Windows 10 Random Hard Freezes

[FreeerunFlame]

My PC has been experiencing regular hard freezes every few days and works fine after a hard reboot and chkdsk.
When it freezes, the screen stops at the last frame, nothing works at all the keyboard and mouse become unresponsive and leaving it there for a few hours doesn't change anything, the only way is hard reboot.

In the event viewer these messages will always appear after reboot.(the freeze occured around 12:30 or abit earlier):
Warning 4/5/2016 12:29:49 PM TaskScheduler 414 Task Misconfiguration
Warning 4/5/2016 12:29:37 PM e1dexpress 27 None
Warning 4/5/2016 12:29:31 PM Kernel-PnP 219 (212)
1.Error 4/5/2016 12:29:37 PM Eventlog 1101 Event processing
2.Critical 4/5/2016 12:29:29 PM Kernel-Power 41 (63)
3.Error 4/5/2016 12:29:36 PM EventLog 6008 None
the details for the last 3 events are below.

Its weird that the last event at 12:29:36PM says "The previous system shutdown at 11:54:03 AM on ?4/?5/?2016 was unexpected." when no shutdown had occurred, I've been using the PC since 10 AM until the freeze around 12:30 PM. Why is this happening??
Thanks in advance

1.Log Name: Security
Source: Microsoft-Windows-Eventlog
Date: 4/5/2016 12:29:37 PM
Event ID: 1101
Task Category: Event processing
Level: Error
Keywords: Audit Success
User: N/A
Computer: DESKTOP
Description:
Audit events have been dropped by the transport. 0
Event Xml:
<Event xmlns="http://schemas.microsoft.com/win/2004/08/events/event">
<System>
<Provider Name="Microsoft-Windows-Eventlog" Guid="{fc65ddd8-d6ef-4962-83d5-6e5cfe9ce148}" />
<EventID>1101</EventID>
<Version>0</Version>
<Level>2</Level>
<Task>101</Task>
<Opcode>0</Opcode>
<Keywords>0x4020000000000000</Keywords>
<TimeCreated SystemTime="2016-05-04T04:29:37.211855000Z" />
<EventRecordID>6914</EventRecordID>
<Correlation />
<Execution ProcessID="1324" ThreadID="1424" />
<Channel>Security</Channel>
<Computer>DESKTOP</Computer>
<Security />
</System>
<UserData>
<AuditEventsDropped xmlns="http://manifests.microsoft.com/win/2004/08/windows/eventlog">
<Reason>0</Reason>
</AuditEventsDropped>
</UserData>
</Event>

2.Log Name: System
Source: Microsoft-Windows-Kernel-Power
Date: 4/5/2016 12:29:29 PM
Event ID: 41
Task Category: (63)
Level: Critical
Keywords: (70368744177664),(2)
User: SYSTEM
Computer: DESKTOP
Description:
The system has rebooted without cleanly shutting down first. This error could be caused if the system stopped responding, crashed, or lost power unexpectedly.
Event Xml:
<Event xmlns="http://schemas.microsoft.com/win/2004/08/events/event">
<System>
<Provider Name="Microsoft-Windows-Kernel-Power" Guid="{331C3B3A-2005-44C2-AC5E-77220C37D6B4}" />
<EventID>41</EventID>
<Version>3</Version>
<Level>1</Level>
<Task>63</Task>
<Opcode>0</Opcode>
<Keywords>0x8000400000000002</Keywords>
<TimeCreated SystemTime="2016-05-04T04:29:29.821130700Z" />
<EventRecordID>3346</EventRecordID>
<Correlation />
<Execution ProcessID="4" ThreadID="8" />
<Channel>System</Channel>
<Computer>DESKTOP</Computer>
<Security UserID="S-1-5-18" />
</System>
<EventData>
<Data Name="BugcheckCode">0</Data>
<Data Name="BugcheckParameter1">0x0</Data>
<Data Name="BugcheckParameter2">0x0</Data>
<Data Name="BugcheckParameter3">0x0</Data>
<Data Name="BugcheckParameter4">0x0</Data>
<Data Name="SleepInProgress">0</Data>
<Data Name="PowerButtonTimestamp">0</Data>
<Data Name="BootAppStatus">0</Data>
</EventData>
</Event>

