More 7811 Lockups

Had my 7811 about......3 months now?

Initially no problems.

After a few weeks I noticed the occasional (once very few days) freeze for about 2 seconds.

This is becoming more frequent now.

Ive searched the forums for information about 7811 lockups/freezes/etc but havnt come across much of anything definitive.

I know there was a thread (or more than 1) with advice on a whole list of things to try to try to discover the cause of these freezes, as well as to try to solve them.

My lockups are about 2-3 seconds and everything returns to normal afterwords. It sometimes happens during gaming, sometimes during websurfing, sometimes while do anything. It seems completely random.

I dont think it is a video card temp issues, as my temps seem ok. In the 40s for non 3d stuff, and in the low to mid (occasionally high) 70s while gaming. I never see anything in the 80s or above and I routinely am checking my temps.

I replaced the power port with 1 that was discussed here and everyone said it was awesome. I cant recall the name but can dig up the thread and find out if someone feels its important. Someone had suggested in the past that the lockups could be from the power pack overheating and upgrading would help. I use both the stock power pack/cord and this new 1 (1 at home 1 at work) and I dont see a difference in the lockup frequency. (EDIT - FOUND IT. ITS A Targus 180W power brick)


Everything is stock with the exception of changing the nvidia display drivers. I will check which version when I get home but it was one of the ones that everyone was saying was the best here, and I downloaded it from an all japanese website (once again link provided here in this forum, Its the same one E-wrecked used to get his highest 3D06 score in his sig I believe). The GPU isnt overclocked as I didnt see any need for it because my performance was allready excellent on all games I play, as well as with the stock processor this laptop is severely CPU bottlenecked. Without OCing the CPU I just dont see a need but that is another story.

Suggestions? If anyone has a link to the previous thread(s) that give good information about things to try for these issues Id appreciate it. I looked but couldnt find the threads that I had recalled.

Thanks

 

Buy a can of "compressed air" or use your air compressor in your garage and blow out the vents in your lappy. You would be amazed at the amount of junk that collects after just a few short months.

 

Good maintenance idea, and I will do so today.

But......if my vents were clogged wouldnt you expect there to be a temp increase?

Somewhere? CPU? GPU? Something?

I would.

 

Yes you would. Stranger things have been known to happen though. If all else fails would a "restore" be out of the question? It could be some kind of software glitch.

 

Mine locks up when returning from sleep mode- it's definitely video. I cured it for awhile by changing to "no screensaver" and "turn off monitor" at a different time than the machine went to sleep, but I recently changed my desktop picture and it's back now. I'm on the stock Vista 64, only tweaks were to shut off 3-D and turn off indexing etc. to keep Vista under control.

 

This could be a variety of issues, anything from background processes, to viruses running to spyware. Post your processes here perhaps we can find some you don't need in the background.

 

Yep got that issue, I never use sleep anyway, simply turning PC off when im done (while on the battery) or simply just run a screensaver and don't let it sleep.

I did a fresh format and re-install second I got the laptop (all that crap they install pretty much useless anyway) Most of it is garbage and I don't know what stock they installed, I did have a variety of issues first hour of driver installs, this is why I did this, fresh install and everything is perfect except this little bugger when it sleeps.

 

Here are my current processes.

Hope that helps give more info?

 

Hmm 67 processes isn't to bad, im only running 45, but here's a list of processes you don't need (either close them down or get a process disabler) only enable when you need:
AVG (I know its security, but its also a hog on the process meter, I have AVG too and don't run Resident Shield to often for it will eat a processor up)
ITunesHelper, Rivatune, mspaint

Try looking for advancedstartup (could be on cnet or downloads.com) You can weed out extra programs starting in your background, which will help alot more on booting. Also make sure you defrag, least once every 2 weeks.

AVG might be the biggest bugger on the list, I have it also and when resident shield is on, it can be a processor hog. Your system don't have any "Bad" processes or any programs that would really hog the PC, but even AVG can be the cause of a 2 sec lag...

Try turning Resident shield off in its settings, defrag and reboot - long as you view legitiment websites you should be fine for a day to test out whether AVG is the problem (I mean seriously legit websites, Fark.com, notebookreview anything thats not /game related is probably not going to infect you with spyware/malware)

Also its possible your AVG is infected, which would cause it to be useless, try shutting down AVG over night, and running Trend Micro's online housecall spyware/virus scanner (its possible I have had a virus disable my virus scanner before trashing my system) Why I keep my virus scanner on a USB thats locked - only the logs are written to my desktop so I know what it did.

