Freeze upon resume from screen saver

Often, when I wiggle my mouse to wake my computer from a period of inactivity (NOT asleep), my computer freezes.

My mouse stops moving, ctrl alt del doesn't do anything, even pressing the physical power button usually doesn't do anything. I have to hold the power button down for 8 seconds to shut the machine off and reboot (upon doing so it'll work just fine).

Other (possibly related) issue: sometimes, when I turn on my computer or it resumes from sleep, I get the log in screen- but without anything to click. There is no username icon, no password field, nor even the virtual power button in the lower right hand corner. When this happens I also have to do a hard shut down.

I've checked the event viewer, and nothing preceeds these weird moments of freezing. I've run diagnostics on my RAM via memtest, but that reports my RAM is fine. I've run tests on 3D and 2D graphics, and those seem fine.

I realize the hard shut downs aren't good for my computer, but since I have an SSD i'm not worried about crashes.

Does anyone have any suggestions for the freezing issue? Either hardware wise or software wise?

 

Greetings, inventor5902, and welcome to MajorGeeks...

We need to know your operating system version and Service Pack #.

Couple of quick questions:

1. Do you get the same screensaver symptoms when the machine is booted into Safe Mode?

2. Have you tried rolling the machine back (via System Restore) to a previous date to see if some program update and/or Windows update might be causing the issues?

3. Do you get the same login symptoms (no username icon, no password field, etc.) if you log into a different account?

 

OS: Windows 7 Ultimate 64 bit (don't appear to have any service packs installed)

1. Haven't tried Safe Mode; since the issue is intermittent, I would potentially have to run my computer in Safe Mode for 3 days before I saw the problem again. Is it worth it to try a stint in Safe Mode to see if the problem extends to that enviornment?

2. I haven't tried System Restore; it started some months ago and I don't know to what date I would roll back. Do you have any suggestions for how to find the date to which I should roll back?

3. I do not have another account. I will create one and see if the problem persists on that account.

 

Really need to get SP1 on board, if possible - probably has nothing to do with your current problems, but still...

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You could try Safe Mode and set your screensaver for one minute, toggle a few times to see if there's a pattern, but I wouldn't spend too much time on it if it's a random intermittent problem...

Same with the System Restore - if this has been going on for a while, then never mind...

Do try another account to see if this is a corrupted profile thing...

 

I just realized I've tried to install SP1 at least 3 or 4 times now, only to realize I didn't have the sufficient prerequisites. I've now installed the prereqs and the service pack itself.

***

I've setup another profile and tried to make it freeze, but it didn't. Whether that means the problem is solved is yet to be seen. I figure I'll proceed as follows:

1. continue using my normal account until (if?) my account freezes. On the off chance that the SP1 update fixed things.

2. If my account freezes even once, start making the other account my norm.

3. If the other account freezes, use Safe Mode to eliminate the possibility of a higher level software bug

4. If Safe Mode freezes, test hardware outside of Windows

5. If hardware passes but Windows proceeds to freeze, repair the installation of Windows.

6. If Windows repair fails, reinstall Windows and restore files from backup.

Is there anything you would change in that process? I don't know how I would proceed if Safe Mode didn't freeze but both profiles did.

***

Oh yeah! One more thing. I experience the freezing MORE when the laptop is docked (but that could be because it goes to near sleep more when docked...). I don't have my docking station with me for the next month so I might not be able to produce the error as often. That's actually why I think I should try to use my normal profile until (if?) the error shows up again.

 

Good morning...

Looks like a good plan. Good luck and keep us posted.