Seven locks up after an hour or so idle

[headshot]

I have exactly the same problem. I've found that if left for long enough, usually it will come back. Sometimes its a full 15 minutes but it will unfreeze. I hate to have to turn off screen blanking but I also hate having to force restart on a regular basis. Anyone have any ideas on this?

I never left it long enough to find out. I was always in too much of a panic to use it.
It does appear to be something to do with screen blank/idling.

Regards,

Alan.

hey alan, all u got to do is to uncheck "auto-hide the desktop" from taskbar properties. everything should be fine.

 

[polorsport]

I'm having the same issues here as well. I think it has to do with this latest version of utorrent.
Now my pc is turning off randomly.

 

[zigzag3143]

I have exactly the same problem. I've found that if left for long enough, usually it will come back. Sometimes its a full 15 minutes but it will unfreeze. I hate to have to turn off screen blanking but I also hate having to force restart on a regular basis. Anyone have any ideas on this?

I never left it long enough to find out. I was always in too much of a panic to use it.
It does appear to be something to do with screen blank/idling.

Regards,

Alan.

hey alan, all u got to do is to uncheck "auto-hide the desktop" from taskbar properties. everything should be fine.

Um its autohide the taskbar not desktop

Ken

 

[headshot]

lol sorry, i misstyped it

 

[harpua]

There is a setting in Utorrent that allows Utorrent to auto shut down the system after the downloads complete or seeding target is reached. Perhaps this setting is enabled in your version of utorrent and perhaps this is causing the problem.

 

[headshot]

some people have this problem caused by utorrent. some other have this caused by auto-hide and auto-blanking desktop, including me.

 

[carlitobklyn]

For me, it has nothing to do with utorrent.

 

[Fliplip]

I had this problem for a while a few months back. Random freezes that needed a hard re boot.
Im not 100% sure but i tihnk it was my graphics card driver. I un installed the ATi stuff and let W7 install its own native drivers and ive not had the problem since.
Probably no help to anyone but i thought i would mention it.

 

[WurliTzerwilly]

I had this problem for a while a few months back. Random freezes that needed a hard re boot.
Im not 100% sure but i tihnk it was my graphics card driver. I un installed the ATi stuff and let W7 install its own native drivers and ive not had the problem since.
Probably no help to anyone but i thought i would mention it.

I think you could well be right. In my case it does seem to be something to do with the graphics card and an errant driver or Windows 7 being cussed, could easily be the problem.

Regards,

Alan.

 

[Pibby]

I've confirmed through a few other sources, and with a bit of trial-and-error of my own that this is related to Auto-Hide on x64 Windows 7 Systems, hardware doesn't seem to come into play. For me it happened on two different computers, one a laptop with no common hardware manufacturer, and the other a desktop system I built last summer.

For now it seems disabling 'auto hide the taskbar' fixes the problem. I hate this though, so I've found that if you leave a window open, or your mouse-over the task bar it should be 100% fine.

I hope Microsoft figures the issue out on their end and patches it soon. It's annoying, and I don't always remember to leave a window open (on screen, not minimized). Additionally I have a habit of hitting the show desktop button before leaving my system.

My two-cents might be pointless at this point, but I thought I'd throw them into the hat anyway. Similar issues may be caused by other things, but an issue that matches the description of the TC is consistently experienced by many users who 'auto-hide' their taskbar.

 

[carlitobklyn]

disabling the power-save option on the monitor fixes it for me. i like auto-hide the taskbar too much to turn that off. i just make sure to turn the monitor off now when im stepping away

 

[Roddy]

I had the same problem on RC7100, but did a system restore and then DID NOT let (and have not on my WIN7 Released Home Premium 32bit either) Windows Update install an IE8 cumulative update KB 974455 (from memory) ... no freezes at all since.

May or may not be related to you guys...

Rgds
Rod

 

[Rydell]

Windows 7 desktop freeze then re boot

Hi I have installed windows 7 on my PC and now I find that the display freezes when leaving the desktop idle for a period of time. The only way to get back is to force a re boot to the PC. I thought maybe the installation went in wrong so I reformatted hard drive and re installed the operating system again. Re load my normal windows programs and thought all was well until it happened again.
So I thought I would look on the forums to see if any one else has a problem? Found this forum and now I don't feel so bad. I have tried some of the ideas in the above postings but still happens after a short period of time maybe 1/2 hours.
I did how ever look into system rating the PC in properties from the computer button on start programs and ran the system check. After a while the report on screen said Can not rate system at present Window driver problem! what ever this means? Maybe thats why we are having a problem with freezing? Help I do like Win 7 and would like to keep using it so I will keep an eye on this thread to see if any one has a fix? Thanks for reading Peter

 

[Rydell]

I have included a zip of my MSINFO32 report to see if it helps? Sent as an attachment let me know if this helps?
Peter

 

[asilvano]

Mine freezes up after being idle as well. Found the answer after searching what seemed like forever.
The problem was the tool bar. I had it on "hide". Locked it on and haven't had a problem since.
Hopefully, they'll update a fix.

 

[Espiox]

My PC is also freezing up when idle. I've tried turning off taskbar auto-hide, uTorrent, sleeping, etc. Nothing seems to stop it so far. It's driving me insane, and it's making it impossible to download anything bigger than a few hundred megs.

 

[Telbont]

Change the power management plan

My Windows7 system used to hang every now and then when left idle. I didn't have to restart but had to hit enter a few times and wait for different periods of time before the system started responding. I then tried changing the power management plan from the default and recommended 'Balanced' to the 'High performance' plan and ever since doing that, my computer has not hanged when left idle.

 

[Dreig]

Windows 7 Starts to Lock when idle

Good day,

I installed Windows 7 Professional x64, did all the upgrades, installed all my programs, and the system has been running great for the last 4-5 days. Then yesterday it started locking up when idle. Previously I had similar problems with Windows XP x32 and x64, without much success, install, about a week of great performance, then starts locking up when idle, so I tried Win 7.

I don't have auto hide taskbar enabled or what is said previously.

Any suggestions?

 

[Campbell]

I have had my new Windows 7 computer for about 2 weeks.The first time i used it it would switch off every 10 mins if i was away fom my pc,after many frustrating hours and nearly send it back,it struck me to try the "power management" settings.Lo and behold there was the problem,both stuck on at 10 minutes.As I work away from home ,obviously I switch off my pc.When I got back today I have discovered that they have reset themselves back to 10 mins.Cmon Microsoft get your finger out and produce a fix for this.I know we should be eco friendly but this is totally stupid.

 

[Maxit01]

Win 7 Lockup

Have the same problem on a new laptop with factory installed Win 7, the Acer does not have a dual boot, just a basic unit. The installed software is Firefox and AVG. plus Word 2007 and the basic bundle with the laptop.

This unit has locked up 3 times and the only way to reset was to remove ALL power to it, including the battery. Very annoying and not pleased, older Win XP never did this. Found that setting power options NOT to go into sleep mode, and having display set to be on longer than normal usage (>2 hours) solved the lockup problem.

But having recently acquired a Samsung netbook with Win XP, this unit boots up faster with same software packages and HAS NEVER locked up yet. Not a fan of Windows 7!!! Have now 2 desktop PC with XP, two portables, one XP and other Win 7, no need for another PC for a long time but since my daughters 2 Mac books never had problems over the past 5 years, possibly, if ever, maybe my choice also?

Long time PC user, from early Vic 20, Apple Plus, then IBM, seen them all, but not too pleased with Microsoft direction now, most software on my PC with XP cannot be used on Win 7 without buying upgrades from software sources, too much $ and the software worked.