[ThatRandomGuy]

Hi Geeks, it's my first post here.


I've struggled with this problem for quite some time now. This problem only occurs when playing video games. It doesn't matter if the game is demanding or not as I've encountered it on Defense Grid: The Awakening as well as Battlefield 3.

I've checked and my fan speeds are fine and my computer is cool so it can't be an overheating problem. I thought it was a graphics problem so I downgraded from Geforce 320.49 WHQL-certified to 314.22 WHQL-certified because I was sure that would be stable. I managed to play normally for about a day before the problem resurfaced.

Furthermore, I played BF3 and kept an eye on 2 programs checking on my GPU temperature. My PC froze immediately. As soon as the game loaded. And the temperature was only at 69 Celsius, not super cool but not crashing temperatures.

I've defragmented my hard drive, rebooted my PC (Duh.). I have no clue as to what the problem is... Hopefully you guys have some idea.

Thanks in advance!

PS: As described in the question, everything freezes up. I can't hear audio, the screen is frozen. I can't use any of the above shortcuts or any shortcuts at all. The only way to get my PC working again is to manually reboot it using the power button.


My PC Specs:

Make and Model: Asus K43SV (unmodified)

OS: Windows 7 Home Premium 64-bit
Processor: Intel i7 2670QM
GPU: nVidia Geforce GT540M
RAM: 8 GB
HDD: Total - 750 GB, available - 230 GB (I've repartitioned my HDD way back so none of my partitions are even close to full. The repartitioning was done way back so it can't be the issue.)



I've read that overheating seems to be a likely problem. However, I've had my fans clogged with dust before and I don't feel the heat, hear the noise, etc. of the clogged fan. Furthermore, it's been cleaned out recently so I doubt it's dust. And, even if it is due to overheating, the cause baffles me. I've had this PC for a year and a half now and it's served me well. Why would it start overheating all of a sudden? I haven't made any modifications recently...


PPS: If you are on Yahoo! Answers and you are successful in helping me out here. You could go to http://answers.yahoo...23012532AAkaj4q and I'll make your answer the best answer.

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Hello ThatRandomGuy
Did you check for graphics card updates. For example did this occur after an update? Have you tried seeing if there are any new updates for your card?

It does sound hardware related but to whittle things down, what i'd do after checking graphics card issues is scan for malware with Malwarebytes antimalware and Mbam anti Rootkit then scan with hitman pro (this is an online scanner)

I would do a scan disk also. Click start/computer/right click computer and choose properties.
Click the tools tab
Under Error checking click check now
Make sure both boxes are checked, click start and then schedule disk check. (this could take a long time)

Next I would do a SFC scan. To do this run cmd prompt as admin and type sfc /scannow in to the box and hit enter, if it finds problems reboot and then run the scan again once booted to check it fixed the problem. You may have to run it a few time's for this to fix the problem.


You said it's been cleaned recently did you remove anything while cleaning it?
If so maybe something is not seated firmly back in place, I would check this out.

That's all I can think of I'm no Geek but I'm sure one will help you out soon, you've come to the right place, it's a good site full of helpful friendly people.

[Niyol]

Hello ThatRandomGuy
Did you check for graphics card updates. For example did this occur after an update? Have you tried seeing if there are any new updates for your card?

It does sound hardware related but to whittle things down, what i'd do after checking graphics card issues is scan for malware with Malwarebytes antimalware and Mbam anti Rootkit then scan with hitman pro (this is an online scanner)

I would do a scan disk also. Click start/computer/right click computer and choose properties.
Click the tools tab
Under Error checking click check now
Make sure both boxes are checked, click start and then schedule disk check. (this could take a long time)

Next I would do a SFC scan. To do this run cmd prompt as admin and type sfc /scannow in to the box and hit enter, if it finds problems reboot and then run the scan again once booted to check it fixed the problem. You may have to run it a few time's for this to fix the problem.


You said it's been cleaned recently did you remove anything while cleaning it?
If so maybe something is not seated firmly back in place, I would check this out.

That's all I can think of I'm no Geek but I'm sure one will help you out soon, you've come to the right place, it's a good site full of helpful friendly people.

[ThatRandomGuy]

Thanks for the reply, I appreciate it. I'm not 100% sure but I think the problem first surfaced when I was using the infamously unstable 320.18 driver. It even caused artifacting in Battefield 3. Then, I updated to the latest 320.49 WHQL-certified and it was fine for a bit. Afterwards, the problem resurfaced and I downgraded to the last confirmedly stable driver I used, 314.22. I haven't updated since but it isn't exactly a Neolithic driver.

