Microsoft Windows Not Responding

Dididoo

New Member
Messages
63
My computer occasionally freezes, causing all open programs/applications to stop responding (later most features, except for cursor abilities stop working as well). A window pops up at this time, titled "Microsoft Windows Not Responding". It says that, as far as I remember, "The application has stopped responding. It may respond again if you wait" or something along those lines. It then has two buttons, End Process and Cancel (sometimes I can't click anything because all windows are frozen).

In one freeze instance I was able to open Task Manager to find the Disk at 100%, so I believe this is a likely culprit. However, I don't know what is using up so much disk because when I see the Task Manager Disk column, most programs/applications are only using 0.5-1 mb each.

I don't know why this has started to happen recently; everything was fine until now. Any help would be appreciated.

EDIT: I found, in Task Manager, that "Service Host: Local System (Network Restricted) (10) was using more disk than others for a bit of time. Other network-related service processes included:
Service Host: Local Service (Network Restricted) (7)
Service Host: Local Service (No Impersonation) (4) - I don't know what this one means
Service Host: Local Service (No Network) (4)
Service Host: Local Service (Peer Networking) (3)
Service Host: Network Service (Network Restricted)

There are also a few more Service Host processes with numbers like (15), (5), (2), (6), etc. I'm not sure what these mean, are these and the network-related service processes acting normal?

Another process called Windows Modules Installer Worker was the largest disk user at 10-18 MB/s when the disk went up to 50%.
 
Last edited:

My Computer

System One

  • OS
    Windows 8.1
Hi there, Dididoo. Welcome to WindowsEight Forums.

Please post here or fill out your system specs so as for us to better help you.

In the mean time, have you performed a virus scan recently? Made any changes to your system such as personalization, install a program, etc?
 

My Computer

System One

  • OS
    8.1 Pro X64
    Computer type
    PC/Desktop
    System Manufacturer/Model
    Acer T690
    CPU
    Intel Pentium D Dual Core
    Motherboard
    Acer/Intel E946GZ
    Memory
    2GB (max upgrade)
    Graphics Card(s)
    Intel Graphics Media Accelerator 3000 - PCI Express x16
    Sound Card
    Integrated RealTek ALC888 high-definition audio with 7.1 channel audio support
    Monitor(s) Displays
    Acer AL1917W A LCD
    Screen Resolution
    1440 X 900
    Hard Drives
    350 GB Seagate Barracuda 7200.10
    Thumb drives
    PSU
    Standard 250 watt
    Case
    Desktop 7.2" (183mm) W x 17.5" (445mm) L x 14.5"
    Cooling
    Dual case fans + CPU fan
    Keyboard
    Acer Windows PS/2
    Mouse
    Wireless Microsoft Arc
    Internet Speed
    54mbp/s
    Browser
    IE11
    Antivirus
    Defender
    Other Info
    Office Pro 2013 / Nokia Lumia 1520 Windows Phone 8.1DP GDR1
Model: HP ENVY 700 PC Series
Model No. 700-109c

Installed memory (RAM): 16.0 GB
System Type: 64-bit Operating System, x64-based processor
OS Version: Microsoft Windows 8.1, 64 bit
Processor: Intel(R) Core(TM) i7-4770 CPU @ 3.40GHz, Intel64 Family 6 Model 60 Stepping 3
Processor Count: 8
Graphics Card: Intel(R) HD Graphics 4600, 1024 Mb
Hard Drives: C: Total - 1886950 MB, Free - 1771729 MB; D: Total - 18910 MB, Free - 2316 MB; G: Total - 305242 MB, Free - 20 MB;
Motherboard: Hewlett-Packard, 2AF7
Antivirus: Norton Security, Updated and Enabled

I'm not very familiar with technology specs like these, so please forgive me if I either repeated or omitted any information.


I did perform a full scan using Norton, as well as a threat scan in Malwarebytes.

