Win-7 Refresh Hangs Up Intermittently

[umanemo]

Since June 2013, yes this is September... I have spent hundreds of hours trying to resuscitate my ASUS K42jr, Core i5/AMD Radeon laptop computer. I am very frustrated to say the least.

In June I did a Win-7 reinstall from a hidden partition on my Acer laptop by the request of Acer support regarding issues I was having with an erratic touchpad on that computer. It was completed and with great success. That laptop finished up so like new that I decided to do it also on my ASUS from the hidden partition in its HDD.

I reinstalled Win-7 (sans SP1) eight times on the ASUS but was never able to insert the SP1 update and the O/S was obviously defective after each reinstall and/or there was no successful start-up. Next I followed the instructions on one of these sevenforum threads for a "Clean Reinstall of Windows 7 on an ASUS". In that tutorial I found how to use external software to merge SP1 into the O/S install and also include the 145 updates that have occurred since that post. I made a bootable USB and I was so glad to find that everything finally "got in" and Windows 7 actually booted.

But... What I now find is that frequently I can not close program windows without experiencing a snag and/or a hang-up of the system. Additionally when running Windows Defrag it too will hang-up and not complete. Internet pages hang, even Notepad hangs and sometimes shut down hangs and doesn't respond. EXCEPT and this is an interesting observation, If I Ctrl/Alt/Del the requested activity is "Pushed Through" and the system generally responds immediately! (BTW, the install is virgin, there are no installed programs, Only Windows 7 with all of the updates resides on the computer HDD, ca. 21GB is all that sits on a 500GB drive)

I have run memtest86+ on the 4GB RAM and HDD diagnosis on the internal boot drive, a Seagate 500GB 7200RPM HDD and neither is the culprit. I'm stumped. The only issue I have ever had in the past with this laptop was solved in 2010. On its first start up there was an issue that regarded "classpnp.sys" and it went away with some kind of a manual fix that I no longer remember. I have not thought that was also needed with the new final SP1?

I really respected this laptop and ASUS because of the speed and pleasure I experienced with it. I had never had an ASUS and was impressed with the quality of the components. I WANT MY OLD ASUS COMPUTER BACK! How can I make that happen???

 

[ICIT2LOL]

Hello and welcome umanemo mate if you are trying to just do a reinstall you might be interested in this http://www.sevenforums.com/tutorials/219487-clean-reinstall-factory-oem-windows-7-a.html#post1839164

this will install without the bloatware from Acer too.

 

[umanemo]

Thanks! Mate,

Yes, I have been doing "just" an reinstall, then another reinstall, another and another... for several sessions. I read thoroughly the thread you referred to and found it exactly written and a "must follow" document for anyone doing a Win-7 bloat-free reinstall. It was the guide that has gotten me this far, Thankfully.

I just tried the sfc /scannow and got a clean bill of health, but I'm still Hanging Here!

What could this be??? HELP!!!

 

[ICIT2LOL]

Now I could way out here unenamo but maybe it is a hard drive or RAM problem problem.

Now I don't know what drive brand you have in it so can only suggest we find that out - use Speccy Speccy - Download (from piriform) go to the hard drives and it will throw the model up depending on what brand it is the appropriate test gear can be used. Post back if you are not sure which to use because some do other brands mate.
You can always use the Partition Wizard to do a physical surface test too.
Best Free Partition Manager Freeware and free partition magic for Windows 7, Windows 8, Windows Vista and Windows XP 32 bit & 64 bit. MiniTool Free Partition Manager Software Home Edition. see pic

The RAM test http://www.sevenforums.com/tutorials/105647-ram-test-memtest86.html you will need to make a bootable disk set the BIOS to boot from the optical (USB is you use a stick) boot and let the test run for at least 8 passes unless it throws up any errors straight away. Any less than 8 passes is not much good. It does take a long time and something some set to run overnight. But at least it will help us rule out those problems if they exist.

One other thing have you tested the power adaptor mate for volts? It may not be supplying those correctly or enough current the latter is hard to know unless you have some ammeter of some sort - but the volts may give some indication if they are out of whack.

PS I meant to say pick the C: drive at the end where I have highlighted my backup drive for the surface test

 

[umanemo]

Thanks, again mate!

