Win7 x64 hangs during idle

[yoleto]

Hey guys, first post here xD

I have Windows 7 Ultimate x64 installed on a Corsair Performance3 SSD which is a little over a month old. About a week ago, I started noticing that windows would hang after leaving it on overnight with an un-intensive game running in windowed mode. A couple days ago it started hanging after idling anywhere between 15 minutes to an hour. WHen it hangs, I can open new tabs in Google Chrome but nothing will load and the cursor will change to the spinning circle and when I right click the desktop, the menu will appear but nothing will happen if I click anything... same thing with the start menu and taskbar. The activity LED on my wireless card continues to flash though.

I've tried disabling every power saving option in bios and in power management under the control panel, disabling the shutdown of my wireless card to save power, disabled all non-Microsoft services with msconfig, ran Memtest86 for 4 hours with no errors and finally, in frustration, reformatted and installed a fresh copy of Win7.

I have no idea what's causing it. Any ideas?

My rig: i5 2500k stock, 2x4gb Corsair Dominator DDR3 1600, Asus Sabertooth p67 rev. 3.0, Asus GTX 570, Corsair Performance 3 SSD 64gb, Corsair HX850w power supply.

 

[usasma]

I've seen some issues with SSD's and Intel chipsets recently. I'd suggest trying the following stuff:

1 - update the firmware on the SSD (from the Corsair website)
2 - update the Intel chipset and storage drivers from the Intel website
3 - update the Marvell storage drivers from the Marvell website
4 - update the JMicron storage drivers from the JMicron website
FYI - here's a link to the specs of your mobo: ASUSTeK Computer Inc. - Motherboards- ASUS SABERTOOTH P67

If all of that doesn't work, then post back and we'll start generating reports (see the BSOD posting instructions - even though you're not having BSOD's): http://www.sevenforums.com/crashes-debugging/96879-blue-screen-death-bsod-posting-instructions.html

 

[yoleto]

Thanks a lot usasma! I'll try out your suggestions and let you know. Fingers crossed!

Edit: Oh and also my computer crashes randomly I'd say once every 10 days-ish and when it reboots, my SSD doesn't always show up as a boot option. Sometimes I have to power down the machine completely before it shows up again, at which point I need to go into the bios and reselect it as my boot drive. Any ideas as to what could cause this?

 

[usasma]

In the few cases that I've seen over the past month or so, most of them have this on/off SSD recognition issue.
I've recommended firmware updates - but there isn't much feedback available from those that I advised (especially since the crashes were infrequent).

Good luck to you! Let us know how you make out.

 

[yoleto]

Hey, so I updated everything you listed in your previous post but it still happens. I'm going to compile the reports and post it soon. I didn't find any firmware for the Performance 3 series SSD's on the Corsair forums btw.

You are my beacon of hope usasma!

 

[yoleto]

Hey, so I went ahead and generated both reports and zipped them up. The Performance Monitor says that my cpu, gpu etc are all very slow which doesn't make sense with the hardware that I have.. maybe that's part of the problem?

 

[usasma]

I see Brother drivers from 2006 - not a good idea, please update them.
Intel RAID drivers from 2005 - please update
IBM ServeRAID Controller Driver from 2006 - please update
Update all Razer devices - older versions will have some issues with Win7
Update USB 3.0 controller - to 2010 version (the 2009 version sometimes has problems)

Is this a cloned copy of an HP system? If not, I'd have to wonder how you got all these different storage drivers installed on your system.

If it is a cloned copy, I'd have to suggest wiping the hard drive clean (with KillDisk or DBAN) and installing a fresh copy of Windows without the extra stuff on it.

Another option would be to do a repair install of Windows - but I wonder how this will work with a cloned copy of Windows? It's possible that Windows Activation will kick in and require a valid product key before it'll let you get into Windows. A how-to on repair installs is located here: http://www.sevenforums.com/tutorials/3413-repair-install.html

There's a controller error repeated 7 times in the System event log - looks like the first IDE port to me:

Event[132]:
Log Name: System
Source: atapi
Date: 2011-06-08T15:01:40.650
Event ID: 11
Task: N/A
Level: Error
Opcode: N/A
Keyword: Classic
User: N/A
User Name: N/A
Computer: Roy-PC
Description:
The driver detected a controller error on \Device\Ide\IdePort0.

Your version of SuperAntispyware is incompatible with your system - uninstall it.
If you want to use the program, download the newest, Win7 compatible version from their website

IMO this pinpoints the error (more info below the quote):

Event[39]:
Log Name: Application
Source: Application Error
Date: 2011-06-08T15:12:46.000
Event ID: 1005
Task: Application Crashing Events
Level: Error
Opcode: N/A
Keyword: Classic
User: N/A
User Name: N/A
Computer: Roy-PC
Description:
Windows cannot access the file C:\Windows\System32\wsqmcons.exe for one of the following reasons: there is a problem with the network connection, the disk that the file is stored on, or the storage drivers installed on this computer; or the disk is missing. Windows closed the program Windows SQM Consolidator because of this error.

