Solved Windows 7 x64 freezing randomly

[crammy92]

Hello everybody,

My computer screen is freezing once a day or so without any BSODs whatsoever. The funny thing is that everything else is running in the background, including the system clock, music from WMP, and even a video game CD I popped in when it was frozen, which launched like normal, but was unable to do anything because the mouse and keyboard were unresponsive.

When it freezes, I hit the power button once and it shuts down like normal too. Even when I put the computer to sleep during the freeze, it wakes up normally and it works just fine again!

All my drivers are up to date, so what can the problem be? I also tested the hardware with Dell Support Center tools and everything checks out fine.

Remember, everything else is running in the background just as it should, including the clock which still keeps time correctly. The screen looks fine too with everything being displayed clearly and crisply, with no artifacts or lines or anything.

I was also working on a paper for class when it froze, and the funny thing is that when I hit the power button to shut my pc down, it was prevented from doing so because MS Word itself was asking me if I wanted to save the document, which means other processes were running, but I couldn't save because the mouse and keyboard were frozen, so I had to hold the power button until it shut off. Luckily I didn't lose much progress at all because I saved it just a few minutes before. This is a really perplexing situation...

What can be the problem here?
Thanks for your help.


My specs:

Windows 7 Professional x64
Intel i7-2600 @ 3.40 Ghz (non-overclocked)
12GB of RAM
AMD Radeon HD 6800

 

[writhziden]

What kind of connections are you using for your mouse and keyboard?

 

[crammy92]

Sorry for the long delay in my response - I was in class all day long...

Anyway, I am using usb connections for both my mouse and keyboard. I'm not sure if it's a problem with one or both of those devices. I also unplugged/replugged them to no avail during the freeze.

The funny thing is this all started on the 11th of April, the day after I installed a bunch of Microsoft updates. Could they be conflicting with my printer driver for example? I uninstalled my printer drivers, which brings up another point: incidentally when my pc freezes, I notice that the Windows Image Acquisition becomes re-enabled and runs, even though I stopped it and set it to manual before. This happens every time it freezes.

Can this be a clue of some sort that my printer, which has a built-in scanner, is the culprit? It is also a fairly old printer, which might help explain this.

Note that I could not even install the software cd because it was incompatible, but could use it once I plugged it in to the usb port and the drivers installed through Windows Update or something. Please note that I only plug it in when I need to print something.

 

[writhziden]

I would suggest doing some USB troubleshooting.

• Start with http://www.sevenforums.com/tutorials/165554-usb-driver-general-fix-problems.html to resolve the USB issues. Also, USB ports can sometimes enter a safe power state to protect the system from power surges due to USB devices. To reset the USB ports to a nominal power state:
  
  1. Shut down and turn off the computer.
  2. Unplug the computer from the wall or surge protector (then remove the battery if it is a laptop).
  3. "Remove the computer from any port replicator or docking station, disconnect
     cables to printers or devices such as external monitors, USB memory sticks or SD cards, headset or external speakers, mouse or auxiliary keyboard, turn off WIFI and Bluetooth wireless devices." (Use Hard Reset to Resolve Hardware and Software Issues HP Pavilion dv5000 Notebook PC series - HP Customer Care (United States - English))
  4. Hold down the power button for 30 seconds. This closes the circuit and ensures all
     power from components is drained to clear the software connections between the BIOS
     and hardware and clear any corruption in the temporary memory.
  5. (If it is a laptop, plug the battery back into the laptop and then) Plug the computer back into the wall. Do not reconnect any unnecessary peripherals; monitor, keyboard,
     and mouse should suffice and be the only peripherals reconnected.
  6. Turn it on to reinitialize the software connections between the BIOS and hardware

 

[crammy92]

Hey guys...my pc froze again, but I discovered something very interesting! (It is definitely a usb problem)

This time around, I plugged in my mouse and keyboard into the front USB ports of my Dell XPS 8300 and they installed and worked correctly!!! Everything became unfrozen.

It seems that they only freeze up on the back ports for some reason.

It is also interesting to note that when I plugged the keyboard and mouse into the rear usb ports, they did not work, even though they worked when I plugged them into the front usb ports. But when I restarted my pc, I plugged them into the back again and they worked. I'm going to uninstall/reinstall the usb software and see what happens, and do what you instructed me to, writhziden.

 

[TGSoldier]

1. Right click on Computer
   
2. Go to Manage
   
3. Device Manager
   
4. Expand Universal Serial Bus Controller
   
5. Right click on the USB Root Hub and go to properties.
   
6. Head to the Power Management tab and uncheck the "Allow this computer to turn off this device to save power"

 

[crammy92]

Thanks for the replay, TGSoldier. I already unchecked "Allow this computer to turn off this device to save power" a long time ago, before the issues first arose. Hopefully it will work now that I uninstalled/reinstalled the Renasas USB 3.0 software and did what Writhziden told me to do. I'll keep you guys posted.

 

[crammy92]

The rear usb ports are still locking up for some reason, even though I followed writziden's instructions. Are the ports defective or something?

 

[TGSoldier]

Have you tried updating your BIOS to the latest version?

 

[crammy92]

No I haven't. I'll go check dell.com for updates - I forgot to mention that I have a Dell XPS 8300 btw.

I just checked and there aren't any BIOS updates available.

 

[writhziden]

Also make sure your chipset drivers are up to date. Those are very important for USB functionality. Use the Intel® Driver Update Utility and even if it says the chipset driver is valid, go to the update site and download the newest version. Even if the chipset driver is valid, it does not mean it is up to date.

 

[crammy92]

Hey guys, I just wanted to say that the problem has been solved at last. It turns out that the mouse I was using, which was going on 4 years old, was malfunctioning. It was responsible for causing the whole usb hub to freeze up for some reason. Anyway, thanks for your help and you can lock/close this thread.

 

[writhziden]

Glad to see it solved. Thank you for posting back the solution.