I had posted that I did the tests initially with clean bills of health.

But... What I now find is that frequently I can not close program windows without experiencing a snag and/or a hang-up of the system. Additionally when running Windows Defrag it too will hang-up and not complete. Internet pages hang, even Notepad hangs and sometimes shut down hangs and doesn't respond. EXCEPT and this is an interesting observation, If I Ctrl/Alt/Del the requested activity is "Pushed Through" and the system generally responds immediately! (BTW, the install is virgin, there are no installed programs, Only Windows 7 with all of the updates resides on the computer HDD, ca. 21GB is all that sits on a 500GB drive)

I have run memtest86+ on the 4GB RAM and HDD diagnosis on the internal boot drive, a Seagate 500GB 7200RPM HDD and neither is the culprit. I'm stumped. The only issue I have ever had in the past with this laptop was solved in 2010. On its first start up there was an issue that regarded "classpnp.sys" and it went away with some kind of a manual fix that I no longer remember. I have not thought that was also needed with the new final SP1?

The ammeter shows 21 v. open circuit and 19.5 in circuit, 6.6A. So that's off the list too. This is a reag bugger! I have never had such a time! HELP!!!

(Interesting that Ctrl/Alt/Del "Pushes the clog out of the Way" so to speak???)

 

[ICIT2LOL]

Hmm sorry about that umanemo I missed that in the haste.

Well I suppose the other option would be to do this if you have no data to save and it will get rid of all the Acer bloatware too.
http://www.sevenforums.com/tutorials/219487-clean-reinstall-factory-oem-windows-7-a.html
all you need is that code on the sticker on the bottom of the machine - you will see that in the tutorial.

 

[andrew129260]

What are your temps looking like? What does speccy report? Can you save a log file of the speccy report and upload it?

 

[umanemo]

Just got back in a WiFi zone and saw your suggestion Andrew. I'll get the Piriform software and upload that ASAP. Thanks.

 

[ICIT2LOL]

Umanemo another you can use is this too. http://www.sevenforums.com/tutorials/180324-system-info-see-your-system-specs.html but the Speccy will be good for temps as well.

 

[umanemo]

Here's the speccy link http://speccy.piriform.com/results/gmBY16kvl1kiTL1p6rBmlTs
Wow! That's a really detailed report. Hope it tells you something, I am really in the dark with this problem.

 

[ICIT2LOL]

Ok mate I have been waiting for this report from post #4 and there is nothing I can see that is out of the ordinary for a laptop in temps. What I do see ois the security is disabled and now I think you should run these and also turn on the security - which is what??


http://www.superantispyware.com/

http://www.malwarebytes.org/products/malwarebytes_free/

http://www.bleepingcomputer.com/download/adwcleaner/

download from bleeping computer

and Free Malware Removal Tools < scroll down to the TDSS Killer and run it as well as the others post back what you find.

 

[andrew129260]

ICit2lol I agree. Please answer his questions.

--- Looking at your log I only have 2 concerns.
That is that windows updates are not set to auto install updates, (but they are being installed and updated) its download and then notify. Ignore if this is your personal choice.
My other concern is what icit2lol has already stated.

---Looking through the entire log I see no visual trace of malware (Although I have not been to malware school)
nether in your processes or services.

1.) Please try the following:
Download the ASUS diagnostic utility found here:

ASUS PC Diagnostics Free Download

Unzip the file after download, and Run it (setup.exe) and test everything, as well as a stress test for 1 hour. If the system hangs or freezes, write down the time and date as well as what test it was doing when it occurred. Pictures are helpful.

2.) Another culprit could be the sata connector on the motherboard to where the hard drive is connected might be slowly dying causing erratic freezing, crashing.

To see if this is the case, Please go into event viewer.
Please use this recording that is attached that will walk you through this.
(Open the attached file in internet explorer.)
Scroll down here slowly. Keep an eye on the date and times. You want to scroll through about a week. You are looking for under source the word disk. As well as any error messages. Please post any errors or disk related messages in the event viewer."

 

[ICIT2LOL]

Yes Andrew I reckon reseating the sticks and hard drive would not go amiss either.