Windows 10 Window is randomly freezing up

James Anning

Senior Member
Joined
Oct 16, 2016
I am using the latest version of Windows 10, pro 64 bit. Windws starts normally, however, after I am logged in
for a few minutes, checking email, going to a WEB site, Windows "freezes"
The mouse will turn into a small spinning circle, as if it is processing something and

The icons in the left side of the task bar will blink, and the PC is totally locked.
(see wi_1.jpg)
Hitting any of the keys does nothing, ALT/TAB does nothing. If I hit ALT/CTRL/DEL
and from the task manager, end process on Random processes, this resolves the issue,
only for all of the above issues happen again.

I have screen shots and saved even view files at:

www.aanning.com - /ajissues/Windows_errors/freeze/

Files:
event_view1.evtx (event viewer saved)
event_view2.evtx (event viewer saved)
wi_1.jpg (screen shot of windows when locked)
event_view1.jpg (screen shot of event viewer)
 

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Well from the event log AOL looks like a good candidate for your problem. I would remove the AOL software and see if the issue persists or not.
 
You are correct, I knew that pre-post..but didn't want to mention it and bias anyone (which obviously is not hard to due, given the log). Actually, if I "end process" on AOL...it goes away. I was hoping it was not AOL doing it....but, I'm afraid it is. I'm aware its very very antiquated, however, like my phone number, I have had it so long...I do not want to change it. (over 26 years). Oddly enough I'm an Oracle developer, most tech people dumped AOL..prolly in 1994!..but, I like it, it provides a portal in one spot that contains everything I like to access, and I can do it easily and blindfolded. (In other words, I'm not getting rid of it). Now, at this point, one might say "this is an AOL issue not MS"...and it likely is...however, before I go down that horrid horrid road, I want to completely rule out, it being anything windows related. (1st thing they will do is blame windows...IF I get any response at all). Its a random issue, however, one way to have It freeze for sure...send me an email. something that occurs during AOL email receiving..is doing this. Again...maybe it is a windows issue?
Any suggestions? Mostly is there a good way to debug, ie log a step by step of "whats occurring" in an effort to isolate
 
You can look in task manager, right click the process and select "Analyze wait chain" it should tell you what it's stuck on. Your other option would be to attach a debugger to it, but that can be difficult to analyze if you don't know at what point the freezing is occurring at. The best advice is to simply remove the software and if the issue goes away, well then your problem is solved.
 
Have you tried Process Explorer? It is at technet.microsoft.com/en-us/sysinternals/processexplorer.aspx

Sent from my GT-P5210 using Tapatalk
 
You can look in task manager, right click the process and select "Analyze wait chain" it should tell you what it's stuck on. Your other option would be to attach a debugger to it, but that can be difficult to analyze if you don't know at what point the freezing is occurring at. The best advice is to simply remove the software and if the issue goes away, well then your problem is solved.

I can't remove the software (AOL), as I said above, I've used it going on 3 decades and have far to many things tied to that email.
I would like to try "Analyze wait chain" ...however, I do not see this option when I go there...I only have the options as shown:

http://www.aanning.com/ajissues/Windows_errors/freeze/TM1.jpg
 

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fwiw … microsoft offers a couple tips:https://support.microsoft.com/en-us/kb/2681286

while the article was written for pre-win10 … might give you head-start. no worries about aol … i used her for many years myself (dial-up/28k) … once i finally got dsl (sep '09), decided to make a plaque with the one remaining aol-cd.

I'm on UVERSE..its semi Fiber...52 meg down and 6 meg up, I just piggy back AOL on that..for 15+ years now. WOW dial up...as Obe Wan said "That's a name I have not heard in a long long time". Anyway, I did as much as I could from what you sent

http://www.aanning.com/ajissues/Windows_errors/freeze/DISM_sfc_1.jpg

SFC and DISM ran without issues, I'll have to wait now, for the random freeze to occur..or hopefully it will not.
 

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Have you tried Process Explorer? It is at technet.microsoft.com/en-us/sysinternals/processexplorer.aspx

Sent from my GT-P5210 using Tapatalk

i have used AppCrashView.exe and ProcessMonitor. These seem to be no more than glorified versions of the built in Event viewer and not much help.
I have never heard of process explorer, but I now have it installed and running. So? now what do I do with it?
 
Sorry, analyze wait chain can be accessed from the details tab. Also you don't need AOL's software to access your email any email client can access it.
 
