Windows 10 randomly hanging up

A

arli21

Member
Joined
May 4, 2021
Posts
9
Hello,

My Windows 10 system began to randomly hang up: the mouse would not move, the sleep button would not work, not even talking about the task manager (ctrl+alt+delete or ctrl+shift+esc). The only solution is to restart the computer. Last time it occured, the computer restarted itself, telling there were a boot error. I had to turn it off, let it boot again, it would boot on the Windows memtest, and then on Windows.

I did not post in the BSOD thread since I did not get an actual BSOD (and BlueScreenView does not show anything). I can give any needed information, sorry if I did not follow some posting guidelines (I was not able to find them).

Thanks in advance,
arli
 
Hi Arli. . .

I am not a hardware expert (I sit on the software side of the fence and my specialty is BSODs). I rarely ever get involved with systems that freeze.

I would suggest that you start diagnostic tests by testing RAM. It is odd for your system to re-boot and go directly into the onboard Windows RAM test, which is nowhere as good as this one - (2) Test RAM with PassMark MemTest86 | Sysnative Forums

But the fact that it did test the RAM may indicate that Windows believes that a RAM issue may exist. Keep in mind that other hardware parts can affect RAMs' performance (including heat - so make sure your system's interior is clean and has good airflow). RAMs basic function is to properly hold kernel code, which is constantly written to RAM and read from RAM. Windows knows exactly what the contents of any given RAM memory address is and if Windows wrote kernel code to a certain RAM address, then went back to read that same address and found different kernel code, a warning or more likely an error would occur.

My nearly 15 years of experience on these forums tells me that in general, system freezes are often tied to RAM, but not always. The actual cause could be any failing hardware part, including the motherboard.

Also, I would advise you to backup and personal files that are important to you (based on the boot error message) as I just went through an issue where I rebooted my laptop, got a very short boot error message and error code basically stating that my boot partition, file, other (??) was corrupted and my laptop has not booted into Windows since then. The only fix - reinstall Windows on a new hard drive. I had not backed up important personal files for several months and it is a PIA trying to recreate them. I have no idea what caused the boot *whatever* to get corrupted on my laptop. I replaced the HDD with an SSD and am now trying to see if I can recover any of the files from the old, factory HDD.

Next for you if all of the RAM checks out - test your hard drive with SeaTools for DOS - (2) Hard Drive (HDD) Diagnostics (Sea Tools for DOS) & SSD Test | Sysnative Forums

Also run chkdsk - Bring up an Admin CMD prompt (hit the WIN key; type CMD; select "Run as Administrator" on the right side; hit enter.)

Then type [B]chkdsk /f /r[/B] into the CMD screen and hit enter. Select Y to reboot the system. chkdsk will then begin upon reboot.

Then run steps 1 and 2 - (2) Blue Screen of Death (BSOD) Posting Instructions - Windows 10, 8.1, 8, 7 + Vista | Sysnative Forums

Included in the zip file output of that app (in steps 1 and 2) will be the results of chkdsk. Be sure to run chkdsk for all drives.

Attach the resulting zip file to your next post.

How old is the hardware?

Is it a desktop or a laptop?

Regards. . .

jcgriff2
 
  • MemTest passed with 0 errors (I ran all tests)

  • I ran the quick test from Seatools for Windows (I wasn't able to install the bootable version on USB, my BIOS would not recognize it while it recognized the same stick with memtest on it), and no error either.

  • Chkdsk results for both my drives are included in the zip linked below (chksdk-c.txt and chkdsk-d.txt). Note that both my drives (system and data) are encrypted with Veracrypt.

  • My computer is a laptop (Acer Swift 5), it is 3 years old.
Thanks for your help.
 

Attachments

DISM said The restore operation completed successfully. The operation completed successfully. An additional run of SFC found no errors again.
 
For info, chkdsk for drive c: looks OK -
Code: 
Checking file system on C:
The type of the file system is NTFS.

A disk check has been scheduled.
Windows will now check the disk.                     

Stage 1: Examining basic file system structure ...
  653056 file records processed.                                                    


File verification completed.
Phase duration (File record verification): 7.45 seconds.
  11345 large file records processed.                               


Phase duration (Orphan file record recovery): 0.00 milliseconds.
  0 bad file records processed.                                 


Phase duration (Bad file record checking): 1.64 milliseconds.

Stage 2: Examining file name linkage ...
  378 reparse records processed.                                  


  893788 index entries processed.                                                   


Index verification completed.
Phase duration (Index verification): 32.52 seconds.
  0 unindexed files scanned.                                    


Phase duration (Orphan reconnection): 1.56 seconds.
  0 unindexed files recovered to lost and found.                


Phase duration (Orphan recovery to lost and found): 1.12 seconds.
  378 reparse records processed.                                  


Phase duration (Reparse point and Object ID verification): 7.04 milliseconds.

Stage 3: Examining security descriptors ...
Cleaning up 1377 unused index entries from index $SII of file 0x9.
Cleaning up 1377 unused index entries from index $SDH of file 0x9.
Cleaning up 1377 unused security descriptors.
Security descriptor verification completed.
Phase duration (Security descriptor verification): 81.25 milliseconds.
  120367 data files processed.                                       


Phase duration (Data attribute verification): 2.02 milliseconds.
CHKDSK is verifying Usn Journal...
  37706832 USN bytes processed.                                                       


Usn Journal verification completed.
Phase duration (USN journal verification): 217.38 milliseconds.

Stage 4: Looking for bad clusters in user file data ...
  653040 files processed.                                                           


File data verification completed.
Phase duration (User file recovery): 13.37 minutes.

