Windows 7 Windows7 freezes when idle

[graybeard1948]

I am experiencing a problem with Windows 7. When the system is not heavily loaded it seems to freeze after 10 minutes to an hour, primarily observed with the Up Time clock in Task Manager stopping. Other symptoms include no response to keyboard or mouse clicks and having the cursor lock to a particular shape such as the window size adjustment shape. The only way I have found to get the system going again is to shutdown and reboot. Usually a hardware reset or forcing shutdown is required to get applications such as Task Manager to stop. When the system is heavily loaded i.e. running Prime95, these symptoms do not seem to occur.
I have been unable to determine conclusively whether the problem is hardware or software. The system(s) are new with the following configuration:

Motherboard: Gigabyte GA-X58A-UD5
CPU: Intel Core i7-960
CPU Cooler: Zalman CNPS9900 NT
Memory: Kingston KHX1600C9D3K3/12GX
Video Card: Gigabyte GV-N460OC-768I GeForce GTX 460
Disks: 2 x Western Digital WD5003ABYX SATA 3.0 in RAID 1
& 2 x Western Digital WD5003ABYX SATA 3.0 in RAID 1
Power Supply: Thermaltake TPX-875M 875W
Optical: Pioneer DVR-219BK
O/S: Windows 7 64bit Professional

I have performed multiple clean installations of Windows 7 Pro from two different Microsoft DVDs (purchased from Newegg), used two different sets of hardware (including CPUs, memory, video cards, Power supplies, disks, etc.) changed from Gigabyte GA-X58-USB3 motherboards to GA-X58A-UD5 motherboards, run memory tests for ten hours or more, run in Safe mode, run with absolutely no additional software other that the virgin operating system. Tested multiple BIOS settings, including optimized defaults, with changes only to allow RAID disks. Power Options are set to High Performance with turn off monitor ‘never’ and sleep ‘never’. The problem persists.

I have contacted Gigabyte and Kingston tech support. While they have made suggestions (Which I have tried.) nothing seems to help isolate the problem. Any assistance or suggestions will be gratefully appreciated.

 

[Saltgrass]

When your system is not busy, it normally finds things for it to do to keep from getting bored.

If there is a specific time it might help to pin down the problem. But it might be running a virus check, or running some type of index, or downloading updates. The other day mine was running a virus scan and the screen saver started and the thing almost froze. Maybe the hard drives are shutting down or some other power saving measure. Possibly try changing your power profile, or changing the time things happen.

Have you checked the Event Viewer to see if any Errors or Warnings show up around the time of the problem. You may see a kernel power messge which might be related, but will also accompany other types of failures.

 

[cybercore]

I have been unable to determine conclusively whether the problem is hardware or software.
When the system is heavily loaded i.e. running Prime95, these symptoms do not seem to occur.

Sounds like probably some hardware issue and looks like you have tried much already,

- performed multiple clean installations of Windows 7 Pro from two different Microsoft DVDs
- used two different sets of hardware (including CPUs, memory, video cards, Power supplies, disks, etc.)
- changed from Gigabyte GA-X58-USB3 motherboards to GA-X58A-UD5 motherboards, run memory tests for ten hours or more
- run in Safe mode, run with absolutely no additional software other that the virgin operating system
- tested multiple BIOS settings, including optimized defaults, with changes only to allow RAID disks
- power Options are set to High Performance with turn off monitor ‘never’ and sleep ‘never’. The problem persists.



Memory: Kingston KHX1600C9D3K3/12GX - let's see it, attach this information about your RAM:

- CPU-Z screenshots of MEMORY and CPU tabs
- Passmark RAMMon HTML.zip


Disks: 2 x Western Digital WD5003ABYX SATA 3.0 in RAID 1
& 2 x Western Digital WD5003ABYX SATA 3.0 in RAID 1

Run hardware diagnostics (SMART),

Link Removed - Invalid URL

HDDScan

HD Tune website

PassMark DiskCheckup - SMART hard drive monitoring utility

 

[graybeard1948]

Response to Saltgrass:
The time things freeze with the system idle is variable, sometimes as little as 15 minutes and sometimes as long as 90 minutes. When running Prime95 i.e. under heavy CPU load the system ran for over 24 hours with no problems.

