Windows 7 Laptop freezes

[Piddox]

Hi everyone,

I'm new to this forum, as I am looking for help.

During the last 2 weeks, my laptop has been freezing at times. Sometimes it happens 5 times in an hour, sometimes it goes fine for 5 straight hours.
I find that if happens more frequent when I am running Steam on the background (maybe it freezes every time it tries to update itself or a game?). However it also happens (albeit rarely) when Steam is not running. When I am in-game, it has not frozen yet, only when I am on desktop.
Because I don't get BSODs, I don't have any belonging minidump files unfortunately. I did include the 3 most recent minidump files, maybe they are still useful.
When I say freeze, I mean no single key responds and I can only shut it down holding the power button.
I am using avast as virusscanner and zone alarm pro as firewall.

This may be a long shot, but I simply have no clue where to look. If there is information missing, please say so.

Any help appreciated.

 

[usasma]

Sorry for the delay in responding, but I was without power for 3 days due to Hurricane Sandy.

SP1 isn't installed, please do the following:

Installing Windows 7 Service Pack 1
1. Visit the PC manufacturer's website and update ALL drivers. DO NOT use Windows Update or the "Update drivers" function of Device Manager.
2. Check Device Manager for any unknown/disabled devices - if there are unknown/disabled devices, fix them with the latest drivers from the device manufacturer's website (not the PC Manufacturer)
3. Visit Windows Update and get all updates (may take repeated visits)
4. Visit Windows Update and get Service Pack 1 (usually under Important Updates). Read these notes for installing SP1: Steps to follow before you install Windows 7 SP1 and Windows Server 2008 R2 SP1 from the Microsoft Download Center
5. Visit Windows Update and get any other available updates. May take repeated visits, but keep it up until you get several "Windows is updated" results.
If you're having difficulties with installing a Service Pack, please use the SURTool from this link: What is the System Update Readiness Tool?
Also, check out this troubleshooting link from Microsoft: Troubleshoot problems installing Service Pack 1 (SP1) for Windows 7 and Windows Server 2008 R2

I have had limited success in installing updates/Service Packs when using a "clean boot". I suspect that I'm just bypassing the problem - and that it can come back to bite me in the butt later on.

Most often this will fix things, but you also have a couple of other issues that should be fixed in order to ensure that there's not a 3rd party driver problem.

Your C:, D:, F:, G: and H: drives all have much less than 15% free space. This can also cause the freezing problems that you describe (Windows uses the free space to perform operations behind the scenes). Please free up 15% free space on all of your drives ASAP.

You have 5 hard drives - what is the make, model, and wattage of your Power Supply Unit? How old is it?

You have problems with these 2 devices:

SbieDrv ROOT\LEGACY_SBIEDRV\0000 This device is not present, is not working properly, or does not have all its drivers installed.
Teredo Tunneling Pseudo-Interface ROOT\*TEREDO\0000 This device cannot start.

Please un-install Sandboxie to help fix the first one. If the error doesn't go away, go into Device Manager, right click on it and select "Un-install"
For the second one, just right click on it in Device Manager and select "Un-install". That will remove the device. If needed it will reinstall itself on the next reboot (but in most cases it isn't needed and it doesn't come back).

ZoneAlarm can also cause issues. Please un-install it. Ensure that the Windows Firewall is turned on. If using the anti-virus that sometimes comes with it - please use one of these free anti-virus' instead: Link Removed - Invalid URL

RivaTuner (along with MSI Afterburner and EVGA Precision) are known to cause problems with Win7 systems. Please un-install it ASAP!

If overclocking, please stop and remove the overclock while we're troubleshooting. Feel free to resume the overclock once the problems have stopped.

Please un-install your VMWare software. Then download a fresh copy of the latest version from the VMWare website and install that. The VMWare networking was blamed in one of the memory dumps.

Check for BIOS updates for your system. Be very, very careful should you choose to update the BIOS. Post back for further cautions if you do decide to do it.