Just a few ideas to throw at ya, let me know how it goes.

 

Thanks for the advice.

I cant see how this is going to help the random lockups though?

The lockups are more of a general/well known issue on the 7811, and I was more looking (at least in the short term) on focusing on dealing with that specifically.

As an aside...I no longer have AVG antivirus. I had it. Uninstalled it, and then installed Avira. Are you certain that the 2 antivirus processes are AVG and not Avira? If so I might have a remnant lurking I need to deal with.....

PS - Why not just use msconfig to disable unwanted startup processes???

 

Anyone else with suggestions for the lockups??

There was at least 1 (likely many) threads with more detailed/definitive info in there. Unfortunately I cannot locate them.

If anyone has any additional advice or can link those threads it would be appreciated.

 

The first thing you should do is to restore your original OS and drivers. As you yourself have said that it worked fine when you got it. It is quite possible that you have installed software that just is not compatible with Vista 64, maybe without even knowing it. Also, have you used compressed air to blow out all of your vent's/HS fins? In 3 months a lot of crud can get in there and clog it up. Basically you have to look as what has changed since you first got the laptop and it was working fine as you said.
1. TIME.
2.And software has been added.
Over time the fins of the heatpipe will become more and more restricted with gunk, the dirtier the air, the sooner they will fail. You surely have connected to the internet and or have installed software on your laptop right? If not then tell us. If you have already run a spyware/antivirus program and the problem still persists then I have to say a "restore" is in order. Once you restore and your PC is running fine again then you know it was software related. If it still has the same issue after restoring AND cleaning out the heatpipe fins/vents then it is HARDWARE related and you need a new PC or a new part. Also, have you already run memtest on it? If not I suggest you do so. Could be bad memory.

Good luck and keep us posted as to what you have tried. -Goodspeed

 

I am still using the original OS....and the only drivers that have been changed are the video drivers and I did that the first 2-3 days.

 

Clean out your heatpipe fins. Run memtest. Run a good spyware/AV program. Ccleaner/registry cleaner. "RESTORE" the OS to it's original as shipped condition. You actually have to "DO" this you can't just say:"Doooode, it's like, all original, I swear.". That's all I got for you. Of those, what have you tried so far? If you have tried them all then it would appear that I am unable to help you. I have suggested all I know for your situation at this point. Good luck with your problem. -Goodspeed

 

Goodspeed thx for the advice.

The heatpipe fins were cleaned. There was no debris that came out.

Memtest - I havnt done this. I doubt that is the issue but I will do so to make certain.

I run spyware/AV regularly.

The 7811 lockup issues have not been software related from what I have read in the past, although no definitive information has ever been identified as a cause either.

Thanks for the info.

Any other suggestions from 7811 users or other people knowledgable about the topic?

 

Bump. Any other advice or if someone knows where the previous threads with more detailed info can be found that would be appreciated as well.

 

Anyone? Bueller? Bueller?

 

Great movie even today. It's still funny as all heck.







*cough* RESTORE *cough*

 

I know it's painful...but I have to agree...restore.

I actually do a preventative restore every six months...the amount of software clutter/conflicts/rouge processes that can pile up is amazing...even with good hygiene.

...opinions vary.

 

I dont dispute that this is a decent step to take, but I doubt its going to solve anything.

Many 7811s have this problem right out of the box. I experienced this problem within 2 weeks of using this 7811. I couldnt return to Best Buy since it was my 2nd 7811 (1st one had a HORRIFIC screen artifact) and I was told I only had 14 days from the ORIGINAL purchase date

Once again, there were 2-3 lengthy threads regarding this problem and a laundry list of things to try and suggestions as far as what the potential problems could be. I just cant find any of them.

I guess I need to spend a few hours going through the previous posts, but I thought since there are so many 7811 users out there many of which experienced this same issue I could get some more advice or someone who actually knew where 1 or more of those specific threads were.

 

The 7811FX lockups that I have read about and personally dealt with did not match the symptoms you described. Whatever was causing the lockups I am familiar with (I don't believe they ever have been fully diagnosed) would render the machine totally useless until a hard-reset was done. I had a 7811FX that I returned, and I received another one. There were some differences in the keyboard, DVD, and the molding of the bottom of the laptop case that might be the fix - but others without the same characteristics claim they have not seen the lockups. Still - what you are describing sounds like a software issue. Doing a clean re-install would prove one way or the other if your OS got dinged some way or if you are possibly having a hardware related issue. Good luck!