How to troubleshoot lockup or freeze with Windows 7 RC1
I installed Win7 RC1 on my Lenovo T61p laptop on Friday, the 1st. I left it plugged in and running until this morning. During that time, I installed and used Word, Visual Studio 2008, SQL Server 2005, etc. Everything worked great. This morning I shut down the laptop and brought it into my office. I have a docking station here with an external monitor plugged into it. Now it locks up within 10 minutes of booting. No blue screen or anything in the event log or anything. Just locks up. Mouse won't move, no keyboard response, nothing.If I boot into safe mode (which I am right now), it seems to be working fine. I did not install anything new. I just plugged into my docking station. It was working flawlessly for 4 days and now it just locks up.I also tried removing it from the docking station and it still locks up.So, I need some help troubleshooting what has happened here, as I was really enjoying it over the weekend.
May 6th, 2009 12:04am

I just tried deleting my video driver and letting it default back to the standard VGA one. That didn't help. Still locks up unless I boot into safe mode.
Free Windows Admin Tool Kit Click here and download it now
May 6th, 2009 12:28am

More details: after rebooting around 15 times in the office as it hung or froze up, I went home. And, now that I'm home, it's been running for a few hours without freezing, just like the previous 4 days.So, why is it freezing in the office, but not at home?The only differencesbetween work and home are the dock (no dock at home), thewired network (wireless at home), and the external monitor (no external monitor at home).I've ruled out the dock and the external monitor, since I removed those at work and it still froze, so it must be the wired network. Could that really be the problem? When I installed RC1, I did not have install any network drivers, the install foundboth the wired and wireless automatically. The device manager says it's an Intel 82566MM Gigabit Network adapter. The driver provider is listed as Microsoft, with a version of 9.13.4.10 dated 3/26/2009. So, it's not like it's a 3rd party driver.Any ideas? I'd love to just tell my boss I can only work from home from now on, but that's just not going to happen...
May 6th, 2009 6:38am

I downloaded and installed the RC yesterday and I have had the exact same problem.My specs are:Processor - quad Q6600, 2.40GHzRAM - 2GBHard Drive - 1TBVideo Card - Nvidia 8600GT 512MBIt is a wired connection at home.
Free Windows Admin Tool Kit Click here and download it now
May 6th, 2009 7:30am

Maybe your docking station has a usb hub with some devices conected. I have experimented this issue. Windows 7 RC1 takes hughes lapses of time to identify and install new devices when the driver is not there straight away. Probably a usb mouse or any other device conected is causing the problem. You can prove this is the issue, attaching the laptop to the dock, starting it and going to make yourself several cups of coffee (allow a lot of time). If finally it starts and everything goes as it should, this was your issue.
May 6th, 2009 10:45am

I also have this problem with these specs, only I got a 500 gb hdd.
Free Windows Admin Tool Kit Click here and download it now
May 6th, 2009 12:22pm

As you noticed - Windows 7 beta RC1 is a Beta, which shouldnt be used in productive envoirements -> So you better use Vista / XP to get Support.
May 6th, 2009 1:15pm

Maybe your docking station has a usb hub with some devices conected Yes, there is a keyboard and mouse attached to the dock. But, as I stated above, if I remove it from the dock (and therefore the keyboard and mouse are not plugged in either), it still locks up. The only thing plugged in at that point is the hard wired network connection.I've left my computer on and running since I got home last night, and it's still working flawlessly. I will be heading into the office in a couple hours, and I'm bringing a wireless access point with me. If it locks up again there, I'm going to hook up the access point and try going wireless and see what happens.
Free Windows Admin Tool Kit Click here and download it now
May 6th, 2009 3:53pm

As you noticed - Windows 7 beta RC1 is a Beta, which shouldnt be used in productive envoirements -> So you better use Vista / XP to get Support. I understand that. However, that's the whole point of having a beta or release candidate is so that people can test it and give feedback. I'm trying to help Microsoft make a good product here. I completely skipped Vista on all my machines. I've never had it installed on anything. I'd like to finally move away from XP...
May 6th, 2009 3:55pm

So, as I mentioned above, I brought a wireless access point with me to the office today. I hooked up my laptop with the wired connection after having run it at home without any problems, and within 5 minutes, it locked up. I hooked up the wireless access point, removed the wired cable from the laptop, rebooted, and it's now been working flawlessly since I came in this morning - about 5 hours ago.If anyone at Microsoft or anyone here on this forum reading this has any idea why my wired connection would cause my laptop to lock up, I'll all ears.The last test will be when I get home tonight. I'll hook it up hard wired instead of wireless and see what happens. If it locks up, it's definitely the driver. If it doesn't lock up, then perhaps it's our switch or router here at work?
Free Windows Admin Tool Kit Click here and download it now
May 6th, 2009 11:37pm

