My laptop keeps randomly freezing (probably hardware related)

Hello.

I am sorry if I have posted this in the wrong place, I am new, so forgive my ignorance.. I actually had this problem for almost two years and I've been searching for months on this big problem I have which I cannot seem to fix no matter what I try. If anyone can help me on this, I'd really appreciate it!

Around 2007, my mother bought a new laptop for herself, generally to browse the web, but later in the year, she gave it to me and I've been using it ever since I needed a convenient computer. Before she gave it to me, it froze one time on her which we didn't think was a big deal; like something that happens once in a while. We were very wrong to think that, plus it was like the first week we had it since she bought it.

Anyway, ever since she gave me the laptop, I used it quite often, maybe for 10+ hours a day, I leave it on for downloading stuff, and such. I also play games on it, and browse the web, watch videos and listen to music. Ever since I started using it, it's been occasionally freezing on me. Earlier, my mother didn't use it enough to notice that the laptop might be defected in some way so we never really bothered. Since I use it very very often, I've noticed random freezing.

When the laptop freezes, nothing works. Ctrl + alt + del doesn't work, cursor freezes and doesn't move, nothing on the screen changes, if I unplug the ac adapter, the screen goes a bit dimmed (which is normal when I unplug) but it STAYS dim (which is not normal) I also found out the hard drive stop making sounds, and everything is quiet. The only way to shut it down is to really hard shut down by holding the power button (which is starting to sort of bump in because I constantly have to hold it down during freezes.) If I am playing any audio or video, the video freezes, and the audio loops itself on the last half second of what I was listening to.

I have posted this issue on another forum and some users advised to update drivers. I have done that already and it did not help. I run antivirus and malware scanners on real time but I don't think this is the problem because it happened before and after a clean install of Windows Vista. I tried reformatting and installing a clean Windows Vista Ultimate 32bit and it still froze. I tried installing Windows Vista Ultimate 64bit, it still froze. The laptop did not come with specific drivers from what I remembered so I downloaded the latest Realtek driver and it still froze. My video drivers are updated also, but still experience freezing.

The freezing also happens most of the times when I leave it out, but it sometimes also happens while I use it. I think it happens more when I leave it out and go do something else. It's so sneaky that I don't even realize it's frozen sometimes just by looking at it. There's also no warranty after a year, which was when I basically started using it.. and not realizing the problems until after the warranty was over.

After all the solutions I tried, I am now taking a guess that it could be hardware related.. such as a defected or faulty graphics card, sound card, or something else? If anyone finds this might be the reason, may you also recommend me a good ones so that I can buy?

If anyone can help me with this problem, I'd appreciate it soooooooooo sooooooooo so so much because it's been happening and I've only dealt with it with patience, even though it pisses me off a lot. I also wanted to see what others have to say about the problem and what solutions they can give before I have to really take it to repair which is quite costly. Here are my specifications (if anything that is needed, and isn't listed, please let me know):

Acer Aspire 4720z
Windows Vista Ultimate 64-bit
Intel Pentium Dual-Core 1.46 ghz
2.5GB RAM
Mobile Intel Graphic Media Accelerator x3100

Thank you so much!

 

Welcome to nbr, hopefully we can find a solution to your problem.

The first thing which comes to mind after reading your post is the memory.
download memtest:
http://hcidesign.com/memtest/MemTest.zip

Please run mem test for a good hour. If their are any errors with the memory in your system it will let you know.

If the memory fails, try each memory card at a time, and try to figure out which memory card is good, and which one is bad.
Almost all memory has a lifetime warranty, so you can simply RMA the bad one

If the memory is fine, than the next suspect is the harddrive.
Download and install hdtune:
http://www.hdtune.com/hdtune_255.exe
Open the "health" tab.
If anything is highlighted in red or yellow, I suggest replacing your harddrive.
You may also want to go into the "error scan" tab.
Run a scan of your harddrive. If their are any bad sectors, you should replace the harddrive.

The last thing i would check is the temperatures.
Download coretemp:
http://www.alcpu.com/CoreTemp/

Your cpu temperatures should be no more than 80C. If they are running hotter than that, your system could be freezing because of overheating problems.

If the problem is still their, the only thing to do is send it back under warranty, or take the system apart and see if something is not connected properly. Than make sure everything is put together right, and reassemble your laptop.

Good luck,

K-TRON

 

Hello K-Tron. Thank you for responding. I'll try out all three solutions right now and post any notifications and news of anything happening. Thanks

EDIT

OK wow, I left the laptop for a slight moment to give the dog and snack and came back and froze.. so I lost everything I typed which I now have to type all over again.

1) I left the memory test on for 1.5 hours and it said nothing happened.. no errors.
2) I checked with the HD Tune, nothing is highlighted yellow or red on the "health" tab, but there are yellow dots in the "benchmark tab". I am currently going to do the error checking for damaged blocks...
3) The Core temperatures were around 63 degrees at most.

