My PC has started hanging randomly for the last 1 week. I have a dual boot PC with Windows 7 Ultimate 64bit and Ubuntu 64bit. I'm facing the problem only on Windows 7, the other OS works fine. Initially it used to hang randomly and whenever I tried to check for software upgrades for Nokia Ovi suite. I did a clean boot and found I was able to check for Ovi suite updates without a system hang. So I removed most of the non-microsoft services that were unnecessary. Now I'm able to check for updates on Ovi suite but the system still hangs randomly. Since then it has hanged once when I tried to remove my ethernet drivers, once when I tried to remove Wifi drivers, once while adding a bluetooth device, once right after boot when I ran Windows Media Player. I've tried the memory test by pressing f6 on windows boot and found no errors. The system was built by me almost a year ago and have not faced any problems till now. What could be wrong? Here are my PC's details. OS: Windows 7 Ultimate 64 bit Processor: Intel Pentium Dual Core E2180 @ 2.0 GHZ RAM: 2+2GB Transcend 800mhz Motherboard: Intel DG33FB Graphics: NVIDIA GeForce GTS 250 HDD: 4 physical disks, 500GB, 160Gb and 80GB SATA and 40GB IDE. 500 GB has 2 partitions with OS installed on the 1st partition, the 160GB disk as 20 GB dedicated to Ubuntu, rest is all Data + Empty disk space. Wifi: D-Link Wireless G DWA-510 Desktop Adapter USB Bluetooth: CSR Bluetooth Radio PSU: Atek 600W Power Supply.

"500 GB has 2 partitions with OS installed on the 1st partition, the 160GB disk as 20 GB dedicated to Ubuntu, rest is all Data + Empty disk space." I assume the win 7 is install on the 500GB itself and the Ubuntu is on another drive which is the 160GB, correct me if i'm wrong?

Having the same problem with Win 7, 7100, X64 ver in that it seriously hangs on the Starting Windows message. classpnp.sys appears to be the culprit. It started a little over a week ago with daily boot-up. Happened one time, rebooted, went right through to login without issue. Next day, same scenario. Following day, had to reboot twice. Given that my machine takes forever to boot when I have my iPod connected I opted to disconnect. Following day, 1 reboot required. The rest was 1,2,2. Today - I had to reboot 9 times. Progressively worse? Then, for no apparent reason, it gave a login - logged in and when I arrived at my desktop all icons were gone and black background. Killed and restarted explorer. Took about 3 minutes but it finally rebuilt the desktop and populated the screens. Here is a primer on what most posts have talked about and what I've tried: * Did not have any issues installling, this is a single os-boot, on a fresh drive * Did set the BIOS: USB mode - legacy to disabled. * Did disable AHCI * Unplugged all USB devices minus the external 'hub' in my monitors. * Tried Safe-mode * Tried 'last known good hardware config' * Tried 'disable unsigned driver requirement' One last element here that I'll throw into the mix: Over the last few days, for no reason other than doing HD video or some other intense visual (not application specific) the Nvidia drivers crash. This is the only peculiar behavior that coincides with this 'Starting Windows' hang. It didn't happen before and neither did the hang.

Did you run a memory test?

Yes Win 7 is on 500GB drive and Ubuntu is on the 160GB drive

Yes, no errors were detected by the memory test.

hummmm, its really strange. Usually this will happen with Windows Operating System, if you install a new driver or software which is a non-compatible version. Analyze it, and if you found that after installing a particular software/driver/update the Windows starts hangs, un-install that software/driver/update. Go to the software/driver/update website, and get the stable version and install it. Do not update the software/driver/update untill you get the next stable version. -AJ

I am unable to locate the root cause of the problem as it seems to be running from one place to another, as I mentioned earlier, the system was hanging whenever I checked for updates for Nokia Ovi Suite, after removing unnecessary services that part works now but now it hangs whenever I try to add a bluetooth device. First when it hanged, my USB bluetooth didn't load after the restart, when checked the Device Manager, it was showing a Yellow sign next to its name. I removed the driver, deleted the registry entry for USB bluetooth from HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Control\Class\, removed the USB bluetooth dongle, connected another one I had lying with me and restarted my PC. USB bluetooth picked up its drivers and got installed. But when I tried to add a bluetooth device it hanged again.