So, as I mentioned above, I brought a wireless access point with me to the office today. I hooked up my laptop with the wired connection after having run it at home without any problems, and within 5 minutes, it locked up. I hooked up the wireless access point, removed the wired cable from the laptop, rebooted, and it's now been working flawlessly since I came in this morning - about 5 hours ago. If anyone at Microsoft or anyone here on this forum reading this has any idea why my wired connection would cause my laptop to lock up, I'll all ears. The last test will be when I get home tonight. I'll hook it up hard wired instead of wireless and see what happens. If it locks up, it's definitely the driver. If it doesn't lock up, then perhaps it's our switch or router here at work? I have been experiencing the same freezing problems with my T61p at work but at home where I have the wireless hub I haven't experienced anything. I do not have the docking station so I know that is not the problem. In the first 3 hrs of work this morning it froze roughly 8 times. The rest of the time I was away from the machine. Then I bumped into this forum and saw the wireless compared to wired possible fix and it worked. I've been running wirelessly for an hour now and it has not froze once. That seems to be the fix. Good work Bryan Archambeault!!
May 8th, 2009 6:14pm

Shot in the dark here, but have you gone to the manufacturers website and looked for a driver for your ethernet card for Win 7.
Free Windows Admin Tool Kit Click here and download it now
May 8th, 2009 6:19pm

Well, I finally got around to trying the hard wired connecting at home instead of the wireless, and it did not lock up. So, I can only assume it has something to do with the hard wired connection at work.
May 9th, 2009 7:32pm

Hello, me too!Installed Windows 7 cr1 32Biton my lenovo ThinkPad T61p.All drivers detected and installed using Windows Update except for the "Intel Turbo Memory".Intel Turbo Memory for Vista 32Bit downloaded and installed from levono's web site.http://www-307.ibm.com/pc/support/site.wss/quickPath.do?quickPathEntry=6459CTORead "important information" on levono's support page but the similar issue did not apply to my configuration.System experiences an intermittent blue-screen (BSOD), with a stop code of 0x1000007E - ThinkPadI'm not using any consumer hubs or router.I'm not using a port replicator or ducking station or external monitor or keyboard nor mouse.I had been working with wired network connection at workand still mymachine locked up 4 times this morning.As you guys suggest, I have turned offwireless switchin front of theThinkPadand keep working wired. I will post myresults by end of day.Thanks
Free Windows Admin Tool Kit Click here and download it now
May 9th, 2009 10:51pm

For our problem, it was the WIRED connectiong that caused our machines to lockup. If we used WIRELESS, it worked fine. So, if you are having lock ups with the wired connection as you state, turning off the wireless isn't going to help. You need to unplug the wired connection and use the wireless. At least, that's what fixed it for us...
May 10th, 2009 12:36am

Yes Ihave misread the posts.Well I seem to have the opposite behavior.Afterturning thewireless off and using wired network, my machine has not locked up (from noon till 10pm). I then rebooted, unpluged from the cable network and turn on wireless and my computer locked up just when I was about to select my wireless network.I decided to reinstall Windowsagain and it locked up during the install when I was entering my computer account name and machine name (wireless was turned on but not connected). After rebooting I finished the windows install and I did not experience any OS freeze for thenext hour Ikeept using it.Today, I'm still using my pc with a wireless connection and have not yet had a OS freeze.Its wait and see for me now.
Free Windows Admin Tool Kit Click here and download it now
May 10th, 2009 4:48pm

Wondering if anyone has found a solution for this as I'm having a similar problem. Win 7 will work fine on wireless, but when i try to use a wired network it will freeze. Sometimes after 90 seconds, sometimes longer. I have tried a couple different drivers but they have had no effect. Problem seems worse on my work network, but unfortunately this is the place where I really need to use a wired connection. I've been using an ad hoc wireless network to keep it online, but this is less than ideal.
May 15th, 2009 1:32am

I have not seen any reply on this thread, but to be honest, since wireless is working fine for me, and I've had no problems since switching to wireless, I haven't really looked at it in any more detail.
Free Windows Admin Tool Kit Click here and download it now
May 15th, 2009 4:33am

Whew... finding others that are experiencing the same thing is a relief... The machine(T61P/3G RAM/WUXGA/FX570M) crashes after a few minutes while at work - whether I'm connected to the LAN or not. It runs fine in safe mode with networking though. I've been running for about an hour so far at home with no problems (using wireless).
May 15th, 2009 5:19am

