ASUS G73JH random crashes and lock-ups

Hey guys, I'm running an unmodified ASUS G73JH, I've had it for about two years now and I've run into minor problems that I've resolved after a visit to your forums here. However, now I've run into one that I couldn't seen to find an immediate answer to.

For about the past week or so I've had games crashing for no real reason, which then somehow leads to my system locking up for about five to eight minutes. By locking up I mean, everything becomes unresponsive; i.e: Explorer, Task Manage, any web browser, any video game. Sometimes I find luck and I'm able to end processes and get my system back on track a little quicker, and other times I am less fortunate and I need to manually shut down and restart my PC. Also sometimes simply using my system's search function in the start menu can cause this, same goes for browsing through certain folders.

If I've looked over a thread addressing this issue, then I apologize. I hope someone can point me in the right direction and/or help me out with my problem.

Thanks in advance.

 

I would start by running a diagnostic on your hard drive just in case. A drive with bad sectors could be causing this. You can can check using something like Seatools if you have a seagate drive or you can run a chkdsk.

 

Thanks, I'll try running a diagnostic and report back with results.

 

If you perform a Windows System Restore to a time before your lockups occurred, does it resolve the issue? If so, be very conscious of what updates (including Windows Updates and automatic program updates - even antivirus program updates) are applied to your system.

Do any Errors or Warnings in the Windows System or Application Event Logs point to a troubleshooting direction?

Antivirus, AntiMalware, Firewall, Remote Access, and Disk Management software are the usual suspects in system lockups. What have you installed to your system?

 

I have CheckDrive, Avira AntiVir, SpyBot S&D, Regedit, and possibly one remote access program. Unfortunately I ran into an issue with restore dates on my system, each time I go to enable system restoration it gives me some sort of error claiming that I cannot do such. As a result, I have no restore dates dating to before this issue. Furthermore, navigating to my system tools folder causes these lock-ups, and I simply get a moving magnifying-glass-over-paper icon instead of a folder.

 

The CNET Editor's review ( CheckDrive - CNET Download.com) says CheckDrive doesn't do anything more than the Windows command CHKDSK, and basically just displays ads for other products. I recommend you go into "Control Panel - Uninstall a program" and give it the ol' heave ho! It'll be one less suspect for your lockup issues.

Same thing for SpyBot S&D. The CNET Review ( http://download.cnet.com/Spybot-Search-Destroy/3000-8022_4-10122137.html) reports the program "has the tendency to lock up at times". I'd recommend removing this as well and going with Malwarebytes Anti-Malware.

Did you install either of these programs recently? Do they automatically update themselves? Do you see any Warnings or Errors associated with CheckDrive or SpyBot S&D in the Windows System or Application Event Logs?

 

No, I've had them both for a while. I haven't seen any updates. No I don't see any errors reported by Windows.

Also when I go to run CHKDSK, it just opens and closes without doing anything.

 

Try running SeaTools or Data Lifeguard tools (depending on which drive you have)
You can find out which brand drive you have by clicking the start orb and typing "Device Manager" into the search box and pressing Enter.
Once it comes up, click on Disk drives arrow and it should drop down. ST = Seagate, WD= Western Digital.
Downloads | Seagate
Usually Asus equips their machines with Seagate hard drives.

http://support.wdc.com/product/download.asp?groupid=703&lang=en

You will need to download Microsoft DotNet 4 Framework to use Seatools, so make sure you have that installed first.

CHKDSK may not work, or you may have to make sure you restart your computer to get it to run the test.

 

Try opening an administrator terminal by hitting the windows key (or opening the start menu) and typing cmd and hit Ctrl+Shift+Enter. You will have to click allow if you have UAC enabled. From there type in chkdsk /f c: followed by Y at the prompt. Then reboot.

Or you can do it through menus: http://windows.microsoft.com/en-US/windows-vista/Check-your-hard-disk-for-errors

 

SeaTools failed and informed me I should attempt to run SeaTools for DOS. I need to go get a CD to put this ISO on.