Program: Windows SQM Consolidator
File: C:\Windows\System32\wsqmcons.exe

The error value is listed in the Additional Data section.
User Action
1. Open the file again. This situation might be a temporary problem that corrects itself when the program runs again.
2. If the file still cannot be accessed and
- It is on the network, your network administrator should verify that there is not a problem with the network and that the server can be contacted.
- It is on a removable disk, for example, a floppy disk or CD-ROM, verify that the disk is fully inserted into the computer.
3. Check and repair the file system by running CHKDSK. To run CHKDSK, click Start, click Run, type CMD, and then click OK. At the command prompt, type CHKDSK /F, and then press ENTER.
4. If the problem persists, restore the file from a backup copy.
5. Determine whether other files on the same disk can be opened. If not, the disk might be damaged. If it is a hard disk, contact your administrator or computer hardware vendor for further assistance.

Additional Data
Error value: C0000185
Disk type: 3

We've seen a lot of possible storage issues from different reports. IMO this is most likely a problematic hard drive. If not that, then I'd suspect the motherboard (the controller on the mobo actually), or the Windows installation.
So, here's what I sugges:
1 - determine the storage controllers (on the mobo) that your system is using (from Device Manager) and get the latest version from the storage controller manufacturer's website and install them.
2 - update or remove the other storage controllers (post back for detailed instructions if you can't find the updates)
3 - run chkdsk /r /f (in an elevated Command Prompt) on all drives. If it wants to do it on reboot, select YES and reboot.
4 - run the diagnostic tools for your SSD. If you can't find a tool, try this one: CrystalDiskMark - Software - Crystal Dew World
5 - run Hardware Diagnostics on the system (to include ALL attached drives):

I suggest starting all troubleshooting with the following diagnostic tests. They'll save you a lot of time and heartache if there is a hardware failure, and you'll have the disks on hand in case you need them in the future:

H/W Diagnostics:
Please start by running these bootable hardware diagnostics:
Memory Diagnostics (read the details at the link)
HD Diagnostic (read the details at the link)

Also, please run one of these free, independent online malware scans to ensure that your current protection hasn't been compromised: Free Online AntiMalware Resources (read the details at the link)

Then, if the above tests pass, I'd try these free stress tests:

FurMark download site: FurMark: VGA Stress Test, Graphics Card and GPU Stability Test, Burn-in Test, OpenGL Benchmark and GPU Temperature | oZone3D.Net
FurMark Setup:
- If you have more than one GPU, select Multi-GPU during setup
- In the Run mode box, select "Stability Test" and "Log GPU Temperature"
Click "Go" to start the test
- Run the test until the GPU temperature maxes out - or until you start having problems (whichever comes first).
NOTE: Set the alarm to go off at 90ºC. Then watch the system from that point on. If the system doesn't display a temperature, watch it constantly and turn it off at the first sign of video problems. DO NOT leave it it unmonitored, it can DAMAGE your video card!!!
- Click "Quit" to exit

Prime95 download site: Free Software - GIMPS
Prime95 Setup:
- extract the contents of the zip file to a location of your choice
- double click on the executable file
- select "Just stress testing"
- select the "Blend" test. If you've already run MemTest overnight please run the "Small FFTs" test instead. (run all 3 if you find a problem and note how long it takes to error out with each)
- "Number of torture test threads to run" should equal the number of CPU's times 2 (if you're using hyperthreading).
The easiest way to figure this out is to go to Task Manager...Performance tab - and see the number of boxes under CPU Usage History
Then run the test for 6 to 24 hours - or until you get errors (whichever comes first).
This won't necessarily crash the system - but check the output in the test window for errors.
The Test selection box and the stress.txt file describes what components that the program stresses.
More details on the use of this test: Torture test your CPU with Prime95

More Video Stress Tests:
1. Thanks to VirGnarus for finding this test: https://simtk.org/home/memtest
2. Two other video stress tests (may be more stressful than FurMark):
Video Memory stress Test - МИРNVIDIA / Утилиты / VMT
Artifact Locator - МИРNVIDIA / Утилиты / Artifact Locator
Sorry, but I don't read the language that this website is made in.
3. Another interesting test that came to my attention: Download - OCCT Website english
USE AT YOUR OWN RISK - the program doesn't have a whole bunch of safety features to protect you from yourself!

