Notebook freezes

[Nomad]

Hi everybody!

My notebook works on a Vista Home Premium 32 bit OS.
About once a fortnight it gets in a stalling condition, since long ago: clock freezes, cursor doesn't move, HD light doesn't blink; if this condition starts when sound was beeing produced, sound freezes too (it keeps a continuous sound on); this situation can not be modified by keyboard neither by mouse, even doing Ctrl+Alt+Del. The only signal of life remaining is fan revving.
All I'm left to do is energy button pressing for a few seconds to switch off and restart.
What's the cause of this and what can be done to prevent it from happening?
Thanks

[Shane]

The system is locking, hard. Sometimes locks like that can happen if the temp of the cpu gets to high or if the laptop gets really hot. Does that seem to be the case when it happens?

Otherwise it can also be bad memory or bad sectors on the hard drive, normally it is hardware related. Both of those can be tested

Shane

[Nomad]

Shane

Thank you for the answer.
I have temperatures monitored permanently: GPU, HDs, MB and CPU. Usually, GPU is the higher one, 48 ou 49 C, close to the MB, then the HDs (they are two, 42 and 30 C), and the CPU is the lower one (32 to 54C, varying constantly), in an environment of 18C.
It seems to me this is not a temperature issue, because when it happens, the showed temperatures, although frozen as the rest, are not any higher than ever before.
As to memory and HD, I have the sidebar activated, and one of the gadgets there, is the CPU/RAM meter, and at the moment the freezing happens, they show quite normal too; yesterday RAM showed about 65%. About the HD I'm not so sure, CHKDSK do not indicate trouble, but in the past, things happened which I didn't understand, like analizes by Advanced SystemCare (from Iobit) saying there were problems, then I used to run CHKDSK and it seemed there was nothing wrong. Please tell how can I test both RAM and HD.

Nomad

[Boggin]

You can run Windows own memory test by going Start - type memory then click on Windows Memory Diagnostic but if you have more than one RAM module fitted, as a quick test try running on just each one at a time to see if you get the freeze.

I find HD Sentinel a good program for testing the HDD has it gives you a status report. http://www.hdsentinel.com/hard_disk_sentinel_trial.php

It's a paid for program but you can use it up to 30 days on a free trial.

After I use it just for the S.M.A.R.T. report, I uninstall it then just reinstall it from my Downloads folder as and when and that way you can continue to use it.

42ºC could be a bit high for a HDD so that one could be suspect for me.

[Shane]

I would run a memory test and also do a chkdsk c: /r on the drive to have it check for bad sectors and then go from there

Shane

[Nomad]

Thank you Boggin and Shane for your replies

Till now I used Boggin's hints: Windows memory test concluded OK.
HD Sentinel (4.60 PRO, Trial version) stated in overview:Performance: 100% Excellent; Health: 100% Excellent "The hard disk status is PERFECT. Problematic or weak sectors were not found and there are no spin up or data transfer errors. No actions needed."
This version of HD Sentinel does not the Extended Self-test, I ran just the Short Self-test which took 2 minutes and was Successfully Completed, although I noticed it slowed down on some parts of the disk; I didn't run other tests because they were not guaranted to be not destructive.

As soon as I can I'll do a chkdsk c: /r.

Nomad

[jraju]

Hi,
                          You just go to Bios and there will be self test to perform. One is simple boot and another configurations test. You select it and run. It will test the hard ware configuation and if it passes 100%, then the close the system and reboot. Your problem would be fixed. Laptop has self test features by the manufacturers and it restores the system to stability.
                                   If self test is not succeeded, then you have to go to the manufac web site to recovery processes.
                                   if you press delete or press f2, you get bios settings. The freezing is due to corrupt mbr. If that is the case, you have to get the command prompt from cd dvd installation disc and there you have to select command prompt and execute the command fixmbr to fix mbr and your problem would be solved

[Boggin]

Have you managed to run the chkdsk /r and has it brought any improvement, but as the freezes are intermittent you may have to run it for a while.

