a bootable USB device with it through the official tool provided by Microsoft. Yes, Windows is already activated.

The mini PC (it's really not bigger than a box of chocolates) came pre-built without Windows and it has passive cooling.

There are no BSOD.

I also have not installed any kind of tuneup software.

 

[Layback Bear]

I made and mistake in my previous post that I corrected. The program I meant to post was this. I will give you lots of information including temps and motherboard but will not give you power supply.
I looked at the website for specs and it doesn't tell a lot.

Where did you get the activation COA key for activation?
Was it a retail or a OEM?

Try this program. Speccy.

https://www.piriform.com/speccy


You must get a anti virus program installed.
I use this MSE.

http://windows.microsoft.com/en-us/windows/security-essentials-download

 

[gregrocker]

Work through the http://www.sevenforums.com/tutorials/220165-troubleshooting-steps-windows-7-a.html to go over your install thoroughly which should turn up the problem.

If not compare it to the http://www.sevenforums.com/tutorials/219487-clean-reinstall-factory-oem-windows-7-a.html#post1839164 as you may wish to reinstall if yours varied by much. Those steps are based on what's worked best for tens of thousands of installs we've helped with here since Win7 Beta.

 

[Chiba]

I used Speccy and uploaded the exported text file here. Can you see anything unusual in there?

The Windows 7 is from an official DVD in a clear DVD case with a guidebook and the key sticker on it. I bought it together with the previous PC. I think it was retail as it did not come with the PC itself but had to be bought separately.

I went through gregrocker's guide and that is pretty much how my Windows installation worked. There were no errors or anything abnormal and thanks to the SSD it was also pretty fast.

 

[jumanji]

Just a brief interruption: There is indeed another ZOTAC ZBOX CA320 nano Plus Windows 8.1 with Bing ZBOX C-series: ZOTAC - It's time to play! which I misread could be yours. So yours came without the OS just as mine.

( I have two quite old ( may be four five years) Zotac Mini-PCs both running Windows 7 Home premium which I installed and working fine to this day)

 

[Layback Bear]

Chiba I could and did read your Speccy report. Most of it is a a language I can't read.
I did notice that the built in Defender is active. It's not very good for protection.

I recommend installing and updating then scanning with your chosen anti virus program. I recommend starting with Microsoft Secruity Essentials.
We know for sure it will not cause problems.

Two places you could take a look for what is causing your problem.
1. Event Viewer logs.
2. Reliability logs.

Take a good read of Greg's post # 10
There is a long list of things to check and it will take some time. Those methods have over time proven to work.

I would suggest keep a reminder log of what you try and the results so you can keep us informed when necessary. Pen and paper works for me.

**I will see if I can find somebody to read your Speccy log.**

 

[Mayank Parmar]

Did you check the performance in Safe Mode With Networking?
In normal mode use the setting for best performance and see if there is any change in the performance

 

[Chiba]

Thanks guys, I will try your suggestions over the weekend and report back.

It's a German Windows so sadly Speccy's output is mostly in German, even though I ran it in English. There doesn't seem to be any way to change that.

I didn't have much time now but I ran the Windows memory check and it didn't return any errors. I also checked the reliability log and over the past 3 weeks it's basically a straight line at 10. Before that there were some errors with the Firefox plugin container and Acrobat a few times but these seem to have stopped.

 

[jumanji]

OK, here is some thought.

When I purchased my Zotac Mini PCs, the first thing I did - even before installing the OS - was to look for any BIOS updates and update it.( Luckily there was no UEFI then).

The initial release Bios may not always be upto the mark and it is usually tweaked many times within a short period to remove any bugs and improve performance.

In your case there are again atleast two updates. (I think your model was released only in June 2014 considering the initial release Bios is dated 10 Jun 14 - 140610)

ZBOX CA320/ CA320-PLUS NANO BIOS and update utility
Description:
Version 2K140724 .Changed CMOS "Secure Boot" default disabled Version 2K140709 .Changed CMOS "Boot OS Selection" to default "Win8 uEFI" .Changed CMOS "Secure Boot" default enabled, and install default "Secure Key" Version 2K140610 .Initial mass production release

Someone conversant with UEFI has to come in and check your BIOS settings and advise whether the BIOS updates have to be taken - it is merely changing some defaults - and what settings is preferred for Windows 7.

 

[gregrocker]

After checking for and updating BIOS check the SATA controller setting.

I see no progress on the Troubleshooting steps I linked earlier except for memory test. Waiting for results of each step which resolve most problems.