Windows 7 randomly freezes

[sargepepper]

The Problem:
My windows 7 PC freezes (and stays frozen) at apparently random times. The computer will not respond to the mouse or keyboard. Keyboard lights are on, but the Caps Lock key will not light up.
This has happened both on startup and while using the PC. If a sound is playing when it freezes, the note will keep repeating. If I have the Task Managers’ “Performance” tab up, I can see that the CPU activity graph is frozen as well. The only option I have is to hit the reset button.

There are no errors presented. The Event Log does not show any specific error occurring at the time of the freeze. The Event log only shows errors and warnings about my having shut down the PC unexpectedly. Nothing to show it was frozen and non-responsive.
I have made sure all drivers are up to date. Ran SFC - it reports all files are in order.
My web searches have found similar issues occurring with other people, on this and on other forums. I tried various solutions proposed (changed antivirus program, set power to “high performance” ran a windows ‘repair install’, tested memory and video card) but none of this has helped so far.
Every time I try something out, I assume that I have found “The Solution”, and it is - until the PC freezes again.
Last night I modified the power settings – under “high performance I set the USB power to never idle, sleep to never.
Things seemed nice, and I tested sleep mode by setting the PC to ‘sleep’, then ‘woke’ it with a mouse click – all worked fine. Sent the Pc to sleep and left it. This morning, I clicked the mouse, PC woke up, and then froze – Keyboard and mouse did nothing. Keyboard lights were on until I tried a Right-mouse click – keyboard lights went off. Mouse still seemed to have power. No response from the PC.

Any help is greatly appreciated…this is driving me batty.

Below is a list of my current configuration. I'm happy to provide additional information as needed.

PC specs:
CPU: AMD Phenom II X4 955
Memory: 4.0GB Dual-Channel DDR3 @ 669MHz 9-9-9-24
HD: Western Digital WDC WD5000AAKS-00A7B2 ATA Device (IDE)
Graphics: 1024MB GeForce GTS 250
Motherboard: Gigabyte GA-MA770T-UD3P
OS: MS Windows 7 Home Premium 64-bit


Strange women lyin' in ponds distributin' swords is no basis for a system of government

 

[Capt.Jack Sparrow]

Hello !! Welcome to SF !!

There is no quick fix for freezing the issue. We have the narrow down the issue and find which one is causing the problem.

The first step i always ask would be "Does it happen in Safe Mode ?"

Then the best Troubleshooting steps is reboot the System in selective Startup. Here is the Link follow the instrctions

http://windows.microsoft.com/en-us/windows-vista/Run-Selective-Startup-using-System-Configuration


Post us some Logs !!

Please go to Start and type in "msinfo32.exe" (without the quotes) and press Enter
Save the report as an .nfo file, then zip up the .nfo file and upload/attach the .zip file with your next post.

If you're having difficulties with the format, please open an elevated (Run as administrator) Command Prompt and type "msinfo32 /nfo C:\Users\Public\Desktop\TEST.NFO\" (without the quotes) and press Enter. Then navigate to the C:\Users\Public\Desktop directory to retrieve the TEST.NFO file. If you have difficulties with making this work, please post back

Hope this helps,
Captain

 

[sargepepper]

Still going in Safe Mode

Capt. Sparrow - thanks for replying. I am running in Safe mode right now, and wil leave it on - We'll see if the PC is still active when I return later.
I have attached the .nfo file - This one collected while in Safe mode.
Please let me know if you see anything 'interesting'. I did note that there are many shared IRQs - I'm not sure if this is normal.

I'll post again later.

 

[Capt.Jack Sparrow]

Capt. Sparrow - thanks for replying. I am running in Safe mode right now, and wil leave it on - We'll see if the PC is still active when I return later.
I have attached the .nfo file - This one collected while in Safe mode.
Please let me know if you see anything 'interesting'. I did note that there are many shared IRQs - I'm not sure if this is normal.

I'll post again later.

Hello !!

I checked your MSINFO32 File seems like an issue with Kaspersky Anti Hacker driver KL1.sys make sure your remove it completely and run the Removal Tool to make sure everything is clean.

Probelm Devices

kl1 ROOT\LEGACY_KL1\0000 This device is not present, is not working properly, or does not have all its drivers installed.[/COLOR] 
[COLOR=black]Security Processor Loader Driver ROOT\LEGACY_SPLDR\0000 This device is not present, is not working properly, or does not have all its drivers installed.[/COLOR]

Hope this helps,
Captain

 

[sargepepper]

Kaspersky? Where did that come from?!!?

Very interesting - I never installed Kaspersky, so I'm wondering where KL1.sys came from. Could it be malware of some kind?
In any case, I'll see to removing that tonight and post the results.

 

[Capt.Jack Sparrow]

Very interesting - I never installed Kaspersky, so I'm wondering where KL1.sys came from. Could it be malware of some kind?
In any case, I'll see to removing that tonight and post the results.

Maybe but according to Google most of the sites are referring to Kaspersky.

Go to C:\Windows\System32\Drivers and look for that File.
In case you find it rename the extension to KL1.old

To be on a Safe side download Malwarebytes and run a complete scan.

Hope this helps,
Captain

 

[sargepepper]

OK...renamed KL1.sys and ran the Kaspersky Removal Tool.
Also uninstalled Gigabytes' "Easy Saver" power saver utility.
Rebooted into normal ("Unsafe mode? ) Windows, installed and ran Malwarebytes.
Left PC for 15 minutes, came back to find it frozen up with Malwarebytes unfinished. Resisted kicking the PC and instead restarted in Safe Mode. Completed Malewarebytes scan which came back clean.

