My laptop keeps freezing

first thing, go to start - run - and type msconfig ...
go to startup tab and remove everything (except antivirus or necessary start up applications)

go to start - control panel - programs and features and remove toolbars, registry scanners and so on

It is probably overheating causing a freeze...(hot laptops do freeze!!!).
Your video chip will refuse to cooperate when too hot.

Clean dust and debris from all air intakes, fan blades, heat sinks.
You may need to reseat heatsinks that are not seated correctly.
Also your rooms ( also your PCs) air flow and temperature contol may need attention.

If heat is a real issue, then use a laptop cooling pad / fan.

Try to restore your laptop when it didn't have any issue.

Try deleting the recent software you installed.

Run the repair using your windows 7 media.

Run Antivirus.

Run Ccleaner. (Download from www.filehippo.com)

Hi Michael-Best,
My laptop doesn't get too hot as it still cold when it starts freezing.
So I need to clean it.

Might be a bsod

Check for minidump file. Upload it here.

C:\windows\minidump




Ded9

could also be a bad sector on the drive, have seen this many a time when the OS is trying to read from a sector.

Try try using a Live CD, if the machine stays usable for longer than 10 mins it could be a hard drive issue. If it goes off after a similar length of time, I would say you are looking at overheating

Try using it in safe mode and see if any better, if not try a different hard drive in it.

Hello again,
I've got UBCD and if I boot from it and my laptop doesn't freeze then it means faulty hard drive or bad drivers, and if my laptop keeps freezing even running from UBCD then it means the issue is overheating.

Yep, pretty much.

If you have another hard drive knocking about, try installing windows on it. If the install completes ok, you know the laptop if fine.

It could just be a bad windows install, back your stuff up and re-install is another option. If you can't install on the original drive then it would be a drive issue.

Hello experts,

I've just booted successfully from my UBCD for Windows and it got frozen again in 1 minute.
it looks like nothing wrong with the RAM, hard drive, OS or drivers.
It's likely to be something wrong with the motherboard or overheating issue.
What could be the problem?
What else can I do?
Do I need to reinstall the OS again?

Thank you.

Heat is probably the issue. If you aren't comfortable with dismattling the laptop to clean the heatsink etc I would take it to a repair shop

Hi choicecomputers,

I've just took my laptop apart and cleaned the fan and heatsink, and put new paste on the cpu but still no luck. It got frozen again in 1 minute once I started it up.
I've run out of ideas.
What else should I do?
Is it probably faulty motherboard?
I really need to find out what the issue is.

Thank you in advanced.

Did you find a lot of debris around the fins of the heatsink ? It is normally like a matting at the point of the fan meeting the fins of the heatsink. If you are sure it is clean then I would say it is the main board unfortunately

Hi nobus,
It looks that you won the competion. It turned out that the freezing issue with my laptop is the dc drive. It has been running just perfectly since I took it out (no any freezing issues).
I have one more question before I give you the points. This cd drive is working properly as I can boot from it and read discs but it causes a freezing issue.
The question is if I buy any new or used (in working condition) cd device from ebay then:
Will it cause a freezing issues again?
What your advice is after the cd drive is the cause of the freezing issue?

Thank you in advance.

sorry to hear that, and tx for feedback
did you test the drive on another PC - or copy the data?

worst case, you could always leave it out of the laptop, and if you need to use an optical drive, at some point get a USB one

Hi nobus,

Let me give you any new up to date info regarding to my issue.
Just after I sent you my last feedback and after two and half hours of running smoothly it got frozen again. I left last night my laptop running on battery only and kept checking it for freezing issues, and exactly after two and half hours I woke it up and couldn't move my mouse.
I'll take the hdd out later on and boot from the cd drive with my UBCD disk in and see if I'll keep getting any freezing issue. if yes then it is probably faulty motherboard, if no then it's faulty hard drive. I'll also perform checking on hdd using ''chkdsk /f /r'' command and hope that helps. I'll keep you informed.
I'm up for any other suggestions.

Thanks a lot to all of you for your help.

run a disk diag on the drive, but first make a backup for safety!
 i suggest to run some diags first - to be sure about the basics
go to the download page, scroll down to the mirror section, and  click on a mirror to start the download
Download the UBCD and make the cd   <<==on a WORKING PC, and boot the problem PC from it
Here 2 links, one to the general site, and a direct link to the download
since the downloaded file is an ISO file, you need to use an ISO burning tool
if you don't have that software, install cdburnerXP : http://cdburnerxp.se/

If you want also the Ram tested - run memtest86+ at least 1 full pass,  - you should have NO errors!
 
For disk Diagnostics run the disk diag for your disk brand (eg seagate diag for seagate drive)  from the HDD section - long diag !
http://www.ultimatebootcd.com/                        ultimate boot cd
http://www.ultimatebootcd.com/download.html             download page

hi nobus,
I already have bootable UBCD disk so I can use it to run some diags on the hard drive and RAM. I've done it before.

Thank you for your help.

Hello again,

Let me give any up to date news regarding to my laptop's freezing issue.
Yesterday I took the hard drive out and plugged the cd drive back in with UBCD disc inside and booted from it. I've run a memory diagnostic test which lasted for at least five hours and the good news are that my laptop didn't freeze for these five hours of memory test (Note: no any memory errors has been found)
It seems like faulty hard drive that is causing the freezing issue.
Am I correct?
So replacing the hard drive with new one will fix this issue.
Is there anything else I can try on?

Thank you.