Please update these older drivers. Links are included to assist in looking up the source of the drivers. If unable to find an update, please remove (un-install) the program responsible for that driver. DO NOT manually delete/rename the driver as it may make the system unbootable! :

speedfan.sys Sun Sep 24 09:26:48 2006 (45168798)
SpeedFan
Link Removed - Invalid URL

ASMMAP64.sys Sun Feb 4 14:52:56 2007 (45C63998)
LENOVO ATK Hotkey ATK0101 ACPI UTILITY
Link Removed

hotcore3.sys Wed Feb 13 16:47:22 2008 (47B3656A)
HotBackup by Paragon Software Group.
Link Removed

SCDEmu.SYS Thu Jun 12 17:38:37 2008 (4851975D)
PowerISO Virtual Drive driver
Link Removed - Invalid URL

adfs.SYS Thu Jun 26 16:52:37 2008 (48640195)
Adobe File System Driver
Link Removed

sncduvc.SYS Mon Dec 29 04:14:26 2008 (495894F2)
Suyin USB 2.0 Webcam driver
Link Removed

btwl2cap.sys Fri Apr 3 20:28:45 2009 (49D6A9BD)
Broadcom Bluetooth L2CAP Servicen
Link Removed - Invalid URL

ALSysIO64.sys Sun Apr 19 15:41:04 2009 (49EB7E50)
Core Temp - CPU temperature monitor
Link Removed

ATK64AMD.sys Tue May 12 21:04:54 2009 (4A0A1CB6)
ATK Hotkey ATK0101 ACPI UTILITY Driver
Link Removed - Invalid URL

RtHDMIVX.sys Wed May 20 06:04:50 2009 (4A13D5C2)
Realtek HD Audio sound driver
Link Removed - Invalid URL

btusbflt.sys Tue Jun 9 17:46:26 2009 (4A2ED832)
Widcomm Bluetooth USB Filter by Broadcom
Link Removed - Invalid URL

btwavdt.sys Thu Jun 25 01:50:13 2009 (4A431015)
Broadcom Bluetooth AVDT Service
Link Removed - Invalid URL

btwrchid.sys Thu Jun 25 01:51:37 2009 (4A431069)
Bluetooth Remote Control HID Minidriver
Link Removed - Invalid URL

btwaudio.sys Wed Jul 1 09:54:56 2009 (4A4B6AB0)
Broadcom Bluetooth Audio Device
Link Removed - Invalid URL

kbfiltr.sys Mon Jul 20 05:21:42 2009 (4A643726)
Dritek Keyboard Filter Driver
Link Removed

nusb3hub.sys Mon Oct 26 10:19:44 2009 (4AE5B000)
NEC Electronics USB 3.0 Host Controller Driver (previous BSOD issues)
Link Removed

nusb3xhc.sys Mon Oct 26 10:19:48 2009 (4AE5B004)
NEC Electronics USB 3.0 Host Controller Driver (previous BSOD issues)
Link Removed



Analysis:
The following is for informational purposes only.

