Windows 7 Hangs (no BSD)

[csteinhilber]

Having random hangs in Windows 7 Professional 64-bit.
Sometimes several times a day, sometimes none. Seems to boot fine, and operate effectively for some time. Then it freezes during an operation (doesn't seem to freeze when idle).
Most recently in happened when I right-clicked on a link in Firefox to open it in a new tab.
Time before that, when Nero was completing a DVD burn and switching to the data verification process.
Other occurrences I recall: executing a Photoshop operation (core filter, like Blur, I believe), opening a mail item in Outlook.

On hang, no keyboard, no mouse, no CTRL-ALT-DEL available. Sometimes the desktop freezes in place (though without the taskbar), sometimes it's just the desktop *background* (currently just set to a solid color, no image), and sometimes it's a black screen (monitor reports "No source signal detected"). I don't really ever get a BSoD (least not yet). I've waited for up to 10 minutes for the system to return, with no joy.
Since the Veriton does not have a reset, I have to hold the power button until the system shuts down. Selecting "Start Windows normally" on boot seems to boot regularly.

Specifics:
Windows 7 Professional
64-bit (why doesn't Computer -> Properties give the build number anymore?!?)
Acer Veriton M480G
Intel Core2 Quad CPU, 2.66GHz
4GB RAM
ATI Radeon video card (onboard video disabled in BIOS) w/ dual monitors
Onboard audio
2 physical drives internal @ 3 virtual volumes
1, 2, or 3 external USB drives at any given time (though issue occurs even when no external drives connected)
iPod (USB)
System was rolled out to me a week ago. The OS, I believe, is OEM, with OEM-installed apps/utes (McAfee, Commander) uninstalled.
AVG installed (even though perfmon seems not to detect it?)
Corporate network, DHCP (though IP is reserved), firewall appliance rather than Windows Firewall/Defender

Windows_NT6_BSOD_jcgriff2 dump and perfmon report attached.

Any help to troubleshoot would be greatly appreciated. Problem is so random, I can't trust the system right now. Making it hard to work.

 

[usasma]

systeminfo.txt - only 20 hotfixes listed. There are 45 to 60 hotfixes available (at a minimum) for Win7. Please visit Windows Update and get the rest of the updates.

MSINFO32 - only errors since 9/23/2010 are listed - have you cleaned out the system with any tools recently?

Event log - system - uninstall the McAfee Site Advisor program. Errors from it seem to preceed unexpected shutdowns
- there may be heat issues, I'd suggest using this free monitoring tool to check your temps: Download SpeedFan - Access temperature sensor in your computer

Event log - application - errors with Nokia PC Suite, please uninstall
- errors with Adobe AIR, please uninstall
- networking error: An existing connection was forcibly closed by the remote host
Are you using anything on an external server? This is likely the reason for your problems with Outlook. I'd suspect that this was a separate issue.

 

[csteinhilber]

Thank you for the response, usasma, I really appreciate it!

I'll look into the hotfixes. I could've sworn I had my Windows Update set to inform me before installing, but maybe I throttled it back too far.

I'm not seeing McAfee Site Advisor as being installed. Not listed in the Programs & Features control panel. There is no program group in the Start Menu. And I'm not seeing any directories with anything like "Site Advisor" in either Program Files or Program Files (x86). I did remove the bundled McAfee when I first got the machine, but I think it was only the AV, and not the suite.

Monitoring the temps, now. Trying to Google to find some benchmark references for this setup.

As for the other events you cited:
- Nokia PC Suite - now removed. Easy enough.
- Adobe AIR - unfortunately, I'm an AIR developer... so uninstalling isn't really an option. Anything else I might be able to do to curtail the errors with this application?
- Networking - I'm not really understanding the question. Using anything on an external server? Like what?

Thanks again, so much, for your insight usasma.
Thank goodness there's folks out there that understand this stuff!

 

[usasma]

When troubleshooting problems like this it's advisable to install all updates.

Looks like a lot of equipment on your system. What's the make and wattage of your PSU?

Check in services.msc to see if the McAfee Site Advisor service is trying to start from there.
If it is, then Disable it.
If not, then use the search function in Autoruns to locate any McAfee entries and Disable them.

Here's one of the errors from the System log in Event Viewer:

Event[150]:
Log Name: System
Source: Service Control Manager
Date: 2010-10-05T16:02:58.325
Event ID: 7000
Task: N/A
Level: Error
Opcode: N/A
Keyword: Classic
User: N/A
User Name: N/A
Computer: carl.thinkhmh.com
Description:
The McAfee SiteAdvisor Service service failed to start due to the following error:
The system cannot find the file specified.

You can also use the McAfee Consumer Products Removal Tool (free here: How to uninstall or reinstall supported McAfee consumer products using the McAfee Consumer Products Removal tool (MCPR.exe) )

I use the finger test for temps - if I can't touch it with my finger, it's too hot. That starts in around 60ºC - but video cards can go higher. Just give us an idea of what the temps run on your system. If there isn't a reading for the video, try this free video stress test (it gives temps): FurMark: VGA Stress Test, Graphics Card and GPU Stability Test, OpenGL Benchmark and GPU Temperature | oZone3D.Net

An AIR developer, huh? I've got a bunch of questions about that, but that'll be in another thread!
For now, uninstall the Adobe AIR - and then reinstall a fresh copy that you're sure is updated. The point here is that we want to be sure that there's no problem with the AIR stuff (so, therefore, the problems have to be with something else).

