CQ56-187SD Win7 randomly freezes

Last week I bought two CQ56-187SD with 64-bit Win 7 Home Premium (off-the shelf AMD II Athlon, 320GB harddisk, 2GB RAM). One of the machines works flawlessly, the other doesn't. Both are used in the same room, same way, sharing the same desk performing the same software.

According to the eventlog de AMDSATA caused time-outs so I downgraded the driver to Microsofts. This lowered the frequency of freezing significantly but still the machine freezes for no apparent reason (CPU usage next to 5%, so nothing special). Freezing happens when browsing the net (Internet explorer) using the wireless-lan. Also when I was creating a disk-image of a DVD the internal DVD player spun-down a few times only to speed up again after some time (typically about 30 seconds). During the freezes, the harddisk-led keeps solid on.

So far, I've updated the BIOS and updated most of the drivers to try and solve the problem, with no notable effect.

What can I do? Is the hardware faulty? Or is this Windows 7 not being mature?

 

If the hard drive LED stays lit when the machine becomes unresponsive, you may have a bad hard drive. Get the free version of hdtune (which is the second download on that link) and test it on both of your computers. See if the read/write times are the same between the two, and this handy little tool will also show you if SMART has detected any problems with the hard drive as well.

Let me know if that helps!

 

@J.P.@XoticPC:

Thanks for the info. Right now the HDTune is running a full error-scan, so far (about 33% is checked) no faults mentioned.

What I did find strange was that benchmark showed max speeds of 93.4 MB/s and min speeds of 35.5 MB/s with an average at 72.7 MB/s. When running the test, no other software was executed. Access time is 17.6 ms, Burst rate 69.7 MB/sec. The graph shows 5 seriously low 'spikes'. Harddisk temperature is 38 degrees Celsius.

Tonight I will run a few more tests trying to isolate the source of the problem. I'll keep you posted.

 

Okay.... Little update. I updated all drivers. I updated the BIOS, none seemed to help. I downgraded the AMD-SATA driver to Microsoft's own driver, which reduced the random-freezes dramatically. But not a 100% fix. Then I ran ALL diagnostic tests available in the BIOS, none showed an error. So I filed a question asking what more I could do before getting an RMA... and just like going to the dentist... the problem has vanished! Now, I don't like that. I hate problems that disapear just like that. But then... the system works nice now so why complain? Okay, it is a little dis-satisfactory not knowing what made the trouble going a way but then... it's Windows.

 

Yep! Windows...Good diagnosing though. Glad to hear everything is up and running again!

 

@XOTICPC:
Just out of curiosity I re-installed the SATA driver from AMD and the initial freezes were back right away, so it was the main cause.

What I also did, and just remembered a few days ago, was getting rid of Internet Explorer 9 beta. It caused other irritating errors. It made the system just that little bit more stable.

Are the lock-ups gone completely? No. They do re-apear when running Office Starter. At a lower frequency and not too anoying.

Here's one user looking forward for the availability of SP1 for Windows 7, Dutch version.

 

Seems to be fixed now. Offline I had incredible help from the HP team, unfortunately that did not solve the problem. What did I do?

Well... I ran a number of tests, none of them pointed the finger to hardware. So I re-installed using DVDs created using the Recovery-manager present on the Compaq. Re-installing meant, in this case, a format of the harddisk, installing everything clean. Then went through the dreaded update proces. Nothing changed. Then I put up some patience as SP1 for Win7 was around the corner. Still, no joy after installing that. So yesterday I was fed-up with the situation. I mean, this machine was performing worse then the aging Dell Latidude D610 it was replacing. Atleast, that was my perception. So I decided to sweep the complete harddisk clean and install Ubuntu 64-bit. Guess what? I never had been using a laptop so responsive! This is what I expected to get! Still... it is comparing lemons and onions as Linux starts to swap only when it's needed whereas Windows tends to swap when no performance critical processes are used.

So I decided to seek the internet for a torrent with Windows 7 Home Premium 64 Retail version, downloaded it and installed it this morning. Went through all the updates and guess what? No more freezing! Now is that a wonder or what?

So conclusion time? As I can see it now the initial installation of Windows 7 by HP/Compaq has been faulty. Also, the recovery media can be thrown out of the window as it is crooked as well.

Which leaves me wondering. Why, on earth, is HP putting so much time in customizing their Windows installations? I mean, I needed 4 DVDs to create the recovery media. It took only 1 DVD for Windows 7 Retail version. Taking a short cut this means that 3 DVDs were filled with HP software. I know, it is not like that but... the more information the more possibility errors kreep in. My feeling is that HP/Compaq can learn from Dell in this case. The recovery-cd of Windows XP for Dell only contains a base install of Windows XP, just enough to get the base system up and running. Okay, it has it's disadvantages as well as you needed to visit the Dell site for video, audio and a number of other drivers. But you ended up with a clean and snappy install. Like I'm now experiencing on this 'retail' installed Presario.

So... Would I buy a Compaq again? Yes I would! It is still good value for money. And if this means that I have to search the internet and (illegally) download a Windows version. Oh Microsoft, I own the product code and it passed the WGA check... so it's not that illegal.

 

That is very strange, but I really appreciate the followup! It is nice to know you had found a solution.

 

@J.P.@XoticPC:
It's not that weird with Compaq. I met my wife while getting her Compaq Presario up and running back in the Windows 98 era. That machine was utterly unreliable until sweeping the complete harddisk and use a retail version of 98SE for reinstallation. After that the machine ran reliable for several years. It should happen but alas... that's computers. It's easy to create buggy software when you need about 16 GB of OS. Even the good, old Amiga Workbench 3.1 (less than 10 MB) wasn't free of errors .