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Frequent hangs - complete system freeze - SSD?

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  • 17-10-2017 1:45pm
    #1
    Trojan
    Registered Users Posts: 16,413 ✭✭✭✭


    I have an Asus U36SD laptop which is now frequently hanging, i.e. a complete system freeze - spinning circular mouse pointer when moved, and clock not updating.

    This seems to happen after about 20 minutes of use, and usually when system is idling. Occasionally it bluescreens with a generic message that gives no details.

    There is nothing in the event log, just normal events up until the time of the freeze, next event is the boot sequence after I power cycle it.

    The drive is an SSD, a Crucial M4 256GB which is 4-5 years old. I suspect the SSD as I had had problems with an OCZ Vertex 3 which I eventually replaced with the M4.

    Any thoughts or suggestions? Is it most likely to be the SSD or do I need to diagnose further?

    🎙️ The Recognized Authority Podcast



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    #2
    CatInABox
    Moderators, Computer Games Moderators, Recreation & Hobbies Moderators Posts: 10,358 Mod ✭✭✭✭CatInABox


    Trojan wrote: »
    I have an Asus U36SD laptop which is now frequently hanging, i.e. a complete system freeze - spinning circular mouse pointer when moved, and clock not updating.

    This seems to happen after about 20 minutes of use, and usually when system is idling. Occasionally it bluescreens with a generic message that gives no details.

    There is nothing in the event log, just normal events up until the time of the freeze, next event is the boot sequence after I power cycle it.

    The drive is an SSD, a Crucial M4 256GB which is 4-5 years old. I suspect the SSD as I had had problems with an OCZ Vertex 3 which I eventually replaced with the M4.

    Any thoughts or suggestions? Is it most likely to be the SSD or do I need to diagnose further?

    Is it Windows 10 by any chance?


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    #3
    ginger_hammer
    Registered Users Posts: 147 ✭✭ginger_hammer


    If you have an intel skylake/kabylake there is a known bug that requires a MB BIOS flash to fix (if your MB BIOS has the relevant update).

    Alternatively you can try - swapping out the RAM sticks (depending on how many you have), booting from another drive (if available), check for temps (clean out dust from inside if possible), clean install of Windows, loose connections inside, etc.

    I've not had any problems with SSDs yet though so have never tried to diagnose issues with one. I presume you've run the usual scan disk, error checking, etc.


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    #4
    Trojan
    Registered Users Posts: 16,413 ✭✭✭✭Trojan


    It’s happening under Windows 8 (fully up to date). Win 10 won’t run on this machine without BSOD, don’t know why but I’m fine with 8.

    🎙️ The Recognized Authority Podcast



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    #5
    d31b0y
    Registered Users Posts: 2,028 ✭✭✭d31b0y


    Maybe you could post a couple of the mini dumps (C:\Windows\minidump\) that are created after the BSOD? I don't have a huge amount of experience in troubleshooting dump files but I am sure someone here could take a look.

    Or check out BlueScreenView (http://www.nirsoft.net/utils/blue_screen_view.html) and review the dump files yourself for something obvious.

    You could grab the Crucial Storage Executive to check the SSD (http://eu.crucial.com/eur/en/support-storage-executive).

    Everything else I can think of has been mentioned already.


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