Well, I have followed the top answer here to try to stop the 100% disk usage, but it didn't fix the problem:
Windows 8 keeps slows down to 100% disk usage and hangs. - Microsoft Community

I have a screenshot a user over at Tech Support Guy asked for to see what Startup Programs I have:
Screenshot (1).png
I had disabled the startup of STRIKE 3 Profiler, Networx and Serious Bit Net Balance. I later disabled the Logitech Gaming Framework for there was no use for it, then re-enabled the three Startup programs I had disabled earlier. I uninstalled Networx, but it did not resolve the issue so I re-installed it.

Other than those, one thing I did before was disable automatic Windows Updates, but I later re-enabled it, and this was around the time the disk problem began. It's still enabled at the moment.

I did find multiple different solutions that fixed the problem in other forums, but I didn't want to try them all so that I wouldn't unnecessarily mess up something. If you want me to list what instructions those forums had, I can link them or paste the instructions. Otherwise, I think it's safer and less confusing to follow just one source's solution(s) instead of changing a bunch of settings/services at once.
 

My Computer

System One

  • OS
    Windows 8.1
Hey, I didn't post/update this thread because I thought the problem was gone. Unfortunately, yesterday I got another freeze. It didn't let me open task manager while it was happening, and there was no "End Process" window. I still don't want to look into other sources yet.
 

My Computer

System One

  • OS
    Windows 8.1
Have you tried---

Dism /Online /Cleanup-Image /RestoreHealth

&

sfc /scannow

in admin cmd prompts ?
 

My Computer

System One

  • OS
    Windows 8.1.1 Pro with Media Center
    Computer type
    PC/Desktop
    System Manufacturer/Model
    Gateway
    CPU
    AMD K140 Cores 2 Threads 2 Name AMD K140 Package Socket FT1 BGA Technology 40nm
    Motherboard
    Manufacturer Gateway Model SX2110G (P0)
    Memory
    Type DDR3 Size 8192 MBytes DRAM Frequency 532.3 MHz
    Graphics Card(s)
    ATI AMD Radeon HD 7310 Graphics
    Sound Card
    AMD High Definition Audio Device Realtek High Definition Audio USB Audio Device
    Monitor(s) Displays
    Name 1950W on AMD Radeon HD 7310 Graphics Current Resolution 1366x768 pixels Work Resolution 1366x76
    Screen Resolution
    Current Resolution 1366x768 pixels Work Resolution 1366x768 pixels
    Hard Drives
    AMD K140
    Cores 2
    Threads 2
    Name AMD K140
    Package Socket FT1 BGA
    Technology 40nm
    Specification AMD E1-1200 APU with Radeon HD Graphics
    Family F
    Extended Family 14
    Model 2
    Extended Model 2
    Stepping 0
    Revision ON-C0
    Instruction
    Browser
    Opera 24.0
    Antivirus
    Avast Internet Security
If I recall correctly, I've tried those in Admin Command Prompt before and the problem didn't go away. I'll try them again, though.

UPDATE: Another freeze happened while I was doing the first command in the cmd prompt. This time I tried to use CTRL-ALT-DELETE to then open task manager, but instead the computer stopped responding until the screen went black. Some time after the screen went black the computer unfroze and I got a message saying that Windows could not display the CTRL-ALT-DELETE options, and if the computer does not respond I should try pressing ESC or restarting with the power button.

I was unable to complete the cmd prompt command because the freeze was followed by a couple of other freezes, one of which I turned the computer off and back on again. After starting up, it displayed "Getting Windows Ready Don't Turn off the Computer". It didn't end up downloading any Windows updates after that, which is usually what I see that loading message for.

After logging into my user, the desktop background was all black (and this means the start menu background was black as well because I personalized it to be transparent). I ended up changing to a different desktop background theme to make the black background go away.
 
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My Computer

System One

  • OS
    Windows 8.1
I had the same thing happen to me. end result? my hard drive died. go to the manufacturer website and download some test software to test your drive. hopefully the software is able to fix the drive. to be save, back up your data.

