Weird freezing problem?

[ShockSand]

Okay, so for about a month now I've been having a weird problem. I'm 90% sure I need to replace something but I don't know what. Here's what happens: I turn on my computer, things are pretty slow. For the first 20-or-so minutes, programs freeze and hang a lot. This isn't such a big deal, but at random times, if I open a folder or open/close a tab in Chrome, the whole computer freezes for about 5-10 seconds. This problem will last for about 30 minutes then things will be fine, and it can just start happening again at random times throughout the day. For example, starting a recording in Fraps often restarts the problem. I've asked a lot of people about this and I've never gotten a definite answer, but someone suggested it might be the PSU. Also note I'm terrible with computers so if anyone decides to help me out, have fun.

Specs (since the first thing people do is ask for them when I tell them about this):
OS Name Microsoft Windows 7 Home Premium
Version 6.1.7601 Service Pack 1 Build 7601
OS Manufacturer Microsoft Corporation
System Model Lenovo H430
System Type x64-based PC
Processor Intel(R) Core(TM) i7-3770 CPU @ 3.40GHz, 3401 Mhz, 4 Core(s), 8 Logical Processor(s)
BIOS Version/Date LENOVO ECKT16A, 06/04/2012
SMBIOS Version 2.7
Memory: 8192MB RAM

Drive C:
Description Local Fixed Disk
Compressed No
File System NTFS
Size 1.79 TB (1,973,369,696,256 bytes)
Free Space 568.00 GB (609,888,559,104 bytes)
Volume Name
Volume Serial Number 4A427869

Drive D:
Description CD-ROM Disc

Drive F:
Description Local Fixed Disk
Compressed No
File System NTFS
Size 1.82 TB (2,000,396,742,656 bytes)
Free Space 1.52 TB (1,670,761,500,672 bytes)
Volume Name Secondary
Volume Serial Number 68FFCC70

 

[TheGuyWithAHat]

Hmm...

I've had a problem like that before and it was the RAM that was the problem.

I would run Memtest86 +

If there are any errors then test every stick of ram separately.

Post back results.

 

[ShockSand]

Sorry, I probably should've mentioned this first also, I'm not sure if it makes a difference but every hour or so I can hear my secondary hard drive shut down then hear the sound of it starting up again whenever I open a file on it. I'm not sure if this changes anything, so I'll still run Memtest just in case. This didn't start happening until I was having the freezing problem I mentioned but I'm not sure if they're related at all.

 

[TheGuyWithAHat]

Wait, your second hard-drive shuts down?

Which hard-drive has your Windows Installation on it?

 

[andrew129260]

Try replacing your sata cables and testing your hard drives out with the manufacturers tool

 

[ShockSand]

Wait, your second hard-drive shuts down?

Which hard-drive has your Windows Installation on it?

The only files on my second hard drive are some recordings, that's all I use it for.

Doing Memtest86+ at the moment, will switch the sata cables afterwards if I get no errors. Also, about how many passes do you think is enough for each stick? The first stick has done 12 passes so far with no errors.

 

[andrew129260]

Most people say run memtest overnight, best way to be sure

 

[ShockSand]

Ran a 24+ hour test on each stick, no errors found. Bleh.

 

[MrNeeds]

I would consider doing a read/write test on both your hard drives, also the make and model number of each hard drive would be good, i use this tool to test hard drive speed Parkdale::Measure read and write speed - The SZ

 

[ShockSand]

Tested with Parkdale, these were my results

Primary: ST2000DM - 001-9YN164 - CC62
Seq. Write Speed: 171.5 MByte/sec
Random QD32: 1289.3 kByte/sec, 322.3 OPS, 3.10 ms

Seq. Read Speed: 168.5 MByte/sec
Random QD32: 598.6 kByte/sec, 149.6 IOPS, 6.68 ms

Secondary: ST2000DM - 001-1CH164 - CC24
Seq. Write Speed: 171.4 MByte/sec
Random QD32: 1552.0 kByte/sec, 388.0 IOPS, 2.58 ms

Seq. Read Speed: 185.9 MByte/sec
Random QD32: 633.2 kByte/sec, 158.3 IOPS, 6.32 ms

 

[MrNeeds]

The Sequential reads and writes are pretty good for a mechanical hard drive but the randoms are pretty bad, here's an example with my hard drive, wouldn't hurt to do a defrag.

 

[ShockSand]

I've done one, a problem I was having with my primary was the freezing whenever it was reading or writing something, which also showed up in other programs' benchmarking, which is why I bought the secondary for recording.

 

[MrNeeds]

I think it might be time for an SSD upgrade, scan.co.uk are selling them for £50(128GB) which is surprisingly cheap considering.

 

[ShockSand]

I think it might be time for an SSD upgrade, scan.co.uk are selling them for £50(128GB) which is surprisingly cheap considering.

Are you sure that's the problem? I just need to be completely sure because I don't exactly have the money to start buying stuff out of trial-and-error, also considering I don't have £50 yet in the first place.

 

[ShockSand]

So I performed another test on my primary drive while the freezing problem was happening and the speeds were significantly lower while the secondary speeds were still the same. Like, write was <100 with read hardly getting past 20. It looks like it might be the problem. I'll try installing Windows on my secondary and taking out the primary.

 

[MrNeeds]

I think it might be time for an SSD upgrade, scan.co.uk are selling them for £50(128GB) which is surprisingly cheap considering.

Are you sure that's the problem? I just need to be completely sure because I don't exactly have the money to start buying stuff out of trial-and-error, also considering I don't have £50 yet in the first place.

You could try and see if your other hard drive suffers with the same problem, but I feel it maybe your hard drive failing.

Edit: Seems you've come to the same conclusion

 

[ShockSand]

If that is the problem I'm not sure why it would cause the secondary drive to seemingly shut down on occasion. In My Computer it still shows it but if I open it it freezes for a few seconds while I can hear it starting up. Hm.

 

[MrNeeds]

If that is the problem I'm not sure why it would cause the secondary drive to seemingly shut down on occasion. In My Computer it still shows it but if I open it it freezes for a few seconds while I can hear it starting up. Hm.

What about power options within windows?, have you set everything to high performance?

 

[ShockSand]

If that is the problem I'm not sure why it would cause the secondary drive to seemingly shut down on occasion. In My Computer it still shows it but if I open it it freezes for a few seconds while I can hear it starting up. Hm.

What about power options within windows?, have you set everything to high performance?
View attachment 334300

Yeah, it was high performance, I turned it back down to Balanced and restarted and the problem still occurred.

 

[ShockSand]

Is there a good way to transfer all my files from one hard drive to the other?