What could cause a computer to incrementally freeze up?

Question

This has happened to me three times recently. It kind of worries me, because I'd normally assume such problems are hardware related, and since I just recently upgraded my motherboard, RAM, CPU, and graphics card (all a few months ago) it would be kind of sad if one of these new parts were already starting to fail. Of course, they'd still be under warranty, but it's still kind of sad in a way.

First time this happened was when I was looking at a youtube video. The sound wasn't playing, and instead was this really horrible choppy sound. I assumed the video was just uploaded wrong or something, but from the comments it looked like the problem was on my end. I closed the tab, and went back to browsing another tab, and a few seconds later the whole system froze up. Couldn't move the mouse, use the keyboard, or anything. ctrl+alt+delete didn't work, and neither did the power button. (Holding it for 5 seconds did shut the machine off, though.) Was no bluescreen or anything like that. When I started it back up, I ran chkdsk, but it found no errors.

The second time (the next day) was when I was playing a fullscreen game. I hit esc (to get to the main menu in-game) and then tried to alt-tab out of it, but it didn't work. It seems to me that I was able to move the mouse around for a little bit here, too (though clicking on the buttons on the in-game menu did nothing) and eventually that froze up too. Same as before, the power button and ctrl+alt+delete were useless.

The third time (a few days later) happened while the computer was sitting idle while I was doing something else. I came back to it, and noticed clicking on the start menu didn't work. I tried using the keyboard button, and that didn't work too, and then shortly after, the mouse stopped responding again.

Since these failures are pretty infrequent, they're not a HUGE deal to me, but it worries me that one of my parts is starting to fail, and it will get worse as time goes on. From the nature of the problems, it seems to me it would most likely be the processor (if it were the RAM or GPU I'd expect that it would bluescreen, rather than simply stopping responding like that) but if you guys have any insight that would be great. Of course, the best case scenerio would be if it were something I could simply reinstall windows or something to fix.

Answer 1

The problem isn't huge until you lose what you've been working on for the last 2 hours because it freezes again. Best to at least try and find out what is causing it.



Most of the time when something misfires in the operating system Windows will record it in the event viewer as a warning or an error. I suggest you look there first for clues.



Right click on My Computer > Manage > Event Viewer. The event that is causing the problem will probably show up in the System or Applications tab. Highlight one of them at a time and see if there is a flag at the date and time you computer froze. An error has a red flag and the warning has a yellow flag. If you see one, double click on it and a box will come up and tell you the application that caused the problem. That would be the application I would troubleshoot first or reinstall the driver for, or uninstall or whatever, depending on what it is.



Beyond that I would check the settings in your BIOS. Use the plain vanilla settings for maximum compatibility and reboot. If you problem goes away you know it was something in the BIOS that was set wrong. My guess is that you problem is hardware related, but there doesn't seem to be a common thread in your examples.



Also, usually you get an error if your swapfile is not big enough, but it can cause this kind of behavior. Check and make sure you swapfile is 1.5 x your RAM.

Answer 2

It could be connections to your motherboard have come loose, or one of the devices (cards) has lifted on it, or even one (or more than one) of the connections on the back of the computer has come loose.



It could be something as simple as a patch needed to upgrade your operating system. For instance, Vista has been known to have problems for some time. I don't have any doubt that other operating systems have various glitches in them, which appear at irregular intervals. Have a look on the Microsoft site (if you are using their operating system). A patch may be available which will remove the problem.



In the same context (software related), it could be that the media player is questionable. Is it something that was supplied with your soundcard, or is it generic (Windows Media Player). I can't speak for current versions of Media Player, but it has been known to have problems and require update patches. The Help tab in Media Player (About Media Player) will have the current version. You may be able to find a more up-to-date version (and more reliable) on the Internet.



If you back up all of your user files (saved Word, Excel, Access, any saved game files; anything like that, to a removable drive, a clean install may very possibly fix the problem. It could be something as simple as two devices trying to use the same resources at the same time.



It could also be that a virus has found its way onto your computer. Do you have the most up-to-date virus references, for your anti-virus software?



It might also be that either the bios settings, or (or Windows Power Down settings) are allowing the system to time out prematurely and it is consequently then, not responding, when told to by movement in your mouse/ keyboard? Have a look at that.



Lastly, it could be that your motherboard / soundcard / graphics card was dicey from the outset. Do you have the old parts and are they compatible with each-other? Maybe try re-installing them again - one-by-one, though you might need to remove the old (new parts) in Device Manager (when in "Safe Mode").



I hope that something mentioned here works for you and sincerely hope that it is the simplest.

Best of luck.

Answer 3

It could very well be many causes...



First check your CPU temperature. CPU's have been known to work at high temperatures but start to falter while running certain tasks (skipping audio, video, gaming). I recommend using Everest to check temps (diagnostic program, will give temps on most/all hardware)



If the temps are within safety range, then test the CPU with Prime95 (stress test) for a few hours and if that fails the CPU is bad.



Also testing your RAM wouldn't hurt. Run Memtest86 to check. Only have 1 stick in at a time to help reduce confusion.



As far as testing your graphics card, having another laying around to put in your PC is by far the best way to check, or placing yours in someone else's PC.



Another possible cause, your power supply could be failing. Failing power supplies have been known to either push out too much voltage (that will fry your computer), or not enough voltage (components won't work properly).



Lastly, it could be software related (virus/worm, bad drivers, and so on), although you would have received blue screens. Reinstall windows as a last resort. Programs I use to maintain my PC (and highly recommend for anyone): Avast anti-virus, Spybot search and destroy, and TuneUp Utilities 2010.



Good luck with solving your problem, and I hope I was able to help.

Answer 4

I suspect your PSU could use an upgrade to keep up with your hardware requirements. I'm having similar odd issues after a complete rebuild. I bought an off-brand, 20-pin PSU and any time i work the system hard(gaming), I end up with buggy problems afterwords. Bumping down video setting on high end games like Trackmania did lessen the issues but I do need to fix my power problem.

Answer 5

For the Videos try turning off hardware accelerator by right clicking the video and going to options. The other thing is, did you try and overclock anything on your computer? If so try and undo it.

Answer 6

Scheduling automatic updates while you are using your machine... Anti-virus / anti-malware / ... can do this to during updates or scans.