Hey everyone,

When I start my system, the computer would randomly freeze during the start up process. Sometimes the freeze will occur at the windows loading screen. Other times, the desktop load but will become unresponsive. In either case I have no choice but to power off and try again.

These occurrences are happening more frequently now. Any help would be appreciated.

Thanks.

May I recommend two tests before going further?
Though this is not the only possibility, your symptoms possibly could be indicative of failing hardware.
I would recommend testing your memory and your harddrive for errors.

I would suggest that you start with Memtest.
Please follow this guide... http://www.techspot.com/vb/topic62524.html

Please note that (unless you start getting errors reported) you will need to let this run a long time.
A good way of doing this is to let it run over night. In each 'pass" there are a series of eight memory tests that are run, each more complicated than the previous. You need to let it run a minimum of 7 passes, unless you start getting errors. If you have errors reported, you may want to re-run the test with only one stick of ram installed, checked each stick until you isolate those that are faulty. That way you can limit your replacement to those that actually need it.

Let us know the results. If your memory comes up without errors, then it is unlikely this is the cause of your problems.

Next give your hard-drive a check up...
1. How is free-space on your drive?

• start Windows Explorer or go to "Start".
• click on my computer
• right click on your boot drive (usually drive C)
• click on properties.
• if free space is less than 10% of the capacity of the drive, this could be a problem. If so, find a way to move or remove files. Move needed files to another drive. Get rid of un-needed files.
• TFC is a good way of cleaning up un-needed files

To get rid of unneeded files use - Temp File Cleaner:

• 
  Download TFC to your desktop
  • Open the file and close any other windows.
  • It will close all programs itself when run, make sure to let it run uninterrupted.
  • Click the Start button to begin the process. The program should not take long to finish its job
  • Once its finished it should reboot your machine, if not, do this yourself to ensure a complete clean
• TFC only cleans temp folders. TFC will not clean URL history, prefetch, or cookies.
• Depending on how often someone cleans their temp folders, their system hardware, and how many accounts are present, it can take anywhere from a few seconds to a minute or more. TFC will completely clear all temp files where other temp file cleaners may fail. TFC requires a reboot immediately after running. Be sure to save any unsaved work before running TFC.
  
• TFC (Temp File Cleaner) will clear out all temp folders for all user accounts (temp, IE temp, java, FF, Opera, Chrome, Safari), including Administrator, All Users, LocalService, NetworkService, and any other accounts in the user folder.

2. Run ChkDsk

• Double click on My Computer
• Right click on the drive you want to check
• Select Properties
• Click on the Tools tab
• Click on the Check Now button
• Check to Automatically fix file system errors - This is the same as running chkdsk /f
• To Scan for and attempt recovery of bad sectors, check that box - This is the same as running chkdsk /R. It can also add a lot of time to the scan
• Reboot if necessary

Note: chkdsk might take hours to run

3. Run Hard Drive Diagnostics

• Crystaldiskinfo will give you a quick check on drive health.
  It is available here ... http://crystalmark.info/software/CrystalDiskInfo/index-e.html
  or from CNET, here ... http://download.cnet.com/CrystalDiskInfo/3000-2086_4-10832082.html
  If it shows problems, no need to go further.
  If it does not show problems, then probably your disk is okay, and we don't need to pursue the next check at this time unless you just want to.
• Download the hard drive utility /tool from the maker of your drive. CrystalDiskInfo will tell you about your drive, including the maker... see image attached.

If these test out "okay", then I would like for you to look for minidump files.
You will find them in your minidump folder, which is a sub-folder of your Windows (system) folder.
They will have an extention

Attach a zip of your five most recent to your next post, along with the results of your memory and hard drive tests.

Thanks for the response B00kWyrm. Sorry for the late reply.

Here are my results so far:

1. I ran Memtest overnight and no errors were found.

2. My hard drive has 15GB free out of 500GB. TFC helped a bit, but I will have to back up soon.

3. Ran chkdsk with both options selected

4. Crystaldiskinfo shows a health status of "Good"

Besides the fre space problem, everythings seems okay. I can't locate the minidump folder in my windows directory so I can't attach any minidumps. Maybe TFC deleted them?

Bookwyrm asked me to look in on this due to a work issue. Anyway, the thing that stands out like a major red flag is the fact your harddrive is waaaayyyy to full.

