Freezes after upgrading to Windows 7

ronaldd12

Posts: 17   +0
the computer is aboout 3yrs old and after upgrading from xp 32bit to win7 32bit and got a new graphics card with 512mb my computer keeps freezing. the freezing occurs usually during startup or a couple minutes after startup; it has no certain time to when it freezes. it also freezes in safe mode. it was working fine running on xp with the new graphics card.

after freezing i cant control the mouse nor keyboard and everything lockes up with the display left how it was before freezing (no black or blue screens)

things i have tried doing..
-reformating hdd
-switching between 2 512mb RAM modules
-using the intergraded graphics card
-leaving win7 on w/no updates

what could cause the freezing??
 
Did you check with the Windows 7 upgrade advisor before you installed Win7.http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/...90-7659-4bd9-9e51-2497c146af15&displaylang=en

Try running it and see if it reports any problems. Your RAM is at the minimum level.

Freezing can be caused by faulty RAM, graphics card, hard drive or incompatible software or drivers.

Did you install all the chipset drivers for windows 7 and have you installed any drivers for things like a wireless card that were not for Windows 7.
 
yea i checked with the advisor before upgrading and no errors or warnings came up, i will check again but it will probably freeze about half way through it. (will post if anything comes up)

yea, when i first upgraded to win7 it still had all my files and drivers installed but i reformated the hdd& installed win7 again when it started freezing, and the freezing started right when win7 was being installed but with every restart it would make progress in the installation. after a few restarts it was installed and still freezes.

at the moment my computer is empty with no updates just win7.
 
i got it to run until the end of the windows 7 advisor but didnt get to save the reports on my pindrive, but all system requirements, devices, and programs passed and the windows 7 advisor, so what can this be?
 
I suspect hard drive or memory. Run the manufacturer's diagnostics for the hard drive and then I'll give you a guide to test the RAM. Follow this guide.

Identify the make of your hard drive and then use one of the links below to get the manufacturers diagnostic for ISO CD. Burn the image file to a CD, boot the PC with the disc in the drive and run the diagnostics. You first need to set the CD drive to 1st in the boot order in the Bios setup.

If you do not have an image burner use this free software to make the CD.

http://www.isoimageburner.com/



ExcelStor: http://www.excelstor.com/eng/support.php?sub_id=3

Hitachi/IBM: http://www.hitachigst.com/support/downloads/

Samsung: http://www.samsung.com/global/business/hdd/support/downloads/support_in_es.html

Seagate, Maxtor & Quantum:http://www.seagate.com/www/en-us/support/downloads

Western Digital:http://support.wdc.com/product/download.asp?lang=en

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Toshiba Fujitsu: http://sdd.toshiba.com/main.aspx?Path=SoftwareUtilities#diagnostic

If you have a Fujitsu drive the best option is to use Seatools for DOS from the Seagate link above.
 
so i did what you asked me to do, and there were no errors on the hdd.

for some reason i think it might be the video card but i want to make sure before i go purchase another one. the reason i say this is because when i plug the vga cable into the intergrated video card it wont even boot up to the desktop but when i plug it into the one i bought it actually lasts a bit more and i can run it for about 15mins before it freezes.
 
You never did answer a question I asked earlier, did you install the chipset drivers for the motherboard and were they for Windows 7 not the same ones you used with XP?

As both the onboard graphics and the card are causing problems I would suspect this could be due to you not installing the correct drivers. It would be a big coincidence if they are both faulty.

We can move on to testing the RAM as this could also be a cause for this problem but please answer the above questions first.
 
nah man i havent installed any chipset drivers for the motherboard, i dont know how to do that nor to check if they are compatibale with win7, but the problem still occured before i reformated the hdd & upgraded my computer to win7 for the first time

i had installed the driver that came with the card, so im pretty sure its the correct one. could it be that the video card isnt compatible with win7?
 
The card will be compatible but it is the driver that needs to be for Windows 7, if you are using a driver that was made for XP it will cause a problem. You need to check that you have installed a Windows 7 driver or simply go to the manufacturer's site, download the driver for the card for Windows 7, uninstall the old one in Device Manager and then install the new one.

Go into the Device Manager and see if there are any yellow warnings next to any of the entries. please tell me what they are.

If you had mentioned this problem existed before you upgraded then we could have saved a lot of time.In your opening post it says "after upgrading from xp 32bit to win7 32bit and got a new graphics card with 512mb my computer keeps freezing" and "it was working fine running on xp with the new graphics card". Now you are saying the problem was happening before you upgraded. Please explain when the freezing started so I know exactly what I am trying to help you with.
 
already updated the card's driver and currently updating all important updates on my computer
and i got no warning signs on device manager

oh and i installed win7 twice the first time was just upgrading it from xp and thats when it froze up on me, the second time time i reformated the hdd and installed it again hoping it would fix the freezing but it didnt
 
You can try testing the RAM by removing one of the cards but Windows 7 may run slowly. If it runs ok then keep it going for a while or until it freezes. If it does not freeze then swap the sticks and you will probably find that it freezes with the other stick. Or, if it freezes with the first one swap the sticks and it should run ok.
 
alright so i did the RAM testing with the RAM it already had and other ones that were compatible from another computer but it still kept freezing on me.

i dont know if this helps but some updates from windows7 wont install because of corrput files and other error codes but the windows7 installation disk doesnt have anything wrong with is because i installed it in another computer after it told me this and it worked perfectly.

im still confused to what the issue might be and i need to get it running ASAP :/
 
What is the full system specifications of the computer you are trying to install W7 on please.

