Frequent, random computer crash issues

ismypcbroken

New Member
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1
Hello
I own an ASUS laptop and for the past weeks I have been getting increasingly more and more crashes, in many forms:

The first kind of crashes I keep encountering is probably the most interesting: At a random moment, the GUI will stop responding, but the mouse cursor keeps refreshing on the screen. I never had any audio playing in the background while this happened, so I have no idea if the background processes actually do keep running when this occurs. Going on with the explanation: When this happens, I usually get about 15 seconds of mouse movement joy before the system completely freezes. If I click in that period, it seems to make the complete freeze happen faster.
What is interesting about this is that earlier today, the GUI froze and I just moved the mouse a little. Upon seeing that, I decided to wait a bit. After about 20 seconds, the computer continued to run. That did not last for long, though, and it did finally crash minutes after.

The second kind of crash I get is having my computer freeze in the middle of anything (be it watching a movie, saving a file, compiling one of my projects, minimizing a program or switching between applications), instantly. The audio buffer repeats itself, the mouse immediately stops responding.

The third kind of crash involves the classic BSoD. This one happens the least amount of time, and it always reports a Watchdog timer violation. WinDBG reported the analysis as being inconclusive.

Notable stuff:

  • For the past year, I had been getting random video driver crashes. The 3rd last time I reinstalled (genuine) Windows, it was because the screen was scrambled.
  • Sometimes the laptop just shuts down instantly, without freezing or any other symptoms - just like someone unplugs it from the wall, without a battery attached.
  • It cannot be the HDD, as I upgraded to an SSD recently, and I did a fresh Windows install.

So, what do you think? Is my motherboard toast?

Thanks in advance for your help! :D

Update: While proofreading this, my laptop froze again and I had to manually restart it. It was the first kind of freeze issue I described. This seems to happen mostly while I am not doing anything at all. I was at the Global Game Jam this weekend, and my laptop has not really been kept idle. It only froze once there. When it does not get any input, however, (like when reading something) the crashes seem to happen more frequently.
 

My Computer

System One

  • OS
    Windows 8.1 x64
Sorry for the delay in responding.

Sounds like a video card problem to me - could be either software or hardware.
Start with these free diagnostics: Hardware Diagnostics

Let's first take a look at this report:
Please do the following:
- open Event Viewer (run eventvwr.msc from the "Run" dialog)
- expand the Custom Views category (left click on the > next to the words "Custom Views")
- right click on Administrative Events
- select "Save all Events in Custom View as..."
- save the file as Admin.evtx
- zip up the file (right click on it, select "Send to", select "Compressed (zipped) folder")
- upload it with your next post (if it's too big, then upload it to a free file-hosting service and post a link here).

FYI - If we're looking for Event ID 41 errors (unexplained shutdowns), there's more info on that here: Windows Kernel event ID 41 error "The system has rebooted without cleanly shutting down first" in Windows 8.1, Windows 8, Windows Server 2012 R2, Windows Server 2012, Windows 7, or Windows Server 2008 R2

While waiting for a reply, please monitor your temps with this free utility: HWMONITOR | Softwares | CPUID
 

My Computer

System One

  • OS
    Win8.1Pro - Finally!!!
    Computer type
    Laptop
    System Manufacturer/Model
    Samsung/NP780
    CPU
    Came with the laptop (i7 of some sort)
    Motherboard
    Pretty sure that it has one, but haven't checked inside the case!
    Memory
    upgraded to 12 gB from 8 gB
    Graphics Card(s)
    has switchable - Intel/ATI - Used wrong drivers, now ATI card is inop :( Will have to fix it soon!
    Sound Card
    I'm nearly deaf, so this isn't used often
    Monitor(s) Displays
    Touchscreen on laptop/32" Toshiba on HDMI (laid the Sharp TV on a mouse and cracked the screen!)
    Screen Resolution
    800x600
    Hard Drives
    One Samsung 1tB drive - 5400 rpm. Gonna switch to a 7200/10000 rpm or an SSD (if I can find $500 for a 1tB SSD!)
    - Switched to 500 gB Samsung 840 series SSD - WOW!!!
    PSU
    Why do we ask this for laptops?
    Case
    Silver with a neat Samsung logo
    Cooling
    sub-par, gotta get around to working on it soon Worked on it - still sub-par! :(
    Keyboard
    Microsoft Natural - the same one I've used since it orignally came out around 1995
    Mouse
    no Mouse - Trackball!!!!
    Internet Speed
    too slow when I'm waiting for a download to finish
    Browser
    Yes, I use this (Firefox mostly, w/IE next most)
    Antivirus
    Windows Defender and Windows Firewall
    Other Info
    I'm handsome and a snappy dresser :0)
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