Is Windows 7 incredibly unstable for anyone else?

Jumpem

[H]ard|Gawd
Joined
Dec 1, 2000
Messages
1,060
It crashes to a blamk screen once or twice a day. I get errors that IE, superfetch, vide driver, etc has stopped responding.

I have run HCI memtest and it was fine. My setup is an Asus P7P55D + i7 860 + 5870. All stock.

Any ideas? I built the new PC and installed Windows 7 at the same time. So I don't know if it is the hardware or OS. I am almost tempted to install Vista again on another drive to see if that is better.
 
You ran Windows Update to get all the latest drivers for your hardware?

Other then that I don't know. In accordance with all the reviews of Windows 7, i agree that its been the best release of Windows ever. Not a single issue here.

Sure you don't have a virus? Install MSE and MBAM, all you need in that regard.
 
Is the RAM certified compatible with that motherboard? On the manufacturers site, don't pay attention to memtest.

Latest BIOS on the motherboard?

Powersupply with enough nut for your video card?

Gotta admin, Win7 on the rigs I've put it on already...has been rock stable. Not that Vista or XP or 2K were unstable for me either.
 
You ran Windows Update to get all the latest drivers for your hardware?

Other then that I don't know. In accordance with all the reviews of Windows 7, i agree that its been the best release of Windows ever. Not a single issue here.

Sure you don't have a virus? Install MSE and MBAM, all you need in that regard.

Yes. I got the latest drivers from ATI's site, installed the latest chipset drivers from Asus site, and the newest BIOS.

I have had AVG running, so I am fairly certain I don't have a virus. I read that AVG may be causing others grief so I uninstalled it for now.
 
Is the RAM certified compatible with that motherboard? On the manufacturers site, don't pay attention to memtest.

Latest BIOS on the motherboard?

Powersupply with enough nut for your video card?

Gotta admin, Win7 on the rigs I've put it on already...has been rock stable. Not that Vista or XP or 2K were unstable for me either.

The exact RAM, G.Skill 2x2GB DDR3-1333 1.5v C7, isn't listed in the motherboard manual. But similar G.Skill product numbers are. I am using two 4GB kits if it matters.

Yes, I updated to the latest BIOS on Asus site.

Power supply is a Corsair 520HX that has I've had for a couple years. I don't think it's power related. It never crashes when being stressed gaming. Always when doing basic desktop stuff.
 
Do a clean installation of Windows 7, hit Windows Update and get everything it offers (except the damned language packs and maybe mouse drivers which they seem to now be pushing out - Intellipoint crap for Microsoft mice, etc), and then verify the system is solid and stable. If it is, I'd make an image of it at that point - imaging software seems to be a personal choice kind of thing, but I can't recommend Acronis True Image high enough.

After that, install just the video drivers from ATI if they are actually newer - and I mean the WHQL ones, I don't mean betas or release candidates if they exist. As for chipset drivers, Windows 7 has you covered, leave it alone - those drivers from Asus directly could be pooching it, and I've heard reports that they do so... just passing on the knowledge I've gleaned of late.

The stock Windows 7 and Windows Update drivers should give you a rock solid foundation to start from. The only driver I ever bother to update is the video; everything else is secondary and simply not important.

People focus too much on "oh, that's the latest driver, I gotta have it" not realizing that newest != best, more often than not, and sometimes it becomes a big pooch screw when you install the "latest and greatest."

Start with the solid foundation of just the Windows 7 default and Windows Update drivers - when Device Manager is solid (if you have to get a driver for an unsupported device from the manufacturer, that's fine - rare, but it's fine) image it and work from there.

Good luck...
 
Yep the built in drivers were solid. I upgraded wireless driver from Intel because there was an occasional dropped connection and that was fixed. Video drivers were the only other thing I used. Using Norton 10 AV and that hasn't been a problem. System is extremely solid, and hibernates/sleeps without one single hiccup ever.

Given the occasional issues with sleep I was having with XP, Win 7 is actually more stable on my system. Been building up a plan to convert all our home pc's over to it one at a time. Maybe 2nd one will go today, if there is time.

