Computer hangs briefly at random intervals

[gvnicoletti]

Ironically, this even happened as I was typing the subject line of this post.

Hello, first time poster on this board, kind of using it as a last resort because searching this forum, and other forums, and google, has given me no help in determining what's going on. Here's the deal:

The problem
During regular computing, my computer will hang for a period of roughly 1 to 2 seconds, and then will return to normal operating procedure. This will happen at random intervals, maybe two or three times in a minute, or only once every fifteen minutes.

Here are examples of what I'm talking about:

(1) Let's say I'm typing an email, and all of a sudden, as I'm typing out a sentence, the letters I hit on the keyboard aren't showing up. After the 1 to 2 second waiting period, all the letters I had just typed that didn't show up will all be printed out into the email window... it's like they are being printed through a for loop (one at a time, very quickly, sequentially).

(2) I'm surfing the Internet, and as I move my mouse toward a link I want to click, the pointer doesn't turn into the little hand, even though the mouse can still move. I can click on the link (even though nothing will happen), and then after the waiting period is over, the little hand will show up, followed very quickly by the link being displayed as active, and then the new page will open.

(3) I'm playing a game, whether something stupid online or something like Bioshock Infinite, and as I'm moving around within the game, everything stops for the duration of the waiting period. Nothing happens, except time in the real world passes by, and then when the waiting period ends, everything picks up right where it left off. If an AI had shot something at me, the bullet would stay halfway between us while the computer was hanging, and then when it stopped hanging, it would still have to cover the final half of its travels. Nothing is processed while the computers does this hanging thing.

Computer details
I run a Sony Vaio VPC-F234FX, bought 1 year ago.
i7 2670QM Quad-core 2.2GHz
6GB RAM
nVidia GeForce GT540M, 1GB RAM, latest-ish drivers (230.18 I think)
600 GB internal HD (Toshiba MK6461GSYN)
basic sound and such..

Here's some info that may be related
This has been occuring for quite a while (months). I can't remember when it exactly started, but I will say that a number of months ago.
When I watch YouTube videos, or Twitch Streams, or movies on Netflix it never stutters, but when I watch .avi/.mkv files on my PC the problem appears (doesn't matter which media program, it always stutters).

Also, I don't know if this is related, but music is impossible to listen to. It'll play for 2-4 seconds and then freeze for 5 seconds.

Some things that I've done to try and fix the problem
I reformatted my computer about a month and a half ago. Fresh install of Windows 7 x64, although the HD hasn't been wiped. After installation, the problem was still there and hasn't changed. It keeps getting worse, sometime I'll be frozen for like 10 seconds - the 'loading' cursor will replace the 'arrow' cursor.

I've had this computer in a number of environments, as well (it's a laptop anyway).

About three weeks ago, I had the laptop cleaned up, as the heatsinks were very dirty and the GPU started overheating when playing games.

Finals thoughts
It's not a system critical issue, but it's just really really annoying. Oddly enough, while the computer hung during writing of the title of this post, it hasn't hung during the entire time I've spent composing it.

If you have any idea what's going on, even if it's something like there's some transistors that have serious leakage current due to manufacturing issues and it's impossible to fix, I'd still like to know. Any and all help will be greatly appreciated.

 

[carnageX]

What are your temps during any of this?

I would try running a chkdsk.
Open up a command prompt as Admin --> Type in (without quotes) "chkdsk c: /f /r" --> it will say it cannot currently run and ask to run on next reboot. Type Y and hit enter and then reboot your computer. It should go through with the check (5 stages). It may take a while to complete.

I would also check your RAM with Memtest86+: Memtest86+ - Advanced Memory Diagnostic Tool
Burn the ISO to a disc, and let it run for a minimum of 4 hours (the longer the better... e.g. overnight).

Something you could also try is booting off of a Linux LiveCD, such as Ubuntu, to see if it's something wrong with your HDD or Windows, or something more hardware related.