After reading your message I delved a little deeper into the Power Plan settings. The settings already had “Turn off the display:” set to never, and “Put the computer to sleep:” set to never. Looking through the advanced settings, I modified the “Turnoff hard disk after Setting:” to never from 20 minutes. I changed the “Allow hybrid sleep Setting:” to Off, I changed the “USB selective suspend Setting:” to Disabled, and I changed the “Sleep button action Setting:” to Do nothing. I will test with these settings to see if they change the symptoms.

Automatic downloads both for Windows and Norton Internet Security are off.

The Event log does not show anything that I recognize as a problem when the system freezes, only an error that I associate with having to force a shutdown. Admittedly there is much more I could understand about the event log.

 

[graybeard1948]

Response to cybercore:
CPU-Z images
Link RemovedLink Removed

the RAMMon html

RAMMon v1.0 Build: 1002 built with SysInfo v1.0 Build: 1006
PassMark (R) Software - PassMark Software - PC Benchmark and Test Software
Memory Summary For SPLCSECRETARY

Number of Memory Devices: 3 Total Physical Memory: 12286 MB (12288 MB)
Total Available Physical Memory: 10426 MB
Memory Load: 15%


Item Slot #1 Slot #2 Slot #3 Slot #4 Slot #5 Slot #6
Ram Type DDR3 Not Populated DDR3 Not Populated DDR3 Not Populated
Standard Name DDR3-1333 DDR3-1333 DDR3-1333
Module Name PC3-10600 PC3-10600 PC3-10600
Memory Capacity (MB) 4096 4096 4096
Bus Clockspeed (Mhz) 666.67 666.67 666.67
Jedec Manufacture Name Kingston Kingston Kingston
Search Amazon.com Search! Search! Search!
SPD Revision 1.0 1.0 1.0
Registered No No No
ECC No No No
DIMM Slot # 1 3 5
Manufactured Week 8 of Year 2011 Week 8 of Year 2011 Week 8 of Year 2011
Module Part # 9905403-197.A00LF 9905403-197.A00LF 9905403-197.A00LF
Module Revision 0x0 0x0 0x0
Module Serial # 0x40320079 0x6E32EC7E 0x5732487A
Module Manufacturing Location 4 4 4
# of Row Addressing Bits 15 15 15
# of Column Addressing Bits 10 10 10
# of Banks 8 8 8
# of Ranks 2 2 2
Device Width in Bits 8 8 8
Bus Width in Bits 64 64 64
Module Voltage 1.5V 1.5V 1.5V
CAS Latencies Supported 6 7 8 9 6 7 8 9 6 7 8 9
Timings @ Max Frequency 9-9-9-24 9-9-9-24 9-9-9-24
Minimum Clock Cycle Time, tCK (ns) 1.500 1.500 1.500
Minimum CAS Latency Time, tAA (ns) 13.125 13.125 13.125
Minimum RAS to CAS Delay, tRCD (ns) 13.125 13.125 13.125
Minimum Row Precharge Time, tRP (ns) 13.125 13.125 13.125
Minimum Active to Precharge Time, tRAS (ns) 36.000 36.000 36.000
Minimum Row Active to Row Active Delay, tRRD (ns) 6.000 6.000 6.000
Minimum Auto-Refresh to Active/Auto-Refresh Time, tRC (ns) 49.125 49.125 49.125
Minimum Auto-Refresh to Active/Auto-Refresh Command Period, tRFC (ns) 160.000 160.000 160.000