You have only 3% of your disk space not occupied. A serious clean-up is in order. It is imperative you free up a lot of space.

Keep us informed.

Thanks Route44.
I concur.
Re: Minidumps, probably because you have explorer set to hide system files.
On the Tools menu of explorer, select the "View" tab of "Folder Options".
Then under "Hidden FIles and Folders", select "show hidden files and folders".
Then click the "okay" button.
This should allow you to veiw your system files and folders.
Now you can do a search for

and you will fill your dump files.
Take note of the folder location for future reference.
Normally it is

I have never heard of TFC deleting minidumps.

B00kWyrm,

I already had the "show hidden files and folders" option selected in Folder Options. Still can't find the minidump folder. Searching for *.dmp doesn't yield any results either.

Okay, then your setup must not be set to make minidumps.
Route44 can work you through the process.
I am out of town at the moment, and not able to access all the tools I need...
and I will be late for my next appointment if I don't run, right now.
Route44 is one of our Quality helpers here.
That's why I asked him to help why I was away.

Do the following to enable Minidump Files to be created:

1. Right click My Computer > click Properties > click Advance tab

2. The Advance Screen at the bottom right has Error Reporting. Click this on.

3. Click Enabled error reporting and also check both boxes underneath: Windows operating system and Programs.

4. Now click Choose Programs and click All Programs. Then click Okay and that screen will close. At the next screen click Okay and that will close.

5. You are back to the Advance screen. Find the Start up and Recovery which has underneath it System startup, system failure, and debugging information. Click the Settings box.

6. Another screen will open. You want the System failure section. Enable all three boxes.

7. Under these boxes is Write debugging information. Choose the option Small memory dump (64kb). Click OK and that screen will close.

8. Click OK one more time and you'll be finished. Now the ability for your system to write minidumps should be enabled.

* Have you freed up any of your haddrive space?

@ Kryan - Are you still here ?
Were you able to free any disk-space?
Were you able to enable your minidumps?
Have there been any more BSODs?

@Route44 - THANK YOU!

@Route44, B00kWyrm

Again, so sorry for not replying sooner.

When I went through the process that you described above, I saw that the settings that allow minidumps have already been enabled. I still can't locate the minidump folder. Just to clarify though, I never recieved any BSODs when the computer froze, it just... froze. The most recent freeze happend over the weekend during the BIOS startup screen. This never happened before.

About freeing up my disk space, I've backed up my files but I'm afraid to delete them off of my hard drive. My external hard drive once suffered mechanical failure and I lost everything that time. Since then I kind of have a phobia about keeping all my files in one place. I'll bite the bullet and risk it one more time. If any more freezes occur, I'll keep you informed.

Seriously, Kryan...
You do not have enough freespace on that drive.
Without freespace you will have freezes and crashes.

You need to migrate a lot of data to another drive.
Drives are not expensive. You can get a terabyte usb drive now for about $100.
Having a backup for your backup is a good idea.

Once you have about 100g free on your boot drive...
your freezes will likely resolve...
PLUS... We can do some things to make it operate more efficiently for you.
I would suggest clearing even more space than that...

Okay, I've freed up about 180 GB. Are there any other measures I can take?

Let's see if you have gained stability before we move to the next step.
Have you had any freezes since freeing drive space?
If not, use your system for a few days, and see if it is functioning better.
If so, then we can talk about tweaks. (drive defrag and pagefile defrag).
If not, then we will look for solutions to issues.
Keep us posted.

The problem still occurs even after I've freed up space.

Please download VEW and save it to your Desktop:

Double-click VEW.exe to run.

• Under Select log to query, select
  • Application
  • System
• Under Select type to list, select:
  • Error
• Click the radio button for Number of events
  • Type 20 in the 1 to 20 box
• Then click the Run button.
• Notepad will open with the output log.
• In Notepad, click Edit -> Select all
• Then press Edit -> Copy
• Press Ctrl+V on your keyboard to paste the log as text in your next reply.

(Courtesy rev-Olie)

Vino's Event Viewer v01c run on Windows XP in English
Report run at 23/09/2010 8:35:43 PM

Note: All dates below are in the format dd/mm/yyyy

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
'Application' Log - error Type
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Log: 'Application' Date/Time: 19/09/2010 3:59:45 PM
Type: error Category: 101
Event: 1002 Source: Application Hang
Hanging application mspaint.exe, version 5.1.2600.5918, hang module hungapp, version 0.0.0.0, hang address 0x00000000.