...Weird thing is, you mentioned above that your home wired network seems to work fine....and so does mine! Its only my wired connection at work that seems to lock it up. I am not using similar hardware, I have a Realtek adapter on an AMD chipset. Possible that there is something about Cisco hardware Win 7 doesn't like?
Free Windows Admin Tool Kit Click here and download it now
May 15th, 2009 8:00am

As I stated above, I brought in a wireless router to work so that I was no longer hard-wired into the work network, and that has allowed me to be lockup-free for over a week now. But, as some of you noticed and mentioned, why didn't I lockup at home when hard wired?Well, it must have something to do with what I am hard wired into, or maybe IP addresses and routing or something? At work, we have a Cisco PIX router that will all connect to that connects us to the corporate network. It hands out 10.x.x.x addresses. So, as long as I'm hard wired into that box and have that address, I lock up.But, if I use wireless, my wireless router gives out 192.168.x.x addresses. And, I just tried for the first time today to hard wire into my wireless router here at work (it's a 5 port switch besides being a wireless router), and I haven't locked up yet from that. So, being hard wired into something that isn't the Cisco PIX, and having a 192.168.x.x seems to be okay.So, is it the Cisco hardware that's causing Win7 to lockup? Is it the 10.x.x.x address? I have no idea. But, as long as I'm not connected directly to that Cisco box and getting that address, I seem to be fine. I guess I could set my wireless router to hand out 10.x.x.x addresses instead of 192.168.x.x addresses to see if it's the IP address and not the Cisco box?
May 15th, 2009 7:01pm

On another thread someone commented about regular things happening to them and it turned out that their BIOS had 'wake on LAN' switched on. You may want to try switching that option off and see what happens.Built my own i7-920, Asus P6T, 6GB, 1TB Caviar Black, 4870 with 1GB.
Free Windows Admin Tool Kit Click here and download it now
May 15th, 2009 7:13pm

As I mentioned... my T61p crashes at work whether I have the LAN connected or not. I talked to our IT guy - like Bryan, he suspects CISCO equipment.
May 15th, 2009 7:46pm

Jstrrrrr, if it crashes whether connected to the LAN or not, it does not sound like Cisco is to blame. Just because you have similar symptoms does not mean that you have the same problem. For example, at work you may use a docking station and that may cause your problems. Or, you may use the laptop on your lap when at home and it may overheat (because you are inadvertantly blocking the airflow) whereas at work it sits on a hard desk.Try to identify any differences between home and work and then exclude each of them, if you can.Built my own i7-920, Asus P6T, 6GB, 1TB Caviar Black, 4870 with 1GB.
Free Windows Admin Tool Kit Click here and download it now
May 15th, 2009 8:21pm

The environmental conditions (airflow) are the same as far as I can tell. The "wireless conditions" are the only difference that's obvious. I don't have a docking station. Once again, it locked up after a couple of minutes here at work. I'll try turning off the radio to see if that makes a difference (aw ____... not fast enough. It locked up ~10 sec. after the login screen).
May 15th, 2009 9:29pm

I work at an ISP, and our IP's are actually in a totally different block so I'm doubting that its an IP thing. I'm beginning to wonder if it has more to do with upload speed. I've wired in at a variety of different speeds at this point, but all with a capped upload....except at work. While at work I've tried plugging straight in, and going through a managed switch assigning 192.168.x.x addresses. So far, as long as I'm at work, plugging in to the network results in freeze. I also tried assigning a static ip when plugged into the switch, didn't help. Still testing though, only so much time to play with it at work. Also I believe I connect to a Catalyst switch initially, but I could be wrong.
Free Windows Admin Tool Kit Click here and download it now
May 15th, 2009 11:06pm

I disabled the wireless adapter and it's been running now for about an hour without any problems. I just connected the LAN cable - 10 minutes so far without a problem.
May 15th, 2009 11:52pm

A similar problem.I did a clean install on to a TravelMate 4060.The install went OK but I had no keyboard or mouse (although keyboard was there in BIOS).I could use the machine if I attached a USB mouse and used the on screen keyboard.I have not investigated error logs or anything yet on that machine.Also installed on Desktop and had no problems.Bye for now
Free Windows Admin Tool Kit Click here and download it now
May 18th, 2009 12:08pm

Try restoring your laptop to a date before you first docked at work and you should be fine.
May 18th, 2009 11:13pm

