Alright, so I have been running Windows 7, probably since sometime in September 2009. I have had this computer since around August 2007, prior to running Windows 7 I was running XP x64 (a feat in and of itself), and even with nearly zero support from any developers (despite support for Vista x64) I was able to establish an extremely stable system. Ever since I installed Windows 7 I have had problems with numerous aspects of my computer. My first problem manifested itself through some sort of memory leak from the display drivers when playing WOW, which would consume all system memory, cause the driver to crash (freeing up some of the memory) and continue on this cycle until all memory was use and the system became unresponsive and unusable (here is a thread on the WOW forums I made about the issue http://forums.wowgrunt.com/thread.php?id=21726252782&forumID=10023). The problem occurred for me on multiple computers running completely different hardware (NVIDIA/ATI video), so I cannot attribute the problem to a single factor (WOW, Windows, or display drivers). I do not play WOW anymore, so I do not know if this specific issue has been resolved or not, but in attempts to find a solution I replaced my video card in my desktop (from a NVIDIA 8600GTS to a NVIDIA GTS250). The video card switch seemed to help the problem, but it definitely did not solve it. After a few months absence from any games or any problems, I started several up (COD4:MW and QuakeLive), but they were unplayable due to graphics driver crashes every few seconds, like i experienced in WOW except at a mich faster pace. This led me to update my drivers (this did not help at all) or even downgrade them to a previous version (this did not help at all, either). I was uninstalling the NVIDIA drivrs each time and using several utilities to attempt to clean all of the drivers' files from my computer (NastyFileRemover and DriverSweeper, if I am not mistaken). My system eventually got to a point where the drivers would spontaneously crash at the desktop with 0 system activity, over and over again. One solution I found was to uninstall lthe drivers and simply run without any display drivers. This would work for the time being, but on every reboot Windows would reinstall the drivers packaged with the installation, causing sporadic behavior. I have ran Stress tests on all components of my system, and all are extremely stable and exhibited no crashes during the tests. I tested CPU/GPU/PSU using OCCT et al, RAM tests show no sign of malfunction through memtest, and my RAID controller reports healthy status in my RAID. All crashes/freezes occurred irrespective to temperature of components, which are always well within spec. I have tried even underclocking my GPU as recommended by several sources, but this has no effect. Next, the problem changed to a point that whenever I boot into Windows (in either normal or safe mode) I am able to log in, but shortly after loading my desktop the computer will freeze and require a hard reboot. I have tried to do an automated system repair from start up as well as the install disk, but they both either freeze or report success without really fixing anything. I have ran fixboot/fixmbr etc. to no avail. Now, I am trying to simply reinstall Windows over the old install, but the installer continues to freeze at different points during the "Expanding Windows files" step and has caused the current installation to be completely unbootable (short of the repair console which reports that it cannot repair due to "OsVersionMismatch"). All of the forums have read about this problem have gave numerous solutions (I have tried nearly all of them) but for the majority of people it seems that nothing has any real effect. From my point of view, it seems that this is an issue that has gone neglected for an unacceptable length of time (I have found threads dating back to January 2009). <rant> Honestly, why can Windows not be made as stable/accessible/transparent as Linux? I am fairly proficient (I am being modest http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dunning%E2%80%93Kruger_effect) with computers and somewhat knowledgeable with Linux, and yet now that I am running Arch Linux on my laptop, I am able to have 30 days up-time, while still messing with much of the system. I am honestly considering completely dropping Windows on my desktop as well (probably the best thing I have done for my laptop). I have been able to find much more helpful information for Arch Linux than for any issues I have ever had in Windows (most Windows support simply attempts to throw a blanket solution over all problems and hopes for the best, if your problem isn't fixed, you are screwed). </rant> My system runs at stock frequencies/timings/voltages, and it has no effect whether they are set on auto or manually entered in the bios. OS: Win 7 x64 Processor: Intel Q6600 quad core 2.6ghz Graphics: EVGA GTS250 Memory: 4gb Corsair DDR2 Motherboard: Asus P5N32-e SLI HDD: (3) Western Digital 500gb SATA 3Gb/s in RAID 5

I was able to get windows to reinstall by modving the entire windows directory. So I'm in a clean install, I update display drivers, run the WEI assessment, and the display drivers crash on a bunch of the direct3D tests. I update the directx end user runtime; same thing. The tests that it chokes on is: "Drect3D Alpha Blend Assessment" "Drect3D ALU Assessment" "Drect3D Geometry Assessment" "Drect3D Constant Buffer Assessment" Could this be a directx problem? It would explain the cross hardware/driver problems.

