Thank you for being a valued part of the CNET community. As of December 1, 2020, the forums are in read-only format. In early 2021, CNET Forums will no longer be available. We are grateful for the participation and advice you have provided to one another over the years.

Thanks,

CNET Support

General discussion

Win7 random freezing

Jun 17, 2010 7:12PM PDT

Five days ago I clean installed 64-bit Win7 Home Premium on a new HD when the previous HD crashed & burned on my Dell i7-920 (12GB RAM) that was running Vista Home. Although Win7 is fast, it's also freezing A LOT, seemingly at random times. Sometimes early after bootup, sometimes hours in; there's no consistency other than to say that the system is untrustworthy (and that I must save OFTEN). What I've found on the web seems to point to driver issues (so what else is new?), but even that isn't definitive. Some have posted that they've gone through and reinstalled all of their known drivers, and their machines STILL freeze.

This install of Win7 has gone through all of the various critical Windows Updates, mostly done during the first two or three days. The freezing started on the second day; don't know if the updating and the freezing is related, but regardless it's damn IRRITATING. I keep thinking that I should just bag Win7, wipe the HD and return to Vista (gasp).

Any advice?

Discussion is locked

- Collapse -
That's difficult.
Jun 17, 2010 7:32PM PDT

I assume the machine came from Dell with Vista.

The CPU, however, is quite new, so I think the machine should have come either with the option to choose Windows 7 from Dell right away, or possibly with a free upgrade coupon from Vista to 7.

Depending on that, either Dell should support Windows 7, even 64 bit, so you can just call it in and have it solved under the warranty.
Or Dell sold you the machine with Vista without Windows 7 option because they knew they still had issues with Windows 7. In that case, you might have voided the warranty by installing it, and all they say if you contact them is something like "sorry, no support for that Windows 7 on this machine, just go back to Vista and come back if THAT doesn't work".

So my advise is to call Dell Customer support, complain about the issue (say it's either a hardware issue, or a driver issue or a OS issue which they should support because it's OEM) and see what they answer.

Kees

- Collapse -
I agree with Kees.
Jun 17, 2010 7:57PM PDT

And since this is a Dell you can visit the Dell web site, enter the Tag number for this machine, and see if Dell offer any drivers specifically for Windows 7.

Mark

- Collapse -
Good advice.
Jun 18, 2010 4:40AM PDT

Why didn't I think of that? Must be those vodka shots I've been pounding down as a result of agonizing over this stupid computer (not really, but a tempting thought anyways; Windows seems to always bring out the worst in me).

This particular machine is roughly nine months old, so it is covered under Dell's one-year warranty which was in place at the time of purchase. And yes, it was purchased under the free Windows 7 upgrade program. I neglected to mention that the Windows 7 disk that I installed was the one that Dell sent. I also neglected to mention that Dell sent along a device driver disk at the same time, which is what I used to install various sundry drivers.

That said, the hardware has not been all that impressive. The first i7 attempt arrived from Dell DOA, this second unit has already had a video card failure, numerous firmware glitches, and now a hard disk crash. It was a Costco special, and had I not been tempted by the relatively low price at the time ($1000) for an i7 w/ 12GB of RAM, I never would've considered another Dell given my poor history with the brand.

- Collapse -
Problem fixed (fingers crossed)
Jun 18, 2010 8:54AM PDT

Video drivers for the ATi card seem to be the culprit. Lastest drivers from AMD appears to have solved the freezing...although the night's still young. Here's hoping.

- Collapse -
Yep, good luck
Jun 18, 2010 9:29PM PDT

Hoping you have no more problems.

Mark

- Collapse -
(sigh) Problem NOT FIXED
Jun 19, 2010 12:44AM PDT

Because apparently it CAN'T BE, at least without an OS upgrade. The problem appears to be inherent with 64-bit versions of Windows 7, where some (but not all) 32-bit apps may make 64-bit Win7 installations unstable, up to and including the freezing up of such systems. Redmond offers a stopgap download fix for this called XP Mode, but lo and behold it's ONLY available to users of Win7 Professional and above, not to Home Premium consumers. From what I've gleaned from various Google searches, much of this is supposedly going to be addressed in SP1. Until then, it's a question of living dangerously with one's data.

I thought that I had fixed the problem with the ATi drivers update, since Firefox (which btw is only available in 32-bit from official Mozilla channels) stopped freezing up and has been rock solid since applying the update. But then my wife tried starting up the 32-bit version of IE8 (of all things), and the system stopped dead in its tracks...even worse than before, where prior to the fiddling with drivers at least the home page loaded up before freezing. The 64-bit version of IE8 works perfectly fine. Hmmm....that's what got me started searching in a different direction than simply blaming drivers, particularly when troubleshooting diagnostics weren't reporting any issues with them in the first place.

(Query: if one is going to make and sell a 64-bit OS, why does that same party feel the need to provide a 32-bit version of their web browser, especially if that version of their web browser is unstable enough to crash said system? A cruel joke?)

As you might guess I'm thoroughly disgusted with MSFT right now. I'm equally disgusted with Dell as well. I suppose some might accuse me for shifting the blame for something THEY THINK I should have been aware from from the start. But I'm no IT guy. I count myself as more of an average consumer when it comes to computers. It was not plainly made aware to me that Home Premium was dumbed down (more like locked down) as it was shipped to consumers. Neither MSFT or Dell gave any overt, obvious warnings in their marketing that older software would be a problem. To tech sites, yeah the news was there (but only after googling for it after-the-fact). But even then a lot of that talk happened before I was in the market for a new computer (which as a reminder came with Vista, with the Win7 upgrade as a toss-in). Perhaps had I had some equivalent of x-ray vision I'd have had Win7 specs on my radar to start with. But who am I but an average computer user?