You can view the chkdsk report in Event Viewer.

To do this go Start - type eventvwr and press enter.

When it has read the logs, expand Windows Logs - click on Application - Find then type chkdsk or wininit into the Find box and press enter.

Cancel the Find box and view the report in the scrollable window - it will be any KBs in bad sectors that you are looking for but as the freezes are so far apart, I don't think it will be bad sectors and because of that I would also discount overheating unless you are placing more demand on the machine at these time periods.

You may be able to view the temps in the BIOS but HWMonitor will also give you this info if the BIOS doesn't have them. http://www.majorgeeks.com/files/details/hwmonitor.html

[Nomad]

Hi again

Ran chkdsk C: /r. It didn't come to an end, stopped saying "50 percentage concluded (23799245 from 54036967 free clusters processed)".
I had to press power button to restart.  What's the meaning of this?

Jraju, I don't get what test you are telling me about; going to BIOS I found tests for HDs and Memory, didn't find boot or configuration test, what hardware configuration test do you mean?
 
This freezing issue does not happen at booting.
And there is not any cd/dvd instalation disc, the notebook has a recovery partition.

More hints, please?

[Boggin]

That doesn't sound very healthy.

Can you boot up into the Advanced Boot options - usually by tapping F8 as you switch on - select Repair your Computer (I assume Vista also has this option) - navigate to the Recovery Environment and select Command Prompt.

At the prompt enter bcdedit |find "osdevice"

Using whichever partition letter it gives, enter (assuming c) chkdsk c:

This is a read only mode and hopefully it will show if there is any file corruption, but more importantly if there are any bad sectors.

[Boggin]

While that error could indicate a failing HDD, that would seem to contradict what HD Sentinel had reported, so did a Google on that and one solution that got the chkdsk /r to complete, was to wipe the free space.

You can do this with the free version of CCleaner in its Advanced options by checking Wipe Space on the default page. https://www.piriform.com/ccleaner/download

It will take a while to complete but try the chkdsk /r again after.

[Nomad]

Boggin

I did as you said: wiped C: drive free space with CCleaner (3 passes) and ran chkdsk C: /r after, and it stopped again, this time "49 percentage concluded (23982004 from 55624671 free clusters processed), so I restarted using power button again.
Then I ran chkdsk C: in read only mode and it finished saying (maybe the most important part?): 
   
                                                                                                                             "Windows checked the file system and did not find any problem.
                                                                                                                                                                303483883 KB disk total space.
                                                                                                                                                                   86142592 KB in 166210 files.
                                                                                                                                                                         86564 KB in 30195 indexes.
                                                                                                                                                                                 0 KB in bad sectors.
                                                                                                                                                                       324275 KB being used by the system.
                                                                                                                                                                         65536 KB ocupied by registry file.
                                                                                                                                                                 216930452 KB available in disk."   

   What now??     

[Boggin]

Don't know - never come across this problem before.

It's a bit late here in the UK for me to do some more digging, but you could Google the problem to see if any other solutions pop up.

[Shane]

How long did you let chkdsk go before restarting the system?

A lot of times it will appear to be stuck at a cluster for a very long time if that cluster is bad.

But yet it shows 0 bad sectors and finally finished the scan, but not till you had to restart it a few times.

That means that if the hard drive is getting hot or is dropping out then it would lock or freeze the system because everything is running off of it. So if the drive just cut out during the chkdsk then the chkdsk would simply freeze up because it would never stop trying to access the data.

Right now it does sound like your freezing problems are your hard drive dropping out

Shane

[Nomad]

Shane

Both times I tried the CHKDSK /r, it went for about 1 and a half hours (it´s a 320 GB drive), before the drive light blinked no more; I still waited some minutes, hoping some activity sign but there was none.