>>  It seems like faulty hard drive that is causing the freezing issue.  << you ask : Am I correct?

the answer is : perhaps
it can be caused by :
-bad drive
-corrupt OS or software
-virus or malware

but now is the time to run the harddisk diag from ubcd, to show the disk status; so connect your drive, and boot from UBCD
For disk Diagnostics run the disk diag for your disk brand (eg seagate diag for seagate drive)  from the HDD section - long or advanced diag !  (runs at least for30 minutes)

Re: "" Hi Michael-Best,
My laptop doesn't get too hot as it still cold when it starts freezing.
So I need to clean it. "

HeHe...My wifes laptop freezes all the time...even when cold...
The video chip is full of dust, thus it soon overheats and freezes...I just tell her she "online shops" too much...

Mabey I will clean it when or if she stops moaning!!!

Test your Hard Drive:

Use the manufactures HDD diagnostic tools.

You can find old versions of these tools on UBCD
http://www.ultimatebootcd.com/

Use the latest manufactures HDD diagnostic tool.
The download links are provided below.

Seagate, Samsung,  Maxtor
http://www.seagate.com/support/downloads/seatools/

Hitachi
http://www.hgst.com/support/downloads/#WINDFT

Fujitsu, Toshiba
http://storage.toshiba.com/storage-services-support/warranty-support/software-utilities

Western Digital Data Lifeguard Diagnostic
http://support.wdc.com/product/download.asp?groupid=113&sid=3&lang=en

How to test a drive for problems using Data Lifeguard Diagnostics for Windows
http://wdc.custhelp.com/app/answers/detail/a_id/940/session/L3RpbWUvMTM2NDA4ODIyNS9zaWQvay1uRm1XbGw%3D


Seagate SeaTools for Windows guide and download
http://www.seagate.com/support/external-hard-drives/portable-hard-drives/wireless-plus/seatools-win-master/

Seagate SeaTools for DOS guide and download
http://www.seagate.com/support/internal-hard-drives/consumer-electronics/ld25-series/seatools-dos-master/

If your HDD passes then:

Bad memory can also cause this...
memtest86+ will not find this kind of memory downfall...
changing your mem. sticks may or may not solve it...

(throw the mouse at your cat, along with the laptop?... may?... solve all your PC problems???)

Good Luck

Regards,
Michael Best

note that the UBCD i posted is NOT the one you have (which is a live cd)
this one is a Diagnostic cd

Hi nobus,

Just to let you know that I've done what you said. I connected the hard drive back in and run disk diagnostic test from UBCD lasted for 1h 20 mins and as an outcome 9 errors have been found, and the disk failed the test.
Do I need to buy replacement hard drive or to try something else?

Thank you.

you have 2 options :
-1- replace the disk drive
-2- you can run HDDRegenerator on it (trial) and check if it repairs the first sector; if so, but it and run it to repair the drive (i have recovered many drives like this)
http://www.dposoft.net/hdd.html

hi nobus,

I'll go for the first options. Just to let you know that my drive has gone off forever and the data inside. I've tried too many drive's diagnostic tools yesterday from the UBCD disk and even from Toshiba site, and neither of them worked properly as none of them was able to recognize or find the drive, except Seagate SeaTools for Dos from UBCD as it found drives errors and it failed the test. After all these diagnostic tests my drive just went unreadable or unknown as I kept getting ''No operating system found'' message. It was split on two partitions as all my data was on D partition. I did data recovery using my UBCD for Windows and SATA/IDE to USB converter but no luck as I got message that the disk need to be format it first before I can get any access to it, and even when I clicked to format it I got message that the disk cannot be format it and make sure it is connected properly. it was my mistake to backup the data before I started performing any diagnostics on it.
Is there any other way to access the drive and recover my data?
Or just to accept that I lost all my data and replace it.

Hi nobus,

I'll go for your 2nd options to use HDD Regenerator to see if it will fix some bad sectors.
I'll keep you up to date.

hi nobus,

Is there any way to make bootable HDD Reganarator disc as I cannot log on to windows?

>>  as I cannot log on to windows?   <<  you are in windows, since you post this
download the http://www.dposoft.net/products/hddreg/83624092/hr.exe
from the site i linked to
download is at the page bottom!
if you run it- it makes the cd

hi nobus,

I've ordered new hdd to replace the faulty one. I'm still waiting for the delivery to arrives.
Once I install it and test it will get back to you.

Thank you.

ok - take your time; no hurry here

It turned out to be faulty hdd. Replacing the faulty hdd with new one and installing new copy of windows solved my freezing issue.

Hi nobus,

You won this competion and will get rewarded for your help and advices.
Replacing the faulty hdd with new one and installing new copy of win7 solved my freezing issue. My laptop has been running smoothly for the whole day yesterday.
The only thing left is how to recover my data from my old faulty hdd as your suggestion with HDD Reganarator didn't work out .
Thanks once again for your help nobus.

I'd like to thank to all of you who posted me regarding to this case.

if recovery software does not help, you'll need recovery services
here some links for both :
http://www.pcinspector.de/file_recovery/UK/welcome.htm      pc Inspector -FREE -
      http://www.piriform.com/recuva/download/standard            FREE  -  Recuva
      http://www.stellarinfo.com/                              Stellar
http://www.runtime.org/                              GetDataBack
http://www.ontrack.com/                              Ontrack
http://www.recovermyfiles.com/                              RecoverMyFiles

http://www.lowcostrecovery.com/index.html                        data recovery Company
http://www.gillware.com/                                 "           "                   "
http://www.drivesavers.com/services/estimates.html                     "           "                   "