3. Log Name: System
Source: EventLog
Date: 4/5/2016 12:29:36 PM
Event ID: 6008
Task Category: None
Level: Error
Keywords: Classic
User: N/A
Computer: DESKTOP
Description:
The previous system shutdown at 11:54:03 AM on ?4/?5/?2016 was unexpected.
Event Xml:
<Event xmlns="http://schemas.microsoft.com/win/2004/08/events/event">
<System>
<Provider Name="EventLog" />
<EventID Qualifiers="32768">6008</EventID>
<Level>2</Level>
<Task>0</Task>
<Keywords>0x80000000000000</Keywords>
<TimeCreated SystemTime="2016-05-04T04:29:36.821196200Z" />
<EventRecordID>3330</EventRecordID>
<Channel>System</Channel>
<Computer>DESKTOP</Computer>
<Security />
</System>
<EventData>
<Data>11:54:03 AM</Data>
<Data>?4/?5/?2016</Data>
<Data>
</Data>
<Data>
</Data>
<Data>7214</Data>
<Data>
</Data>
<Data>
</Data>
<Binary>E0070500030004000B00360003009600E0070500030004000300360003009600600900003C000000010000006009000001000000B00400000100000000000000</Binary>
</EventData>
</Event>

 

[wpgwpg]

Several things to check. First go to Device Manager and see if any of the entries have ! or ? next to them. If so, you need the correct driver from your manufacturer. Next check temperatures. Download something like SpeedFan and see. Next download MalwareBytes, get it up to date, and do a scan with it.

Good luck.

 

[FreeerunFlame]

I've checked device manager and the driver entries all seem to be in order, the temperatures are rather stable as well. Found nothing using MalwareBytes.

Tried a clean install after wiping the hard drive and it froze again upon the first boot up after the reinstall. And further resets solved nothing. It has begun to freeze every time I switch on the computer no matter what I'm doing. It froze at windows boot logo several times and more frequently in Windows itself.

I can't tell whether its a hardware or software issue. I've had this freezing issue for about half a year now and on Windows 7 & 8 as well the screen would just freeze at the last frame, unresponsive mouse and keyboard while the other components continue to stay powered on with qcode AO displayed in the motherboard (Asus Maximus VII Ranger). I'm exhausted trying to resolve the issue for months, should I replace the motherboard / PSU?

 

[junkeymonkey]

seems poplar ? look at the amount of reads these type threads get ??

http://www.tomshardware.com/forum/all.html?refine=windows+10+Freeze

http://www.tomshardware.com/forum/all.html?refine=windows+++10+Freezing

then I guess if you got a skylake you see the reads on it [ 13,481 reads ]

http://www.tomshardware.com/forum/id-2830772/skylake-build-randomly-freezing-crashing.html

 

[FreeerunFlame]

Wow! didn't know this issue is so pervasive in the windows community. I first experienced this issue back in September last year on Windows 7, upgrading to Windows 10 only fixed it for a few days before the freezes creeped back. I'm using a Haswell Cpu (i7-4770) but since so many people face this problem could it be a windows issue?

I've tried changing power options, disabling c6/7 states, removing ram, clearing cmos, switching hard disk, reinstalling and changing OS as well, nothing seems to be able to stop the freezing.

 

[junkeymonkey]

well lots go with 10 and find out it was a mistake and go back to there older working stable OS's like 7 some then find Microsoft don't make that so easy once they got you got trapped into 10 ..

though it may not be your issue but thought I would point them things out to start to look at anyway

you could try this Linux dvd and see how well it does on that to see if its a software /OS issue or a hardware issue ?/

[example]

You can download the Linux Mint operating system for free. It comes as an ISO file
which you need to burn to a blank DVD. The liveDVD is then bootable and provides a
fully-functional operating system which you can try without affecting your PC. In
layman's terms, when you put Linux Mint on a DVD and place it into your computer, you
can try it out while leaving your current system intact.

seems like if it boots up and looks to work fine maybe then look harder at the hard drive or the os/programs on it ??


I like to keep a bootable dvd Linux in case I need to test issues in some way
good luck

 

[Colif]

event 41 & 6008 follow each other a lot, they both relate to shutdowns. Event 41 is a result of a report win 10 runs at start up to see if it was correctly shut down, and if its not, it creates event 41

event 1101: According to Microsoft this log is caused by excessive logging and can be remedied by disabling some auditing.