I'm not getting what you are telling:
 1) Shouldn't I have shut the computer because it might be just apparently "dead"?
 2) If so and in case of beeing stuck at a bad cluster, would it "ask" me to restart?
 3) So, when it gets to a (very) bad cluster it drops out and the freezing happens. Does this mean that CHKDSK /r has not enough "healing" power to correct that cluster?
 4) What's the meaning of "drive dropping out" (sorry, english is not my native language)?

Thank you for your patience.

[Shane]

What it sounds like is that the hard drive is bad.

When I say dropped out I mean that it stop responding. Which would explain the freezes, the hard drive light stops blinking and why the chkdsk was never finishing.

In other words it is time for a new hard drive

Shane

[Nomad]

Hi Shane

Thank you again for your hint.

Let me report a couple of things:
1) I ran today a chkdsk D: /r (the data HD of this same notebook); it stopped too, at "37 percentage concluded. (14345466 from 47729176 free clusters processed)".
2) I have this machine for almost 6 years and I ran chkdsk C: /(r or f) several times before (and at least once chkdsk D: /r or f). As I can recall, for C: it concluded just once (may be at the third attempt, or more), but for D: it didn't ever concluded.
3) About once a month I run "Disk Doctor" from Iobit's Advanced SystemCare; most times it says there are problems for C:, but the last time, about 2 weeks ago, it said there were no problems found; for D: it always said there were no problems.
Can you give me a comment about this?

And finally, in case I must find a new hard drive, what specifications do I have to consider, as, I think, I will not find exactly the same make/model?

Nomad

[Boggin]

You could Google for HDD replacement for your make & model of computer and even if the model is discontinued, there will be one to fit even if you have to contact the computer vendor's parts dept.

[Shane]

Is the D: drive on the same hard drive though? In other words the current hard drive is simply partitioned into two, so you get drive C: and D:. Most laptops only have 1 hard drive so that is most likely it, and so you see the same problem with D: using chkdsk.

So yes a new drive is in order.

Your drive should be a standard laptop sata hard drive. Unless it is really old and it is the old school IDE drives.

If it is the sata then any new sata laptop drive will do the job, but if you want to make the system 10 times faster, spend a little extra and get a SSD drive.

The samsung Pro 550 comes with a crazy 10 year warranty.

The hard drive is the bottleneck of performance on a system, so when you boot up and such you are waiting on the hard drive. A SSD is so much faster than a normal drive that your system will feel worlds faster. It will be, with anything hard drive related. The CPU and memory are still the same of course

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820147360

Shane

[Nomad]

Thanks Boggin and Shane

My notebook has 2 hard drives, one with 2 partitions (C:, OS and software, and E:, a recovery partition) and the other drive (D:) is single-partitioned, for data; both have the same capacity (320 GB each).
Yes, they are both SATA/300 (Toshiba MK3252GSX).
I like your advice about the SSD, except for... the price.
Anyway, as this present situation seems constant for the last 6 years, may be it will last another 6 years, and then, if I will have to replace the HDs, prices of SSDs will be much lower .

But yet, what do you think: the dropping out happens when bad clusters are starting to be read, or the real cause can be of different nature?

[Shane]

If it is happening to both drives then it could be more motherboard related, such as the sata ports dropping out or not responding.

At the same time it could be a bios problem as well, have you checked to see if there is any bios updates for the system?

Shane

[Nomad]

I've done that in the past, I'm not sure the date, may be 2011, I downloaded and executed an update released in 2010.
I just checked again, and oddly, every available versions now are older than the one I installed (one from 2007 and others from 2008).
I can't tell if this freezing thing began after the BIOS update.
Could it be the update I installed is no longer available because it gave trouble?

[Boggin]

It's unusual to find a BIOS update being withdrawn - at least I've never come across it.

What you could do is to reset the BIOS - you may need to look that up via Google for how to do that on your make & model, see how that goes and update to the latest version if all still okay.

[Shane]

What is the exact model of the laptop so I can go look at its support page of downloads. And what version bios do you have installed right now?

Shane

[Nomad]

It's a HP Pavilion dv9890 EP.
BIOS: F.5A

Thanks