DDR3 Specific SPD Attributes
Write Recovery Time, tWR (ns) 15.000 15.000 15.000
Internal Write to Read Command Delay, tWTR (ns) 7.500 7.500 7.500
Internal Read to Precharge Command Delay, tRTP (ns) 7.500 7.500 7.500
Minimum Four Activate Window Delay, tFAW (ns) 30.000 30.000 30.000
RZQ / 6 Supported Yes Yes Yes
RZQ / 7 Supported Yes Yes Yes
DLL-Off Mode Supported Yes Yes Yes
Maximum Operating Temperature (C) 95 95 95
Refresh Rate at Extended Operating Temperature Range 1X 1X 1X
Auto-self Refresh Supported Yes Yes Yes
On-die Thermal Sensor Readout Supported No No No
Partial Array Self Refresh Supported No No No
Thermal Sensor Present No No No
Non-standard SDRAM Type Standard Monolithic Standard Monolithic Standard Monolithic
Module Type UDIMM UDIMM UDIMM
Module Height (mm) 30 30 30
Module Thickness (front), (mm) 2 2 2
Module Thickness (back), (mm) 2 2 2
Module Width (mm) 133.5 133.5 133.5
Reference Raw Card Used Raw Card B Rev. 0 Raw Card B Rev. 0 Raw Card B Rev. 0
DRAM Manufacture ID 32941 32941 32941
# of DRAM Rows 0 0 0
# of Registers 0 0 0
Register Manufacturer
Register Type
Register Revision 0 0 0

XMP Attributes
XMP Revision 1.2 1.2 1.2
Enthusiast / Certified Profile
Module voltage 1.65V 1.65V 1.65V
Clock speed (Mhz) 800.00 800.00 800.00
Minimum clock cycle time, tCK (ns) 1.250 1.250 1.250
Supported CAS latencies 6 7 8 9 6 7 8 9 6 7 8 9
Minimum CAS latency time, tAA (ns) 11.250 11.250 11.250
Minimum RAS to CAS delay time, tRCD (ns) 11.250 11.250 11.250
Minimum row precharge time, tRP (ns) 11.250 11.250 11.250
Minimum active to precharge time, tRAS (ns) 33.750 33.750 33.750
Supported timing at highest clock speed 9-9-9-27 9-9-9-27 9-9-9-27
Minimum Row Active to Row Active Delay, tRRD (ns) 6.000 6.000 6.000
Minimum Active to Auto-Refresh Delay, tRC (ns) 45.000 45.000 45.000
Minimum Recovery Delay, tRFC (ns) 160.000 160.000 160.000
Minimum Write Recovery time, tWR (ns) 15.000 15.000 15.000
Minimum Write to Read CMD Delay, tWTR (ns) 7.500 7.500 7.500
Minimum Read to Pre-charge CMD Delay, tRTP (ns) 7.500 7.500 7.500
Minimum Four Activate Window Delay, tFAW (ns) 30.000 30.000 30.000
Maximum Average Periodic Refresh Interval, tREFI (us) 7.875 7.875 7.875
Write to Read CMD Turn-around Time Optimizations No adjustment No adjustment No adjustment
Read to Write CMD Turn-around Time Optimizations No adjustment No adjustment No adjustment
Back 2 Back CMD Turn-around Time Optimizations No adjustment No adjustment No adjustment
System CMD Rate Mode 0T 0T 0T

activeSMART show no errors at this time.

 

[kaos]

Try a progeam called.
Memtest86

This tests the ram
Take all sticks out except one . Run the test for 7 passes . Might take about 3 hours or so if you get no errors move it to the next slot. Once the one stick has been in every slit do the same with all ram in each slot. This will eliminate the ram .

Also try speedfan monitor the temps of your computer. Make sure nothing Is over heating

 

[graybeard1948]

Response to kaos:
I have run Memtest86 on all combinations fo memory DIMMs and slots for twelve hours about 7 passes each with no errors.