:)
 
Ok, I reinstalled the OS, did windows update, and installed the video card drivers. Worked great for a couple days, and then this morning it crashed to a blank screen again (as in no video output... the PC is still powered on but no output).

What should I look at?
 
Well its clear its a hardware issue. My money is still on a faulty PSU.

Have you been monitoring the CPU temps?
 
Well its clear its a hardware issue. My money is still on a faulty PSU.

Have you been monitoring the CPU temps?

Really. You think the Corasir HX520 is not enough? It has worked fine for a couple years in my previous configuration. And it generally crashes while at the dektop, not gaming when more power would be drawn.

CPU temps idle in the upper 20's, and top out in the upper 50's.
 
It may not be an issue of is the PSU powerful enough, but sometimes components die, and PSUs do so probably more than other parts. I know on my last system, the PSU died and I had similar crashes all the time. Other than that, check the components one by one, or if you don't have spare components, take it to a shop (after you've made sure it's not a software issue.)
 
The exact RAM, G.Skill 2x2GB DDR3-1333 1.5v C7, isn't listed in the motherboard manual. .

Hmmm. I'm not a fan of "picking any old RAM because it looks like it should work". Ends up with far too much valuable time being wasted wondering why systems run screwy.

Does G.Skills site have a memory selection utility...you plug in your motherboard brand...then the model..and it spits out a list of their RAM part numbers that's been tested/compatible with your mobo?
 
I have heard rumblings of stability issues when all DIMMs are filled. See what happens if you go back down to just 2x2GB (instead of 4x2GB).
 
Hmmm. I'm not a fan of "picking any old RAM because it looks like it should work". Ends up with far too much valuable time being wasted wondering why systems run screwy.

Does G.Skills site have a memory selection utility...you plug in your motherboard brand...then the model..and it spits out a list of their RAM part numbers that's been tested/compatible with your mobo?

Perhaps, the "RAM Configurator" seems to be under construction.
 
I have heard rumblings of stability issues when all DIMMs are filled. See what happens if you go back down to just 2x2GB (instead of 4x2GB).

I can try that. Is it possible for it to pass Memtest with 8GB, but still not be stable in Windows running 8GB?
 
do you happen to have a c-media based card reader? mine will eventually crash win7 if i leave the card in all night, it is fine if i take the card out when i am finished with it.
 
do you happen to have a c-media based card reader? mine will eventually crash win7 if i leave the card in all night, it is fine if i take the card out when i am finished with it.

No, I don't.
 
Is it possible for it to pass Memtest with 8GB, but still not be stable in Windows running 8GB?

Yep, i had a Vista Media Center with 2GB of ram that would keep locking up, most times you couldnt even watch a full movie. After a few weeks of problem solving, swapping the memory fixed it. In the mean time memtest had been run several times, with the longest 5 days (whilst i was away) with not a single error reported.
 
Do the blank screen crashes happen after using sleep mode? If it does then it's your 5870 at fault. The longer my computer stays in sleep, the more likely it is to crash (just a blank blue screen) after coming out of it. There are other glitches that accompany it like graphical corruption and an occasional bluescreen caused by the ATI drivers. The latest catylyst improved things a little bit, I used to get all kinds of weird memory (system RAM) corruption in Windows also, but the crashes remain. For me the solution was don't use sleep mode. I've also heard of similar but slightly different cases of instability from other 5870 owners.

Edit:
One more thing, the part about random windows components crapping out (IE, logon process, etc.) is exactly what was happening to me using the September catalyst drivers. It's like memory slowly got corrupted while it was in sleep. Like I said before, that kind of went away with the October drivers. The blank crashes still happen but the memory corruption doesn't seem to happen to system memory anymore. Just a bit more information, my motherboard is an Intel DP35DP, no overclocking funny business and my memory is error free according to Memtest and Windows memory diagnostic. I had a 4890 before the 5870 and sleep worked just fine with that card. I'm using 7 64 bit but the same crashes happen in Vista 64 bit also.
 