Yes Win 7 is on 500GB drive and Ubuntu is on the 160GB drive I suggest you to run chkdsk on the 500GB drive or alternatively download it's utility from the hd manufacturer site to run a test on the drive itself

Appreciate the suggestion. I've checked all drives for errors 3-4 times till now. I think I'll try the manufacturer's utility as well.

I did install an application like that sometime back but I had removed it after a few days. Somehow I also feel the application was what caused the problem as it installed some unsigned drivers. I'm not sure if those drivers got deleted when I removed the application. I tried using the SIGVERIF utility to check if I still have any unsigned drivers but it found nothing. My doubt was partly due to the fact that the incompatible application was for installing firmware udpates to Nokia phones and the system was hanging while using a Nokia utility. But that changed after deleting unnecessary services, now the Nokia app works fine and the system hangs while adding bluetooth devices.

Windows 7 RTM will refuse unsigned drivers for 64-bit systems Vote if answered or helpful, I am running for Office (joke)! IT/Developer, Windows/Linux/Mainframe I also am a true vegan and I am very good with economics and I used to play chess at 2400++ I have lots of papers on my site for power supplies and video card problems, see the resources section

Windows 7 RTM will refuse unsigned drivers for 64-bit systems Well, that takes the drivers out of the picture. Problem continues.

Download GPU-Z and check you video card temps. CPU-Z is able to do the same for the CPU. Its also possible overclocking is to high. Also RAM timings my be no good too. Vote if answered or helpful, I am running for Office (joke)! IT/Developer, Windows/Linux/Mainframe I also am a true vegan and I am very good with economics and I used to play chess at 2400++ I have lots of papers on my site for power supplies and video card problems, see the resources section

Temporary disable the security software to test the result. Also you can check if certain hardware is causing this issue by performing the steps below: 1. Click Start, type "devmgmt.msc" (without quotation marks) in the Search bar and press Enter. 2. Expand "Sound, video and game controllers". 3. Right click on your sound card and then click "Properties. 4. In the dropdown menu of Device Usage, please choose "Do not use this device (disable)" and click OK. 5. Please use the same method to disable other dubious hardware such as: internal modem, network card and CD-R drive. Please note some devices such as video adapter are not available to be disabled. Please remember to click Mark as Answer on the post that helps you, and to click Unmark as Answer if a marked post does not actually answer your question. This can be beneficial to other community members reading the thread.

Try the followings: 1. Run your virus removal software to detect the virus that can cause hangs problem. 2. Delete all your temporary files 3. Update your drivers

Hi, I strongly believe that NOKIA utility is creating the problem. You are removing some services to make Nokia application to run. But it may cause the problem for Bluetooth device. So try this, Backup your current registry. Download any registry cleaner, and clean the registry. Enable the services disabled by you and run Nokia application. Check whether it hangs or not. If it hangs, remove the application from your PC. Again run registry clean. If required restart your PC. Download and install older version of Nokia application ( If Win 7 support is not available, install it in XP mode) Hope Nokia application and Bluetooth application will work properly. Still you are facing the same problem, format your PC, do fresh installation of Win 7 Do not install Nokia application (Wait for the next stable version). In the meantime, Install 3^rd party Bluetooth application to access your mobile over Bluetooth. -AJ

Appreciate the suggestion. I've checked all drives for errors 3-4 times till now. I think I'll try the manufacturer's utility as well. If i were you i'll uninstall nokia ovi suite for the time being, if you can't remove it due to hang, try doing it in safe mode and see whether the problem still exist. If after removing nokia suite and it still hang, suggest you to download the hd utility from it's manufacturer site and run a test on the drive like i mention earlier on

Hi, Before you try the steps given by me, check this first. 1. Have you tried with any of these Bluetooth drivers (64 bit)? a. WIDCOMM Bluetooth stack, driver version 6.x b. Toshiba Bluetooth stack, driver version 5.10.12, 6.10.10, 6.30.01, 7.0.0 c. IVT BlueSoleil Bluetooth stack, driver version 5.0.5, 6.2.227.11, 6.4.245.0 If not, try this first before doing other activity. - AJ

I strongly believe that NOKIA utility is creating the problem. You are removing some services to make Nokia application to run. But it may cause the problem for Bluetooth device. Update..... Completely removed everything related to Nokia from my PC. After a restart, I tried adding devices via bluetooth, it worked. I left the system On for sometime while I was getting ready for work. I checked later it and found it hung. I didn't even do anything this time.