I've also run Trend Micro Titanium 2012 for a full scan of my computer and it didn't find any threats. Should I still go ahead and use those malware scanners or should Trend Micro have covered it?

I'm going through the other steps you indicated in sequence and I'll try playing a little after that. Oh, and when I say it's been cleaned, I mean that it's been cleaned by the ASUS people and it was done way back. At least several months, if not last year so if there was a problem I think it should have surfaced before.

I'll open it up but I'm normally hesitant.(Confession time) I'm just a teen and I haven't handled the innards before. In fact, when I first tried to open it up, I stripped a screw when refastening it. /facepalm
That's why I had to have it sent to ASUS to be cleaned out instead of doing it myself... (Oh, gawd. I'm so embarassed.)

[Niyol]

Hi
If your not familiar with the insides I DON'T do anything, as you can do damage if your not careful.
Static can jump from you on to a circuit board can kill it.
I would wait for advice from Geekstogo Tech to see what they think, they are far more knowledgeable than me.

As for scanning with malwarebytes and hitmanpro it wont hurt to do that till a Geek to go tech shows up.
I would also try installing the old driver you had when it was running OK if you have not all ready tried this.
We all do face palm's, I dropped a PC 2 floors once from the attic, and left a laptop on the roof of my car it stayed there till I got to traffic lights when I braked it went hurtling onto the crossing only to be crushed by another car, then there's the hitch hiker story I wont go into that one lol, best stay on track.

Yeah so do the scans and wait for a Tech from Geekstogo team.

[ThatRandomGuy]

Hey, I just wanted to let all the geeks out there know that this issue is still unresolved. I'm going about every conceivable solution I can think of and I will edit this post to add details.

EDIT: Alright, I error-checked my HDD and it didn't help. I selected the "repair bad sectors" option but it seems that there were none. Malwarebytes and Spybot S&D didn't find any threats. However, the sfc scan found that there were corrupt files and could not repair them. So, I checked the log and found that this file cropped up a lot as a a corrupted file: PINTLGB.IMD. I googled it and found that it was some sort of corrupted file that I'd have to fix with the Windows 7 installation disk, which I don't have. I could try to obtain one but is this even the cause of my problem?


Here's where it gets more interesting, I managed to play a flash game that had almost no load on my system. The game only used like 20 MB of RAM. It was a Flash game. I found that the computer would crash before hitting 4 GB of memory used no matter what so it would happen with playing lots of YouTube videos at 1080p as well. I suspected a memory issue so I opened my PC and, by the process of trial and error, found that both the modules and the contacts were fine. At least, both modules and contacts were able to let the PC run. Perhaps they are not completely busted and just partially broken? How do I check for faulty contacts or modules? Also, how do I check if it is a memory issue at all.

I hope to get some help soon because this issue is both serious and completey befuddling.

Edited by ThatRandomGuy, 25 July 2013 - 05:58 PM.

[Niyol]

If you have been waiting more than 3 days post a link to your topic here
http://www.geekstogo...e-waiting-room/

and a Geektogo Tech will help you.

[ThatRandomGuy]

Oh, wow. Thanks. I didn't know that. I'm really getting frustrated.

[Niyol]

Hi
Your welcome
Computers have the frustrating effect some times, I find even though I get frustrated the benefits of learning new stuff are reaped on the way too, mind you I'm a simple minded guy.

Have you tried this how to guide on checking memory?
http://www.geekstogo...37#entry1587337

[rshaffer61]

Run hard drive diagnostics: http://www.tacktech....ay.cfm?ttid=287
Make sure, you select tool, which is appropriate for the brand of your hard drive.
Depending on the program, it'll create bootable floppy, or bootable CD.
If downloaded file is of .iso type, use ImgBurn: http://www.imgburn.com/ to burn .iso file to a CD (chose "Write image file to disc" option), and make the CD bootable.

NOTE. If your hard drive is made by Toshiba, try the Hitachi DFT CD Image version of the software

Thanks to Broni for the instructions




Download Autoruns from the link in my signature below:

1: Extract the Autoruns Zip file contents to a folder.
2: Double-click the "Autoruns.exe".
3: Click on the "Everything" tab
4: Click the Options at the top of the Window. In the new little window click the box that states Hide Microsoft Services
5: Go to File then to Export As or Save in some versions.
6: Save the file as AutoRuns.txt file instead of the default .arn to a known location like your Desktop.
7: Attach to your next reply.
8: DO NOT do anything till we have had a chance to study the log and reply with suggestions as to what to remove.