 

[IntelFanboy417]

What are your temps during any of this?

I would try running a chkdsk.
Open up a command prompt as Admin --> Type in (without quotes) "chkdsk c: /f /r" --> it will say it cannot currently run and ask to run on next reboot. Type Y and hit enter and then reboot your computer. It should go through with the check (5 stages). It may take a while to complete.

I would also check your RAM with Memtest86+: Memtest86+ - Advanced Memory Diagnostic Tool
Burn the ISO to a disc, and let it run for a minimum of 4 hours (the longer the better... e.g. overnight).

Something you could also try is booting off of a Linux LiveCD, such as Ubuntu, to see if it's something wrong with your HDD or Windows, or something more hardware related.

Best answer I could have given, I myself had the same issue and my solution was replacing my RAM. Had 4gb which I thought was alright, but when I upgraded to 8 it went away. Thats what worked for me, but it might be different for you. I would suggest doing all thoes other things that the other guy says to do if the RAM isnt the issue.

 

[gvnicoletti]

My computer was overheating really bad for a couple weeks until I realized that was the problem. I was underclocking my video card to keep it from overheating and the temps would hit ~75C max. The stuttering started before the computer started overheating.

Then I cleaned up the heatsinks, so it's fine now, back to playing games at high quality. But the stuttering stayed.

Another thing I forgot to say - sometimes it'll take forever to open any folder, like 10 seconds or something. But sometimes it's fast as usual. I really don't understand

I'll run the chkdsk and the memory test and get back in the morning with the results.

Thanks in advance.

ETA: When I check my memory use on Task Manager, it never goes past 2.5~3GB, so I don't think it's using too much memory.
Also I ran the Windows Performance kit and the CPU use never gets higher than 30%, even when playing games.

 

[gvnicoletti]

I started monitoring the Disk and CPU activity on ResMon during the freezes.
CPU stands still, like it were doing anything else, but when the computer is frozen, there is no disk activity whatsoever, as seen at this resmon print http://i.imgur.com/N6yKRMj.jpg

I also ran the chkdsk as you said, it took forever but didn't change anything. At first when I started the computer it ran for about 20 minutes smooth as when I first bought it. Then the freezing returned. It's not completely freezing everything as before. That might change over the course of the day though.

Also how do I run the memtest? Do I have to boot from the CD?

Stay with me guys T_T

Thanks again

 

[carnageX]

I started monitoring the Disk and CPU activity on ResMon during the freezes.
CPU stands still, like it were doing anything else, but when the computer is frozen, there is no disk activity whatsoever, as seen at this resmon print http://i.imgur.com/N6yKRMj.jpg

I also ran the chkdsk as you said, it took forever but didn't change anything. At first when I started the computer it ran for about 20 minutes smooth as when I first bought it. Then the freezing returned. It's not completely freezing everything as before. That might change over the course of the day though.

Also how do I run the memtest? Do I have to boot from the CD?

Stay with me guys T_T

Thanks again

Yes, burn it to a disc either with Win7's built-in ISO burner (right click the ISO image --> Burn to disc) or with something like IMGBurn. Then boot off of it and let it run for a minimum of 4 hours.

 

[Lexluethar]

Start and stop the Windows Module Installer service. Does it freeze when you start that process?

My company had the same issue, it's related to how hard that process is on the computer. Our issue was directly related to our encryption client and that process.

 

[Yevrag35]

Curiously, are you using internet explorer for a web browser. I'm just trying to gather if this is a graphics issues, because IE uses the separate GPU for processing various graphics.
If you do use IE, all of your problems point to your graphics card.
In Internet Options (Tools=>Internet Options=>Advanced), check the very top option "use software instead of GPU rendering". See if that stops the typing lag.

If you're not using IE, we'll have to think of something else.

 

[maddangerous]

has your laptop ever been dropped or had anything spilled on it?