Computer freezes and then continues

[Anhelios]

Hi! I'm new to the forums but I've been trolling through and have used the guidance from them from awhile now. Well onto my problem!

I play games, lots of games. Lol. But anytime I start a program it seems the game or even firefox/IE it pauses, or stalls rather, then after a minute or so begins normal operation for a short time and does it again. I've updated all my drivers and I've seen some places mention BIOS being an issue but I'd rather not play with those unless there's no option. I've added a DxDiag file for quick specs look up, any other info requested I'll reply to.

I've Rolled back drivers and OS, seems it still does it. I've not had this trouble before till this week. Any troubleshooting or tips I could try would be greatly appreciated.

Specs

 

[Mark56]

Sounds like you memory is causing this problem although there are other possibilities.

Pleas run through this guide to test your memory.

Power off the PC and remove the mains connection, always touch the metal of the case with your hands to avoid any static electricity from causing component damage. (On laptops ALWAYS remove the battery before removing or replacing memory modules). Remove all your memory modules. Clean the contacts with a soft rubber (up and down not from end to end) then insert just one module and reboot to test for any change in performance. Repeat this for every module one at a time and run for at least 24 hours. Obviously if you only have one module this cannot be done, but you should still remove and clean the module and reseat it and test.

If you only have one stick download this to test it. http://www.memtest.org/

You need to scroll down the page until you see the three blue screenshots. Just below is the list of downloads for Memtest86+ V4.10. Click on Download - Pre-Compiled Bootable ISO (.zip)and save to your desktop, When the download is complete right click the file and select Extract Here and burn the image to a CD. In windows 7 right click the extracted file, select Open With, then select Windows Disc Image Burning Tool then follow the prompts. For all other versions of windows (if you do not have an ISO burner) download this free software. http://www.isoimageburner.com/

Boot the PC into the Bios setup and set the CD/DVD drive to 1st in the boot sequence. Insert the disk in the drive then reboot and the disc will load into dos. Leave the test to run through at least 5 cycles.

The memtest will not be 100% accurate but should easily detect any major faults.

 

[Anhelios]

Thanks for the info! Did as the guide instructed, as annoying as it was lol, but didn't come back with anything.

 

[Mark56]

So, just to clarify, you actually ran the PC with just one memory stick at a time and then tried it to see if the freezing stopped, and continued the test for each stick individually?

I could find this in your DXDiag but it's time consuming to look through. What anti virus do you have, and/or third party firewall.

Run this temperature software to see how high things go when games are running.

http://www.alcpu.com/CoreTemp/

Try reducing the resolution of your graphics and see if that stops it, it may look bad but I need to know if this stops the pausing. This might point towards the graphics card if the pausing stops at a lower setting.

 

[Anhelios]

Yes sir. I had a friend do it while I was at work, he said everything tested fine, and the temperature is fine as well. Better be with my cooler I have. Freakin huge. Lol. As for the lowering of the resolution I tried as soon as I read your suggestion and it did the same thing on the lowest setting. =\

The anti virus I use Microsoft Essentials and other things I have on there are Ad-Aware and Spybot Search and destroy and Ccleaner.

Ok. So I went to the windows event viewer and this is some of the things that came up.

BugCheck - The computer has rebooted from a bugcheck. The bugcheck was: 0x000000f4 (0x0000000000000003, 0xfffffa8008dcf990, 0xfffffa8008dcfc70, 0xfffff8000339edb0). A dump was saved in: C:\Windows\MEMORY.DMP. Report Id: 032411-32151-01.

cdrom - The device, \Device\CdRom0, has a bad block.

SQLBroswer - The configuration of the AdminConnection\TCP protocol in the SQL instance BWDATOOLSET is not valid.

 

[Mark56]

How many memory sticks are in the PC, not enough time has passed for a full 24 hour of testing to have been done on each stick. If it is not possible to do this test as I suggested then I would advise the use of the second option to burn the Memtest86+ CD and then leave that to run on the machine overnight. Memory errors can often be quite hard to find so the testing has to be a lengthy process. Running the PC with one stick at a time is the most precise method.

The errors you have found suggest a failing CD drive, a fault in the internet connection and the bugcheck F4 was caused by a program that unexpectedly terminated. You hadn't mentioned a BSOD occuring, what are the dates of these errors.

Just to get a better picture, run the game you play until it freezes then go straight into the event viewer and find the most recent error report that has a time and date that corresponds with the freeze.

Run a scan with both of these anti virus programs. Download, install and let them update and run full system scans with each. Switch off any other anti virus during the scans.

http://www.avira.com/en/avira-free-antivirus

http://www.malwarebytes.org/mbam.php

Post back with the results of the scans and the memory test.

 

[Anhelios]

Ok. Yeah. To be sure I ran the mem test all night last night. Sometimes just best to do it yourself. Lol. Still nothing from the tests. I've downloaded and installed and currently running those programs you told me about. I'll update this post when they are done.