So basically I think I'm back to square one - still no idea why this is happening.

 

[sargepepper]

Frustrated after a few weeks of fighting this freeing problem, I formateed the drive aqnd reinstalled Windows. For now I'm running with the drivers put in place by the Windows installer. Installed MS Security Essentials for Anti-Virus.
Left all settings at their defaults...now to wait and see what develops. I'll post again in the morning with an update.

Woke PC up this morning and everything seemed fine. then about 5 minutes later it froze up again. Rebooted and set Memtest86 running, to retest memory as a possible cause.

Edit:
with all that's been done/tested/installed/reinstalled, I see this as either:
1. A bad windows install CD - since this was a clean boot situation, with no 3rd party applications or services. If so,how do I get a replacement CD ?
2. A hardware problem. Assuming the memory is good (It had no errors after 2 passes, I had to leave at that point), what's next? I've tested the HD before, with CHKDSK and HD-Tune. Is there a way to isolate the motherboard or PSU? Or should I just send it all back to the vendor and have them deal with this?

 

[sargepepper]

Spoke to vendor (iBuyPower) tech support - tech suggests it might be the video card, so I put in an RMA for replacement. We'll see how that works out.

 

[c0m4ndo45]

I am interested in the outcome of this, as i'm having a similar issue (Actually pretty much exactly the same), but i know i have a good windows 7 installation since it has worked fine for 5 months and only recently started to lock up in the exact same way, althought i haven't gotten any new software recently. I tried updating nvidia display, directx, windows updates... All up to date and still locking up.

 

[DJMikeT]

Hello all,

I'm having the exact same problem. Random freeze ups where the Keyboard, and mouse and everything just locks up and the only recorse is to do a hard power down and reboot. Sometimes just the freeze up and sometimes with the odd sounds as mentioned above.

I never get a BSOD though just the freeze ups, one thing that is really odd though is that it does it a lot while viewing pictures but it can happen at any time.

I've tried a fresh install (several times), updating drivers, and BIOS and yet the problem still persits.

I thought maybe it was my Boreas MTEC controller on my case but I changed cases and went back to air cooling and have the same damn problem.

Could this be related to ASUS motherboards, I have another Windows 7 install on my HTPC and it never locks up but it has a MSI MB and an AMD processor.

I hope someone finds a solution to this problem. I don't recall having these issues with XP 64 when I first built the gaming rig, but Windows 7 has given me many issues.

Is it possible as mentioned above the install DVD could be corrupt? I used a different one to install Windows 7 on my HTPC.

My Specs for the problem machine are

i7 965 CPU (Not overclocked)
EVGA 295 Video Card
12G Corsair Dominator RAM
ASUS PT6 MB
Windows 7 64Bit OS
2 Western Digital 300 VelociRaptor in Raid 0
PC Power & Cooling 850W Power Supply

 

[Capt.Jack Sparrow]

Hello !! Welcome to SF !!

I would recommend to Run Hard Drive Diagnostic and Memory Diagnostic

Reboot your System in Selective Startup follow this link Run Selective Startup using System Configuration

Hope this helps,
Captain

 

[CarlTR6]

My computer did this when I first installed Win 7 (clean install). After much trial and error, it turned out to be my video card driver. I had to try five drivers before I found the one that worked - and it was not the latest driver.

I narrowed my search for the problem using selective startup as Captain Jack recommended above. I would follow his advice in the order he listed it.

 

[DJMikeT]

Thanks guys I will take your advice and give it a try and post my results.

 

[Capt.Jack Sparrow]

Thanks guys I will take your advice and give it a try and post my results.

Your Welcome Mike !!

 

[DJMikeT]

Ran Memtest last night came out good, also ran HD test on my first HD in my Raid array which came out good also, I started the second HD test this morning before work and will view the results when I get home.

If all is well I plan on doing a fresh install and drivers and see if I still get freeze ups, then I'll start adding my third party apps and try to figure which one is the culprit.

 

[DJMikeT]

Finished scanning my Hard Drives all good there, and I did a fresh install of Windows 7 Professional 64Bit.

I then did all the Windows updates, installed my video, audio and chipset drivers and everything was working great.

However, when I started installing my antivirus my system froze. I rebooted and it appeared the antivirus installed but when I tried to scan I got some errors related to the antivirus. I'm using The Shield Antivirus 2010 by the way. I uninstalled the antivirus and left my machine running all night.

When I woke up this morning my machine was in sleep and it came right out it with one click of the mouse. I'm hopeful that the antivirus was the issue with my freeze ups. I am going let the machine run for a few days without installing anything else and if I don't get any freeze ups then I'll switch to another antivirus.

 

[CarlTR6]

Very good problem solving work. I recommend MSE. It works well with Win 7 and will not cause a freeze as it is designed by Microsoft. It is not at all uncommon to find third party AV's causing all kinds of problems - particularly networking problems. If you wish a third party AV, try Avast.

 

[DJMikeT]

What about ESET Smart Security 4, it got really good reviews two years in a row with Maximum PC? I was thinking of trying that one. MSE scored an 8 out of 10 and ESET scored 9 and also beat out Norton for TOP choice. I also like the advanced features that ESET has, but looks like MSE would be a good choice also.

 

[CarlTR6]

I have never used ESET so I'm not knocking it. I can only say that it has been of the sources of problems posted here in the forums. I am not big on security suites at all; but that is just me.