If i were you i'll uninstall nokia ovi suite for the time being, if you can't remove it due to hang, try doing it in safe mode and see whether the problem still exist. If after removing nokia suite and it still hang, suggest you to download the hd utility from it's manufacturer site and run a test on the drive like i mention earlier on Completed both the steps. I have no Nokia application on my PC now. I've checked the drive with Seatools and found no problems at all.

Hi, Before you try the steps given by me, check this first. 1. Have you tried with any of these Bluetooth drivers (64 bit)? a. WIDCOMM Bluetooth stack, driver version 6.x b. Toshiba Bluetooth stack, driver version 5.10.12, 6.10.10, 6.30.01, 7.0.0 c. IVT BlueSoleil Bluetooth stack, driver version 5.0.5, 6.2.227.11, 6.4.245.0 If not, try this first before doing other activity. - AJ After removing the Nokia app, the bluetooth is behaving properly even with the Microsoft stack. But the problem is still there. It hanged for no reason at all.

Temporary disable the security software to test the result. Also you can check if certain hardware is causing this issue by performing the steps below: 1. Click Start, type "devmgmt.msc" (without quotation marks) in the Search bar and press Enter. 2. Expand "Sound, video and game controllers". 3. Right click on your sound card and then click "Properties. 4. In the dropdown menu of Device Usage, please choose "Do not use this device (disable)" and click OK. 5. Please use the same method to disable other dubious hardware such as: internal modem, network card and CD-R drive. Please note some devices such as video adapter are not available to be disabled. I tried this after all else failed. After removing Nokia Ovi suite, I am able to enable and disable bluetooth now. but the system hangs while trying to disable the Local Area Connection. I tried it in Normal mode, the system hanged while disabling LAN Tried in Low Resolution mode, the system hanged while disabling LAN. Tried in Safe Mode with Networking mode, I was able to enable and disable LAN without any problems.

Download GPU-Z and check you video card temps. CPU-Z is able to do the same for the CPU. Its also possible overclocking is to high. Also RAM timings my be no good too. I do not overclock my system at all. Everything is running at stock. The temperatures on my PC are all under limits.

Try the followings: 1. Run your virus removal software to detect the virus that can cause hangs problem. 2. Delete all your temporary files 3. Update your drivers I wish it was that simple an issue.

a. WIDCOMM Bluetooth stack, driver version 6.x b. Toshiba Bluetooth stack, driver version 5.10.12, 6.10.10, 6.30.01, 7.0.0 c. IVT BlueSoleil Bluetooth stack, driver version 5.0.5, 6.2.227.11, 6.4.245.0 - AJ I have a local USB bluetooth dongle which came without a CD. These drivers won't work on it.

Hi, If your PC is working fine in Safe mode means, still that problematic driver/software is there in your PC. You have tried a lot, as a final thing can you un-install the USB dongle driver? and check it again? -AJ

Just completed reinstalling Windows 7 on my PC. I would've loved, had we find out what caused the problem so I could refrain from making that mistake again. Oh well, the problem is resting in the Windows.old folder now and will be deleted soon. Thank you everyone for your time.

On Fri, 6 Aug 2010 07:32:06 +0000, Hardeep Singh_ wrote: Just completed reinstalling Windows 7 on my PC. I would've loved, had we find out what caused the problem so I could refrain from making that mistake again. Exactly! That's one of the most important reasons not to try to solve a problem by reinstalling Windows (unless there's really no other solution). It's extremely likely that you will repeat the behavior that caused the problem, and quickly find yourself back in the same situation. Ken Blake

