Windows 7 freezes after startup

Hello there,

after my computer completes the startup of windows 7 (64bit), it freezes every time after about 2-3 minutes of operating normally. Untill that moment everything seems to work ok. I can even start applications, hear sound effects or listen to sound files, have access to the internet etc.
But then, regardless if I did anything or just waited, the system becomes unresponsive after some minutes. When i move the cursor to the task bar it changes to the "loading circle", but when I try to click on any icon or use the right mouse button or do anything else that should lead to a response, nothing happens. I cannot even scroll through files or websites. If the computer is playing sound of any kind at that moment, it goes on for a while, then changes into a weird staccato and finally stops. Sometimes when I just wait for several minutes, the screen gets a shade of white, but otherwise nothing happens. I also cannot start the Task-Manager and if I started it before the freeze in anticipation of what will happen, I cannot see any new processes popping up or even see the capacity utilization of the CPU going up.

When i press the restart button, the computer restarts, but stops right at the first screen, where your hard drives are listed. (and where, in theory, you could press F8 or del, which does not work as well) Only the power button works at that point and results in a normal booting cycle, where i can choose to start normally or in safe mode.

My specifications:
AMD Athlon(tm) 64 X2 Dual Core Processor 5200+ 2,61 GHz
Windows 7 (64-bit)
2 GB RAM
WDC WD5000ABYS-01NTA0 ATA hard drive
GeForce 7300 GT graphic card
SoundMAX Integrated Digital HD Audio
Bluetooth Microsoft keyboard and a Logitech cordless optical mouse

The safe mode works normally, so I have tried several solutions so far:

1.) Naturally i ran several anti-malware programs, includig Malwarebyte´s Anti-Malware and Super Anti-Spyware. I also downloaded Avira and ran it. Besides a few tracking cookies which Super Anti-Spyware found and removed there were no results.

2.) I tried to update all my drivers, especially the graphic card driver. (Which i suspected to cause the problem) I even tried to just install the new graphic card driver over the existing one, after deinstalling the old and installing the new one did not work. The current version is 8.17.12.6099.
I updated all other drivers as well by right-clicking on them in the device manager and manually by looking for updated drivers in the internet. No results.
I even downloaded DC Driver Cleaner Pro and removed all ATI-labeled stuff, but to no effect. I also tried out tools which claim to check for outdated drivers (like Driver Genius Professional etc.), but quickly found out that they are actually all the same rip-off program with a different user interface and which all just "identify problems" and urge you to pay 30 bucks for the full version, which claims to be able to rectify the problem. And no, I did not pay the money. I may be no computer crack, but I am not that retarded.

3.) I ran Checkdisk via the Start menu. I also tried to check the hard drive for errors via right-clicking on it and choosing the option in the "tools" menu. No result.

4.) I deinstalled ASUS Smart Doctor which sometimes did not start normally after booting. No result.

5.) I tried to clean up my registry. I found several intructions on the internet which advised to delete stuff in the following directories.
Computer\HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\Directory\Background\shellex\ContextMenuHandlers
I may have tried to clean it with a tool too, but I cannot really remember which it was. Needless to say it made no difference.

6.) I also remember to have used a program called "sfc", but do not really remember how that worked out. Obvioulsy it did not solve my problem.

7.) I set the energy saving options to "never" at several places.

As you can imagine, a week full of fruitless efforts has quickly brought me to the point where frustration sets in. Therefore I may have confused one or the other steps which I made to get my system running, so take my descriptions of what I tried out so far with a grain of salt. Some things were tried out several times and I could not say in which order.

I hope someone can help.

 

If your machine is working correclty in safe mode, it is likely and error with some program that starts up when your not in safe mode. That said, I would boot into safe mode and check event viewer for errors. If you can't find anything concrete there, i would disable programs one by one using msconfig until windows doesn't crash. I usually use a program called autoruns for this because certain programs cannot be manipulated via msconfig. Let me know what you find

 

This could be either a hardware or software issue. Here are a few other things you might try:

* Start in Safe Mode With Networking and try running anything you normally use that will run in Safe Mode (or, if all else fails, just browse the Internet). If the system freezes or starts acting up while in Safe Mode it is likely a hardware issue.

* Run the following free testing software - it will often catch memory issues Win 7's memory test misses:

http://majorgeeks.com/Video_Memory_Stress_Test__d5896.html

http://majorgeeks.com/MemTest_d350.html

* Go to Western Digital's website and download the latest version of Data Lifeguard. Run the long/full drive test. This may take several hours to complete; however it has caught HDD issues for me that Checkdisk missed. If the long test catches any issues, backup whatever data you need to and do a fresh install of your OS and all software (attempting to "clone" the old drive to the new one will clone the corrupted OS and software files as corrupted files (been there, done that :-o) ).