Log: 'Application' Date/Time: 11/09/2010 6:47:58 PM
Type: error Category: 0
Event: 1000 Source: Application Error
Faulting application gtaiv.exe, version 1.0.3.0, faulting module unknown, version 0.0.0.0, fault address 0x0013f460.

Log: 'Application' Date/Time: 07/09/2010 5:57:44 PM
Type: error Category: 0
Event: 1000 Source: Application Error
Faulting application chrome.exe, version 0.0.0.0, faulting module gcswf32.dll, version 10.1.82.76, fault address 0x00182ee9.

Log: 'Application' Date/Time: 04/09/2010 3:07:47 PM
Type: error Category: 0
Event: 1000 Source: Application Error
Faulting application gtaiv.exe, version 1.0.3.0, faulting module unknown, version 0.0.0.0, fault address 0x0013f460.

Log: 'Application' Date/Time: 28/08/2010 6:20:27 PM
Type: error Category: 0
Event: 1000 Source: Application Error
Faulting application gtaiv.exe, version 1.0.3.0, faulting module unknown, version 0.0.0.0, fault address 0x0013f460.

Log: 'Application' Date/Time: 31/07/2010 8:48:13 PM
Type: error Category: 101
Event: 1002 Source: Application Hang
Hanging application SpybotSD.exe, version 1.6.2.46, hang module hungapp, version 0.0.0.0, hang address 0x00000000.

Log: 'Application' Date/Time: 06/07/2010 5:08:47 PM
Type: error Category: 101
Event: 1002 Source: Application Hang
Hanging application firefox.exe, version 1.9.2.3828, hang module hungapp, version 0.0.0.0, hang address 0x00000000.

Log: 'Application' Date/Time: 05/07/2010 5:48:06 PM
Type: error Category: 101
Event: 1002 Source: Application Hang
Hanging application firefox.exe, version 1.9.2.3828, hang module hungapp, version 0.0.0.0, hang address 0x00000000.

Log: 'Application' Date/Time: 03/07/2010 12:08:31 PM
Type: error Category: 0
Event: 5000 Source: Microsoft Office 12
EventType officelifeboathang, P1 onenote.exe, P2 12.0.4518.1014, P3 ntdll.dll, P4 5.1.2600.5755, P5 NIL, P6 NIL, P7 NIL, P8 NIL, P9 NIL, P10 NIL.

Log: 'Application' Date/Time: 03/07/2010 8:17:09 AM
Type: error Category: 101
Event: 1002 Source: Application Hang
Hanging application firefox.exe, version 1.9.2.3828, hang module hungapp, version 0.0.0.0, hang address 0x00000000.

Log: 'Application' Date/Time: 03/07/2010 7:37:05 AM
Type: error Category: 101
Event: 1002 Source: Application Hang
Hanging application Painter 11.exe, version 11.0.0.16, hang module hungapp, version 0.0.0.0, hang address 0x00000000.

Log: 'Application' Date/Time: 02/07/2010 6:36:30 PM
Type: error Category: 0
Event: 1000 Source: Application Error
Faulting application chrome.exe, version 0.0.0.0, faulting module chrome.dll, version 5.0.375.86, fault address 0x0001ac6f.

Log: 'Application' Date/Time: 26/06/2010 11:37:14 PM
Type: error Category: 0
Event: 1000 Source: Application Error
Faulting application gtaiv.exe, version 1.0.3.0, faulting module unknown, version 0.0.0.0, fault address 0x0013f460.

Log: 'Application' Date/Time: 26/06/2010 11:54:52 AM
Type: error Category: 0
Event: 11706 Source: MsiInstaller
Product: Corel Painter 11 - ICA -- Error 1706.No valid source could be found for product Corel Painter 11 - ICA. The Windows Installer cannot continue.

Log: 'Application' Date/Time: 26/06/2010 11:42:05 AM
Type: error Category: 0
Event: 20 Source: Google Update
The event description cannot be found.

Log: 'Application' Date/Time: 05/06/2010 6:18:32 PM
Type: error Category: 0
Event: 1000 Source: Application Error
Faulting application gtaiv.exe, version 1.0.3.0, faulting module unknown, version 0.0.0.0, fault address 0x0013f460.