Exactly! That's one of the most important reasons not to try to solve a problem by reinstalling Windows (unless there's really no other solution). It's extremely likely that you will repeat the behavior that caused the problem, and quickly find yourself back in the same situation. Sadly, I'm back again. The problem is still here. The system hanged again with nothing installed on the system. I was transferring my data from Windows.old folder and the system was installing updates in the background. All of a sudden it freezed and stayed there. After restarting the system, I could see 4 failed updates on the system. One for my usb bluetooth driver, one for my Wifi PCI card, one of my Hauppauge TV tuner card and one update for Win 7 64bit systems. Disappointed and Angry, I formatted the whole partition and reinstalled once again. This time I only installed important updates, the system worked fine for sometime and I thought the problem was gone. But all of a sudden it hanged again. After a restart I tried quicky enabling disabling my network devices multiple times, bluetooth worked fine, wifi worked fine but when I tried enabling disabling the Local Area Connection, the system hanged again. This is a clean system with nothing installed except for important Windows Updates.

On Sat, 7 Aug 2010 13:15:16 +0000, Hardeep Singh_ wrote: Exactly! That's one of the most important reasons not to try to solve a problem by reinstalling Windows (unless there's really no other solution). It's extremely likely that you will repeat the behavior that caused the problem, and quickly find yourself back in the same situation. Sadly, I'm back again. The problem is still here. The system hanged again with nothing installed on the system. I was transferring my data from Windows.old folder and the system was installing updates in the background. All of a sudden it freezed and stayed there. After restarting the system, I could see 4 failed updates on the system. One for my usb bluetooth driver, one for my Wifi PCI card, one of my Hauppauge TV tuner card and one update for Win 7 64bit systems. Disappointed and Angry, I formatted the whole partition and reinstalled once again. This time I only installed important updates, the system worked fine for sometime and I thought the problem was gone. But all of a sudden it hanged again. After a restart I tried quicky enabling disabling my network devices multiple times, bluetooth worked fine, wifi worked fine but when I tried enabling disabling the Local Area Connection, the system hanged again. This is a clean system with nothing installed except for important Windows Updates. Your problem very likely is caused by one of the two following things: 1. Defective hardware 2. Malware infection Address the second possibility first. What anti-virus and anti-spyware programs do you run? Are they kept up to date? Ken Blake

Your problem very likely is caused by one of the two following things: 1. Defective hardware 2. Malware infection Address the second possibility first. What anti-virus and anti-spyware programs do you run? Are they kept up to date? Ken Blake I use Microsoft Security Essentials, I have always on internet so Yes, its up to date. I also run Malwarebytes Antimalware from time to time and I uninstall it after use. The problem seems like defective hardware now as the system is running fine with LAN disabled but I fail to understand how the same hardware works fine on Ubuntu and in Windows 7 Safe mode.

You have a driver problem. Real simple. Vote if answered or helpful, I am running for Office (joke)! IT/Developer, Windows/Linux/Mainframe I also am a true vegan and I am very good with economics and I used to play chess at 2400++ I have lots of papers on my site for power supplies and video card problems, see the resources section

On Sat, 7 Aug 2010 19:29:40 +0000, Hardeep Singh_ wrote: Your problem very likely is caused by one of the two following things: 1. Defective hardware 2. Malware infection Address the second possibility first. What anti-virus and anti-spyware programs do you run? Are they kept up to date? Ken Blake I use Microsoft Security Essentials, OK, not the very best choice, but a very good one. I have always on internet so Yes, its up to date. I also run Malwarebytes Antimalware from time to time and I uninstall it after use. And that's an excellent choice, but you should always have it, and not uninstall it after use. I recommend also installing SuperAntiSpyware. With just MalwareBytes AntiMalware and without its always being on, there is still the possibility of a malware problem, but it's not as likely as I thought it might be. The problem seems like defective hardware now as the system is running fine with LAN disabled but I fail to understand how the same hardware works fine on Ubuntu and in Windows 7 Safe mode. Vegan Fanatic says "You have a driver problem. Real simple." I disagree that he is definitely right or that it's "real simple," but there is a good chance that one of your drivers could be causing the problem. When I said it could be a hardware problem, I should have added that, from a practical standpoint, the driver is part of the hardware and could be causing the problem.   Ken Blake

I have found MSE to be quite good. AVG free is another one that is good too. I posted on my forum the story of a computer that would not boot. Its fixed now. It possible malware could be a problem. in the seach box of the start menu sfc /scannow will find any system file issues and fix them. Vote if answered or helpful, I am running for Office (joke)! IT/Developer, Windows/Linux/Mainframe I also am a true vegan and I am very good with economics and I used to play chess at 2400++ I have lots of papers on my site for power supplies and video card problems, see the resources section

And that's an excellent choice, but you should always have it, and not uninstall it after use. I recommend also installing SuperAntiSpyware. With just MalwareBytes AntiMalware and without its always being on, there is still the possibility of a malware problem, but it's not as likely as I thought it might be. Malware problem on a freshly formatted PC? Still I'd try it and post results.

