Windows 7 freezing up completely

The problem I've been having is so random and frustrating that I've hesitated to even post about it. It is so maddeningly arbitrary as to defy normal diagnosis. I can only supply a vague guess at the frequency - maybe a few times a month? I guess I should start writing it down when it happens.

Basically, my Samsung NP300V5A-A02US laptop will freeze completely, in no apparent pattern, while running stuff under Windows 7.

It happens when I'm using MATLAB, it happens when I'm browsing the Web. It happens when I'm not doing anything but moving the mouse around.

The freeze-ups *never* happen on my desktop, which runs 64-bit Windows 7 Ultimate.

Let's assume for the sake of discussion that there's no malware afoot. I have not had a machine infected for years and years. I don't install stupid toolbars or *.exe's sent by strangers. Also I run Microsoft Security Essentials, and it hasn't picked anything up. Other than the freezeups, the laptop runs as well as ever.

Could this be a problem with TrueCrypt? That is the only application I use constantly on the laptop, but rarely on the desktop. But I haven't found reports of anyone else having the system freeze up catastrophically when using TrueCrypt.

(I already have the latest BIOS, which was released last July.)

 

It could be truecrypt or it is due to a driver. Did you update a driver before the freeze started happening?

 

Have you ruled out hardware issues?

By freezes you mean just frozen mouse/can't enter keyboard commands but you can still see the screen? No BSODs?

 

Have you tried disabling LPM and disabling hard drive sleep?

 

I am going to take a guess here have you clean the dust out of your laptop yet and have you re-applied the thermal paste to your CPU and GPU if you have one? From what your describing it sounds more like a system overheating and the cooling system is plugged up with dust and not allowing the cooling fans to work properly thus causing your system to lockup when idling or not over tasking the CPU. So take apart your laptop and clean out the dust if you haven't done so.

 

Try reading temperatures with OCCT before you start taking your notebook apart. The thermal paste might be perfectly fine. Then again it might not. Running OCCT and trying to keep an eye on temps (especially right before the laptop shuts down) will help determine if taking the notebook apart is the next step.

 

Run memory diagnostic (Memtest, Windows Memory Diagnostic etc ..) and a drive defrag. Check for disk errors. What I would do first.

cheers ...

 

OP: You might find this useful:

http://forum.notebookreview.com/net...ved-computer-freezes-hangs-wireless-card.html

 

That does sound like the problem I'm having, only it doesn't happen very frequently.

No way to tell if it's the wireless card because I don't have another I can swap out, and the computer is largely useless without wireless networking (there are few places at school, if any, where I can plug into the network wired).

I'm probably just going to RMA the machine to Samsung after classes are over and let them figure it out. For now, even though it crashes occasionally, I still need it to do school work. I save and backup my school stuff often enough that I haven't lost any work yet.

 

What settings should I use? I tried the defaults (large data set, "infinite") but it just overheats one core automatically.

Also not sure where I should set the temperature limit. The default 85°C is toasty, but I'm pretty sure the CPU (Core i5-2410M) can safely be run even hotter than that.

 

So, once school was out, I reinstalled Windows 7 from the recovery partition. I updated everything that could be updated, installed Firefox, Truecrypt (version. 7.1a this time) etc.

After a couple of weeks of occasional use with no problems, the machine again froze up earlier today. Just the way it did before.

In it goes for service. Supposed to find out about the particulars tomorrow.

 

It sounds like a hardware problem for sure. Windows is probably fine but some component is dying.

 

LOL exact problem with the Lenovo X100e when it first came out... Countless angry complaints of hangs and freezes from owners for months and after numerous firmware/software updates, turns out it was the crappy Realtek Wireless card and its drivers

 

I just can't win. A desktop I assembled a few weeks ago is also messed up. It doesn't resume from sleep normally, and it keeps bluescreening. After Windows 7 crashes, upon restart the system will do nothing but emit a series of error beeps (which, naturally, aren't explained in the motherboard manual!).

It's as if hardware has become less reliable over the years. I haven't had a single system I've purchased or built be trouble-free in the last 8 years. Something always has to be sent in for repair within the first few months after I buy it.

Don't even get me started on the netbooks I bought in late 2009.

 

Long story short, Samsung sent a prepaid UPS label, so I'll be shipping this POS in for service.

Will update the thread when I get it back. However, I'm not even sure how long it will take to know whether the problem's fixed, given that it was so random and sporadic.

 

Wow, that was fast! My broken notebook arrived at Samsung's repair facility on Tuesday, and has already been repaired and shipped.

According to the repair statement, they replaced both the motherboard and the CPU. I sure hope that fixes the problem, as they basically gave me a new machine.

 

Thanks for the update! Hopefully we don't hear bad news again from this

Best of luck with the new comp!

 

I got my Samsung notebook back yesterday. Despite some rough handling by the carrier, it appears to be fine. Unfortunately, due to the completely random nature of the original problem, it will be some weeks before I can be sure the problem is truly fixed.

In the meantime, I'm very glad to have my Samsung notebook back. The only other computer I had was set up in a "home theater" configuration (monitor up on a table opposite a couch, PC itself distant from both) so was a tad inconvenient to use as my daily, getting stuff done computer.