"SC Tom" <sc DeleteThis @tom.net> wrote in message
news:%23QX1C70FKHA.1488@TK2MSFTNGP03.phx.gbl...
>
> "orden" <orden.3wj0vb DeleteThis @DoNotSpam.com> wrote in message
> news:orden.3wj0vb@DoNotSpam.com...
>>
>> I've been running Vista-32bit on an Intel Quadcore /w 4G ram for about 7
>> months, and only recently have I been experiencing the symptoms describe
>> in all the posts above: random freezing with no HDD activity, cursor
>> still moves, and most commands will "spring to life" only after the HDD
>> resumes. Instantly I thought "oh boy, my HD is dying slowly". (In once
>> instance I was in a fullscreen application (WoW) using voice-chatting
>> software when I experienced a system freeze, and yet I was still able to
>> chat through the chatting software which was running in the
>> background!)
>>
>> So I thought it may be some crazy virus that infected my sys (or under
>> those extremely rare situations, the boot sector), so I used this
>> opportunity to format completely and install Windows 7-32bit. After a
>> clean install, guess what... same problems.
>>
>> Assuming my HD was the culprit, I completed a full chkdsk during a
>> windows startup (1hr) and a full memory check using the scanner built
>> into the windows 7 CD, and they both passed ok. I have noticed that
>> when the system freezes, if you wait for it to unfreeze it will often
>> freeze again shortly after. On other days I can go hours of gaming (HD
>> intensive) with no interruption.
>>
>> Finally, I've rebooted the PC to see the system freeze right at the
>> initial motherboard flash screen! So that tells me that HD drivers are
>> not the problem, but either something with the Bios or something
>> physically wrong with the HD, or something else I'm not familiar with.
>> It might be related to updated drivers that were delivered in a recent
>> Vista patch that are already incorporated to Windows 7. I'd have to
>> roll-back to XP and see if the symptoms occur there. If I don't find an
>> answer soon, I will.
>>
>>
>> --
>> orden
>> ------------------------------------------------------------------------
>> orden's Profile: http://forums.techarena.in/members/122289.htm
>> View this thread:
>> http://forums.techarena.in/windows-vista-performance/704479.htm
>>
>> http://forums.techarena.in
>>
>
> Sounds more like a video hardware problem than the HDD or BIOS. Is it
> on-board video, or an add-in card? Try updating the video drivers- from
> HP's site if it's on-board, card manufacturer if it's an add-in.
>
> Try setting your quality/performance settings in the video control panel
> more to performance than quality and see what happens. Download and run
> something like HWMonitor ( http://www.cpuid.com/hwmonitor.php ) and track
> the GPU temps for a while. They can be quite high under load. Once you
> find out the type and model of video, you can Google what the temperature
> range should be. Might as well clean out the inside of the PC case while
> you're at it, making sure the heatsinks and fans are clean of dust, hair,
> etc.
>
> SC Tom
>
I'd suspect one of the recent Vista updates instead - I'm seeing a similar
problem
both on my 64-bit Vista machine, where I'm using the GPU card nearly full
time
to run the GPUGRID BOINC project, and on my 32-bit Vista machine, where
the GPU is too old for GPUGRID to use it so I'm barely using it for anything
that's heavy on it. One thing I've noted to that the problems tend to start
when
more that about 50% of the physical memory is in use, and most of the
programs
running use 32-bit mode instead of 64-bit mode (of course, the 32-bit Vista
machine can run only 32-bit mode programs).
My 32-bit machine probably uses an on-board video with a driver provided
by Microsoft or HP; the 64-bit machine uses an add-in card that I bought
from
HP along with the machine, and an Nvidia driver recommended by GPUGRID.
Telling BOINC that it isn't allowed to use more than 40% of the physical
memory helps, but does not eliminate the problem entirely.
Robert Miles
Microsoft Windows Vista