[FONT=lucida console]**************************Sat Oct 13 07:18:13.335 2012 (UTC - 4:00)**************************
Loading Dump File [C:\Users\John\_jcgriff2_\dbug\__Kernel__\101312-30201-01.dmp]
Windows 7 Kernel Version 7600 MP (8 procs) Free x64
[B]Missing Windows 7 Service Pack 1[/B]
Built by: [B]7600[/B].17118.amd64fre.win7_gdr.120830-0334
System Uptime:[B]1 days 17:58:16.912[/B]
BugCheck Code: [B]BugCheck 9F, {3, fffffa8003d40060, fffff80004d18518, fffffa8017761bb0}[/B]
*** WARNING: Unable to verify timestamp for vmnetadapter.sys
*** ERROR: Module load completed but symbols could not be loaded for vmnetadapter.sys
Probably caused by :[B]ntkrnlmp[/B]
BugCheck Info: [B]DRIVER_POWER_STATE_FAILURE (9f)[/B]
Arguments: 
Arg1: 0000000000000003, A device object has been blocking an Irp for too long a time
Arg2: fffffa8003d40060, Physical Device Object of the stack
Arg3: fffff80004d18518, nt!TRIAGE_9F_POWER on Win7, otherwise the Functional Device Object of the stack
Arg4: fffffa8017761bb0, The blocked IRP
DEFAULT_BUCKET_ID:  WIN7_DRIVER_FAULT
BUGCHECK_STR:  0x9F
PROCESS_NAME: [B]System[/B]
FAILURE_BUCKET_ID: [B]X64_0x9F_3_IMAGE_ntkrnlmp[/B]
CPUID:        "Intel(R) Core(TM) i7 CPU       Q 720  @ 1.60GHz"
MaxSpeed:     1600
CurrentSpeed: [B]1596[/B]
  BIOS Version                  N71Jq.204
  BIOS Release Date             12/24/2009
  Manufacturer                  ASUSTeK Computer Inc.        
  Product Name                  N71Jq
¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨``
**************************Thu Oct 11 13:19:08.043 2012 (UTC - 4:00)**************************
Loading Dump File [C:\Users\John\_jcgriff2_\dbug\__Kernel__\101112-46207-01.dmp]
Windows 7 Kernel Version 7600 MP (8 procs) Free x64
[B]Missing Windows 7 Service Pack 1[/B]
Built by: [B]7600[/B].17118.amd64fre.win7_gdr.120830-0334
System Uptime:[B]0 days 11:22:54.619[/B]
BugCheck Code: [B]BugCheck 3B, {c0000005, fffff880011a6afc, fffff8800a6ef840, 0}[/B]
Probably caused by :[B]fltmgr.sys ( fltmgr!TreeInsert+40 )[/B]
BugCheck Info: [B]SYSTEM_SERVICE_EXCEPTION (3b)[/B]
Arguments: 
Arg1: 00000000c0000005, Exception code that caused the bugcheck
Arg2: fffff880011a6afc, Address of the instruction which caused the bugcheck
Arg3: fffff8800a6ef840, Address of the context record for the exception that caused the bugcheck
Arg4: 0000000000000000, zero.
DEFAULT_BUCKET_ID:  WIN7_DRIVER_FAULT
BUGCHECK_STR:  0x3B
PROCESS_NAME: [B]wmpnscfg.exe[/B]
FAILURE_BUCKET_ID: [B]X64_0x3B_fltmgr!TreeInsert+40[/B]
CPUID:        "Intel(R) Core(TM) i7 CPU       Q 720  @ 1.60GHz"
MaxSpeed:     1600
CurrentSpeed: [B]1596[/B]
  BIOS Version                  N71Jq.204
  BIOS Release Date             12/24/2009
  Manufacturer                  ASUSTeK Computer Inc.        
  Product Name                  N71Jq
¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨``
**************************Wed Oct 10 01:44:35.869 2012 (UTC - 4:00)**************************
Loading Dump File [C:\Users\John\_jcgriff2_\dbug\__Kernel__\101012-34601-01.dmp]
Windows 7 Kernel Version 7600 MP (8 procs) Free x64
[B]Missing Windows 7 Service Pack 1[/B]
Built by: [B]7600[/B].17017.amd64fre.win7_gdr.120503-2030
System Uptime:[B]2 days 9:42:18.934[/B]
BugCheck Code: [B]BugCheck 50, {fffff8a013cd45e8, 0, fffff800036bafa0, 0}[/B]
*** WARNING: Unable to verify timestamp for vsdatant.sys
*** ERROR: Module load completed but symbols could not be loaded for vsdatant.sys
Probably caused by :[B]vsdatant.sys ( vsdatant+46240 )[/B]
BugCheck Info: [B]PAGE_FAULT_IN_NONPAGED_AREA (50)[/B]
Arguments: 
Arg1: fffff8a013cd45e8, memory referenced.
Arg2: 0000000000000000, value 0 = read operation, 1 = write operation.
Arg3: fffff800036bafa0, If non-zero, the instruction address which referenced the bad memory
    address.
Arg4: 0000000000000000, (reserved)
DEFAULT_BUCKET_ID:  WIN7_DRIVER_FAULT
BUGCHECK_STR:  0x50
PROCESS_NAME: [B]wmpnscfg.exe[/B]
FAILURE_BUCKET_ID: [B]X64_0x50_vsdatant+46240[/B]
CPUID:        "Intel(R) Core(TM) i7 CPU       Q 720  @ 1.60GHz"
MaxSpeed:     1600
CurrentSpeed: [B]1596[/B]
  BIOS Version                  N71Jq.204
  BIOS Release Date             12/24/2009
  Manufacturer                  ASUSTeK Computer Inc.        
  Product Name                  N71Jq
¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨``
[/FONT]

3rd Party Drivers:
The following is for information purposes only.
Any drivers in red should be updated or removed from your system. And should have been discussed in the body of my post.

