Vista freezes... what else can I check/test?

[vtxr1300]

I installed Vista a little over a week ago and since the first boot,
it freezes constantly and will not respond until I reboot. I have run
the memory diagnostic test and it all comes back okay. I then swapped
out the memory with other memory that I know is good and no change. I
have updated all of my drivers, but no change. I'm not familiar too
much with IRQ settings and how to check if there are any conflicts, so
I'm not sure if that could be a problem or not. I do have XP on the
same machine on another partition and it NEVER freezes. On vista, it
freezes anywhere from the boot screen to a few hours after rebooting.
And, it will do it without any programs running too. Aside from
zonealarm and avg antivirus, I haven't installed anything on it and it
froze before I even installed those 2 programs. Since it's such a new
install, I'm not sure if a reinstall would do any good or not. Can
any of you offer any ideas what I could check?

I don't know if it's related or not, but I also cannot install adobe
acrobat reader. When I run the install file, it just gives me a flash
of a cmd prompt and shuts down. I've tried running it in xp
compatible mode, but no difference. Thanks for any help!

 

[Dustin Harper]

Go to Event Viewer (Start > Search for Event Viewer and it will show up).
Check the Windows Logs > System. It might tell you what service or program
caused it to freeze.

 

[vtxr1300]

Actually, that was one of the first things I checked but the only
thing that ever shows up is an "Unexpected system shutdown" when I
reboot it.

 

[Dustin Harper]

Try going into safe mode and see if it freezes in there. Since that is
basically a minimal version, without any programs running or drivers
loading, it will tell you if it is the OS core or if it is a driver issue.

If it still freezes, you might try doing a repair. If not, try going through
the startup programs and disabling them all and the reenable them one by one
until you find out which one is causing the freezing. Slow process, but it
will tell you which one is causing it.

Has it been freezing since you installed it, or after you installed a
certain program?

 

[vtxr1300]

Thanks, I'll give that a try. It's been freezing since it's first
boot without any progams installed.

 

[Bruva]

I had a similar problem on my pc that was dual booting XP and Vista. XP ran
fine but Vista would freeze within about 5 mins of logging in even if I
wasn't running anything. Turned out that when I first installed it and did
a Windows Update it downloaded a new driver for my Radeon video card. When
I rolled back that driver to the pervious version it started working fine
with no freezing. Perhaps try rolling back your video driver to an earlier
version and see if that helps?

 

[vtxr1300]

Thanks Bruva, but the video driver has been one of the main things
I've been working with. I've used numerous drivers that have been
released for Vista for my card and eventually rolled back to the
microsoft generic driver, but none of them have fixed this problem.

 

[Chad Harris]

Actually safe mode isn't a driver free environment as Dustin said; it's
rather a driver minimal environment. Among those files that load that flash
by you going to safe mode, many are the minimal complement of drivers safe
mode loads with.

Your problem sounds like it's a CPU/resource problem. Try these:

Speed PC and Control CPU Tips/Steps

SPEED AND CPU:

_______________

1) Trim processes you don't need in TM. Google them or "search engine of

your choice them" if you have to.

2) Go to

services.msc in run box and turn off services not needed and there are some.

SERVICE CONFIGURATION REFERENCES*

*Vista Services*

Part One

http://www.tweakvista.com/article38662.aspx

Part Two

http://www.tweakvista.com/article38664.aspx

Windows Vista Services Tweak Guide v1.0

http://www.msfn.org/board/index.php?showtopic=87443


3) Run System File Checker.

SFC: http://www.updatexp.com/scannow-sfc.html

In Vista run it from an elevated command prompt. Right click command on

start and run as administrator.

4) Run 3 or so spyware scans Windows Defender, , Adaware, and Spybot

5) Probably the most important for speed consistently and efficient resource

use DEFRAG with www.raxco.com or www.diskeeeper.com with 15% free space on

drive if DK and or >5% if Raxco's Perfect Disk.

http://groups.msn.com/windowsxpcentral/spyware.msnw

Download Adaware and

Spybot from here.

GOOD Overall Review for Defending Your PC:

http://defendingyourmachine.blogspot.com/

MSFT Defense Site MSFT Security:

http://www.microsoft.com/security/default.mspx

Protect Your PC from MSFT Security:

http://www.microsoft.com/athome/security/protect/default.mspx

MSFT Windows Defender

http://www.microsoft.com/athome/security/spyware/software/default.mspx

MSFT MSRT: (Malicious Software Removal Tool)

http://www.microsoft.com/security/malwareremove/default.mspx



MSFT "Windows One Care" in Wings (AV and Spyware Scans)

http://www.microsoft.com/presspass/press/2005/may05/05-13WindowsOneCarePR.mspx

6) Unck items from msconfig start tab you don't need starting and some

won't start--peoiple who think just uncking for many are naive because there

are 12 places things can be started including several reg keys like Run Once

keys and there are serveral.