I would update drivers and bios, but freezes and shutdowns without BSOD isn't normally what Windows does. It screams at you with blue screens

If this is an upgrade, I would fresh install win 10. Upgrading to fix errors just brings them along for the ride, it doesn't normally fox them. You also need to work out if it is a hardware or software error.

 

[FreeerunFlame]

I've stress tested the CPU, GPU and ran test on the memory and hard disk, they all worked fine so it could be a PSU issue but I don't know a way to test it.
It could have been the RAM mixing (2x 4GB Corsair Vengeance & 1x4GB Gskill Nt) but the freezes occur even when the Gskill memory is removed

A reflashing of bios seems to fix the freezes but the freezes eventually returns the after a day or so.
I've never seen any bsod or error messages for the freezes though.

 

[Colif]

Can you make the freezes happen or are they random?

One way to check PSU (as opposed to test it) is to run HWINFO and at start click sensors only. scroll down through the long list until you read the motherboard and under the temperatures you will find the voltages. The main ones are +12v, +5v & +3.3v. This shows the amount of variation allowed and preferred on each line: http://www.overclock.net/t/722251/on-psu-voltages

I guess stress test system and see what the worse values you can get are.

 

[FreeerunFlame]

I can't really make the freeze happen, they happen randomly. Many times while I'm browsing on chrome,on YouTube, other times just idle on desktop and also at windows boot logo where the loading animation just freezes.

There's no noticeable trigger for the freezes and at times no freezes at all for a day. But once a freeze occurs, subsequent boot ups after reset are more likely to freeze and occurs more quickly after boot.

I'll stress test the PSU voltage for now to determine if power anomalies are freezing the system and update this post after the tests are done.

 

[junkeymonkey]

look up or google like chrome is a resource hog and be sure that or a program is not hogging up memory or cpu

[example]

http://lifehacker.com/why-chrome-uses-so-much-freaking-ram-1702537477

http://www.techverse.net/how-to-troubleshoot-google-chromes-high-cpu-memory-usage/

https://www.reddit.com/r/chrome/comments/1z7buk/chrome_is_a_memory_hog/

it maybe taking memory and not releasing it back for other programs to use and them your issues occur cause something like chrome is hogged it all up and the programs that need some cant get any??

but then win-10 theres no telling

 

[Colif]

i need to figure out what the common causes are: http://www.computerhope.com/issues/ch000690.htm and create a checklist to diagnose the problems.

 

[FreeerunFlame]

Well, the freezes do occur even when Google Chrome is not in use but the memory usage mostly stays below 20%.

During the freezes the numlock led doesn't change at all when pressing the key.
I've also noticed that on rare occasions the wireless stops functioning after reseting following a freeze. I use an Asus USB WiFi adapter,no network card. However, right clicking on wireless on the toolbar and using the troubleshoot function will fix the issue. The troubleshooter identifies something about a Broken cable to the router.

I've read that WiFi adapters have caused the freezing for some but my system freezes even after I unplug the adapter.

 

[Colif]

do you know what model? you can go here and find it https://www.asus.com/au/Networking/Wireless-Adapters-Products/

then click it, select support/drivers/choose Windows version and see if its got a new win 10 driver. If there is no win 10 version, that could be the problem.

driver could be causing freeze, its there whether you have adapter plugged in or not.

 

[FreeerunFlame]

It's an Asus USB-N14 Wireless-N300 USB Adapter, there's a Win 10 64-bit driver available.
But windows 10 automatically installs the driver during the windows installation & the device hardly ever malfunctions.

 

[Colif]

The drivers windows installs aren't always the latest, it just grabs what it has but often they are old. Check what they have is same as what you have.

It grabbed a stack for my pc in Feb when I fresh installed win 10. some of them were almost a year old. I recently update 13 of them and it sped my ssd boot time from 50 seconds to 24.

 

[FreeerunFlame]

Regarding the driver of the USB WiFi adapter, I've downloaded & installed the latest executable file from the website, but I've experienced random disconnections and reconnections of the WiFi adapter and the mouse.
The freezes still happens and the WiFi icon will have a cross, saying no connections are available after rebooting from the first freeze.
I'm tguessing that the adapter maybe faulty?

The voltages for the PSU are within the acceptable range but I've noticed that cold boot of the PC usually doesn' work. The motherboard won't beep and CPU led will be lit, displaying a qcode and no post to the monitor.
Displayed Asus qcode is not always the same, I've seen "07", "09","96", "56", "23" and more that I can't remember.
PC stays running until a hard reset most times, and sometimes it shuts itself off.
The subsequent boots are normal apart from the freezes in Windows. I'm thinking this maybe be a possible cause for the freezes but I'm not sure.