Stage 5: Looking for bad, free clusters ...
  19378600 free clusters processed.                                                   


Free space verification is complete.
Phase duration (Free space recovery): 0.00 milliseconds.

Windows has scanned the file system and found no problems.
No further action is required.

225878015 KB total disk space.
147307432 KB in 507627 files.
    289248 KB in 120368 indexes.
         0 KB in bad sectors.
    766931 KB in use by the system.
     65536 KB occupied by the log file.
  77514404 KB available on disk.

      4096 bytes in each allocation unit.
  56469503 total allocation units on disk.
  19378601 allocation units available on disk.
Total duration: 14.08 minutes (845313 ms).

Internal Info:
00 f7 09 00 26 95 09 00 77 ee 10 00 00 00 00 00  ....&...w.......
33 01 00 00 47 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00  3...G...........

Windows has finished checking your disk.
Please wait while your computer restarts.

drive d:
Code: 
Chkdsk cannot run because the volume is in use by another
process.  Chkdsk may run if this volume is dismounted first.
ALL OPENED HANDLES TO THIS VOLUME WOULD THEN BE INVALID.
Would you like to force a dismount on this volume? (Y/N) y
Volume dismounted.  All opened handles to this volume are now invalid.
Volume Serial Number is 103D-B6E3
Windows is verifying files and folders...
Windows is verifying file allocations...
File and folder verification is complete.
Windows is verifying free space...
  109833 free clusters processed.
Free space verification is complete.

Windows has scanned the file system and found no problems.
No further action is required.

188444416 KB total disk space.
172876288 KB in 105405 files.
   1509120 KB in 11781 indexes.
         0 KB in bad sectors.
       384 KB in use by the system.
  14058624 KB available on disk.

    131072 bytes in each allocation unit.
   1472222 total allocation units on disk.
    109833 allocation units available on disk.


Where did you obtain the Windows ISO from when you installed Windows?


arli21 said:
My computer is a laptop (Acer Swift 5), it is 3 years old.
Click to expand...

Windows was very recently reinstalled on this system:
Rich (BB code): 
Original Install Date:     04-Apr-21, 07:03:45

The OS is -
Code: 
OS Name:                   Microsoft [HI]Windows 10 Pro[/HI]

Very, very few systems come with Windows 10 Pro from the factory, but yours apparently did - Swift 5 Laptop - SF514-52TP-84C9 | Ultra-thin - Laptops | Acer Store – US


This is a problem:

zbook said:
The logs displayed piracy / crack.
See Sysnative rules:
Sysnative Forum Rules
Click to expand...

Regards. . .

jcgriff2
 
Last edited:
Hello,

I recently had to reinstall Windows because of a problem I had with Veracrypt, so I grabbed the ISO on this website (TechBench by WZT (v4.1.1)), and activated with Microsoft Activation Scripts on GitHub since I did not have my genuine Windows key at hand. I now have it, and I can reactivate Windows with it if it is important (even if I am not 100% sure how to do so).
 
Why did you download the .ISO from an unofficial source? Could you please enter the following command in command prompt and then provide a screenshot of the output:

Rich (BB code): 
slmgr /dlv
 
The website I downloaded the ISO from just centralises Microsoft's TechBench links, so the ISOs are totally official (the download URL is one from Microsoft). It's just easier than looking for the ISOs on Microsoft's website.

I reactivated Windows with my legitimate licence key, here is a screenshot from slmgr /dlv :
https://imgur.com/a/NXzWwWS
 
Ok, this is absolutely not the point, the ISO I installed Windows with is 100% legitimate and original (it comes from Microsoft's servers, what are you asking for more?). And I reinstalled Windows at least 5 or 6 times, I have absolutely no idea of where is my original OEM key so I just bought a new one.

Now that my Windows 10 is activated and genuine, can we try resolving the actual issue? (I understand that non-original ISOs or cracks can be the cause of issues such as mine, but as for now it is not the case)
 
Ok, so what are you suggesting? That I redownload the exact same ISO from the exact same URL I downloaded it from, just using a different wizard, and that I reinstall the exact same version of Windows using this ISO?
 
arli21 said:
That I redownload the exact same ISO from the exact same URL I downloaded it from, just using a different wizard, and that I reinstall the exact same version of Windows using this ISO?
Click to expand...

What you do is up to you. I, for one, will not offer any further support unless that's precisely what you do, as one cannot know what one is working with.

By the way, the Media Creation Tool does what it says, and builds an ISO. It is different than downloading an existing one, and it creates the "freshest" version currently available and from the one, known, unquestionably legitimate source.

There are many reasons that I specify the use of the MCT in my own instruction set, but the primary one has been stated in the paragraph above.

In addition, unless you actually believe that you did not have a legitimately licensed version of Windows 10 to begin with, there is absolutely no need to purchase a license key. The Windows 10 installer will fetch the existing license for that piece of hardware from Microsoft's own servers, or at least the one created by the MCT does, every time. You need a license key in one of two circumstances:

1. You are installing Windows 10 for the very first time on a new system that has never had Windows 10 on it.

2. You are upgrading the edition of Windows 10 from Home to Pro either on a machine currently running Home, or on a freshly restored/reinstalled machine that still has the OEM license associated with it.
 
Ok, so what will you need me to do once I will have reinstalled windows using the wonderful oh-so-incredible MCT and reactivated it using my OEM key (or having it activated by itself)?
 
Now you watch and wait to see if your issue is still recurring. There's nothing more anyone can do unless it recurs (and if it does it's way more than likely a hardware problem of some sort than a Windows problem).

In the meantime, I'd be curious to see a screenshot from Settings, Update & Security, Activation Pane. Here's mine:

ActivationPane.jpg
 
Last edited:

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