CPU Stress Tests:
- http://downloadcenter.intel.com/Detail_Desc.aspx?agr=Y&DwnldID=19182&lang=eng
- 7Byte : Hot CPU Tester Pro
- 7Byte : BurnIn64
- CPU Stress test - Overclock.net - Overclocking.net
- Fossil Free Online CPU Load or Stress Test.
- CPU Stability Test description, System Resources Tune-Up. Downloads List By All Time Popularity | PCWorld | PCWorld
- CPU Stress test - Overclock.net - Overclocking.net
- |MG| CPU Stability Test 6.0 Download
- LinX - A simple Linpack interface - XtremeSystems Forums

 

[yoleto]

I'm reformatting once more with all drivers from 2011. I also have C3/C6 state disabled in my bios which people say have helped. I ran SiSoft Sandra's hard drive benchmarks and it always freezes my computer when I try to do either a write or read bench on my Corsair P3 SSD but not on my WD caviar black 1tb storage drive. rahhhh

 

[usasma]

Are both all drives on the same controller channel? What's the other 1 tB drive? FYI - I found this info in the Storage section of the MSINFO32 report
Disk 0 - Corsair Performance3 SSD ATA Device
Disk 1 - WDC WD1002FAEX-00Y9A0 ATA Device
Disk 2 - WDC WD10 02FAEX-00Z3A0 SCSI Disk Device

Disk 2 has 2 partitions (one's the 100mB one that you see when installing Windows7), while Disk 1 only has one partition.

 

[yoleto]

Disk 2 was the boot drive from my old computer which I haven't reformatted yet. Disk 0, the SSD, is on the Intel controller while Disk 2 is on the Marvell controller. Disk 1 is just a storage drive that is also on the Intel controller.

I just tried connecting my SSD to the Marvell controller and running Sisoft hard drive benchmark and it freezes. Could this be a problem with the SSD? Yet I can install, move files and do everything else normally. Another thing is that when I run the Windows Experience Index, it freezes when it gets to the disk performance part.

 

[usasma]

I have a "hunch" that there's a problem with your SSD - but not enough of a hunch to say it's bad.

I would:
- remove Disk 2 (unplug both power and data cables)
- remove SSD and try booting with disk 1 in all different channels (it isn't bootable, so you won't get anywhere).
- then remove disk 1 and try booting in each channel with SSD.
- if really curious, disconnect Disk 1 and the SSD, then try booting with Disk 2 (it'll boot, but could crash) - then try it on all channels.

 

[yoleto]

Just curious as to what would be accomplished by trying to boot with Disk 2? I've tried booting it in both Intel and Marvell channels and it bluescreens after the Windows loading screen.

 

[usasma]

I'd be curious if there were any differences between Disk 1 and Disk 2 when booting. The only (significant) difference (IMO) is that Disk 2 is bootable, while Disk 1 isn't. That'd explain the BSOD after the attempt at logon. It should also (I presume) then BSOD when attempting to go into Safe Mode (with Disk 2).

Basically, the more different things that you try, the more likely you are to notice a pattern (such as Disk 1 and Disk 2 at least try to boot, while the SSD gives you freezes. And, if the SSD freezes on more than one controller - then the problem is most likely with the SSD (or the files on it if you're working in Windows) rather than a controller problem.

Another thing to try (although I'm not familiar with it) is to see what the SSD does when a bootable Linux distro is used (and if it freezes there also).

Is the drive still under warranty? If so, I'd contact Corsair to see what the requirements are to return it for another one. That'd be the best test IMO.

 

[yoleto]

The SSD never gives me problems when booting up, in fact it takes less than 30 seconds from powered off to desktop. It only gives me problems when I try to run a benchmark on it and the occasional disappearance from the boot devices.

Edit: I went to the gym for about an hour and when I came back, my computer had crashed and my boot SSD didn't show up in the bios until I powered down and waited a couple minutes.

I'm going to RMA the mobo and hopefully the SSD so hopefully that will fix the problem.

 

[yoleto]

A couple more problems that I have noticed as well.

Sometimes when I plug in a flash drive or my iPod nano, my Razer Blackwidow Ultimate usb keyboard disconnects and won't turn back on unless I unplug it and wait a minute before plugging it back in.

Also, my computer doesn't crash when I play a movie from my storage drive and leave it alone... I want to toss my compy out the window grr.

 

[usasma]

The forums have seen lot's of issues with SSD's recently. This is enough to convince me that I shouldn't convert my system over to an SSD yet. Maybe I'll try it after Win8 has been out for a while.

 

[yoleto]

Yeah, stick with Raid for now lol. I've never had so many problems with a build before.

Edit: Intel SSD's seem to be the most reliable atm too.