My warranty is expired, and coincidentally expired right after I had the problems more than just occasionally (as we can see since it froze last night, and also like 5 minutes ago) I also changed the RAM on the laptop, but it was freezing before I ever thought about changing it. I do not know how to check for loose items or anything so if you or anyone else can put me through with a guide, I'd be happy to check for problems and would appreciate it a lot. I don't know how I'll study computer science not knowing these things, I'd like as much help as possible before spending big $$$ in fixing it, and so I can learn a few things myself.

I am also curious if it could be my ac adapter or battery. I didn't think it was at first because my laptop would freeze whether it's charging or on battery power. Now to come to think of it, my battery or something ticks like a bomb when I am charging the laptop, but when I remove the ac adapter, it stops.

I'm so upset with this purchase.. we have another Acer laptop and it has the lowest specifications you can think of, and it overheats and shuts down during the summer, but never ever freezes. The only reason why I don't use that one is because it's a lot older, the hinges broke so the screen constantly falls flat on the table, and it's heavy and big.

 

No, that is not the only thing left to do. There are plenty of other options to explore before sending back a laptop to the manufacturer. As such, this action should always be used as a last resort when all other options have been exhausted.

Personally, I don't think the issues you are encountering with your laptop are caused by hardware problems as K-Tron suggests. It sounds to me as though your laptop is overheating... and perhaps it needs to be cleaned out. Bad hard drive? Bad memory? Sure, these might be indicators of a randomly freezing laptop, but what sent warning bells off was the following:

Since this laptop is on over 10 hours a day, most likely there is substantial build-up of dust and debris in your vents. I would take a can of compressed air and very carefully blow out your exhaust vents and ports on your notebook and try to clean it out the best you can. Ensure that the notebook is unplugged and that the battery is removed first before you start blowing air into the unit.

Word of caution: DO NOT shake the can of air, and do not hold the can upside down while blowing. This causes freezing mist to erupt from the nozzle which can damage sensitive components inside your laptop. In my experience, this is an easy, effective, and cheap solution that solves 90% of notebook system lockups and/or freezes. It's a far cry from sending RMA's for suspected bad hardware that may or may not fix your problems.

 

If it wasn't the memory, or the hard drive, than it must be something else.
I doubt it has to do with dust since his temps are never higher than 63C.

You may want to go to Acer's website and download the latest Bios revision for your laptop. Acer should provide directions for which to do this. Usually it is pretty simple, like burning an ISO to a bootable CD/DVD with Nero.

A bios upgrade should help ensure that the system is recognizing everything.
If problems occur after the Bios upgrade, than I would be suspect that something is shorting or something is not connected properly on the inside of your laptop.

Out of curiosity, are you using the touchpad on your system?
I know that on my Clevo D900K, I noticed system instability because of the touchpad. The 4 pin connector for the touchpad runs underneath the touchpad, so if i were to press hard, the cable would kink and freeze the system. I replaced the 4 pin wire, and covered it with a plastic drinking straw for extra support. It has worked ever since.

Maybe its something simple like that, but you never know.
Their are tons of things to check first

K-TRON

 

I second what K-Tron just said, on my old A75 it would freeze sometimes when hitting the speaker grill or USB port on the side, turns out they have an issue with bad grounding of any metal part connected to the top part of the case (basically a bad connection between the metal in the top of case and the shielding and metal chassis in the bottom part).

 

I strongly urge against updating the BIOS on your laptop unless there is a specific fix for the problems you are experiencing. BIOS updates should only be performed if a system is unstable and an update has been released to specifically correct that problem.

That said, I did some quick searching on the 'net and found two threads you might be interested in reading:

http://www.digitalspy.co.uk/forums/showthread.php?p=15209207
http://forums.whirlpool.net.au/forum-replies-archive.cfm/580781.html

Fixes range from running msconfig and disabling Acer events, removing the battery during use while AC power is connected (something you should do anyway), and propping the laptop so that it has sufficient air to pass through underneath.

 

Hey I went to their site but for some reason, they don't list my laptop and when I click on downloads, it doesn't load to a new page, it was very irritating.

Does anyone know how I can find a new bios download?

By the way, I just restarted my laptop before I came here... it froze.. when I just turned around to watch tv for like 4 minutes.

EDIT

I only use the touchpad when I walk around with the laptop where I can't use a mouse. That's not very often. I disable it when I use a mouse because my hand rubs against it and shifts the cursor while I'm typing. If it's really any problem like that, I kind of think that they don't really put things together nicely? I find that awful.. I'm not too technical with these things so I really have no clue,and I didn't know little things like that cause system instability.

Thank you for the links, garetjax. It seems that everyone seems to have a problem with an Acer laptop.. what a shame. Now that I have this one, I'm not allowed to buy another one.. I would've prefered something more like a Dell Inspiron.