I also just downloaded the temperature program you suggested and...well seems to be running from 81 - 122 F. Least thats what the low and high says. Watching it though it sits around 84 when not running a program. I'll again update after I've ran it playing a game.

I ran the scans, came up with nothing, said my installer file for a game I downloaded from Direct 2 drive so I knew it was fine. I ran the game as well after restarting since I scanned, and it didn't seem to overheat or freeze up. But its really bipolar in when it decides to do it. I'll try to recreate the things I do when it freezes and watch the event log. Thank you for all your help.

 

[Mark56]

OK, those temps are quite normal and looks like your memory is OK.

I would also check that you have the most up to date drivers installed for your graphics card as this could play a part in freezing.

Also check the specs off your RAM on the manufacturers site and make sure the correct voltage rating is set in the bios.

One other idea, follow this guide to remove any redundant drivers.

http://www.howtogeek.com/howto/windows-vista/remove-old-drivers-after-upgrading-to-new-hardware/

 

[Anhelios]

Ok. So the freezing happened as soon as I turned on my computer and did as you said, I opened event viewer and these are the results I got since I turned it on.

Intel(R) 82578DC Gigabit Network Connection
PROBLEM: Unable to start the network adapter.
ACTION: Install the latest driver from (Had to remove link since I don't have enough posts. xD )
(I've installed the newest driver, next step is to uninstall it and reinstall it to attempt to fix it.)

Session "Microsoft-Windows-Setup" stopped due to the following error: 0xC000000D

The configuration of the AdminConnection\TCP protocol in the SQL instance BWDATOOLSET is not valid.

TIMEOUT<explorer.exe> C:\Program Files\Windows Media Player\wmpnscfg.exe

The Transaction (UOW={b3ae726e-56ad-11e0-94e4-002354f8ba49}, Description='{E8670403-B4BE-4687-A778-CC9D03D79ADD}') was unable to be committed, and instead rolled back; this was due to an error message returned by CLFS while attempting to write a Prepare or Commit record for the Transaction. The CLFS error returned was: 0xc01a002f.

The transaction resource manager at C:\ encountered a fatal error and was shut down. The data contains the error code.

The default transaction resource manager on volume C: encountered an error while starting and its metadata was reset. The data contains the error code.

Now 20 mins later, its not stalled yet. =\ I'm really tempted to just reinstall windows, though hate to lose everything on here.

And after starting a game the only thing that has the time stamp that it happened was this.

Initiating changes for package KB2524375. Current state is Absent. Target state is Installed. Client id: WindowsUpdateAgent.

Package KB2524375 was successfully changed to the Installed state.

 

[Mark56]

Pleas explain the problem with installing the network adapter driver. If you uninstall it first then run the guide I gave earlier to remove any redundant drivers you should then have no problem reinstalling the driver unless you have not downloaded the correct one. I don't think the other errors are much to worry about.

Have you checked the RAM voltage?

One possible cause of your problem is a faulty power supply, is there any possibility you can borrow one to test this possibility.

There are only a couple more test that I can suggest.

Click on Start and type CMD in the search box, right click on cmd in the pop up window and then select "Run as Administrator". At the command prompt type sfc /scannow (include the gap) then press Enter. This will check your file system and repair any problems, you may be asked for the OS disc.

Follow previous instruction to get to the command prompt and this time type chkdsk /r and Enter. You will be told it cannot run and asked if you want to run it the next time windows starts, answer "Y". Reboot and you will see chkdsk start to run, this could take over an hour to complete depending on the size of the hard drive. This will test the integrity of the hard drive and check for any bad sectors.

You could also download and run this test which will check the stability of your memory and CPU, it will drive it up to maximum load and report any errors. When you first run it choose the "Blend" test which will include the RAM.

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

 

[Anhelios]

So! I decided to continue doing all you asked and when I ran out of it, I was frustrated and decided to start from the top. I took out all my RAM sticks and put one back in to begin the test and it beeped at me. So I went ahead and tried the other 3 and after the test was done, logged into Rift, one of my games that kept freaking out and its all working! Apparently the RAM stick was only beginning to fail but hadn't fully. So your original analysis about the RAM being the issue, was correct. Thanks for baring with me and helping me figure it all out.

 

[Mark56]

Your welcome and I am pleased to hear that the problem is now solved.

This just goes to prove that Memtest is not the best way to test memory and should (as my guide says) only be used if you only have one memory stick in the system.

The reason for this is quite simple. Memtest does not run the memory the same way that Windows uses it, so it can miss minor faults. May be one day somebody will create a program that can overcome this but for the moment it remains that the best test is to run the system on one stick at a time.

 

[Anhelios]

Your welcome and I am pleased to hear that the problem is now solved.

This just goes to prove that Memtest is not the best way to test memory and should (as my guide says) only be used if you only have one memory stick in the system.

The reason for this is quite simple. Memtest does not run the memory the same way that Windows uses it, so it can miss minor faults. May be one day somebody will create a program that can overcome this but for the moment it remains that the best test is to run the system on one stick at a time.

My hero!