Windows 7 Having some sort of weird freezing problem...

thefullm0nty

New Member
First off, my computer:
Windows 7 64 bit
8gb ram
128gb SSD with OS on it (boot 1) + 1 tb HDD with backup OS on it (boot 2) Nvidia GeForce 560 Ti
Intel i5 2500k 3.3 ghz

Now, for the problem. I will explain this as best as I can. Yesterday, my computer was working completely fine. I woke up today, and the first thing I see is my computer telling me that my copy of Windows is not genuine. Confused, I rebooted, and everything went back to normal.


Following this, a few hours later, my computer froze. I rebooted, and the same error popped up. This happened once more. After this, I realized that my computer magically decided to switch my boot order and boot to my 1tb HDD with the OS on it, which apparently isn't genuine. When I hit cancel and logged in, my SSD wasn't showing in my computer.


This just happened once more, after coming home from work. I thought my computer was fine, but I tried to minimize Chrome, and the entire system froze, again. Restarting, the boot order was switched twice this time, leaving me super confused.


The only thing that I think could have caused this, is a repairman at my house who cut the power which messed up my computer somehow. I don't have a backup and I don't have a restore point. Aside from that, I have no idea what is causing this. I just cleaned the dust out of my computer last week and I have never had any overheating problems. I have never seen anything like this before, so, any help would be appreciated.


A few more random things: I have had 3 system freezes while playing BF3. When I restart my computer, my SSD is not detected. When I turn it off, and then on. My SSD is recognized.

Now today, I reinstalled windows on my SSD and have a completely clean install. I decide to play TF2 for a bit and get a BSOD, which restarts my computer, which boots to my secondary HDD despite my SSD working fine. I have no idea why his is happening from a clean windows install.

EDIT: I attached a bunch of diagnostics in a zip file.
 

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It could be your motherboard, your SSD or possibly some RAM issues. If the computer can't 'see' the SSd it automatically tries to boot from the next available device, here your I TB drive. You could try using a different drive as your primary drive and re-installing Windows on that, if you happen to have a spare drive. If this works then the SSD was faulty. You could also try running disc diagnostics on the SSD, although I'm not sure whether they can be/should be tested in the same way as a 'normal' hard drive. There are also tests you can run (from the Bios I think,) to diagnose a RAM fault. These should be left running overnight ideally to see if any errors creep in. If problems are detected, first try re-seating the relevant RAM in its slots if you are confident opening up the computer.
Finally some modern malware is getting pretty sophisticated and can even infect the boot-file on the hard drive (not sure if can infect the BIOS yet!). Since I am not sure if this is over-written when you re-install Windows, but it is possible the same virus could affect a future installation. It is best to completely clean the hard drive before re-installation, I am sure there are 3rd party programs to do this e.g. Acronis in your link. Hard disk drive wipe software providing complete disk cleanup, erasing the whole partition or HDD files
Hope that is helpful, by no means comprehensive though.
 
Thanks. I built the computer myself, so I am confident of opening it up and messing around. My SSD has been running fine since I built this thing in September.

I could try making my HDD the main boot drive and install windows on that and see if I have any problems throughout the week. Overnight tonight I will run a RAM test to see if there are any problems there.

I doubt I have any malware since I never open suspicious links, or anything like that. I run virus scans regularly and have MSE installed. I used the Windows install disk to wipe the SSD, but I could try a 3rd party tool if I get desperate enough.
 
You probably know more than me since I have never built a PC, although I intend building a server for storing my work online.
It is very annoying when things don't work and the tendency is to panic, because you know it will be costly/take some time to straighten things out again.
However the trick is to be methodical and eliminate possible causes to the obstruction one step at a time, and be conclusive in your diagnosis. Also close observation of the symptoms of any failure is necessary.
One other thing I thought of. You said it was not overheating- but anyway I suggest you install Core Temp and see if you can monitor your CPU temp while you are playing various games.
 
You probably know more than me since I have never built a PC, although I intend building a server for storing my work online.
It is very annoying when things don't work and the tendency is to panic, because you know it will be costly/take some time to straighten things out again.
However the trick is to be methodical and eliminate possible causes to the obstruction one step at a time, and be conclusive in your diagnosis. Also close observation of the symptoms of any failure is necessary.
One other thing I thought of. You said it was not overheating- but anyway I suggest you install Core Temp and see if you can monitor your CPU temp while you are playing various games.


That was my plan...until windows decided not to boot. I gave up and dropped my computer off at Frys for a few days. I hit the end of the wall and was sick of waiting to see WTF was going on.
 
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