Log: 'Application' Date/Time: 05/06/2010 6:08:35 PM
Type: error Category: 0
Event: 1000 Source: Application Error
Faulting application gtaiv.exe, version 1.0.3.0, faulting module unknown, version 0.0.0.0, fault address 0x0013f460.

Log: 'Application' Date/Time: 04/06/2010 4:58:32 AM
Type: error Category: 0
Event: 1000 Source: Application Error
Faulting application spybotsd.exe, version 1.6.2.46, faulting module spybotsd.exe, version 1.6.2.46, fault address 0x000049ee.

Log: 'Application' Date/Time: 31/05/2010 3:23:05 PM
Type: error Category: 0
Event: 20 Source: Google Update
The event description cannot be found.

Log: 'Application' Date/Time: 31/05/2010 2:42:07 PM
Type: error Category: 0
Event: 20 Source: Google Update
The event description cannot be found.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
'System' Log - error Type
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Log: 'System' Date/Time: 21/09/2010 6:17:23 PM
Type: error Category: 0
Event: 9 Source: SI3132
The device, \Device\Scsi\SI31321, did not respond within the timeout period.

Log: 'System' Date/Time: 14/09/2010 4:28:38 AM
Type: error Category: 0
Event: 1 Source: sr
The System Restore filter encountered the unexpected error '0xC0000034' while processing the file '_filelst.cfg' on the volume 'HarddiskVolume1'. It has stopped monitoring the volume.

Log: 'System' Date/Time: 15/08/2010 3:47:38 PM
Type: error Category: 0
Event: 7023 Source: Service Control Manager
The Application Management service terminated with the following error: The specified module could not be found.

Log: 'System' Date/Time: 15/08/2010 3:47:37 PM
Type: error Category: 0
Event: 7023 Source: Service Control Manager
The Application Management service terminated with the following error: The specified module could not be found.

Log: 'System' Date/Time: 15/08/2010 3:47:37 PM
Type: error Category: 0
Event: 7023 Source: Service Control Manager
The Application Management service terminated with the following error: The specified module could not be found.

Log: 'System' Date/Time: 15/08/2010 3:47:37 PM
Type: error Category: 0
Event: 7023 Source: Service Control Manager
The Application Management service terminated with the following error: The specified module could not be found.

Log: 'System' Date/Time: 15/08/2010 3:47:37 PM
Type: error Category: 0
Event: 7023 Source: Service Control Manager
The Application Management service terminated with the following error: The specified module could not be found.

Log: 'System' Date/Time: 15/08/2010 3:47:37 PM
Type: error Category: 0
Event: 7023 Source: Service Control Manager
The Application Management service terminated with the following error: The specified module could not be found.

Log: 'System' Date/Time: 15/08/2010 3:47:37 PM
Type: error Category: 0
Event: 7023 Source: Service Control Manager
The Application Management service terminated with the following error: The specified module could not be found.

Log: 'System' Date/Time: 15/08/2010 3:47:37 PM
Type: error Category: 0
Event: 7023 Source: Service Control Manager
The Application Management service terminated with the following error: The specified module could not be found.

Log: 'System' Date/Time: 15/08/2010 3:47:37 PM
Type: error Category: 0
Event: 7023 Source: Service Control Manager
The Application Management service terminated with the following error: The specified module could not be found.

Log: 'System' Date/Time: 15/08/2010 3:47:37 PM
Type: error Category: 0
Event: 7023 Source: Service Control Manager
The Application Management service terminated with the following error: The specified module could not be found.

Log: 'System' Date/Time: 15/08/2010 3:47:37 PM
Type: error Category: 0
Event: 7023 Source: Service Control Manager
The Application Management service terminated with the following error: The specified module could not be found.

Log: 'System' Date/Time: 15/08/2010 3:47:36 PM
Type: error Category: 0
Event: 7023 Source: Service Control Manager
The Application Management service terminated with the following error: The specified module could not be found.

Log: 'System' Date/Time: 15/08/2010 3:47:36 PM
Type: error Category: 0
Event: 7023 Source: Service Control Manager
The Application Management service terminated with the following error: The specified module could not be found.

Log: 'System' Date/Time: 15/08/2010 3:47:36 PM
Type: error Category: 0
Event: 7023 Source: Service Control Manager
The Application Management service terminated with the following error: The specified module could not be found.