 

[FreeerunFlame]

I've also noticed that it froze at the logo where you press F2 to go to bios with a qcode "9C". Does this mean it's definitely a hardware issue since it freezes even before it enters windows? Will a faulty CMOS battery on the motherboard cause such an issue?

 

[Colif]

Asus qcode 9c is USB detect at boot.
If you have a EVGA motherboard it is a power problem, but you mentioned Asus before

 

[Colif]

07 = AP Initialization after microcode loading
09 = PCH Initialisation after microcode loading
96 = PCI Bus Assign resources
56 = Invalid CPU type or Speed
23 = I don't know as its not listed here

https://www.asus.com/au/support/FAQ/1002017/

I also don't know what half of that all means. I understand software but hardware I get a little fuzzy

 

[FreeerunFlame]

07 = AP Initialization after microcode loading
07 = AP Initialization after microcode loading
09 = PCH Initialisation after microcode loading
96 = PCI Bus Assign resources
56 = Invalid CPU type or Speed
23 = I don't know as its not listed here

https://www.asus.com/au/support/FAQ/1002017/

I also don't know what half of that all means. I understand software but hardware I get a little fuzzy

Yeah I don't get it either, from what I read it seems related to power issues. I'm gonna ask Corsair about the PSU.
The CPU led is supposed to flash in an error is detected with the CPU until the error is resolved according the the mobo manual. Its unlikely that my CPU would be faulty so quickly its quite new.

The freezing issues might be due to the WiFi adapter but the driver provided doesn't seem to work properly, I'm experiencing intermittent disconnections from the network.
Could the windows be automatically overriding the manually installed driver with the driver they find on the windows database or sth?

 

[FreeerunFlame]

System just froze twice while watching Youtube again, sound cut off suddenly (no buzzing) and screen froze. A third time typing this message. the usual unresponsive keyboard led.
reset cmos on second freeze and on 2nd boot up mouse and wifi adapter momentarily disconnected and reconnected.

Hardware probably fine since I have been using the computer without issues for about 7 hrs straight before I decided to restart for Windows Cumulative Update. After which freezes started.

Is it possible that corrupted gpu drivers cause this issue?

Something that I've forgotten to mention is my audio driver is from my monitor (Nvidia HD Audio) which my headphones are connected to and not the motherboard's which I disabled in bios.

 

[jimmysmitty]

You seem to have done a lot of testing but have you dropped to minimal components? I.E. one stick of RAM, just the HDD and GPU and nothing else but a keyboard, mouse and monitor connected?

What are your full specs?

The mixed RAM is never a good idea.

Is it freezing outside of Windows at all? Can you try loading mini-XP from Hirens of a Linux Live CD and see if it freezes?

Disabling the onboard audio wont do that, I have mine disabled since I use a Soundblaster Z.

 

[FreeerunFlame]

Full specs :
ASUS MAXIMUS VII RANGER
NVIDIA GTX 780 DIRECT CU II
I7-4770
CORSAIR Vengeance 1333MHz 2x4GB & Gskill 1x4GB 1600MHz
CORSAIR RM650
WD Blue 1TB + Hitachi 500GB
Win 10 x64
Dell U2414H Monitor
ASUS N-14 USB WiFi adapter

I've been using the mixed RAM for 7 months at 1600MHz before the freezing started without issues, so I didn't think that I could be a possible reason. It also passed memtest everytime I ran it and running it at 1333MHz doesn't stop the freezes as well.

Is it possible for the RAM to suddenly cause issues after so long and only on some boots while other boots are fine?

But anyway, I'll test the system stability with one RAM at a time to see if the freezes are still happening.

I've tried mini xp by hirens it took quite long to load and eventually it froze while loading. Wasn't able to go into Windows xp itself.

 

[FreeerunFlame]

Frozen again while switching the RAM, noticed that throughout the freezes the HD Led was lit (No flashing) all three freezes:
1. At desktop only seconds after it entered windows (only HD Led lit)
2. At "press F2 for Bios" screen (CPU led also lit)
3. At windows boot manager loading (boot device led also lit)

While the blinking of the HD indicates data being written or read, I'm not sure what a lit HD Led means or it's just that the blinking froze??