* If running a separate video card and you have an on-board video option, pull the video card and connect the monitor to the on-board video. If this solves the freeze-ups I suspect the video card may be FUBAR (esp. since you've downloaded the latest drivers for it). If you only have one video option installed and can't do this, see if a friend has a spare video card you can borrow or buy one from a store with a decent return policy if it doesn't solve the problem.

Hope these tips help you solve the problem.

 

Thank you both for the answers.

I will try out what you both advise tomorrow as spare time permits.

Here just a quick answer to what I checked already:

In Safe Mode With Networking everything seems to work as usual. I cannot hear any sound, change to an acceptable graphic solution (or use any program that would require so, as games do) or run any of the additional programms as adobe acrobat reader, flash player etc. but to my knowledge that is perfectly normal in Safe Mode.
As my computer ran in this hardware configuration for months without any serious problems and i made no changes prior to the first appearance of this freeze I tend to rule out any fundamental hardware incompability. I may be wrong here, though.

 

Although it still could be any one of these, your note that it runs fine in Safe Mode raises the odds of a video card issue.

In Safe Mode, Windows loads a generic (640x480) video driver. Since this is very low res. it results in less heat and less stress on the video card. Given this, I would start with the video card memory test running Windows in normal mode. Also, it might be a good idea to open the case and be sure all the fans are working properly.

Good luck on solving the problem.

 

Ok, here is my progress report.

- I opened the case and checked all fans. They all work correctly.
- I´ve got no onboard video option.
- I tried to run VMT in Safe Mode, but I realized that this was wrong. The graphic card isn´t running in Safe Mode anyways. I tried to run it in normal mode too, but the test takes too long to complete and it froze just like any other application after 4 minutes.
- I am currently running MemTest, which is at 120% and found no errors so far.



- I will run the Data Lifeguard test tomorrow morning, while I am at work. I will get back with the results. (if any)


Thank you for your efforts.

 

Good catch on the memory testing.

The only advice I'll repeat is that - once you've backed up your data and if you haven't done so already - run a long test using WD's Data Lifeguard on the HDD before reformatting and reloading Windows (I'm pretty sure Data Lifeguard still has an option to burn it to a CD and use it for a limited boot to run the tests).

Given the relatively low cost of a new HDD, if the test shows or corrects issues, I would stay on the safe side and replace the drive before doing a reinstall. Although others may disagree, one or two bad sectors (even if fixed) are often an omen of worse issues to come.

The long test often catches issues chkdsk or short tests don't. If the HDD is the culprit it would suck to go through the entire reinstall process and still have the issue.

 

Update:

I managed to run VMT despite the small time window by doing a "small" scan. Here are the results. I am not sure what the "not supported" part actually means, but it seems there are no errors.

@DavidGP

I will run the memtest with one of the RAMs after the other tomorrow.

@gman863

Will do so.

---------------------------

Thank god that i always do a backup on a portable harddisk once a month. There are some files on my computer, mostly texts and pictures, into which i put months of work and which are essentially irreplaceable.
External data storage is your friend.

 

Progress report:

I ran Data Lifeguard extended test this morning and finally I found a problem. Hopefully this is the problem which causes the freeze.

This is the test summary:

Looks like the HDD is the culprit. If noone has any other ideas I am going to replace it, wipe the whole computer and then re-install Windows.

 

Here are some tips to fix black screen error on Windows 7 systems with the cursor hang:



Use Windows 7 DVD

You can use the Windows 7 DVD to repair these black screen issues in the system. For this, you need to insert the DVD in the system and then restart the system. You will be then prompted to press any key to boot from the disk. After pressing any key, you will reach the “Install Now” screen. In this screen, you need to select the ‘Repair Your Computer’ options. In the next screen appearing, you will get two options from which you need to select the first option and then select the OS you installed in the system. Choose ‘Start-Up Repair’ from multiple repair options. You will get the system restarting itself and you can get the issue resolved with this.

Last known good configuration

It is possible that any serious changes to the Windows 7 system get it in black screen error with the cursor hang. You can try restoring the system to its last known good configuration to resolve the issue. For this, you need to tap specific keys to enter the set-up of the system. As the BIOS appear, search out the Restore Default Settings options. After selecting the option, save it and then exit the menu. You will then get the system to its initial state. You will get a boot options menu as your computer restarts and you need to select the ‘Last known good configuration’ from this.

Disconnect any external devices

If still you experience the black screen issue in Windows 7 system, you can check if any of system hardware is causing the issue. For this, you need to remove each external device of the system and try to start up the system. You may try disconnecting any unwanted internal devices to fix the issue.

 

i have the same prob and i have read that fans can be a caused and i open my PC 1 fan was not working how can i fix it?

 

You will need to replace the fan. If its a CPU fan figure out what processor you're running (you're mainly looking for the socket type) and find a heatsync/fan that is compatible.