Log: 'System' Date/Time: 15/08/2010 3:47:36 PM
Type: error Category: 0
Event: 7023 Source: Service Control Manager
The Application Management service terminated with the following error: The specified module could not be found.

Log: 'System' Date/Time: 15/08/2010 3:47:36 PM
Type: error Category: 0
Event: 7023 Source: Service Control Manager
The Application Management service terminated with the following error: The specified module could not be found.

Log: 'System' Date/Time: 15/08/2010 3:47:36 PM
Type: error Category: 0
Event: 7023 Source: Service Control Manager
The Application Management service terminated with the following error: The specified module could not be found.

Log: 'System' Date/Time: 15/08/2010 3:47:36 PM
Type: error Category: 0
Event: 7023 Source: Service Control Manager
The Application Management service terminated with the following error: The specified module could not be found.

Okay Kryan... I will start working on this.
Meanwhile, I want you to look at something.

In Window's Explorer, right click on your boot drive (probably your C: drive ) and then click properties.
Then click on the Tools, tab, followed by the Deframent button, followed by the Analyze button.
Then click the view report button followed by the save as button.
After you save, close the view report dialogue box, and close the Defragmenting tool.

Next In Window's Explorer, right click on your boot drive (probably your C: drive) and then click properties.
Then click on the Tools, tab, followed by the Check Now button,
Check both options, (Automatically fix file system errors, and Scan for and attempt recover of bad sectors).
Then click Start.
It will tell you that exclusive access to files is preventing the scan and that it will be run next time you start your system.
Go ahead and reboot. CheckDisk (ChkDsk) will run making a very long boot process.

Take note of what CheckDisk finds and corrects.
Post that information, and attach your disk fragmentation report, with your next post.

Try to boot with a hirrens cd, see if that gives any problems, freezes do often have to do with heating problems, check temperatures of grafic card , cpu etc, did you build your own pc ?
A good airflow is significent. If you keep problems running from hirrens boot cd or after reistall backup and you are sure that you have no heating problems ( try with unclosed pc ,put ventilator near), it in rare cases can also have something to do with damaged capicitors on your mainboard.

Okay. Here are the results from CheckDisk:


Checking file system on C:
The type of the file system is NTFS.

A disk check has been scheduled.
Windows will now check the disk.
Cleaning up minor inconsistencies on the drive.
Cleaning up 10 unused index entries from index $SII of file 0x9.
Cleaning up 10 unused index entries from index $SDH of file 0x9.
Cleaning up 10 unused security descriptors.
CHKDSK is verifying Usn Journal...
Usn Journal verification completed.
CHKDSK is verifying file data (stage 4 of 5)...
File data verification completed.
CHKDSK is verifying free space (stage 5 of 5)...
Free space verification is complete.

488375968 KB total disk space.
299183308 KB in 93159 files.
37084 KB in 7955 indexes.
0 KB in bad sectors.
221100 KB in use by the system.
65536 KB occupied by the log file.
188934476 KB available on disk.

4096 bytes in each allocation unit.
122093992 total allocation units on disk.
47233619 allocation units available on disk.


The disk fragmentation report is also attached.

KRYAN

I had more that I was going to post, but I now believe this is the place to start!

From Reviewing your VEW report -
Regarding your System Errors:
On Sept 14, you had a system error, where System Restore was unable to complete.
unexpected error '0xC0000034' Means that it could not find this file '_filelst.cfg'

While there are other possibilities, this behavior has been observed as a result of malware/Trojans.

I would suggest a check-up in our Malware and Virus Removal forum.

This suggestion is being made more strongly, now that I have seen your file fragmentation report.

I notice several (questionable!) files that come from filesharing sites. Filesharing sites (music and other) are a notorious vector for malware transmission. The anti-malware team can explain more about this. As I said, I had more that I was going to post, but at this point, I really think the next step, really should be a check-up for malware. AND… I do not want to do anything at this point that could make their work more problematic.

If you check-out okay, (OR once you are cleaned up – ) if you still have issues, come back, and we will pick up where we left off, okay?


You will find the forum HERE
You should start with the four stickies at the top.
Once you have read and understand them, please follow the 8-steps very carefully, before making your post.
Please, make your post in that forum, not here.
Our Volunteers - Broni, Bobbye, or Crunchie - will get to you as quickly as they can -
They are qualified anti-malware professionals who have a great track record of staying on top of the help requests.