I too am experiencing almost the exact same problems, the computer is a new build. When running the WEI assessment I just get a hang, no crash, just full lock up completely unresponsive. I have run numerous test on all hardware and have run out of ideas... System: OS: 7 (x64) Processor: Phenom 965 Video: HD5750 Memory: 8gb GeIL DDR3 Mobo: M4A79XTD HDD: 1TB Samsung SATA 3Gb/s

Just out of curiosity, you've done extensive checks from a software angle. Have you tried another card? swapped drives? ram? etc? I've never seen a system completely lockup and require a cold restart without finding some sort of hardware issue. The common ones for the issues you're experiencing are obviously video card, drives ... and believe it or not, i've even seen a power supply cause your symptoms. I would take a serious look at your hardware.

Just out of curiosity, you've done extensive checks from a software angle. Have you tried another card? swapped drives? ram? etc? The short answer to your question would be no, but I have swapped the drive, and taken out some of the RAM and swapped that around in the box. I realize that is the best way to find the issues, but unfortunately I don't have the time or resources to replace every piece of hardware or take it to a shop to be tested. I am not 100% sure that this is a "bad hardware" issue; it only happens when running something involving direct3d. Thank you for your input though. TJ

The odd thing about half the software applications and tools that test hardware is that they are never 100% accurate. There are some simple things you can do first that wouldn't require alot of extra time / money ... First being to borrow another video card from someone else to do a quick test. By the sounds of I would be really surprised if you swapped that card for another model and the issue repeated. I know we've dealt with quite a few ATI / Vista issues. Ultimately we never did find a solution from Microsoft or ATI. In the end we slapped in NVidia cards and the problem disappeared. Out of curiosity, do you get any blue screens? If so, have you tried analyzing the dump file to isolate the driver? If you need help with that let me know, i can post some instructions

I have been having this exact problem since i have installed Win7, and have tried everything listed or could think of. OS:Win7 Ultimate x32 Graffics: NVidia GeForce 6200 Processor: AMD Semprom (tm) Processor 3400+ 1.8GHz Memory: 1.25GB DD2

Out of curiosity, do you get any blue screens? If so, have you tried analyzing the dump file to isolate the driver? If you need help with that let me know, i can post some instructions No, I never got any blue screens, and there was nothing in the Event viewer to indicate a problem either. Ok, lot has happened over the past 3 hrs... I finally got a friend to bring his computer over, and we swapped out the Video card, I took out the HD5750 and put in his HD2600. I uninstalled all the drivers and reinstalled the correct ones for the card and everything worked no hang got through the WEI test no problem. Now here is the tricky part, I put my card into his machine (Vista x86, installed the most current drivers) and tested it there... no problem it works fine and goes through the WEI test no problem. So that left me wondering if it may have been an issue with the power supply (the hd2600 doesn't require external power), so I swapped the power supplies and again no issues with either machine. I am at a loss, I don't know why it hangs under 7 x64 and not under Vista x86. TJ

When you say you swapped the power supply, did you put his into yours and your issues disappeared? Or am understanding that incorrectly? Also, that card will require a 2x2 or 4x2 connector for power. Does your power supply have this built-in, or has it been converted from another power connector with an adapter? Ironically, the HD5XXXX series card were the same cards we had to replace with another brand to get them to work properly.

I tried swaping Gfx cards and power supplies as well. Neither worked. I found a post that took me to a link to install driver version 195.55. I installed it, rebooted, ran a 3d game and it crashed again. I haven't had any blue screens yet. When i run the system rater the computer locks up at "Driect3D 9 batch assessment" causing another hard reboot, I ran the System File Checker as admin and it found no problems, and even tried an In-Place upgrade (Repair install) and still no luck.

When you say you swapped the power supply, did you put his into yours and your issues disappeared? Or am understanding that incorrectly? Also, that card will require a 2x2 or 4x2 connector for power. Does your power supply have this built-in, or has it been converted from another power connector with an adapter? Ironically, the HD5XXXX series card were the same cards we had to replace with another brand to get them to work properly. The power supplies were swapped after the video cards, so the issue wasn't resolved, just proving the power supply was good. The 5750 requires a 6x2 connector which on both power supplies comes supplied. The Corsair power supply only has one rail, so it is not like one rail would be going bad.

I too am experiencing almost the exact same problems, the computer is a new build. When running the WEI assessment I just get a hang, no crash, just full lock up completely unresponsive. I have run numerous test on all hardware and have run out of ideas... System: OS: 7 (x64, x32), Vista (x64) Processor: i5 2nd Gen Video: HD6770, GeForce 550 Ti Memory: 8gb Corsair DDR3 Mobo: P8P67LE HDD: 2TB Samsung SATA 3Gb/s 120GB OCZ SSD Sata II I've also completely replaced the Motherboard, video card, and processor, and have installed the OS on both drives. The same thing happens...during the Direct3D testing, the sytem completely freezes. There are no log files or entries in the event logs reflecting the problem. Any solutions out there?HRCC IT