Question Windows 10 partially freezes on desktop

[Okaghana]

Hey guys.

So I have a somewhat strange problem, that I could not find a solution for:
When I'm working on my PC, the screen sometimes freezes for a few seconds, maybe up to 20, and after that resumes normally. This happens about every hour. Now here is the peculiar part: It only freezes, when I'm working, and not when I'm playing. So when I have a game open, it runs fluently without freezes. But when I'm writing something, watching a YouTube video or browsing the Internet the freezes appear. But even more strange is: I can freely move my mouse around, press buttons (and I get the visual Feedback when hovering the button) and sometimes animations or videos continue normally. Sometimes the windows can be minimized, but most of the time, all the action (closing windows, opening new tabs, make the video fullscreen) that I queued up during the freeze are executed as soon as the freeze ends. Most windows enter a "not responding" state when I try to click/move/minimize them during a freeze, but return to a normal state when its over.

I'm really confused by this and don't have a clue what or where the problem could be.

~Okaghana

 

[onespeedbiker]

Advise specs.. I would first try a clean install of of your video drivers https://forums.tomshardware.com/faq...n-install-of-your-video-card-drivers.2402269/ Could also be a failing power supply.

 

[Kelly_sprint]

You have not tried to look in the task manager, maybe some programs overload the system?

 

[Okaghana]

Hey there.
Sorry for the long response time, but the freezing occurs not often and I really wanted to test the fixes.

Advise specs.. I would first try a clean install of of your video drivers https://forums.tomshardware.com/faq...n-install-of-your-video-card-drivers.2402269/ Could also be a failing power supply.

Now I can say, that the complete reinstallation of the display drivers didn't change anything. How can I check whether it's a problem with the power supply? Although I think that a problem there is unlikely, because I didn't change my equipment recently. The only thing I did was upgrading from Windows 7 to Windows 10. The freezes started maybe 1-1.5 weeks after that.

You have not tried to look in the task manager, maybe some programs overload the system?

Also I can't detect any spikes in the task manager.

Here is also the speclist:
- AMD Ryzen 5 1600X
- MSI B450 Gaming
- MSI Geforce NVidia 750ti
- Samsung CT240B SSD
- WD Blue 1TB HDD

 

[onespeedbiker]

Also advise PSU make and model.

A PSU failure is not the result of changing equipment, it simply fails through use. The only way to test a PSU is to take it to a Computer shop or replace the PSU to see if it solves the problem.

Saying that, when was the last time you cleaned out your PC case? Dust accumulation at the PSU intake and CPU heatsink can cause overheating, which can cause a PSU failure along with the CPU over heating causing screen freezes and unexpected shutdowns.

 

[Okaghana]

Also advise PSU make and model.

A PSU failure is not the result of changing equipment, it simply fails through use. The only way to test a PSU is to take it to a Computer shop or replace the PSU to see if it solves the problem.

Saying that, when was the last time you cleaned out your PC case? Dust accumulation at the PSU intake and CPU heatsink can cause overheating, which can cause a PSU failure along with the CPU over heating causing screen freezes and unexpected shutdowns.

My PSU is an unbranded PSU that came with my old casing. Considering that the whole casing, including the power supply, was only around 40€, it wouldn't be surprising if it would have gone bad after 6 years of use. I am currently organising an alternative PSU from a friend and will test it again with that.
I cleaned my PC not that long ago, but maybe I will give it a dedusting in the next days.

 

[Okaghana]

Also advise PSU make and model.

A PSU failure is not the result of changing equipment, it simply fails through use. The only way to test a PSU is to take it to a Computer shop or replace the PSU to see if it solves the problem.

Saying that, when was the last time you cleaned out your PC case? Dust accumulation at the PSU intake and CPU heatsink can cause overheating, which can cause a PSU failure along with the CPU over heating causing screen freezes and unexpected shutdowns.

So I now changed my PSU and tested it for some time. The freezes definitely decreased, but my system is still not running smoothly and still suffers from freezes from time to time. But these are much more complete freezes that he partial ones I had before. Any idea what I could do against that?

~Okaghana