You can look in task manager, right click the process and select "Analyze wait chain" it should tell you what it's stuck on…
I would like to try "Analyze wait chain" ...however, I do not see this option when I go there...I only have the options as shown…

James Anning … uppps, you want taskmanager/details … not taskmanager/processes

also … wanted to thank you for properly documenting the issue(s) … screen-caps can be instrumental for others to assist.

okay, sport …
your computer is win-10 (64bit)
you've been using aol for long time.
your connection is with at&t's uverse (50mbs speed).
aol provides only an interface (email, rss, etc).
you are currently experiencing freezes
you do not wish to remove aol​

according to the recent screen-cap of TM1.jpg … seems you are running aol desktop 9.8.2(beta) … beta versions have not been officially released to the main stream community … the consumer uses the beta at their own risk … beta-versions are used as testing vehicles … this is so aol can improve bugs and quirks.


so … couple questions come to mind:
dism.exe performed "restore-health" … have you rebooted? any issues since?
when did you last update your aol-desktop software?
what version are you currently running?​

aside from the link i proffered in my post yesterday … did a bit more investigating. seems aol has updated their software since win-10 was released. of course, the update took into account issues experienced by aol-desktop software patrons such as yourself.


hopefully, the above information will assist our other team members … if they have something additional to offer.

couple other things i wish to convey:
are you aware aol's e-mail can be accessed from any platform and any provider you wish? it's called aol-mail. (read more below). similarly … rss-feeds can be accessed online and one does not need aol to access them. aol's message-boards … no comment. last i understood … aol chat-rooms went way of dinosaur. for a short while, they had aol-chat on the internet … but, that also, was discontinued.

the aol-mail service provides aol member's an interface to manage their aol master-screen-name plus six other screen-names (same as aol's interface provides). until recently, one could shuttle back 'n forth between these names to read e-mail and other stuff. this shuttle feature was disengaged 2½ months ago (perhaps security reasons). so … i now integrate all of aol-mails (each account) into yahoo's e-mail interface … the feature is free.
 
Sorry, analyze wait chain can be accessed from the details tab. Also you don't need AOL's software to access your email any email client can access it.
Right, I found it...nothing came back. The issue Just happened, I wrote a batch job and icon to kill AOL without having to go to task manager. When it freezes..none of the keyboard works..can not alt tab...I can alt ctrl del to task manager, or windows key/D, to desk top where now my icon for the kill AOL batch job sits. As I said, the issue just occurred, killed AOL with my batch job and did analyze chain...nothing usefull there.

http://www.aanning.com/ajissues/Windows_errors/freeze/Analyze_waitChain_1.jpg
 

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James Anning … uppps, you want taskmanager/details … not taskmanager/processes

also … wanted to thank you for properly documenting the issue(s) … screen-caps can be instrumental for others to assist.

okay, sport …
your computer is win-10 (64bit)
you've been using aol for long time.
your connection is with at&t's uverse (50mbs speed).
aol provides only an interface (email, rss, etc).
you are currently experiencing freezes
you do not wish to remove aol​

according to the recent screen-cap of TM1.jpg … seems you are running aol desktop 9.8.2(beta) … beta versions have not been officially released to the main stream community … the consumer uses the beta at their own risk … beta-versions are used as testing vehicles … this is so aol can improve bugs and quirks.


so … couple questions come to mind:
dism.exe performed "restore-health" … have you rebooted? any issues since?
when did you last update your aol-desktop software?
what version are you currently running?​

aside from the link i proffered in my post yesterday … did a bit more investigating. seems aol has updated their software since win-10 was released. of course, the update took into account issues experienced by aol-desktop software patrons such as yourself.


hopefully, the above information will assist our other team members … if they have something additional to offer.

couple other things i wish to convey:
are you aware aol's e-mail can be accessed from any platform and any provider you wish? it's called aol-mail. (read more below). similarly … rss-feeds can be accessed online and one does not need aol to access them. aol's message-boards … no comment. last i understood … aol chat-rooms went way of dinosaur. for a short while, they had aol-chat on the internet … but, that also, was discontinued.

the aol-mail service provides aol member's an interface to manage their aol master-screen-name plus six other screen-names (same as aol's interface provides). until recently, one could shuttle back 'n forth between these names to read e-mail and other stuff. this shuttle feature was disengaged 2½ months ago (perhaps security reasons). so … i now integrate all of aol-mails (each account) into yahoo's e-mail interface … the feature is free.

Yes, I am aware, I have all 7 of my AOL accounts meshed into outlook, along with my custom home built emails off my home mailserver hMail server. However....call me whatever...I like AOL. I like the portal ablity the "all in one" convenience. Not sure, why you can not "shuttle back 'n forth between these names to read e-mail"...I just did this 2 minutes ago...works fine.
I've had AOL 9.8.2 beta for over 9 months with no issues until, the last 4-5 weeks. AOL has abandoned 9.8.2 since last summer as their beta is now AOL version 11 (MUCH better, but, this beta is truly incomplete, I've found nothing missing on 9.8.2, I have it on 3 PC..as do others I know)

Now? I did the "dism.exe" > DISM.exe /Online /Cleanup-image /Restorehealth I rebooted...same issues
I have NOT done the >DISM.exe /Online /Cleanup-Image /RestoreHealth /Source:C:\RepairSource\Windows /LimitAccess
Not sure I need to.

The issue usually occurs, when I receive mail from AOL, but has occurred randomly with out receiving mail.

At this point, I think I am going to uninstall AOL 9.8.2 beta..and reinstall the latest production release, and give this a try. AOL 11, should be out soon...its a much much better version...finally.
 
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