7) Turn off Messaging service--it's a security vulnerability and it slows

you

8) Defrag very often every other day actually.

9) Turn off indexing.

10) Clear TIF and %temp% files (delete) and go to safe mode to get as many

as u can.

10) Do troubleshooting with msconfig.

11) Do Clean boot with msconfig utility and search for the directions here:





Vista RTM Tweak Guide (Tweaks to Improve Performances)

http://www.google.com/search?source...,GGLJ:2006-47,GGLJ:en&q=vista+rtm+tweak+guide



1) Task Manager lists the services on the services tab in Vista.

2) Type services.msc in run box and using the list of services, click the

service and you'll get a description of services.

3) There is a list here of the default services and a description>>click

"default settings for services" in the left pane.

http://technet2.microsoft.com/Windo...afb8-43ce-b39d-50e6d5b89bf81033.mspx?mfr=true



4) To view service dependencies

1.

Open Services.

2.

In the details pane, right-click the service that you want to view

dependencies for, and then click Properties.

3.

Click the Dependencies tab.

4.

To view services that are associated dependencies of the selected service,

in the list on the Dependencies tab, click the plus sign next to the

service.

Many of the services but not all in Vista are the same as in XP, so in that

context:

http://www.mvps.org/winhelp2002/services.htm


Also see the extremely helpful site:

Black Viper's Service List

http://www.dead-eye.net/WinXP Services.htm


Black Viper's Site (Many of the same services in Vista)

http://www.dead-eye.net/WinXP Services.htm


http://www.z123.org/techsupport/xpservices.htm


http://www.geocities.com/ziyadhosein/xpserv1.htm


http://www.pacs-portal.co.uk/startup_content.php

This will be helpful

http://web.archive.org/web/20041128084144/www.blackviper.com/WinXP/servicecfg.htm

______________________________________________________________________________________________

How to troubleshoot by using the System Configuration utility in Windows XP

http://support.microsoft.com/kb/310560/

Resources for troubleshooting startup problems in Windows XP

http://support.microsoft.com/kb/308041/

How to perform advanced clean-boot troubleshooting in Windows XP

http://support.microsoft.com/default.aspx?scid=kb;en-us;316434

How to perform a clean boot in Windows XP

http://support.microsoft.com/kb/310353/

How to Disable a Service or Device that Prevents Windows from Starting

http://support.microsoft.com/kb/310602/



Also ck out these references:

http://www.extremetech.com/article2/0,1558,5155,00.asp



http://www.speedupyourcomputer.windowsreinstall.com/index.htm

and

http://www.extremetech.com/search_r...=how+to+speed+windows+xp&filterapp=&site=4P.S.



Defragging with a decent defrag every day will make a huge dent inefficient

resource/CPU use.

Perfect Disk has a 5 month full functionality trial on now for Windows

Vista.

Good luck,

CH

 

[Jon]

In addition to the other advice you've been given, try to avoid rebooting
too much
ie get into the habit of putting your computer into standby or hibernation.

Vista runs a number of tasks in first half hour or so after log on, such as
creating a system restore point etc. Once you're through that first half
hour you should experience fewer freezes.

 

[vtxr1300]

Avoid rebooting? And how do I do that when it's completely frozen? I
went to bed the other night with it frozen just to see if it would
unfreeze by morning, but no dice. I appreciate the responses, but I
really don't see what other choice I have when it doesn't respond at
all.

And experience fewer freezes??? Does that sound right? If the OS is
stable, I shouldn't have to worry about freezes at all. XP never,
ever freezes on me. The fact that MS can pedel this crap as a release
version is ridiculous. The more I search for answers, the more people
I read are in the same or similar boats. Too bad I can't return this
as a defective piece of software.

 

[Jon]

Ok, well your problem is clearly more than a temporary lockup from having
too many processes running.

You've been given a number of good suggestions in this thread - like
checking in Event Viewer - there's a massive wealth of information in there,
if you look closely enough. Check for events around the time of the freeze.

I would also uninstall ALL software and ALL devices (including your
antivirus / firewall), and then re-add them one by one.

 

[Jerry Hughes]

Had same problem and turned out to be my Bluetooth mouse was working
but I hadn't followed through and installed the Vista software.