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Question

Windows 7 Periodic Freezing (seems to be web browser related

Oct 16, 2015 2:30PM PDT

Hello everyone, I'm having a real tough time trying to figure out what is going wrong with my computer:

In as short as a few minutes to as long as a few hours, my computer will completely freeze (keyboard takes no input, mouse is stuck in last position). The only way to resume usage is to reboot after holding down the power button.

The only common thread through all the freezes *seems* to be the active use of a web browser (Chrome/Firefox/Explorer). The freezes only seem to occur when the active window is one of the web browsers (and possibly only when the browser is in 'full screen mode', still testing that) what that points to, I have no idea...

I did a uninstall and then re-install of all browsers with the most current versions, but after a few hours of Chrome / Explorer, I got another freeze.

Any ideas as to what is going on is greatly appreciated, thank you for reading.

Discussion is locked

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Answer
First test. Another user account.
Oct 16, 2015 2:37PM PDT

Create a new windows account and log into that.

If the problem follows it's something on the PC.

-> Before that you need to be sure there is no malware. I use Grif's advice on that.
Read http://www.cnet.com/forums/discussions/how-to-remove-pup-option-603542/#post-f742c795-5881-433b-a29b-6d758efe5cd3

And next time, don't uninstall but reset the browser. Here's how for firefox.
https://www.google.com/#q=reset+firefox

If you do find pests, increase your protection. Here I added WOT (web of trust) and Adblock+ to firefox.

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RE
Oct 17, 2015 1:29AM PDT

I'm working through the steps as listed in your link, the full scans will take a while, so I'll update this in the next day or two and let you know if anything came up.

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Answer
One More Possibility... Heat Related Issues...
Oct 16, 2015 4:27PM PDT

..will sometimes cause freezing of the computer. If you haven't done so in a while, take off the cover of the computer tower and use compressed air to blow out all the dust from around the processor, heatsink, power supply, and all vents and fans. If the computer is a laptop, then expose the inner parts and use compressed air to blow out the vents, processor, etc.

Hope this helps.

Grif

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RE
Oct 17, 2015 1:24AM PDT

I was thinking of popping out the CPU and checking the paste, but for the following reasons, I'm holding off on that until I try all the software options first:

1) I've run fairly intensive games / other programs more resource hungry than a web browser for multiple hours and still have not seen the problem, it only seems to appear with web browsers (so that makes me think this isn't a heat problem).

2) I've got a full tower that is mostly open / has many large fans, so its pretty easy to see inside and everything looks good / it has great circulation / mobo reporting normal temperatures.

That said, if I can't get a software fix, I'll give it a shot.

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Then I Would Next Try...
Oct 18, 2015 10:30AM PDT

..checking for updated drivers for both graphics and your internet adapter, either ethernet or wireless.. Both could theoretically be related to online/browser activity.

And because browser add-ons can cause the problem, try resetting your browser to their default state. Internet Explorer can be reset by opening Internet Options, then the 'Advance' tab, then click on the "Reset" button toward the bottom. For Firefox, click on "Help" in the upper left, choose "Troubleshooting Information", then click on the "Refresh Firefox" button in the upper right.

Also, this may, or may not be your situation, but a number of folks like to have two antivirus programs running in the background at the same time. Because of conflicts, this can frequently cause freezes, slowdowns, and lockups, especially while on the internet.. If that's the case, uninstall one of the AV programs.

Hope this helps.

Grif

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RE
Oct 23, 2015 12:34PM PDT

Well, made a discovery while I was taking things apart...2 of my ram slots don't work anymore (the ram stick are fine)...Taking them out stabilized the system (what that has to do with the internet, I have not idea...). Things still have problems, but the computer has stopped freezing, so its good enough to dump to an external drive then reformat this one.

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Answer
(Windows 7 Periodic Freezing)
Oct 26, 2015 4:18AM PDT

Hi Friend,
This all issue is the RAM issue I think. In this case You can try to open task manager and close the applications which are using much RAM. Sometimes flash player freezes the browsers.
I hope this will help you and If you can Check your RAM and contact IT persons to increase RAM.
Thanks. Happy