Freezing (again) After Recent Updates

Dell tells me this is a software problem, though I'm not sure I trust this answer. But that's why I'm posting it here.

System: Dell Inspiron 17-7778, purchased Sept. 2016.
Specs: Intel Core i7-6500 CPU @ 2.50 ghz 2.60 ghz, 12.0 gb RAM, 11.9 gb usable
OS: Windows 10 Home 1903, installed 6/18/19
Problem: Freezes, forcing manual reboot
Unique user interface hardware issues: A screen physical defect requires that this system be operated with the touch-screen driver disabled. I have large hands that interfered with the touchpad, so have also disabled the touchpad. System operates with an external wireless mouse.
History: Previous solutions to the freeze problem no longer working after recent Windows 10 Home and Dell firmware upgrades.

Narrative: Shortly after I purchased it, this system began freezing every now and then. The screen would simply freeze in place and the keyboard and mouse would not respond to commands. The system required a hard restart. After a short time, I found that updating drivers seemed to take care of the problem. Not sure which drivers did the trick, as I updated any that appeared to be obsolete. Each time Windows installed major updates and/or Dell generated new firmware, I had to do this again. At some point, I installed Driver Booster, which has been helpful in keeping the drivers up to date.

I posted to Major Geeks about related issues with this system in Nov.-Dec. 2017, including freezes at that time, but there were unrelated problems that I was able to identify with help (touch-screen defect and bad install of Windows update) and fix, which then allowed me to fix the freeze problems again the same way. Since then, I have periodically encountered the freezes and have always been able to resolve them for a period of time by updating drivers. Until now.

After a series of Windows updates and firmware updates were installed about two weeks ago now, the system began freezes that were much more frequent in occurrence than previously. However, my drivers are being kept up to date and this doesn't seem to help any more. I contacted Dell about the possibility of a firmware issue or an incompatibility with the new Windows upgrade and they declared my problem a software issue, after I ran a memory test on boot-up and found no problems.

It's worth noting that the freezes seem to occur at times when Windows 10 Home is attempting to download updates, apparently at the second the download attempts begin. If I manually install an update, I do not have a freeze. This includes very small updates, such as virus definitions. Windows 10 Home does not offer flexibility in scheduling downloads. Not every automatic update download causes a freeze, but there ususally seems to be one waiting immediately after a freeze, though there have been a few cases when there was not. Hoping for guidance on finding a solution that isn't just a band-aid for this issue.

 

May not be the issue, but worth checking and eliminating from the list of possible culprits: run the laptop's diagnostics and test the processor, motherboard, memory, and drive.

 

Yes, this is what Dell customer support asked me to do. The tests came back with no problems, and Dell declared it a software issue.

 

Okay, next up: check for bad sectors on the drive.

How to Scan & Fix Hard Drives with CHKDSK in Windows 10
https://www.techjunkie.com/fix-hard-drives-chkdsk-windows-10/​

If that passes, do an integrity check of the operating system files:

Use the System File Checker tool to repair missing or corrupted system files
https://support.microsoft.com/en-us...er-tool-to-repair-missing-or-corrupted-system​

 

If I may...
Run this utility and upload the log file.
Download SFC Utility - MajorGeeks

Then run this batch file and upload the log file.

 

Ok, so now there's a much worse problem. Before receiving Eldon's advice above, I was following Mr. Krinkle's suggestion with chkdsk. I ran a chkdsk /r only. The system appeared to have stalled out during the 4th stage and I did a hard power off and rebooted. The system showed immediate problem including messages about a corrupt desktop file. I restarted again and am now stuck in "Preparing Automatic Repair" despite several attempts. I think I know what to try if I can get to the Automatic Repair advanced options button, but anytime that should be triggered, this system instead goes to the Dell Support Assist screen, which doesn't seem helpful. Stuck for now.

 

Further update: Was able to boot from a USB and get to repair options. Startup repair failed, generating bad config info message. Followed online advice to use command prompt to backup files from config\regback but there are no files there. Thinking I may need to start backing up data and reinstalling Windows. Other options welcome.