Back to the topic now

I'm going to see if removing the battery works, first I need to see where it is and how to take it out lol. About the overheating, I used to leave the laptop out in the summer (since my mother is being all energy efficient, we hardly used the air conditioner) The laptop never overheated or froze then, but it's doing it now when it's very cool.. I find that very strange. Or maybe because the laptop is getting older every month. Actually to come to think of it, I used to prop the laptop up with some small circular foam things I stack together to give it some air on the bottom.

Any other suggestions meanwhile?

 

The problem you're describing also resembles strongly to what happens when a capacitor on a PC motherboard leaks or blows out. Random freezes, shutdowns... basically total system instability. When your laptop has been on for awhile, trying sniffing the exhaust ports on your notebook and see if you can smell anything odd like an acrid, electrical burning smell.

 

I'll see if I can get anything, I have a slight stuffy nose right now that's why. Thanks for the suggestion. I'll try it later when the laptop is on a little longer.

EDIT.

I went to sniff around the laptop but I didn't smell anything abnormal, it's like smelling regular air. That's just me :\

EDIT.

It froze twice today (Feb. 15).. I didn't smell anything again..

I found the downloads page for the bios but it doesn't list any bios updates or downloads for Acer Aspire 4720(z).. only drivers.

 

Still freezing. Does anyone else want to try to help me? I can't get my college work done..

 

Exact same thing happened to my laptop. Its the motherboard. Nothing else.. Nothing fancy. Not the HDD, Ram or anything like that.. Just replace the motherboard.

 

Hi Fishy! Finally someone came through! How much do you think it would cost to replace a mother board? I think I should because I moved my laptop and heard something inside and this copper colored ring came off and it was broken.

 

Motherboard will be a little more or a little less than $300. It is definately it. As I went through basically every part on my notebook before I finally replaced the motherboard. I even remastered it 3 times.. 2wice with XP and once with Vista. It would run fine and then out of know where the curser would stop moving. And it would just sit there frozen...
As soon as i replaced motherboard it was perfect and my new motherboard actually came with better fans.!

 

Ehh $300 is a lot.. with $200 more, I could probably buy a new laptop with better specifications. Um anyway, I'll see if I can find anything inexpensive on newegg, my mother refuses to pay more than $100.

 

I would strongly advise against flashing the BIOS; if the computer is unreliable and it freezes while flashing the BIOS, then you will have no choice *but* to replace the motherboard.

Others have been insisting that it is indeed the motherboard. Could they expand on how they know this? Some links to forums where others have verified the problem or a technical bulletin, perhaps?

Not that I enjoy poking holes in explanations, but your model is completely different; it's not even the same manufacturer. Frankly, this advice does not warrant shelling out $300 for a possible fix. I would recommend that the OP check up Acer's website for technical bulletins on this model. In the meantime, I will search a little.

 

OK, I found this within NBR's forum archives. A little sifting of the search results yielded a possible fix which may not be a hardware issue after all.

http://forum.notebookreview.com/showthread.php?t=308855&highlight=4720z+freezing

Given that you reinstalled Windows using the same drivers, then it is possible that this is a driver issue; according to post #9, the poster resolved the same issue by installing different WLAN drivers. Others solved their same issue with the 4720z by reinstalling graphics drivers.

If you can't find your model on Acer's website, then you could try searching for the drivers individually from their manufacturers (especially for the GPU) or you can order driver CDs from Acer.

 

Hello thanks for the helpful response. Um, it already froze before I ever reinstalled Windows. It came with Windows Home Premium 32-bit, factorial settings with all the default drivers and Acer applications and it still froze. I then tried a System recovery, reinstall to Vista Ultimate 32 and 64 bit and it still froze.

So what I mean was, the way it came when I bought it, it froze. I changed settings and gave it a new operating system and it STILL Froze. I don't think it's driver problems if it happens before and after.. I think there is a serious defect, any other suggestions?

 

It seems to me that when you installed it, you used the factory recovery DVD... which restores Windows with Acer's drivers included. What I'm saying is that, according to the link I provided earlier, using different drivers may solve the issue. You could start by trying to install different WLAN or video drivers on your existing installation; if that doesn't work, then reinstalling Windows Vista using just a Windows disc (no Acer software/drivers whatsoever) may fix the problem.

 

Hi. On my first post, I already stated I tried that both 64 and 32 bit, clean, fresh, Vista Ultimate and it did not work. I also already tried updating drivers, it still froze.

 

OK. There's only one last thing that I can think of; you could try removing as many non-essential components from the system in an effort to see if the lockups will stop, but I doubt that this will help. In any case, it must definitely be a hardware problem.

 

Motherboard

 

Well I would try that, but there's nothing that I know of, that I don't use lol