I've updated the LAN driver to the latest available from Intel. I also tried going back to the original driver inbuilt in Win 7. Probably the problem is somewhere else. I don't know what to think

On Sun, 8 Aug 2010 04:15:03 +0000, Hardeep Singh_ wrote: And that's an excellent choice, but you should always have it, and not uninstall it after use. I recommend also installing SuperAntiSpyware. With just MalwareBytes AntiMalware and without its always being on, there is still the possibility of a malware problem, but it's not as likely as I thought it might be. Malware problem on a freshly formatted PC? Still I'd try it and post results. Likely? No, not as likely as one that's been running for a while. But yes, it is possible. You can get malware almost immediately. Ken Blake

go to trendmicro and download and use the rootkit finder app. when the PC hangs..was it asleep??? when it hangs can you open the cd / dvd drive?

Try the Clean Boot debug procedure detailed at: http://support.microsoft.com/kb/929135 Jerry

Likely? No, not as likely as one that's been running for a while. But yes, it is possible. You can get malware almost immediately. I think I'm very close to finding the problem. Is there a way to check what all have I installed and removed from my system ever since the last format? I want to be sure if I installed a certain application on my system after the second format. I was installing Internet Download Manager 6.0 beta yesterday after using Free Download Manager for a day (which I didn't like) and got a Msgbox informing me about the beta network driver which can cause freezes and a way to disable it if it causes trouble. I've had this application for almost the same duration in which I had the issues but I'm not sure if I installed IDM 6.0 beta after the second format or if I went straight for the Free Download Manager. I want to be sure about this because I've had system freezes after the second format as well. I re-enabled the Local Area Connection yesterday afternoon and its been working fine ever since.

So called download managers are generally garbage at best. Remove them all. Vote if answered or helpful, I am running for Office (joke)! IT/Developer, Windows/Linux/Mainframe I also am a true vegan and I am very good with economics and I used to play chess at 2400++ I have lots of papers on my site for power supplies and video card problems, see the resources section

Hardeep, Here I wanted to point out my reply, which was posted 2nd day of this query history.... "hummmm, its really strange. Usually this will happen with Windows Operating System, if you install a new driver or software which is a non-compatible version. Analyze it, and if you found that after installing a particular software/driver/update the Windows starts hangs, un-install that software/driver/update. Go to the software/driver/update website, and get the stable version and install it. Do not update the software/driver/update untill you get the next stable version." Good that you almost found the rootcause. Happy debugging. -AJ

64-bit drivers are supposed to be signed to help make sure there are no problems. Vote if answered or helpful, I am running for Office (joke)! IT/Developer, Windows/Linux/Mainframe I also am a true vegan and I am very good with economics and I used to play chess at 2400++ I have lots of papers on my site for power supplies and video card problems, see the resources section

Hardeep, Here I wanted to point out my reply, which was posted 2nd day of this query history.... "hummmm, its really strange. Usually this will happen with Windows Operating System, if you install a new driver or software which is a non-compatible version. Analyze it, and if you found that after installing a particular software/driver/update the Windows starts hangs, un-install that software/driver/update. Go to the software/driver/update website, and get the stable version and install it. Do not update the software/driver/update untill you get the next stable version." Good that you almost found the rootcause. Happy debugging. -AJ At that time I was only focusing on hardware and hardware drivers and it seems I missed the software part. Thank you for continuous suggestions and support. I guess that was it, I haven't faced the issue till now.

This problem can be marked as Resolved now. Thank you everyone for your support. The system is working great.

I don't think u can call it resolved cuz its not solved yet, Do u guys think its the download manager which causes the hangs? Also it hangs my pc when i try to change the wifi security password.