Sven
 

My Computer

System One

  • OS
    Windows 10 Pro
    Computer type
    PC/Desktop
    System Manufacturer/Model
    white box
    CPU
    AMD fx 6100 6 core
    Motherboard
    gigabyte ga-78lmy-s2p am3+ amd 760g matx
    Memory
    16 gb crucial ballistix sport 13339 pc3-106000
    Graphics Card(s)
    on MB
    Sound Card
    on MB
    Monitor(s) Displays
    ACER p215h
    Screen Resolution
    1920x1080
    Hard Drives
    Crucial SSD 240 GB
    Case
    mini tower
    Keyboard
    Polaroid wireless
    Mouse
    MTG laser
    Browser
    IE 11
    Antivirus
    MSE
Hey Sven, sorry for asking a probably obvious question but how do I find the manufacturer of my hard drive?

EDIT: I found a total of 5 hard disk drives when checking if they were optimized:
Screenshot (2).png

The one that starts with "\\?\Volume{da222..." seems odd. It needs optimization but when I click the Optimize button, it acts like it's processing (with the button turning into the option to stop the optimization), then immediately stops without me doing anything. It then goes back to the Optimize button. Same with Analyze. I also don't know what the (2% fragmented), (23% fragmented) and (0% fragmented) statuses mean.

The screenshot above also includes the part of Task Manager that lists the Service Host processes I'm curious about.
 

My Computer

System One

  • OS
    Windows 8.1
UPDATE: I have edited in some suspicious activity from Service Host, more info in the original post. This could just be a regular thing that I'm not aware of, but I'm curious what it means.
 

My Computer

System One

  • OS
    Windows 8.1
I've got to get my rest for the night, until tomorrow. I think I found some suspicious things happening on the computer, which include the oddly named hard disk drive and the network-related Service Host processes. I hope the screenshot will help.
I'll leave the Dism /Online /Cleanup-Image /RestoreHealth command up in Administrator Command Prompt (it's currently waiting at 20.0%).
 

My Computer

System One

  • OS
    Windows 8.1
Before I leave for the night, I searched up "Service Host Local System (network restricted)" and found one user suggest to stop the service Superfetch. What does this service do and should I disable it?

Also, my command prompt command finished. It returned:
"The restore operation completed successfully. The component store corruption was repaired. The operation completed successfully.

EDIT: I finished the second command. It returned:
Verification 100% complete. Windows Resource Protection did not find any integrity violations.
 

My Computer

System One

  • OS
    Windows 8.1
open windows explorer, then right click on the drive and select properties. after you click on hardware, it shows who the manufacturer is.

Service host can be a problem, I had to disable windows update to get my laptop back. I just turn it on when I think it need updating.

Sven
 

My Computer

System One

  • OS
    Windows 10 Pro
    Computer type
    PC/Desktop
    System Manufacturer/Model
    white box
    CPU
    AMD fx 6100 6 core
    Motherboard
    gigabyte ga-78lmy-s2p am3+ amd 760g matx
    Memory
    16 gb crucial ballistix sport 13339 pc3-106000
    Graphics Card(s)
    on MB
    Sound Card
    on MB
    Monitor(s) Displays
    ACER p215h
    Screen Resolution
    1920x1080
    Hard Drives
    Crucial SSD 240 GB
    Case
    mini tower
    Keyboard
    Polaroid wireless
    Mouse
    MTG laser
    Browser
    IE 11
    Antivirus
    MSE
You likely have one or maybe two physical disks, the rest are partitions. Check Disk drive in Device manager for makes and model/s of HDDs.
 