 

[graybeard1948]

My next test is to try a different model of memory i.e. Kingston KVR1333D3N9K3/12G to see if that makes any difference. Also note that CPUID HWMonitor has been running with no temps at idle of over 50 degrees C.

 

[kaos]

ok well at least ram is elimiated to a point..


as an idea, have u recently updated your graphics card drivers, if you have, try and revert bk to the origonal drivers or try updating them if not.

let me no how the changes go too

GOOD LUCK

 

[graybeard1948]

Reply to kaos and Saltgrass:
The video driver is version 270.61 downloaded from NVIDIA and running on other systems I am using, I doubt that is a culprit. Because I have at least achieved a workable system with the changes I made listed above:

After reading your message I delved a little deeper into the Power Plan settings. The settings already had “Turn off the display:” set to never, and “Put the computer to sleep:” set to never. Looking through the advanced settings, I modified the “Turnoff hard disk after Setting:” to never from 20 minutes. I changed the “Allow hybrid sleep Setting:” to Off, I changed the “USB selective suspend Setting:” to Disabled, and I changed the “Sleep button action Setting:” to Do nothing. I will test with these settings to see if they change the symptoms.

The system has been running at idle for over a day with no problems. I still plan to test different memory i.e. Kingston KVR1333D3N9K3/12G when it arrives to see if that also solves the problem. I plan to post the results in a couple of days. Thanks to everyone who responded.

 

[Bubbalou]

I have the exact same problem as you. I am running an Asus Motherboard, Quad AMD CPU with cooling heatsink that keeps the CPU temp at 90 degrees F. I have an ATI Video Card and Corsair Memory. If my computer sits too long sometimes it freezes up and it takes a reboot of the computer to fix the problem. BTW: I am using Windows 7 Home 64 bit version. After hearing what you have done trying to eliminate hardware I have to agree it must be something in the OS.

I am experiencing a problem with Windows 7. When the system is not heavily loaded it seems to freeze after 10 minutes to an hour, primarily observed with the Up Time clock in Task Manager stopping. Other symptoms include no response to keyboard or mouse clicks and having the cursor lock to a particular shape such as the window size adjustment shape. The only way I have found to get the system going again is to shutdown and reboot. Usually a hardware reset or forcing shutdown is required to get applications such as Task Manager to stop. When the system is heavily loaded i.e. running Prime95, these symptoms do not seem to occur.
I have been unable to determine conclusively whether the problem is hardware or software. The system(s) are new with the following configuration:

Motherboard: Gigabyte GA-X58A-UD5
CPU: Intel Core i7-960
CPU Cooler: Zalman CNPS9900 NT
Memory: Kingston KHX1600C9D3K3/12GX
Video Card: Gigabyte GV-N460OC-768I GeForce GTX 460
Disks: 2 x Western Digital WD5003ABYX SATA 3.0 in RAID 1
& 2 x Western Digital WD5003ABYX SATA 3.0 in RAID 1
Power Supply: Thermaltake TPX-875M 875W
Optical: Pioneer DVR-219BK
O/S: Windows 7 64bit Professional

I have performed multiple clean installations of Windows 7 Pro from two different Microsoft DVDs (purchased from Newegg), used two different sets of hardware (including CPUs, memory, video cards, Power supplies, disks, etc.) changed from Gigabyte GA-X58-USB3 motherboards to GA-X58A-UD5 motherboards, run memory tests for ten hours or more, run in Safe mode, run with absolutely no additional software other that the virgin operating system. Tested multiple BIOS settings, including optimized defaults, with changes only to allow RAID disks. Power Options are set to High Performance with turn off monitor ‘never’ and sleep ‘never’. The problem persists.

I have contacted Gigabyte and Kingston tech support. While they have made suggestions (Which I have tried.) nothing seems to help isolate the problem. Any assistance or suggestions will be gratefully appreciated.