I did this. CHKDSK ran, how do I know if things worked or not.

 

Either by watching the summary at the end of the scan or: Check Disk (chkdsk) - Read Event Viewer Log - Windows 7 Forums

 

Here are my Chkdsk results:

Does that help anyone help me?

Additionally, I got SeaTools for DOS onto a disc, but I can't seem to get it to boot.

 

It found and corrected errors on your disk, so it helped in that regard.

 

I am still getting the lock-ups though.

 

CHKDSK has identified 56KB in bad sectors. It would be worthwhile to run it again to see if more bad sectors are found by using the /R switch.

Example: CHKDSK C: /F /R
or checking the checkbox to check for bad sectors if you run "Error Checking" from the Properties of drive C:.

If more bad sectors are identified each time you run CHKDSK as above, it indicates the HDD is failing. Disk errors in the Windows System Event Log would also be a sign of pending HDD failure.

I would make sure you have backed up all important files from this HDD before proceeding further.

 

If my hard drive is failing and I have the PC under warranty, should I just take it in after backing everything up?

 

Yes, you could do that, they will replace the HDD free of charge or you can get a new HDD if you think it is too much of a bother.

 

The lockups aren't necessarily disk related, you can check system file integrity with
sfc /scannow - see: How to use the System File Checker tool to troubleshoot missing or corrupted system files on Windows Vista or on Windows 7

Also do a quick memory test: Diagnosing memory problems on your computer

If you are running antivirus, try running a full scan (boot time scan if you have the option) and then disable your antivirus to see if it is causing the lockups.

 

You might want to try installing throttlestop( http://www.techinferno.com/downloads/ ), these things can be CPU related sometimes.. I had similar problems that started recently after having mine for 2 years as well, and that fixed it.

Install it and run it. Click the c# button, and click the button that says c3 or c6 usually, repeatedly until it says c1. Uncheck c1/c3 auto demotion. Then uncheck c1e on the main menu. Finally hit turn on on the right side!

If that is indeed your problem then it's simple as that! If not, then I wish you luck.

Apparently these i7s enter power conserving 'sleep modes' on some core which can lead to random freezes and such. Most people say it happens at idle, but mine happen at basically any time much like yours.

Hope it works for you!

 

+1 Good Point, @popnfresh! There is a lengthy thread ( http://forum.notebookreview.com/asus-gaming-notebook-forum/571888-g73jw-freezes-when-not-use.html) discussing how multiple users resolved lockups, BSOD's, USB ports failing, etc. by installing ThrottleStop to prevent the CPU from dropping into a lower power mode C-State. Certain G73JH and JW models appear susceptible to this issue.

A strong jolt to a laptop that is running may cause an HDD head crash that leads to bad sectors on a disk. Once these bad sectors are identified (by running CHKDSK with the /R switch), they are no longer used to store data.

Having a few bad sectors doesn't necessarily mean the HDD is failing. It is only if the bad sectors increase in number over a relatively short period of time (as determined by running CHKDSK multiple times) that this becomes a problem.

 

I am running ThrottleStop now, thanks for that popnfresh. I suppose I just keep it running at all times? Or should I keep it off while gaming?

I will definitely read through this thread.

And thanks everyone. I really really appreciate all of the assistance.

 

I'm pretty sure you just need to run it once everytime you reboot/turn on your machine.. I think some people edited the ini file to make it so it shuts down by itself after being run. All that info should be in that thread.. I think it was exittime=1 (1 being amount in seconds, 0 meaning no auto off). I just put it in my startup folder so I don't need to worry about. The crashes were completely random before.. sometimes 2 hours or 3 days, sometimes 15sec after a restart.. no rhyme or reason!

Just make sure the settings are as I was saying, and if that has anything to do with your problem it should stop. Hopefully it's something as simple as that! Here's hoping it's not your HDD or something that ends up being costly, or takes more effort than running a simple program!