Please help diagnose random freezing.

[caligrown]

For the last few weeks I have been having random freezing on my PC. It has been happening about once or twice every few days. (Actually as I am writing this it just froze twice! :huh. I will be either browsing the web, or using an application/game and everything will just stop, but the mouse will usually continue to work. CTRL+ALT+DEL will not work, and I have to do a hard reset.

I keep my OS and Antivirus up to date and regularly run scans. Recent full scans with MSE, Malwarebytes & SAS have come up with nothing.

My Specs:
-i5 3570k, Gigabyte GA-Z77X-D3H, Gigabyte GTX 970 G1, CM Hyper212+, Kingston HyperX 16GB RAM, Crucial m4 128GB SSD, Seagate Barracuda 2TB, Corsair HX650, Windows 7 Home Premium

Thanks in advance for any help!

 

[Jacee]

Have you tried running AdwCleaner?

Please download AdwCleaner by Xplode and save to your Desktop.

Step 1.

• Double click on AdwCleaner.exe to run the tool.
  Vista/Windows 7/8 users right-click and select Run As Administrator.
• Click on the Scan button.
• AdwCleaner will begin...be patient as the scan may take some time to complete.
• After the scan has finished, click on the Report button...a logfile (AdwCleaner[R#].txt) will open in Notepad for review (where the largest value of # represents the most recent report).
• The contents of the log file may be confusing. Unless you see a program name that you know should not be removed, don't worry about it. If you see an entry you want to keep, let me know about it.
• Copy and paste the contents of that logfile in your next reply.
• A copy of all logfiles are saved in the C:\AdwCleaner folder which was created when running the tool.

Step 2.

Using AdwCleaner: Scan & Clean:
This time click on the Clean button.
Press OK when asked to close all programs and follow the onscreen prompts.
Press OK again to allow AdwCleaner to restart the computer and complete the removal process.
After rebooting, a logfile report (AdwCleaner[S#].txt) will open automatically (where the largest value of # represents the most recent report).
Copy and paste the contents of that logfile in your next reply.
A copy of that logfile will also be saved in the C:\AdwCleaner folder

******Post both .txt logs so we can see what was found and 'cleaned'.

 

[caligrown]

Thanks for the quick reply, I ran the scan, should I go ahead and clean?

Scan Logfile:

# AdwCleaner v4.207 - Logfile created 06/07/2015 at 21:03:35
# Updated 21/06/2015 by Xplode
# Database : 2015-07-05.2 [Server]
# Operating system : Windows 7 Home Premium Service Pack 1 (x64)
# Username : PH - PHPC
# Running from : C:\Users\PH\Desktop\AdwCleaner.exe
# Option : Scan

***** [ Services ] *****


***** [ Files / Folders ] *****

Folder Found : C:\Users\PH\AppData\Local\Google\Chrome\User Data\Default\Extensions\dajedkncpodkggklbegccjpmnglmnflm

***** [ Scheduled tasks ] *****


***** [ Shortcuts ] *****


***** [ Registry ] *****

Data Found : HKCU\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Internet Settings [ProxyOverride] - <-loopback>
Data Found : HKCU\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Internet Settings [ProxyServer] - hxxp=127.0.0.1:50100;hxxps=127.0.0.1:50100
Key Found : HKLM\SOFTWARE\Classes\Installer\Features\93BAD29AC2E44034A96BCB446EB8552E
Key Found : HKLM\SOFTWARE\Classes\Installer\Products\93BAD29AC2E44034A96BCB446EB8552E
Key Found : HKLM\SOFTWARE\Classes\S
Key Found : [x64] HKLM\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Installer\UserData\S-1-5-18\Products\93BAD29AC2E44034A96BCB446EB8552E
Value Found : HKCU\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Internet Settings [DefaultConnectionSettings]
Value Found : HKCU\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Internet Settings [SavedLegacySettings]

***** [ Web browsers ] *****

-\\ Internet Explorer v11.0.9600.17840


-\\ Google Chrome v43.0.2357.130


*************************

AdwCleaner[R0].txt - [1554 bytes] - [06/07/2015 21:03:35]

########## EOF - C:\AdwCleaner\AdwCleaner[R0].txt - [1613 bytes] ##########

 

[Jacee]

Okay now....

Step 2.
Using AdwCleaner: Scan & Clean:

This time click on the Clean button.
Press OK when asked to close all programs and follow the onscreen prompts.
Press OK again to allow AdwCleaner to restart the computer and complete the removal process.
After rebooting, a logfile report (AdwCleaner[S#].txt) will open automatically (where the largest value of # represents the most recent report).
Copy and paste the contents of that logfile in your next reply.

A copy of that logfile will also be saved in the C:\AdwCleaner folder

 

[caligrown]

Ok here is the logfile after cleaning:

# AdwCleaner v4.207 - Logfile created 06/07/2015 at 21:16:54
# Updated 21/06/2015 by Xplode
# Database : 2015-07-05.2 [Server]
# Operating system : Windows 7 Home Premium Service Pack 1 (x64)
# Username : PH - PHPC
# Running from : C:\Users\PH\Desktop\AdwCleaner.exe
# Option : Cleaning

***** [ Services ] *****


***** [ Files / Folders ] *****

Folder Deleted : C:\Users\PH\AppData\Local\Google\Chrome\User Data\Default\Extensions\dajedkncpodkggklbegccjpmnglmnflm