[FONT=lucida console]**************************Sat Oct 13 07:18:13.335 2012 (UTC - 4:00)**************************
[B]speedfan.sys                Sun Sep 24 09:26:48 2006 (45168798)[/B]
[B]ASMMAP64.sys                Sun Feb  4 14:52:56 2007 (45C63998)[/B]
[B]hotcore3.sys                Wed Feb 13 16:47:22 2008 (47B3656A)[/B]
[B]SCDEmu.SYS                  Thu Jun 12 17:38:37 2008 (4851975D)[/B]
[B]adfs.SYS                    Thu Jun 26 16:52:37 2008 (48640195)[/B]
[B]sncduvc.SYS                 Mon Dec 29 04:14:26 2008 (495894F2)[/B]
[B]btwl2cap.sys                Fri Apr  3 20:28:45 2009 (49D6A9BD)[/B]
[B]ALSysIO64.sys               Sun Apr 19 15:41:04 2009 (49EB7E50)[/B]
[B]ATK64AMD.sys                Tue May 12 21:04:54 2009 (4A0A1CB6)[/B]
GEARAspiWDM.sys             Mon May 18 08:17:04 2009 (4A1151C0)
[B]RtHDMIVX.sys                Wed May 20 06:04:50 2009 (4A13D5C2)[/B]
[B]btusbflt.sys                Tue Jun  9 17:46:26 2009 (4A2ED832)[/B]
[B]btwavdt.sys                 Thu Jun 25 01:50:13 2009 (4A431015)[/B]
[B]btwrchid.sys                Thu Jun 25 01:51:37 2009 (4A431069)[/B]
[B]btwaudio.sys                Wed Jul  1 09:54:56 2009 (4A4B6AB0)[/B]
intelppm.sys                Mon Jul 13 19:19:25 2009 (4A5BC0FD)
[B]kbfiltr.sys                 Mon Jul 20 05:21:42 2009 (4A643726)[/B]
iaStor.sys                  Fri Aug  7 08:23:37 2009 (4A7C1CC9)
VMNET.SYS                   Mon Aug 10 08:04:50 2009 (4A800CE2)
vmnetadapter.sys            Mon Aug 10 08:04:53 2009 (4A800CE5)
vmnetbridge.sys             Mon Aug 10 08:05:58 2009 (4A800D26)
snp2uvc.sys                 Wed Aug 19 22:41:36 2009 (4A8CB7E0)
HECIx64.sys                 Thu Sep 17 15:54:16 2009 (4AB293E8)
vsdatant.sys                Tue Sep 22 04:55:10 2009 (4AB890EE)
[B]nusb3hub.sys                Mon Oct 26 10:19:44 2009 (4AE5B000)[/B]
[B]nusb3xhc.sys                Mon Oct 26 10:19:48 2009 (4AE5B004)[/B]
LHidFilt.Sys                Tue Nov 10 06:46:17 2009 (4AF95289)
LMouFilt.Sys                Tue Nov 10 06:46:23 2009 (4AF9528F)
L1C62x64.sys                Fri Nov 13 04:47:36 2009 (4AFD2B38)
CM10864.sys                 Wed Nov 18 04:55:47 2009 (4B03C4A3)
atikmdag.sys                Wed Nov 18 14:14:44 2009 (4B0447A4)
RTKVHD64.sys                Thu Dec  3 08:42:57 2009 (4B17C061)
ETD.sys                     Mon Jan 18 07:37:56 2010 (4B545624)
amdxata.sys                 Fri Mar 19 12:18:18 2010 (4BA3A3CA)
pbfilter.sys                Sat Nov  6 22:23:54 2010 (4CD60DBA)
vmci.sys                    Thu Nov 11 14:11:58 2010 (4CDC3FFE)
hcmon.sys                   Thu Nov 11 14:44:25 2010 (4CDC4799)
vmnetuserif.sys             Thu Nov 11 14:59:16 2010 (4CDC4B14)
VMkbd.sys                   Thu Nov 11 15:35:18 2010 (4CDC5386)
vmx86.sys                   Thu Nov 11 16:23:08 2010 (4CDC5EBC)
aswFsBlk.SYS                Tue Mar  6 19:01:31 2012 (4F56A55B)
aswMonFlt.sys               Tue Mar  6 19:01:51 2012 (4F56A56F)
aswTdi.SYS                  Tue Mar  6 19:01:56 2012 (4F56A574)
aswrdr2.sys                 Tue Mar  6 19:02:19 2012 (4F56A58B)
aswKbd.SYS                  Tue Mar  6 19:02:44 2012 (4F56A5A4)
aswSP.SYS                   Tue Mar  6 19:04:03 2012 (4F56A5F3)
aswSnx.SYS                  Tue Mar  6 19:04:05 2012 (4F56A5F5)
athrx.sys                   Fri Mar  9 06:30:56 2012 (4F59E9F0)
[/FONT]

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[Piddox]

Thank you for this very elaborate post usasma! I will go through all your fixes this weekend. I will get back to you with the results as soon as I can.

 

[Piddox]

I have been working hard on your proposed fixes the last few days. What I did so far:
- Free up space of the drives. Fyi: Drives F, G and H are external USB HDDs, which have their own power supply.
- Uninstalled Sandboxie and Teredo Tunelling Interface.
- Uninstalled Rivatuner. I never used it, never overclocked my laptop either.
- Uninstalled VMWare.