As for the networking, are you using a work network? Do you use an Exchange Server? Do others report issues with their email (or anything else)? The error points to an event that cuts you off from something external (most likely the email server). What I'm trying to figure out is if this is something external (and out of your control) or if it's coming from your system (and thats something that we can fix).

 

[csteinhilber]

Thanks again for the help so far, usasma. Unfortunately, I continue to have these same or similar issues.

I installed all the recommended hotfixes last week. And then through yesterday and today I've gone back and installed all of the suggested. WindowsUpdate indicates the system is 100% up-to-date.

I ran the McAfee removal tool (never could find any traces of SiteAdvisor in the file system... maybe it was rebranded as something else?). Removal Tool reported the removal was successful, though, like I said, I can neither confirm or deny.

I've run SpeedFan during the majority of my uptime last week. The only anomaly it reported, that I'm aware of, is my secondary HD was pegged as running hot. I'm not 100% convinced this was an accurate reading, because the hardware itself did not seem all that hot to the touch when I tested that way. But this morning, I went ahead and disconnected that drive to see if that helped. It didn't.
Everything else SF reports as green checks most of the time.

I removed the Nokia suite last week.
After resisting last week, I did finally uninstall AIR this morning.
I also did uninstall the PCI hardware ATI Radeon display card, and reenabled the onboard video in the BIOS.
Still, no difference.

As for the network, the reason I'm confused is I'm not really experiencing any network issues locally that I'm aware of. The system is on a work network, and I do use an Exchange server... but inbound and outbound connections have seemed fairly stable.

The box is OEM directly from Acer. Power Supply is their standard unit, I'm sure. What equipment concerns you? The only things that weren't in the case out of the box are the ATI video card (now removed) and the secondary HD (now disconnected). It doesn't seem like those additions would be anything out of the ordinary, does it? I'll dig a little deeper into the make and wattage of the PSU if you think I need to... but as it stands, the video card and extra HD are out of the mix at the moment anyway, so the box should be running back on manufacturers spec and the PSU shouldn't be an issue, I'm thinking.

I've attached a Windows_NT6_BSOD_jcgriff2 dump and perfmon report from the latest hang, and well as logs from SpeedFan. Any further insight or nudges would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks again!

 

[usasma]

The PSU's that come with OEM systems are, IMO, always borderline. I always suggest upgrading the PSU when adding components to an OEM box. There's no sure way to tell about the PSU's ability except by trying another one - but I don't think that you should try that just yet.

Since you've removed the ATI video card, please uninstall the ATI software/drivers from the system. They're spitting out errors that your display isn't active.

I'm starting to wonder about your connection to the Exchange Server. What version of Microsoft Outlook do you use? 2000/2002: Outlook MAPI Message Store Cannot Handle Free Threaded Access When Mspst32.dll Is Used 2007: OL-07 Reinstall? Error with mspst.32.dll in Outlook Installation
Please visit Microsoft Update and ensure that you have all updates for the Office suite.

I'd like to see these files (if possible):
C:\Users\carls.HMH\AppData\Local\Temp\WER2917.tmp.hdmp
C:\Users\carls.HMH\AppData\Local\Temp\WER3123.tmp.mdmp
and the contents of this folder:
C:\Users\carls.HMH\AppData\Local\Microsoft\Windows\WER\ReportQueue\

 

[csteinhilber]

Thanks again, usasma.

Okay... stupid question... how does one uninstall the drivers for hardware that is no longer listed in the Device Manager?

Using Outlook 2007 (12.0.6504.5000) SP2
MSO (12.0.6425.1000)

Still... so odd that you're finding so many errors so as to concern you. As I said, I've noticed little from a user perspective. Outlook launches fine, closes down fine, and has never crashed on this machine that I can remember. Mail seems to come and go without incident, and I never see Outlook's status change to Disconnected or Offline.

Neither WER2917.tmp.hdmp nor WER3123.tmp.mdmp exist in the C:\Users\carls.HMH\AppData\Local\Temp\ directory (at last check). And the WER\ReportQueue directory is absolutely huge (19MB). Possible to email it directly, rather than posting here?

 

[usasma]

In the case of ATI - go to Control Panel...Programs...Uninstall a program and remove all the ATI stuff there. If there's nothing there then we'll have to go hunting for the Catalyst Control Center stuff - not gonna be fun!

It's my job to find errors, so I look a lot harder than most. And, when I find them they only concern me if I can't explain them. While you relate no problems, this seems to me to be similar to networking issues that I had at my last duty station (and I had to fix them for the IT folks - it was a BIOS update for all the Dell's that we had).

I'd check on BIOS updates for your system (I couldn't find anything on the Acer website).
I'd also update the Chipset and AHCI drivers just in case they're involved (the latest are dated 4/22/2010)

zip up the WER\ReportQueue directory and upload it to a free file-hosting service. Then post the link to it here.

 

[csteinhilber]

I realized I never closed the loop on this.
Sorry about that. Especially to usasma for his immense help.

Took the system all the way back to a clean factory config. And it became obvious it was still overheating... straight from the manufacturer.
Replaced the entire box with an identical unit, re-added all my peripherals, and haven't had a problem since.

Thanks again to usasma!

Cheers!