Last edited:
Sorry to ask, but you're 100% sure all the power cables are plugged into the MoBo/GPU/HDD/etc., including (if your PSU is modular) the other side of the cables plugged into the PSU itself, right?
 
I don't know if you're asking me or the OP but I took my computer apart and put it back together trying to fix this. Believe me, everything is plugged in correctly. I completely missed something important here. The OP and I have the exact same power supply, the Corsair HX520. I suspect there's something about the HX520 + 5870 combination that leads to this.
 
DO you by any chance have uTorrent or bitTorrent running in the background? All my freezing problems were fixed by getting rid of those.
 
DO you by any chance have uTorrent or bitTorrent running in the background? All my freezing problems were fixed by getting rid of those.

Many, many of use run uTorrent. Don't spread FUD mmmmKay? :D
 
I don't know if you're asking me or the OP but I took my computer apart and put it back together trying to fix this. Believe me, everything is plugged in correctly. I completely missed something important here. The OP and I have the exact same power supply, the Corsair HX520. I suspect there's something about the HX520 + 5870 combination that leads to this.
You may be onto something because I am suffering from the same problem and I also have the HX520 + HD 5870 combo. It irks me because by all accounts a decent 520w PSU should be enough. JonnyGuru has tested the thing with 520w load and 36A on the 12V rail(s).
 
Many, many of use run uTorrent. Don't spread FUD mmmmKay? :D
I don't think he means it is caused by the uTorrent software per se, but rather when you torrent a lot of streams at the same time, it does put alot of stress on your PC / power supply which connects back to everyone's thought of the PS being the culpit - so not necessarily a "spreading FUD" situation :-P
 
Um... You can have 100+ torrents open in a uTorrent and your CPU shouldn't go about 5% usage... I'm not sure that is called "stress"...

And why is this thread back from the dead?
 
Oh and I've tested Win 7 Beta and RC1 and release Home Premium & Ultimate on various machines at home (in sig) and at my office. All of them have been rock solid so MS gets kudos from me (which is a rare thing). Plus some computers can actually use sleep mode now, where they couldn't do that successfully before under Vista.
 
I just went back to XP64 after a few weeks of Win7. My games would cause a hard lock up. I suspect the drivers are just not there yet - I've got a pair of 9800gx2, so the quad SLI might be a bit suspect.
 
I just went back to XP64 after a few weeks of Win7. My games would cause a hard lock up. I suspect the drivers are just not there yet - I've got a pair of 9800gx2, so the quad SLI might be a bit suspect.

Perhaps the quad setup is causing problems but by 3x SLI GTX 280 setup has been very stable espically with the 195.62 drivers on my sig rig. CoD MW2 was a little funky before the 195.62 drivers but that got cleared up with the new drivers.
 
I bumped the thread because it was a Google result while troubleshooting my own issues with the "blue screen" freezing. My symptoms are identical to that of two other people here.

1) My screen will switch instantly to a faded blue.
2) This happens occasionally during sleep related activity.
3) This happens a lot when I stress the CPU with something like Prime95.
4) This never happened while running the combination of Win7 64-bit + Corsair HX520 + HD 4890, but now happens with the HD 5870 as the installed video card.

What I want to know is if any HD 5870s owners without the HX520 have come across this type of system crash.
 
put in another set of ram and see if the problem persist. I had a similar problem before and the problem was one of the sticks was bad. it gave no error when tested with memtest but when ran with it alone or paired it would blue screen all the time.
 
Many, many of use run uTorrent. Don't spread FUD mmmmKay? :D
I wouldn't call it FUD. uTorrent has always given me stuttering, and made my internet connection barely usable, until I would shut it down. Any other BitTorrent client would work fine for me instead, including the plain vanilla client.
 
Reseated everything and played musical chairs with all four of my DIMMs, still the "blue screen." (not a BSOD)

I should note that this does not happen that frequently during normal operation, but if I start taxing the CPU or if I sleep the computer enough, that seems to trigger the crash pretty reliably.
 
Back
Top