I’m playing “Stump the Dummy” with Windows 7!

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For the past 12 years or so I’ve been occasionally building my own OEM computers. I’ve built, so far approx. 10 of them. This time I’m stumped.

I built this computer about 5 years ago, and used it as my primary home desktop running Windows XP Pro, without any hitch for 5 years. When I built it, I anticipated that I would eventually load Windows 7, preferably 64 on it, and bring it to my office and use it as my office workstation (the trickle down computer theory). Anyway here is the confiiguration of the computer:

1) Antec Sonata case with a 500 watt Antec power supply;
2) An MSI K8N Neo 4 Platinum Motherboard
3) An AMD Athlon 3800 64 dual core CPU;
4) 4 Gigs of PC3200 RAM;
5) An Nvidia 9800 GT PCI-E video card;
6) Realtek onboard sound.

Here’s the story:

I purchased a Windows 7 Home family pack. I installed Windows 7 home 64 on my new computer without any problems. I then installed Windows 7 64 on this old computer. It installed without any problems. Device Manager only showed that I needed to install a new Nvidia video card driver and the Realtek AC97 driver. I did so through the windows update utility in Control Panel. The drivers installed fine.

I then went to download and install the windows critical updates, and the computer just kept freezing up, no BSOD, no nothing, I tried uninstalling the updates and downloading and installing them one at a time, and the computer kept freezing. I ran chkdsk, and sfcscannow, which didn’t help.

I thought maybe there is a temperature issue, even though I was not stressing the system, and it was a clean install, so I installed speedfan, and all the temps are fine.

I then thought that perhaps I should uninstall Windows 7 64 and try the 32 bit edition. I initially had better luck, and I wa able to install windows, all th critical updates, IE 9, and Microsoft Security Essentials, but when I attempted to download and install Wndows 7 SP1 it wouldn’t complete the install, and now the computer is again repeatedly freezing up.

I swapped video cards, changing from the Nvidia 9800 gt to an AMD 5770, and it is still freezing.

I have not activated Windows 7 on this machinf yet, and I am simply stumped.

I am about to reinstall Windows XP and dual boot to Linux. Hopefully the members of this forum, much smarter than me can help.

Thanks!!!

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Check for a BIOS update for the ‘board. If there is one, load it then try reinstalling W7.

Don’t update any drivers via Windows/Microsoft Update unless they’re impossible to find anywhere else; the MS versions will be outdated and lacking in features (though there may be rare occasions when they’re more stable).

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Thank you for replying. The BIOS is updated, and I forgot to post that I did, separately download new video drivers from Nvidia, and when I changed to the AMD car, from AMD, still no change. Also, since the motherboard is an MSI board, and the videocards also happen to be MSI cards, I downloaded and ran the MSI Live update utility, and the bios and drivers were fine.

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I then thought that perhaps I should uninstall Windows 7 64 and try the 32 bit edition. I initially had better luck,

I swapped video cards, changing from the Nvidia 9800 gt to an AMD 5770, and it is still freezing.

Hopefully the members of this forum, much smarter than me can help.

JeffL,
Hello and welcome to the lounge …Unfortunately …as far as “smarter members” ..I’m not one of them.. But would like to try to offer what i can. I have had “freeze up problems with “7” (64 and 32) as well …i think that is related to the “Video card” and “Nvidia” If you do a search for Nvidia and the freeze up issue + your card …you will probably encounter some . I have a GT 240 and have tried all manner of “Nvidia” updates and still have a problem once in a while ..Also i get a Nvidia driver has stopped working error message …most times it “recovers” on it’s own.If i use the “native” VGA drivers (no Nvidia) the problem goes away … unfortunately i don’t get the screen resolution that i need though and no “HDMI”. So bottom line for me is i have to keep trying things to find what is up with my Video Nvida mix.:cheers: Regards Fred

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Thanks Fred! But it is still happening with the AMD videocard as well. Any thoughts as to the same issue with AMD cards?

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. Any thoughts as to the same issue with AMD cards?

JeffL,
Hello… This is just one of my “WAG’s” But it’s worth a “shot” Go to Nvidia Control Panel and select “Manage 3D Settings” … Select

1. Global Settings ..scroll down to “Power Management Mode” and click on it and choose from the drop down “prefer maximum performance”.

2. Select Program Settings …choose each one that’s listed (select a program to customize) and then scroll down to power management mode …and choose “prefer maximum performance” for each one.:cheers: Regards Fred

PS: haven’t had this “workaround ” up that long ..so can’t say if it will work. I also have had some success reverting back to and old Nvidia Driver 191.07..

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Maybe I am wrong, but don’t you need a quad core CPU to run a 64 bit OS? I am not real familiar with AMD CPUs’ anymore. Perhaps the 64 means the size of some of the onboard cache.

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Try the Microsoft driver for your video card. Sometimes the MS driver will work fine when the “latest and greatest!” from the manufacturer won’t.

Always create a fresh drive image before making system changes/Windows updates; you may need to start over!

We all have our own reasons for doing the things that we do with our systems; we don't need anyone's approval, and we don't all have to do the same things.

We were all once "Average Users".

Computer Specs

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Have you tried downloading and installing the latest chipset device drivers for your motherboard? I had some issues on an Intel motherboard that was four years old that cleared up after a BIOS update AND installing the latest chipset device drivers.

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I’ve tried all those things, and still no luck. I’m going to try to swap the video card again.. Thanks for the assistance, one way or the other I’ll report back tomorrow evening.

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I’ve tried all those things, and still no luck. I’m going to try to swap the video card again.. Thanks for the assistance, one way or the other I’ll report back tomorrow evening.

JeffL,
Hello… I am happy to report that the “Manage 3D Settings ” trick (setting all at Maximum Performance) has stopped the Random Freeze ups… The only time that i had any problem …was after “Waking the PC after Sleep Mode” if i was too fast with the mouse clicking… But once recovered ..it seems OK :cheers: Regards Fred

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Have you checked the Event Viewer > Windows Logs > System and Applications Logs for any critical errors occurring at the times of system freeze?

Also, what about other hardware issues, such as a possible bad stick of RAM? Try booting to a Memtest+ CD overnight for a thorough memory test. What is the health of your hard drive if it is five years old; what does SMART report?

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