***** [ Scheduled tasks ] *****


***** [ Shortcuts ] *****


***** [ Registry ] *****

Key Deleted : HKLM\SOFTWARE\Classes\S
Key Deleted : HKLM\SOFTWARE\Classes\Installer\Features\93BAD29AC2E44034A96BCB446EB8552E
Key Deleted : HKLM\SOFTWARE\Classes\Installer\Products\93BAD29AC2E44034A96BCB446EB8552E
Key Deleted : [x64] HKLM\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Installer\UserData\S-1-5-18\Products\93BAD29AC2E44034A96BCB446EB8552E
Data Deleted : HKCU\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Internet Settings [ProxyServer] - hxxp=127.0.0.1:50100;hxxps=127.0.0.1:50100
Data Deleted : HKCU\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Internet Settings [ProxyOverride] - <-loopback>

***** [ Web browsers ] *****

-\\ Internet Explorer v11.0.9600.17840


-\\ Google Chrome v43.0.2357.130


*************************

AdwCleaner[R0].txt - [1696 bytes] - [06/07/2015 21:03:35]
AdwCleaner[S0].txt - [1421 bytes] - [06/07/2015 21:16:54]

########## EOF - C:\AdwCleaner\AdwCleaner[S0].txt - [1480 bytes] ##########

 

[caligrown]

Looks like it cleaned up a suspicious Chrome extension, some Registry Keys, and a Proxy Server? How did these all get on my computer! :shock:

Any other suggestions? Is AdwCleaner something you would recommend using regularly?

Just have to wait and see if this fixes the freezing issue. Thanks!

 

[GokAy]

Try a clean startup - http://www.sevenforums.com/tutorial...ation-conflicts-performing-clean-startup.html,
and another user account if that doesn't work - http://www.sevenforums.com/tutorials/181024-user-account-create.html

 

[Jacee]

@ caligrown, download TFC by Old Timer TFC - Temp File Cleaner by OldTimer Download - Geeks to Go Forum and save it to your desktop.
Save any unsaved work. TFC will close ALL open programs including your browser! This will also eliminate all desktop shortcuts, so just be aware!
Double-click on TFC.exe to run it. If you are using Vista/Windows 7 right-click on the file and choose Run As Administrator.
Click the Start button to begin the cleaning process and let it run uninterrupted to completion.

Important! Manually reboot the machine to ensure a complete clean.

After you computer reboots, download DDS from one of these links:
DDS.com
DDS.pif

• Disable any script blocking protection
• Double click the dds icon to run the tool.
• When done, DDS will open two (2) logs:
  1. DDS.txt
  2. Attach.txt <--- will be minimized in the task tray
• Save both reports to your desktop.

Include the contents of both logs in your next post.

The scan will instruct you to post Attach.txt as an attachment.

 

[caligrown]

Thanks for all the help Jacee, here are the logs:

View attachment dds.txt

View attachment attach.txt

 

[caligrown]

Update: My computer just froze again while browsing.

It's strange, it's like a slow motion freeze; first I'll notice I can't click on any links or browser buttons but the cursor will still change if it's hovered over text for instance.....then it will stop changing but will still move around for a minute or so....then everything freezes all together and is totally unresponsive.

Still open to suggestions!

 

[Jacee]

Let's flush the DNS cache and restore MS's Hosts file:

Copy and paste these lines in Note pad.

@Echo on
pushd\windows\system32\drivers\etc
attrib -h -s -r hosts
echo 127.0.0.1 localhost>HOSTS
attrib +r +h +s hosts
popd
ipconfig /release
ipconfig /renew
ipconfig /flushdns
netsh winsock reset all
netsh int ip reset all
shutdown -r -t 1
del %0

Save as flush.bat to your desktop. Right click the .bat file and choose to run as Administrator. Your computer will reboot itself.

Surf for a bit, normally .... let me know how it goes.

 

[caligrown]

Thanks again Jacee, I just ran flush.bat and will report back.

I was looking into what other issues might be causing this, and came across a few threads on Crucial's forums regarding this same issue with m4 SSDs. Granted, it was an issue with the earliest firmwares for the m4, and my firmware is newer and supposedly with a fix for this.

However, my SSD is getting a bit old, (installed May of 2012), could the freezing be SSD related? I downloaded a diagnostic tool recommended on the Crucial forums, CrystalDiskMark & CrystalDiskInfo, however I don't really know how to interpret most of the information

 

[GokAy]

Did you even try my suggestions in post #7? You have become fixated with the idea of a possible malware ignoring all other possible causes.

To add to my suggestions did you try Safe Mode and Safe Mode with Networking. What are your temps (check with HWInfo). When was the last time you cleaned insides of PC? Check heatsinks for dust build-up, whether fans are working etc.

 

[caligrown]

Thanks for the suggestions Gokay.

The problem with trying to rule out an application or service in a clean startup is that the freezing issue I'm experiencing is extremely random. Sometimes it will be days with no issues, then randomly it will freeze. The other day was a bit of an anomaly where it froze multiple times, hence prompting me to create this topic. Being that it doesn't seem possible to recreate this issue, and it might not freeze on me for who-knows-how-long, I don't know how I can determine which app/service might be causing it.

With that being said, this weekend when I have some free time I will attempt a clean startup & safe mode and see what I can do.

I never even brought up that it might be malware or virus related, I was just following steps recommended to me regarding my issue. In fact in the last post I made I mentioned how I discovered threads of similar issues regarding my specific SSD, and was wondering if this whole thing could be related to an aging SSD drive.

I clean my case regularly and temps are all fine.

I haven't had my PC freeze on me since the DNS flush yesterday, so I'll just have to wait and see. I'll update this thread later on with any news.