Until I happened across a random website I'd never been aware of the existence of XP Mode for Windows 7, and certainly I hadn't been aware that to download it you had to be in an exclusive club that bars such miscreants lowbrows like us 64-bit Windows Home Premium users. So to give Win7 the best opportunity to run older, 32-bit Windows software I have to pay up for Professional...oh boy...can't wait to bend over for that double-dipping, particularly for a prepackaged system that gave no indication (or choice) upon the initial point of sale.

So when's labeling something Premium when it's apparently not really Premium? Ask Microsoft; their marketing people seem to think they know.

As the old saying goes: I should have bought a Mac. Not that they're really any better, but at least I have no illusions that my old PowerPC-based software will run on Apple's Intel-based hardware.

It's just Microsoft being Microsoft (sorry Manny...). And I guess I can't retire my tired old XP box just yet, after all. Boy, do I really HATE Redmond right about now. Okay, I've worn out my soapbox...

- Collapse -
Just sharing.
Jun 19, 2010 12:49AM PDT

I had the same issue but solved it with a few drivers that took a few days for me to realize were not optional.

But if you take others to task in the forums, such sharing is going to not happen.

-> Tell us about what drivers you added. Make a complete post and avoid all that ire and soap boxing. When you rant folk will take it that you are not interested in much other than ranting.
Bob

- Collapse -
When was this PC cleaned on the inside last?
Jun 18, 2010 11:33AM PDT
- Collapse -
You should really LEARN TO READ
Jun 18, 2010 11:56PM PDT

Brand new hard drive.
Brand new CLEAN installation of Win7.

It's all in the OP if you had cared to read.

- Collapse -
And
Jun 19, 2010 12:02AM PDT

You may want to not flame those that attempt to help. It can scare off others.

I read your post and could share my story of a clean install and finding out I had a few more drivers to fetch. But would you flame me because I got the wrong driver.

Too hot for me here.
Bob

- Collapse -
I'm in a...
Jun 19, 2010 12:47AM PDT

...very vile mood right now. Going postal seems like a good avenue for therapy, if that's any indication. Perhaps it's best for everyone else to leave this be.

- Collapse -
HARD DRIVE
Jun 23, 2011 4:49AM PDT

I would check the new hard drive. I had two that were bad from NewEgg last week. One was an obvious "clicking" DOA and the other formated and installed WIN 7 but had some bad sectors popping up to the point I was getting the Freeze, force reboot, and then unable to repair install.

- Collapse -
Freezing issues
Jun 18, 2010 12:41PM PDT

I had a Dell XPS8000 that would freeze up. I downloaded all the updates and video drivers without having any success. I finally called Support line. After running diagnostics they found bad sectors on the hard drive. If under warranty they will replace the drive. If not, run checkdisk and set it to fix the bad sectors and that might fix your issue.

- Collapse -
Fixed (finally)...and it wasn't the drivers, after all.
Jun 26, 2010 5:52AM PDT

Apparently the choice of firewall makes all the difference...at least in this installation.

This first 64-bit Win7 install became EXTREMELY unstable; it would not update .NET Framework 3.5.1 for security repairs, nor would it allow me install v.4 prior to me installing Visual Studio. During my debugging (and in between freezes), I discovered that the third-party firewall I had installed had become equally demented. I've been using some version of ZoneAlarm for well over a decade and a half on all of my various PCs over the years; with this box it was no different. I had installed the free version on this box not long after the initial OS installation; it had worked fine in Vista Home 64-bit so I didn't see any reason to doubt it with Win7. Big mistake.

Most of the freezing happens early in a Windows session, or when someone is trying for web access, which in hindsight is exactly when ZoneAlarm is active as it's trying to start itself up or is seeing traffic to and from our router. All of these 'random' freezes happened some time AFTER ZoneAlarm was installed on that first day (that old dingy light bulb of mine was finally coming on, and my ability to add one plus one is still intact after all). As I was trying do diagnose things, I had discovered that by this time the ZA installation had become so unstable that I could no longer uninstall it at all. Moreover, the computer would not do a complete bootup at all without it being connected to the internet; shut down the cable modem or disconnect the CAT-5 and all that would appear is a black screen where the desktop would be.

Turn the modem back on and reboot again, the ZA icon would still show up in the system tray (is that what MSFT still calls it in Win7?), and it would show up in Task Manager, but ZA was now impossible to shut down using any method I tried, and no uninstall procedure I could dream up would work to remove it from the OS, including trying to do a System Restore right up to the very earliest one stored on the computer (made on the first day of the OS install, and I think dated and timed just prior to the initial install of ZA). Some sort of 'data corruption' popup (exact message I've forgotten) would show up, and the so-called system restore would purportedly fail, leaving me with some message that Windows 7 didn't change anything at all as a result.

At this point I gave up with the debugging and chose to reinstall Win7. This time around I opted to use another firewall (Comodo) and the machine has been completely error free over the past three or so days. I've since found a number of postings on the web that indicate other 64-bit Win7 users have had issues with ZoneAlarm as well, and others still that say ZA is simply not compatible with Win7 64-bit AT ALL. From my recent experience, I'm in totally agreement.