I have been having a lot of trouble installing SP1. First I tried it using the Windows Updater, but it got stuck at 19% all the time. I googled but found no solutions that worked for me. Then I decided to download the SP1 installer from Microsoft's website. I tried installing it, but it gives me the following error:
ERROR_SXS_ASSEMBLY_MISSING(0x80073701)
See attachment as well. So I googled on this error, and a proposed solution was to update Windows Updater (...). So I downloaded and installed hotfix KB947821 and I tried to install SP1 again, but I still get the same error...


I then started thinking out of the box a bit, because my laptop has never had this problem for 2 years without SP1. Since my laptop never freezes in-game, I check what the resolution of my game was: 1280x800, whereas my desktop resolution is 1600x900. I then switched my game resolution to 1600x900, and within a couple of minutes my laptop froze. After that, I switched my desktop resolution to 1280x720. My laptop has been running smooth ever since (approximately 15 hours now).
How can this be?

 

[usasma]

The software "innards" of a computer are extremely complicated, inter-related, and dynamic. By all this I mean that software stuff never stays the same inside a computer - so the changes can be causing these problems (and this makes it very difficult to tell why).

The points for installing SP1 are important:
- they help to ensure more reliable operation
- they help to keep malware from exploiting vulnerabilities in the code (but updating the code)
- they contain fixes to help the system operate with other software (such as video drivers)
- they form the stable platform on which our troubleshooting is based (in otherwords, if you don't have SP1 - we can't be sure that any fixes will work)

If you'd like further assistance from a true expert in Windows Update, please post in the Windows Update forum at Sysnative Forums

 

[Piddox]

During the last week I tried to fix my laptop by following the rest of your guide, but at some point Windows just refused to start up...

I decided to just format C:\ and install a fresh Windows version (I still have an imagine on a separate hidden drive, but I first wanted to try a clean Windows version). I have also installed all Windows updates available, including SP1. However, the freezing problem persists. Furthermore, booting from a CD doesn't work anymore. I'm worried that something is wrong with the hardware now.

Usasma, could you run your program again over my new system files? Greatly appreciated.

 

[usasma]

Only 84 updates since SP1 - most systems have 130 to 140. I understand that you've updated Windows, but please double check at Windows Update for any available updates.

Can you select the boot order by pressing "Esc" when the Asus splash screen shows up during booting?

You have 4 hard drives installed - Please try running the system without the external drives being plugged in.

The WER section of MSINFO32 shows numerous Windows Updates issues - do you have problems with your internet connection? Could PeerBlock be causing connection issues with Windows Update?

Lot's of networking errors in the System log file - try using other connections to see if that fixes things.

Lot's of installation issues in the Application log file. How did you install Windows? Where did you get the copy of Windows from?

In the event that this is not a legal copy of Windows, please be advised that it may not be repairable (because the things done to make it seem legal are the very things causing the problems)

 

[Piddox]

Yes I can set the boot order: it first tries to boot from a CD, then from the primary HDD.

I never have problems with my internet connection :O. I only recently installed Peerblock, after updating all the windows files (it said everything was up-to-date now, I will keep checking).

What do you mean, try other connections?

I did a recovery of Windows by pressing F9 when the laptop boots. For ASUS computers, this take you to the recovery process, where you can install a clean version of Windows without a CD. The Windows version is legal.

 

[usasma]

What CD's have you tried to boot from? Have you tried creating another CD to see if that works?
What error messages do you get?

Try these free diagnostics: Link Removed - Invalid URL

 

[Piddox]

What CD's have you tried to boot from? Have you tried creating another CD to see if that works?
What error messages do you get?

Try these free diagnostics: Link Removed - Invalid URL

I tried 2 different copies of Paragon 5.0 and 1 copy of GParted. The error message I get is:
"Reboot and Select proper Boot device
or Insert Boot Media in selected Boot device and press a key...

 

[usasma]

Sounds like a problem with the CD drive.
Have you checked in Device Manager?
Can you see the drive in Windows Explorer?
Can you access files from a CD/DVD in Windows Explorer?
Have you tried the FixIt here: Your CD drive or DVD drive is missing or is not recognized by Windows or other programs

 

[Piddox]

Device Manager says 'the device is working properly'. In explorer I can see the Drive. If I insert a game CD for example I can run autorun.exe and I can start installing. So, within windows the DVD player works.

Maybe it's the BIOS that is causing the trouble?
Could that explain the random freezes in Windows or is that something totally different?

 

[usasma]

The way to check this out is to see if you can boot from another CD/DVD drive - either replacing the current one or using a USB CD/DVD drive.

If you don't have one, you may be able to purchase one at a local retailer and then return it to get your money back.