It has nothing to do with docking. If I'm undocked and plug the wired connection in at work, it still freezes. And, as stated above, if I hard wire into a router instead of hard wiring into the Cisco PIX, it dosn't freeze. So, it has something to do with hard wriing into that Cisco box for some reason...
Free Windows Admin Tool Kit Click here and download it now
May 18th, 2009 11:24pm

I'm inclined to think it has nothing to do with a dock as well. I've been playing around with this problem for a week + now, and the only constant I can discern is that ethernet cable = freeze. I've switched drivers, routers, IP addresses etc. still have the same problem (provided I am at work, home network works fine). I am dual booting with Linux, and Linux has no problem whatsoever with being plugged into the network, nor did XP. I'm starting to think I'm going to feel really dumb when / if I figure this issue out, but as of right now I'm still stumped. Anyone else find any new information?
May 22nd, 2009 4:30pm

Same here - Lenovo T61 - 7661-CTO. As soon as I plug in the ethernet cable at work (dock or not, separate monitor or not), the laptop will freeze within the next 10 minutes guaranteed. On wireless at work and at home it works great. Haven't tried it on ethernet at home. I should do that and see what happens. This is very annoying. I've rebuilt a few times and that makes no difference. I'm still playing. If either of use finds the solution, it must be posted!
Free Windows Admin Tool Kit Click here and download it now
May 22nd, 2009 9:03pm

I've isolated my lock-up problem on T61P (6459CTO) to the wireless adapter. At home it works fine - both wireless and wired. At work it will crash within 2 minutes if the wireless adapter is enabled (Atheros 11a/b/g wireless LAN mini PCI Express). I can hard wire into the work LAN with no problem - as long as I have the wireless adapter disabled it is stable at work.
May 22nd, 2009 9:16pm

This does not happen to me wired while at home. So jstrrrr - it works for you with wireless disabled at work? Did you have to disable it in device manager - or do you just flip a hardware switch to turn it off. I will have to try that when I'm back in the office on Tuesday. If that fixes it for now, I will be very happy. That isn't a terrible work around. Just hope they figure it out and fix it by RTM.
Free Windows Admin Tool Kit Click here and download it now
May 23rd, 2009 8:19am

Hi Matthew... I just 'right-click->disable' on the wireless icon in the taskbar to turn it off at work, then re-enable it at home. If the wireless adapter is enabled at work,the machine locks up within a couple of minutes - whether I'm connected (in any way) or not - everything works fine at home.
May 23rd, 2009 9:44am

OK - I've been at work for an hour and a half - and with the wireless disabled - I haven't locked up once. Normally in an hour and a half I would have locked up three or four times. Strange though - I could be on wireless at work all day long and not lock up. It is only when I connect the ethernet cable that it starts freezing. I wonder if we were to install the ethernet drives and the wireless drivers for Vista from Lenovo's site (rather than using the out-of-box 7 drivers), if that would help.
Free Windows Admin Tool Kit Click here and download it now
May 26th, 2009 4:23pm

Hi,Last week:IinstalledWindows 7 64bit (instead of 32bit).Iupdated my ThinkPad T61p BIOS firmware (relasedfrom lenovo on 26 May 2009). http://www-307.ibm.com/pc/support/site.wss/document.do?lndocid=MIGR-67988Since then not a singlefreeze.
June 4th, 2009 6:19am

Well, there ya go. I was not aware there was a BIOS update for the T61p. I downloaded it, installed it, and hooked my wired cable back up (disconnecting the wireless I've been using), and I've had no lockups or freezes since then. It's been 3 weeks or so now since I've even tried going back to a wired connection, so either this BIOS update fixed my problem, or some Windows Update in the interim did.
Free Windows Admin Tool Kit Click here and download it now
June 5th, 2009 11:38pm

Updating the BIOS did not fix the problem on my t61p (6459-CTO / FX570M WUXGA / W7 RC1 64bit / 6G RAM):Wireless adapter enabled at work = lockup within a few minutes.Wireless adapter disabled at work = no problem.Wireless adapter enabled at home = no problem.
June 8th, 2009 7:33pm

I installed the wireless driver from Lenovo's site for Windows Vista and that fixed the issue for me. hasn't locked up since at home or at work.
Free Windows Admin Tool Kit Click here and download it now
June 28th, 2009 2:36pm

I had the same problem... freezing on wired connection at work but not on wireless at home. Updating the BIOs and/or installing the vista wireless driver fixed the problem. Installing turbo mem and matrix controller as some other forums suggested did not make a difference. good luck, and thanks for posting solutions.
August 26th, 2009 11:57pm

This topic is archived. No further replies will be accepted.

Other recent topics Other recent topics