[ThatRandomGuy]

Thanks for the reply, guys. I will be trying to follow those steps to the best of my ability. However, before posting the results after them, I'd like to update you guys on something that must reveal information about the problem. I managed to play Medal of Honor: Allied Assault. That's a fullscreen, 3D game. The PC still freezes up with Battlefield 3 but now the discrepancy is only with how demanding these games are and I think that this may be highly suggestive of a RAM problem being the cause.

I will keep you guys posted. Many thanks in advance!

[rshaffer61]

8 gigs of memory you should not have a memory problem unless you have failing memory.
Heating could be a issue as you mentioned so below are two programs I would like to see the requested info from.

Download Speedfan (The download link is to the right), and install it. Once it's installed, run the program and post here the information it shows.
The information I want you to post is the stuff that is circled in the example picture I have attached.
To make sure we are getting all the correct information it would help us if you were to attach a screenshot like the one below of your Speedfan results.

To do a screenshot please have click on your Print Screen on your keyboard.

• It is normally the key above your number pad between the F12 key and the Scroll Lock key
• Now go to Start and then to All Programs
• Scroll to Accessories and then click on Paint
• In the Empty White Area click and hold the CTRL key and then click the V
• Go to the File option at the top and click on Save as
• Save as file type JPEG and save it to your Desktop
• Attach it to your next reply

Please download and run Hardware Monitor
Installation (setup version only)
HWMonitor is a hardware monitoring program that reads PC systems main health sensors : voltages, temperatures, fans speed.
The program handles the most common sensor chips, like ITE® IT87 series, most Winbond® ICs, and others. In addition, it can read modern CPUs on-die core thermal sensors, as well has hard drives temperature via S.M.A.R.T, and video card GPU temperature. Please get a screenshot of the sensors window and post it in your next reply.

[ThatRandomGuy]

Ok, thanks for all the advice. I'm going to go from the earliest post to the latest so I'll be doing more memtest-ing overnight. I'll be sure to put in all the requested information so I'm going to start with hard drive diagnostics. I'll edit this post with the results later.

However, I wanted to post this to point out something that may or may not be significant. I have 2x4GB SO-DIMMs. I ran memtest with both modules installed and for some reason, memtest froze. It didn't identify an error. It just froze. WallTime stopped increasing and the tests stopped. The idle flashing of the "+" in "memtest86+" continued. I had to use the power button to reboot it. Afterwards, I tried memtest with both modules individually. The first succeeded as I didn't find any errors after 7 passes. However, when I ran the second one alone in the same socket, memtest froze in the same manner as it did when I ran both of the SO-DIMMs together. Does this mean something? I'm going to try running some more combinations of memtest and I'll be "borrowing" one of my sister's SO-DIMMs as well.

I'll be back with the results!

[rshaffer61]

That could indicate a possible faulty memory module.

[ThatRandomGuy]

Ok, I've done some of the things you've indicated to the best of my ability. I'll start with the Data Lifeguard which you had me use to check my hard drive made by Western Digital. It checked out fine and I was indicated to have passed on both the quick test and the extended test.

I downloaded Speedfan but for some reason, it wouldn't display my fanspeed or voltage. I checked it out a bit and I found that it did not have support for my motherboard. I already had HWMonitor installed so I'll post a screenshot of that since only that seems to provide at least some of the results you need. It still doesn't display my fan speed, for some odd reason. I'm posting a screenshot of the temperatures when the CPU is under almost no load and is just running a couple of small, idling programs. Here:

If the fan speed and whatever other stats are really necessary, I'd be happy to download any program you recommend me to to collect that data.

Meanwhile, I will continue to pursue the possible memory issue.

[rshaffer61]

OK it may be that your bios will have the voltages displayed in it so you can check there when you have time.
The HWMonitor doesn't show anything strange that I can see.
Also the autoruns log will show me a lot of what may be running that you don't know of. Again with the 8 gigs of memory that should not be a problem unless you have some hidden memory intense background program running. I do have instructions for completely removing the Nvidia GPU drivers and starting fresh but I want to hold off on that till we find out for sure that is the issue.