 

How long was chkdsk sitting in stage 4? Does the Dell Inspiron 17-7778 have a drive activity LED? I'm asking because chkdsk was probably working on a particularly nasty issue when you interrupted it. That caused a file system corruption problem. Give this a try:

1. Boot off your flash drive.
2. At the first screen, select "Repair your computer".
3. When asked about which Windows setup to repair, select the one on your C: drive.When Windows asks about repairing the problem automatically, select "No".
4. On the "System Recovery Options" screen, select "Command Prompt".

Type the following command and then press Enter:

bootrec /FixMbr​

If it works, you will see "The operation completed successfully." Your Master Boot Record has been repaired. Reboot and see if Windows will load. If it doesn't, repeat steps 1-5 above, then type the following command and then press Enter:

bootrec /FixBoot ​

This will write a new boot sector on the system partition. Reboot and see if Windows will load. If it doesn't, repeat steps 1-5 above, then type the following command and then press Enter:

bootrec /RebuildBcd​

This will scan all your disks for other operating systems compatible with Windows and allow you to add them to your system's boot list (the Boot Configuration Data).

If these don't work, it may be time for a backup and fresh Windows installation.

 

See my other post about the missing files. I needed to get the system running again this evening for work so I'm nearly finished reinstalling Windows from a USB. We'll have to see whether the previous problems reoccur.

 

So after reinstalling Windows, the freezes didn't occur for some time, but I've now had two in the last 24 hours. As noted previously, the system suddenly freezes and does not respond to the keyboard or mouse. The only option is to forcibly power down. So I attempted to follow Eldon's instructions above.
However, while both of the utilities appeared to execute correctly, both ultimately generated a Notepad message saying the path could not be found. I found two log files that appeared to have the right timestamps for the DFC utility, but I'm not sure if they're the right ones. I did not find anything with the right time stamp for the second utility.

 

Since the most recent update, I have experienced overclocking errors/failures, random shutdowns, and random restarts.

The system has been mostly more stable for the last two updates.

 

And some people swear that Win 10 never has an update problem.

I say if they've never had a problem, they've been lucky!

 

Regarding the two recent replies about updates, as far as I can tell, this is not primarily an update issue, and even then not necessarily a Windows 10 issue. Seems much more like a Dell issue with the hardware/software they shipped. I run Windows 10 on my office PC and have never encountered such problems. I've had this problem on my Dell laptop since I purchased the system several years ago, but have previously been able to make it go away temporarily through driver updates. However, when an update to Windows occurs, the problem tends to reoccur until I update the drivers again. After the most recent set of Windows updates (which also coincided with a Dell firmware update), I have not been able to stop the freezes by updating drivers. I have also described the problem occurring most frequently when my PC begins receives transmission of a new update, which I can't control effectively because it's a Windows 10 Home system. I'm not saying that Windows updates don't play a role, but I posted to get help with identifying and correcting the specific problems on this PC, not as a general thread for people to complain about a range of other problems.

 

The log files are on the Desktop and are named:
sfclogs.txt & chkdsk.txt

 

Admin ... Please delete my las post and this one to clean up this member' s thread!

 

Neither of these files were generated. Does this have something to do with the "path not found" message?

 

Open an elevated Command Prompt, type sfc /scannow and press Enter.
The results will appear in the Command Prompt window.

 

OK, done.

"Windows Resource Protection found corrupt files but was unable to fix some of them. For online repairs, details are included in the CBS log file located at windir\Logs\CBS\CBS.log. For example C:\Windows\Logs\CBS\CBS.log. For offline repairs, details are included in the log file provided by the /OFFLOGFILE flag."

Attaching the CBS.log file

 

I think the next step is the DISM process...
Good luck,
s.

 

Now you understand why i complained on the https://forums.majorgeeks.com/threads/is-it-me-or-is-windows-10-getting-worse.320463/

I see problems instantly.

Updates can ruin you're system pretty easy.

 

The OP doesn't want this thread side-tracked.................................

 

Well, OK, but I'm trying to determine if there are actual problems on the system that are responsible for the periodic freezes. Would it make sense to disconnect from the Internet, turn off Defender and then run the scan? Then turn back on Defender and reconnect to the Internet?