Windows 8.1 freezes randomly

gamer647

New Member
Messages
6
Hi, I've got a problem, and I hope someone here can help me out with it.

When I'm on the internet, Google Chrome will randomly freeze. I can't scroll up and down, or
click on anything. It will sometimes let me close the window, but the process stays running in
the background. During this, the taskbar also stops responding.

Trying to end the process using Task Manager doesn't work straight away. If I keep trying, it
will either:
make the screen go black for a few seconds, then come back on with a 'display driver stopped
working and has recovered' message
or everything will stop responding completely (I can't even open the start menu), and I'm
forced to do a hard reset.

I thought it was just Chrome, so I downloaded Firefox instead, but I had the same problem. It
doesn't seem to happen with Internet Explorer, though. I also get a similar problem with VLC,
where it will randomly stop in the middle of a video and repeat the last 5 seconds of audio
repeatedly, like a broken record.

My specs are:
Windows 8.1 32-bit
Intel Pentium D CPU 3.00GHz
3 GB RAM
Nvidia GeForce GT 430

I've tried:
updating drivers
disabling all start-up processes
disabling all non-windows services
a system restore
installing and re-installing Chrome
disabling Chrome's hardware acceleration
virus scan with malwarebytes anti-malware (nothing was found)
sfc /scannow (it found errors but couldn't fix them, so I used the dism command and that sorted them. It didn't stop the freezes, though)

The problem doesn't seem to happen in safe mode, but I can't figure out what processes might
cause it. I tried disabling them one by one, but it just seems to happen randomly.

This has only started happing recently, I can't think of anything I've done that would have
caused it. Any help would be appreciated, thanks.
 

My Computer

System One

  • OS
    Windows 8
    Computer type
    PC/Desktop
After you ran the DISM command, did you rerun the sfc /scannow command and are you using a 3rd party AV program?
 

My Computer

System One

  • OS
    windows 8.1 Update 1 Pro 64bit
    System Manufacturer/Model
    Pavillion H8-1202
    CPU
    I7-2600 @ 3.4 GHz
    Motherboard
    PEGATRON
    Memory
    8 GB
    Graphics Card(s)
    NIVDIA GeForce GT 520
    Sound Card
    Realtek ALC656GR CODEC
    Monitor(s) Displays
    Samsung SyncMaster S22B350
    Screen Resolution
    1920X1080 32 bit color
    Hard Drives
    Samsung 850 EVO SSD 500GB
    Keyboard
    Razer Blackwidow Ultimate 2013
    Mouse
    Logitech M510
Hi, thanks for replying.

Yes, I reran the sfc command, it found no errors.

I'm using the free version of Avast, could that be interfering with something?
 

My Computer

System One

  • OS
    Windows 8
    Computer type
    PC/Desktop
Uninstall Avast entirely and see if the situation changes.
 

My Computer

System One

  • OS
    windows 8.1 Update 1 Pro 64bit
    System Manufacturer/Model
    Pavillion H8-1202
    CPU
    I7-2600 @ 3.4 GHz
    Motherboard
    PEGATRON
    Memory
    8 GB
    Graphics Card(s)
    NIVDIA GeForce GT 520
    Sound Card
    Realtek ALC656GR CODEC
    Monitor(s) Displays
    Samsung SyncMaster S22B350
    Screen Resolution
    1920X1080 32 bit color
    Hard Drives
    Samsung 850 EVO SSD 500GB
    Keyboard
    Razer Blackwidow Ultimate 2013
    Mouse
    Logitech M510
nvidia

according to the Nvidia site your card is only certified to W7 standard, you may need to run the drivers under compatability mode.

on a secondary note what does the MS W8 check my specs for it say.

Roy
 

My Computer

System One

  • OS
    8.1 x64
    Computer type
    Laptop
    System Manufacturer/Model
    x55a asus
    Antivirus
    bitdefender
    Other Info
    this laptop was/is still posted on asus website as W7
Hi, thanks for the reply.
I reinstalled the drivers in compatibility mode for Windows 7, but that didn't solve the problem.
What do you want me to post from Check My Specs?
 

My Computer

System One

  • OS
    Windows 8
    Computer type
    PC/Desktop
Is this the driver you are using, it is for Windows 8

NVIDIA DRIVERS 302.80

I would suggest you run Memtest to verify your RAM
 

My Computer

System One

  • OS
    windows 8.1 Update 1 Pro 64bit
    System Manufacturer/Model
    Pavillion H8-1202
    CPU
    I7-2600 @ 3.4 GHz
    Motherboard
    PEGATRON
    Memory
    8 GB
    Graphics Card(s)
    NIVDIA GeForce GT 520
    Sound Card
    Realtek ALC656GR CODEC
    Monitor(s) Displays
    Samsung SyncMaster S22B350
    Screen Resolution
    1920X1080 32 bit color
    Hard Drives
    Samsung 850 EVO SSD 500GB
    Keyboard
    Razer Blackwidow Ultimate 2013
    Mouse
    Logitech M510
No, I'm using the latest driver, 337.50.
Unfortunately I can't use Memtest, as my DVD drive is broken, and I don't have a spare USB stick to install it onto. But I'll try the built-in Windows Memory Diagnostic tool now, and see if that finds anything.

EDIT: No errors were found.

EDIT 2: I tried disabling all the background processes, not just the non-Windows ones, and I havent had a problem yet. The freezes mostly happen with Chrome, though, and since I can't connect to the internet (because the process is disabled) I haven't had a chance to test it. Tomorrow I'll try enabling all the processes one-by-one and see if I can pinpoint the problem.
 
Last edited:

My Computer

System One

  • OS
    Windows 8
    Computer type
    PC/Desktop
It looks like the Power service was causing the freezes. I've disabled it using msconfig, and I don't seem to be having anymore updates. Thanks again for your help.
 

My Computer

System One

  • OS
    Windows 8
    Computer type
    PC/Desktop
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