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Currently trying to diagnose the cause of some freezing issues with my windows machine.

Here are the current issues and steps I've taken to resolve this issue:

  • During windows session, usually 2-8 hours in my computer would seemingly freeze. I could swap windows, videos I was watching continued to play, but trying to open up new things was hit or miss. I could open up task manager, but trying to open up computer management to view the event viewer just stalled out for upwards of 5-10 minutes. Right clicking on Computer took a minute for the context dialog to pop up.
  • My initial thought was the hard drive. Running chkdsk it found some bad blocks on my SSD, so I swapped to another hard disk all together. Problem persisted after clean windows install.
  • Ran Intel processor diagnostic tool, and every test passed. Not quite sure what other cpu tests I can do. Booted up and ran windows memory diagnostic. While it paused for hours as a time (Which I read was normal), it found no issues after 3 test passes. (Ran overnight for at least 12+ hours). Ran another test with memtest on the ubuntu CD. No issues found.

  • Ended up tracing an event viewer system error report:

    The driver detected a controller error on \Device\Ide\IdePort2

    here. Tried changing out sata cable, and switched to different port to see if it was a cable issue. Problem persisted. Switched back to original hard drive.

  • Decided to run a non-destructive badblocks test through an ubuntu live cd. I'm now seeing glitchiness through the terminal. See video here: https://youtu.be/j5CfzTNVrD0

The glitchiness/discoloration of the terminal makes me believe this has nothing to do with the hard drive/related cables and ports. Is this a CPU issue? What should be my next move?

Update with hardware:

This has all worked flawlessly for years.

Blue
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    Have you checked RAM? This is how my dekstop crash started. And after a while i was tired of it, and i switched/added/removed some RAM and it worked again for about 3-6 weeks. After that it completely gave up and started to have bluescreens. Be sure to check RAM too, probably one of the most important things to check. –  Jan 07 '17 at 20:48
  • @7h3w1z4rd, updated question. Did run memtest – Blue Jan 07 '17 at 20:51
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    You gave no make and model of the hardware you are experiencing this with so please update your question and add the make and model of what you're working with or give some specs. Open the enclosure and inspect the motherboard and see if there are any swollen capacitors. If there are swollen or blown capacitors, then you can have all sorts of weird issues. See if air flow through the machine is clogged with dust and fix that or see if fans failed, etc. contributing to overheating. What is the disk controller the error refers to exactly? Have you tried other IDE ports? Must be old hardware? – Vomit IT - Chunky Mess Style Jan 10 '17 at 00:27
  • @ITSolutions Updated with hardware specs – Blue Jan 10 '17 at 21:57
  • I would test your RAM first and see if you get anything errors from that. If you do, you need to determine which RAM stick or which RAM module on the motherboard is bad. After that, I would personally start pointing fingers at a bad motherboard. Bad motherboards can be extremely hard to diagnose and can cause some very strange issues. – DrZoo Jan 10 '17 at 22:19
  • @DrZoo I'm currently running memtest68+ through the ubuntu live cd. It currently hasn't found any errors in 4 test runs. I've also run Windows Memory Diagnostic (Which is mentioned in the post). – Blue Jan 10 '17 at 22:20
  • @FrankerZ When you say you've run 4 tests, do you mean it went through 4 iterations of all the tests? Or is it on test 4 of X on the first iteration? If you're able to link a picture that would be great. – DrZoo Jan 10 '17 at 22:23
  • Also the error `\Device\Ide\IdePort2` can possibly come from a bad disk controller. – DrZoo Jan 10 '17 at 22:27
  • @DrZoo Running the ubuntu live CD with no hard disk attached, still caused the same issues with freezing, so I'm reluctant to say that the disk controller is the cause of the issue. I've updated my post with the image of memtest. – Blue Jan 10 '17 at 22:31
  • Let us [continue this discussion in chat](http://chat.stackexchange.com/rooms/51556/discussion-between-drzoo-and-frankerz). – DrZoo Jan 10 '17 at 22:33
  • @7h3w1z4rd Did you run memtest on your ram before you replaced it? If so...what were the results? – Blue Jan 11 '17 at 14:45
  • I'm not sure I see from the YouTube video what you describe. It's hard to tell if it's the focus of the camera or something else for whatever discoloration is visible. Could you open the enclosure and YouTube the Motherboard with great clarity? Have you see if there are any firmware updates available for the motherboard or disk controller cards, etc.? I would complete all firmware upgrades too just in case to rule that out since that's a rather standard practice "in the game" like ESPN... It's in the game!! – Vomit IT - Chunky Mess Style Jan 16 '17 at 06:00

1 Answers1

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Extended hardware information about the components might be helpful to diagnose further.

Did you build the PC yourself? Did the PC behave weirdly during the re-installation of the OS after buying the new HDD? Did the PC ever performed as expected? Was it there a hardware change prior the freezes?

Even though memtest didn't throw any error back, I would do the old trick of removing one module at a time and try turning the computer on. I had a similar issue back in the day with modules that weren't of the same manufacturer/specs.

Aside of that, based on what you've already done I would try to do the following:

  • If you have a dedicated graphics card remove it and try using the built-in one on the motherboard. You could also do this by disabling/enabling them from the BIOS.
  • Check the power supply is not under performing.
  • Check temperature on the machine. If needed clean fans too.
  • Install a different OS of your choice and check whether the problem persists.

Sorry to be a bit vague, I would have posted it as a comment if I had enough reputation, though hope this leads you to the right path.

Arehandoro
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