 

[kaos]

If u got a crash dump file. Upload it and I will look at what is causing it for you.... the location.should be c:/windows/minidumps.
.. you will get them if it bluedcreens

 

[graybeard1948]

Update for thread:
I have tried different memory i.e. Kingston KVR1333D3N9K3/12G with no change in the symptoms. The system still freezes. I did find a setting within the Advanced features of the Power Options part of Control Panel, that changes the behavior. I modified the “Turnoff hard disk after Setting:” to never from 20 minutes. with that change made the system remained stable for over a day and a half. While chatting with a Microsoft support person the suggestion was made that because I was running with a system disk on a hardware RAID 1 pair, I should try running on a single non-RAID disk. As of this moment that test has run over 6 hours without problem while the “Turnoff hard disk after Setting:” is set to 20 minutes. I still think a problem exists in the OS that does not correctly handle operation of the system on a RAID 1 pair.
For the record I am running two older systems with Windows 7 Ultimate 64 bit on RAID 1 system disks without problem. It should be noted that they have different motherboards, CPUs, video cards, memory (in one case), and disks than the newer systems that have exhibited the issue.

 

[graybeard1948]

Only twice did I get blue screens which occured when I forced shutdown. Since other changes and symptoms appear to be controlling behavior I don't think that would be the best use of your time. Thank you for the offer however.

 

[Saltgrass]

Are you using any "Green" drives for your RAID setup? Have you checked to see if the drives manufacturer has anything about certain drive models having problems?

 

[graybeard1948]

The drives are Western Digital Enterprise level drives meant as I understand their rating for use in RAID applications. Their description on newegg is:
"Western Digital RE4 WD5003ABYX 500GB 7200 RPM 64MB Cache SATA 3.0Gb/s 3.5" Internal Hard Drive -Bare Drive" and the overview staement contains the following:
" RAID-specific, time-limited error recovery (TLER) prevents drive fallout caused by the extended hard drive error-recovery processes common to desktop drives. "

I plan to post an update on testing tomorrow or the next day.

 

[Saltgrass]

I can't really speak as to any problems with that type of drive and Windows 7 power schemes, but the fact changing the drive turn off time affected your situation probably means something. The drive is different from a normal desktop drive, so perhaps it does not lend itself well to being powered down.

There were some discussions regarging RAID controllers and how they may treat certain situations differently, such as the reason for TLER. I did not notice, but have you looked for an updated driver for your RAID controller?

 

[graybeard1948]

I am using the South Bridge SATA3 connectors for the RAID 1 pairs and the driver (version 10.5.0.1015)(most recent) Intel SATA RAID Driver downloaded from Gigabyte.
I suppose that this problem could be the result of a three-way issue between the Gigabyte motherboard (since I am using hardware RAID), the Western Digital disks (because of the TLER) and the Intel driver. I will attempt to communicate the issue to Gigabyte this coming week and update this thread with any information gleened

 

[graybeard1948]

Update:
During a discussion with Gigabyte, the technician suggested that the problem might be in the BIOS that controlled the hardware RAID. He suggested that I upgrade to version FD for rev 2.0 of the motherboard. When I updated the BIOS to version FD and retested, the problem still occurred. So I still do NOT have a solution that does not involve the Power Setting referenced above.

 

[Saltgrass]

I found this quote from I believe an ASUS site. Maybe it will help. It does not sound like your exact situation, but perhaps it will provide information that might be useful for you.

Solution

According to the OS design, a HDD is required to be ready within 10 seconds. However, some large volume HDDs may need more than 10 seconds to initialize. Consequently, longer initialization time may result in BSOD with the error codes below:

－ STOP 0x0000007A
－ STOP 0x00000077
－ STOP 0x000000F4

If this occurred, please update Microsoft OS patch KB977178 to resolve this issue.
For more information, please refer to the following Microsoft KB: You receive various Stop error messages in Windows 7 or in Windows Server 2008 R2 when you try to resume a computer that has a large SATA hard disk

Because of this thread, I have now installed and managed my first RAID setup!!!