My Computer

System One

  • OS
    Windows 8.1 Pro
    Computer type
    PC/Desktop
    System Manufacturer/Model
    Home made
    CPU
    AMD Ryzen7 2700x
    Motherboard
    Asus Prime x470 Pro
    Memory
    16GB Kingston 3600
    Graphics Card(s)
    Asus strix 570 OC 4gb
    Hard Drives
    Samsung 960 evo 250GB
    Silicon Power V70 240GB SSD
    WD 1 TB Blue
    WD 2 TB Blue
    Bunch of backup HDDs.
    PSU
    Sharkoon, Silent Storm 660W
    Case
    Raidmax
    Cooling
    CCM Nepton 140xl
    Internet Speed
    40/2 Mbps
    Browser
    Firefox
    Antivirus
    WD
Alright:
1. The only drive that showed up in Device Manager's Disk Drives was ST2000DM001-1CH164, made by "(Standard disk drives)". I couldn't find a website when I searched it up.

2. Windows Update might be a problem, as I wrote in a previous post:
Other than those, one thing I did before was disable automatic Windows Updates, but I later re-enabled it, and this was around the time the disk problem began. It's still enabled at the moment.
Should I make them manual again?
 

My Computer

System One

  • OS
    Windows 8.1
UPDATE: I got another freeze, and this time the screen went gray. Because there was no visual indication whether the computer was frozen or not, I decided to turn it off and on again using the power button. Shortly after starting up and logging in, I got 2 small, concurrent (sort of) freezes.

I decided to set Windows Update to "Download updates but let me choose whether to install them". Should I set it to Check for Updates but let me choose whether to download and install them" or "Never Check for Updates" instead?

EDIT: Something called "Box Background Host" or something similar to that name was one of the top users of disk, what is it and what is it for?
 

My Computer

System One

  • OS
    Windows 8.1

My Computer

System One

  • OS
    Windows 8.1 Pro
    Computer type
    PC/Desktop
    System Manufacturer/Model
    Home made
    CPU
    AMD Ryzen7 2700x
    Motherboard
    Asus Prime x470 Pro
    Memory
    16GB Kingston 3600
    Graphics Card(s)
    Asus strix 570 OC 4gb
    Hard Drives
    Samsung 960 evo 250GB
    Silicon Power V70 240GB SSD
    WD 1 TB Blue
    WD 2 TB Blue
    Bunch of backup HDDs.
    PSU
    Sharkoon, Silent Storm 660W
    Case
    Raidmax
    Cooling
    CCM Nepton 140xl
    Internet Speed
    40/2 Mbps
    Browser
    Firefox
    Antivirus
    WD
Hey CountMike, sorry for the late response (I could've sworn I made a reply, it was only until I got another freeze that I came back to this thread).
Apologies for asking this, but what do you mean by "Second choice for updates"? I can't find anything that I'm sure is related to what you're talking about. There's HDD UserBenchmark and Hard Drive User Rankings, are any of those what you mean? I also found a comment with the website www.seagate.com, should I go there?
 

My Computer

System One

  • OS
    Windows 8.1

My Computer

System One

  • OS
    Windows 8.1 Pro
    Computer type
    PC/Desktop
    System Manufacturer/Model
    Home made
    CPU
    AMD Ryzen7 2700x
    Motherboard
    Asus Prime x470 Pro
    Memory
    16GB Kingston 3600
    Graphics Card(s)
    Asus strix 570 OC 4gb
    Hard Drives
    Samsung 960 evo 250GB
    Silicon Power V70 240GB SSD
    WD 1 TB Blue
    WD 2 TB Blue
    Bunch of backup HDDs.
    PSU
    Sharkoon, Silent Storm 660W
    Case
    Raidmax
    Cooling
    CCM Nepton 140xl
    Internet Speed
    40/2 Mbps
    Browser
    Firefox
    Antivirus
    WD
Ok, thanks. I've set my Windows Update to the option you recommended. I'm not sure where to check if that's the correct drive that I have, but I did find some info on its store page:
[h=5]Drives[/h][h=6]Optical drive[/h]
  • SuperMulti DVD burner

[h=6]External drive bays[/h]
  • One 5.25" occupied

[h=6]Internal drive bays[/h]
  • One 3.5" occupied
    One 2.5" available

[h=6]Hard drive description[/h]
  • 1 TB 7200 rpm SATA
 

My Computer

System One

  • OS
    Windows 8.1
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