Also, how old is the system?

Does XP function correctly?
 
1.5gb RAM
Pentium 4 2.40 GHz
running 32 bit

roughly about 3-5yrs not really sure how to find out exactly

and xp did run perfectly on this system
 
i dont know if this helps but some updates from windows7 wont install because of corrput files and other error codes

This looks like a pointer. What exactly did the errors state, and the error codes.

Have you had it connected to the internet without any anti virus ior firewall?
 
i've connected it to the internet to use windows update but i havent surfed the web on it yet

out of all the updates only 7 are left and they fail everytime

error codes :
800B0100
80073712
80246007
 
updates from windows7 wont install because of corrput files
This is what caught my eye, the bit about corrupt files, what exactly did it say?


This might help with the update problem.

1. Click on Start and type services.msc into the search box, then click on services in the box above. Scroll down the list to Windows Update, right click on it and select stop.

2. Click on the Start button and then copy and paste this command into the search box:

%windir%\SoftwareDistribution

Then click on "Software Distribution" in the box above and delete the entire contents of the "Download" folder. Do not delete the actual folder just its contents.

3. Go back and turn the Windows Update service back on.

4. Use this link: http://majorgeeks.com/Fix_WU_d6278.html

Just below DOWNLOAD LOCATIONS click on the second lick "Download@MajorGeeks". A bar should appear across the top of the page, click on it and select Download File. When complete, open the program and run the fix.


After that, reboot and then check for updates again.
 
it said "...that a file needed by windows update is missing or corrupted" 800B0100
i did what you told me to do and it didnt help but i just realized that all these update failures are caused because W7 was installed with corrupted files caused by the freezing during the installation

during the installation the computer kept freezing so i had to reboot about 3 times untill W7 was fully installed and in order to install W7 without inturuptions i need to know how to stop the freezing first but you guys changed the subject on me..
 
The system file checker takes a little too long for my computer to go through with it.

The highest percentage its gone up to is 64% before my computer freezes

ill keep trying it though
 
Ok, best of luck with that.

I know you have tried the onboard graphics and it still frooze, but did you remove the graphics card when you tried that, if not, remove the card and try again.
 
i got it to go after a couple tries and it didnt report anything negative

and yea i tried that the first time i was troubleshooting to see if it was the graphics card..
 
I think at this stage I would try to do a format and reinstall of Windows 7 with the graphics card removed and see if that will complete without any freezes interrupting the install.

If that does go smoothly then at least you will have some idea of the cause. Obviously if it does still freeze then further diagnosis can be done like testing the CPU and your power supply.

One more though on the issue:
In your opening post it says you have 2 x 512MB RAM sticks and later in the thread you say you have 1.5GB of RAM. Do you have 1GB or 1.5GB?

If you are using 1.5GB this has to mean you have an uneven amount of memory in each channel which is not the best way to run the PC and that could be causing some glitches. Also you should check that all the RAM is matched. If you have sticks that require different voltages that could also be causing problems. Having matched pairs of identical RAM is the best way to run the PC.
 
already did the format and it still froze
and i had just gotten an exact replacement PSU so that can't be the issue? (450W, 115v/230v)

yea sorry it already came with 512mb of RAM and i thought i had bought another 512mb stick but it was 1GB so yea its 1.5GB of RAM

so i just removed the older RAM stick it had (512mb) and left the 1GB like i did before but it still froze twice and i dont even open any programs that would cause it to freeze i just leave it in the desktop and it still freezes... & i dont know where to check for the voltages but im pretty sure its not that because it wouldnt have read it correctly or would have burned it up by now.
 
The voltage setting can be fairly critical for proper function. Even .1 of a volt can make a difference. The wrong voltage would not burn out the RAM it would just cause instability unless the setting was a long way off. 1GB of RAM is the minimum recommended amount for Windows 7 and your graphics card may be using some of it.

Also, if you only have one stick in use it should be in slot one. If you use both (as they are not matched) I would put them in slot 1 & 2 to avoid uneven channels. You would have a much better set up if you got a stick that matches the 1GB stick you already have and use slots 1 & 3.

The motherboard manual should have details of what RAM configuration is acceptable and on the manufacturers site there should also be a list of compatible RAM. Specifications of the sticks do vary with the voltage and timing settings. Therefore some sticks can be incompatible with the motherboard. I would check all this out before going any further.

The only other suggestion I have is to also check the voltage is correctly set on the CPU and finally run a test on the CPU using Prime95. There is a link to Windows 7 instructions which will be worth reading before you start.

http://files.extremeoverclocking.com/file.php?f=103

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.

Windows 7 forum instructions.
http://www.sevenforums.com/tutorials/100352-cpu-stress-test-prime95.html
 
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