Help Troubleshooting - Random Freezing

[steelle]

Hey all. I've had my build for around 4 years now and I've had zero problems with it, until recently after a move it started freezing. I've reset BIOS, tested CPU(prime95+IBT) and Memory (memtest) with no problems, and SMART passed on all the hard drives with 0 bad sectors/problems (I think, reading that **** is sort of confusing). I've kept an eye on temps and nothing is outstanding - I know sometimes after moves CPU pins can be bent, and the heatstink seal can be ****ed up, but again stress testing passed completely fine and temps are completely fine.

I'm pretty sure its hardware related, but I can't for the life of me figure out what the problem is. It freezes (not black/blue screens) randomly, sometimes it's every 15 minutes, sometimes it's fine for 5 hours. Sometimes it's in the middle of a game, sometimes it's just browsing soundcloud.

The only thing I might have noticed is that it seems to happen more often when multitasking - when alt tabbing between **** or when switching between monitors (ie playing CSGO and I tab over to soundcloud to switch music). But it's not reproducible and it doesn't happen every time, it's kinda something I noted over the week - it could be completely irrelevant.

Any ideas? It's driving me up the ****ing wall...


EDIT: Solved, reinstalled windows and the freezing stopped. Thanks guys.

 

[ASUS ROG]

Have you try ti re install OS yet, could be a bug that cause problem.

 

[steelle]

Have you try ti re install OS yet, could be a bug that cause problem.

Nope, I've been thinking hardware because it only started happening after the move. I haven't changed anything else... I'll consider doing this if I can't find anything else.

 

[ASUS ROG]

re install Window only take an lour or less because you have an ssd, even when nothing happen, i still like to reinstall OS one a year to keep everything clean.

 

[Dlaw]

It could possibly be that the power in your new place is less "clean" than in your old one. A way to test this (albeit an expensive one), is to get a UPS. Specifically, an APC UPS, as I know that they have software that can report the conditions of the power coming in, as well as give you statistics on how many times it has to intervene to keep the outgoing power "clean". I don't know that other brands do this, but they may. An aging system can get finicky about it's power.

There may be better/less expensive ways to test the power going into your system, so don't go and buy a UPS right now (unless you want to, they are a great thing to have). Someone else may have a better idea.

Another thing I would do (on top of reinstalling Windows, which is always good to do once in a while), is re-seat all of your components and connections (PSU cables, CPU and heatsink, memory, GPU, SATA cables, etc.), and give everything a thorough cleaning. Sometimes these connections get corroded, and cause all kinds of weird issues.

 

[ASUS ROG]

....Another thing I would do (on top of reinstalling Windows, which is always good to do once in a while), is re-seat all of your components and connections (PSU cables, CPU and heatsink, memory, GPU, SATA cables, etc.), and give everything a thorough cleaning. Sometimes these connections get corroded, and cause all kinds of weird issues.

i would do that too

 

[EarthDog]

PSUs handle most dirty power. I surely wouldn't be buying a UPS at this stage of troubleshooting...

Anyway, I would reseat the hardware though for sure...not really for corrosion, but because you moved and something could have come loose.

 

[steelle]

Reseated, replugged and cleaned everything, still kept freezing on me. Finally caved in and reinstalled Windows and I've been problem free for a couple days now. AsusRog right from the start

Thanks all for the help and suggestions.

 

[Dlaw]

Some times it just needs to be done.

 

[EarthDog]

Some times it just needs to be done.

Indeed, but it is never the first step. Always do the likely quick and easy stuff before resorting to a reinstall.

Glad it is fixed!

 

[Dlaw]

Indeed, but it is never the first step. Always do the likely quick and easy stuff before resorting to a reinstall.

Glad it is fixed!

Depends on if it's a complete nuke/rebuild or if your working with an image. Not much is quicker or easier than a secure erase and image copy, especially for an SSD. Plus, then you know for sure if it's hardware or not.

I personally like to do a fresh install about once every 6 months, as I'm notorious for downloading things to try, installing them, and uninstalling them because I didn't like/need/want it for whatever reason. That type of behavior wreaks havoc on an OS like Windows. If you don't install things all willy-nilly like me, you could get away with much longer.

 

[EarthDog]

If it takes one longer to reseat components than it does to wipe and image, it's a motor skills issue.

Being more serious, not a lot of people actually have images so often it's a start from scratch type thing that people may not want to do. Hence why just say to go through non destructive steps before you obliterate or image your os.