So I managed to hard lock Windows 7...

[Raxiel]

As the topic says, I managed to completely lock up Windows 7 (RC 7100), only the reset/power button could get the system working again.

I've been using the RC for months, and have been very happy with it (Home Premium already pre-ordered), and I've had no problems with crashes, nor seen a single blue screen untill now.

The problem isn't with Win7 per se, the problem is with my LG BD/HD-ROM/DVD-RW SATA drive, and a particular brand of DVD-R disks. If one of these disks is inserted into the drive (either a blank or a pre-recorded disk) the drive light flashes, and if an attempt is made in windows to access the drive, or if its left alone for more than a minute the computer just stops responding (including ignoring the eject button on the drive) ctrl-alt-del won't work, and if the computer is left long enough it may notice explorer has stopped responding and ask if I want to end it, but the dialogue box stops responding if you pick an option. After a reboot the event viewer says the disk had a read error.

The Windows XP partition on the same machine behaves in the same way. DVD-R's of a different brand work fine.
The same disks in my old computer, with a fresh xp install and my old drive, are accessed in seconds.

These disks always worked perfectly fine on my old NEC DVD-RW PATA drive, so the obvious solution is to either not use the disks, or change the drive (Which I plan to do, its still under warranty).

But 7 is touted as the 'most stable windows yet' and all that, even if an optical drive goes crazy, this new 'bulletproof' OS should just say 'the disk cannot be read, not fall appart so badly.

My concern is, what if the replacement drive takes a sudden dislike to a different brand of media?
Any of you guys got any suggestions as to how I can make it fail more gracefully if it happens again?

 

[Joe Average]

Check for a firmware update that might resolve the issues with the LG drive, I've seen that happen more than once on many systems, and not just those running Windows (any version). What you described is a 100% hardware issue that has nothing to do with the OS (and yes I know you mentioned that, "per se" but I had to clarify it somewhat).

Check CDFreaks.com's forums for more info on the drive or potentially someone else that might be having the same issue(s) and has found a solution; two heads are better than one, I've heard...

 

[bigdogchris]

I've been able to crash Explorer.exe over and over before on 7 RTM whenever I insert a blank CD-R. I was thinking it was because I have that optical drive in a AHCI port but I haven't attempted to troubleshoot it yet so I'm not 100% sure.

 

[Raxiel]

Check for a firmware update that might resolve the issues with the LG drive, I've seen that happen more than once on many systems, and not just those running Windows (any version). What you described is a 100% hardware issue that has nothing to do with the OS (and yes I know you mentioned that, "per se" but I had to clarify it somewhat).

Check CDFreaks.com's forums for more info on the drive or potentially someone else that might be having the same issue(s) and has found a solution; two heads are better than one, I've heard...

Yeah, I realise my hardware is the disease, I just wish windows would handle the symptoms better.

I have the latest retail firmware from LG, HP apparently have a 'later version' for their oem version but I'm loathe to install it.

I'll give CDFreaks a try, thanks for the info.

I've been able to crash Explorer.exe over and over before on 7 RTM whenever I insert a blank CD-R. I was thinking it was because I have that optical drive in a AHCI port but I haven't attempted to troubleshoot it yet so I'm not 100% sure.

Hmm, I wonder if there is a bios setting somewhere that might help.

 

[tesfaye]

Yeah, I realise my hardware is the disease, I just wish windows would handle the symptoms better...

Exactly. I hate that Windows will sometimes just freeze completely due to a bad device. It should handle it more gracefully. I'm seeing fewer hangs with Windows 7 but just as you noted, it's still possible. Good luck.

 

[Kil4Thril]

I've been able to crash Explorer.exe over and over before on 7 RTM whenever I insert a blank CD-R. I was thinking it was because I have that optical drive in a AHCI port but I haven't attempted to troubleshoot it yet so I'm not 100% sure.

I have one drive that I can do that repeatedly on 3 machines. My other wouldn't crash if I dropped it. The killer is a Rosewill-branded TEAC slim.

 

[gimp]

hardware issues can very very very rarely be compensated for by an OS.

"omgz, Win7 keeps crashing because I overclocked! why does it crash instead of shut down gracefully?!"

same BASIC concept.

certain hardware issues an OS just cannot handle.

 

[JimmiG]

Here's my Win7 Pro final reliability rating



The system is 100% stable running Prime95 and AMD Overdrive.

However the higher bus speed might have been causing other problems. I've tweaked the southbridge, northbridge and RAM voltages now and think the system is more reliable. Will have to wait a few more days to find out. The Reliability Monitor is a great way to check for hardware and software issues, overclocking stability and other issues that might not be apparent running normal burn-in tests.

 

[heatlesssun]

Exactly. I hate that Windows will sometimes just freeze completely due to a bad device. It should handle it more gracefully. I'm seeing fewer hangs with Windows 7 but just as you noted, it's still possible. Good luck.

I think this is a LOT easier said than done. Robust error handling that handles all contingencies is not easy.

 

[extide]

I have always hated how bad discs can bring a computer to it's knees. Insert a coaster or a disc that the cdrom doesnt like and it's like all hell breaks loose. It's a shame that this sort of stuff hasnt been improved in the past few years.

 

[Raxiel]

hardware issues can very very very rarely be compensated for by an OS.

"omgz, Win7 keeps crashing because I overclocked! why does it crash instead of shut down gracefully?!"

same BASIC concept.

certain hardware issues an OS just cannot handle.

I realise that not all hardware issues can't be handled by the OS, of course overclocking can cause errors in the cpu, memory and motherboard chip-set, as well as the interfaces with other devices, all critical systems. But the DVD drive is a peripheral device, the system will run just fine if it isn't there. Now, perhaps it is impossible to stop a bad drive locking up the system, if the drive upsets the controller, which upsets the chip-set and so on, but that doesn't mean its unreasonable to at least ask if there is a way around it in the software.

 

[Jutsu]

I actually hard locked my Windows 7 RTM computer this morning. I had an ISO located on my external drive, which I have mounted using Daemon Lite. I guess somewhere over the course of the day I powered off my external but Daemon still considered the ISO mounted. Then this morning when I went to run the ISO and it accidentally defaulted to WMP instead of VLC. Since the External was off, WMP couldn't run ISO it thought was there and my entire system froze.

I am going to try to replicate the problem using VLC tonight. First time I have done something stupid in W7 that caused a problem...

 

[krupted]

fwiw i have noticed win7 does an even better job then vista does when dealing with slow or missing network drives.

 

[GreenMonkey]

I actually hard locked my Windows 7 RTM computer this morning. I had an ISO located on my external drive, which I have mounted using Daemon Lite. I guess somewhere over the course of the day I powered off my external but Daemon still considered the ISO mounted. Then this morning when I went to run the ISO and it accidentally defaulted to WMP instead of VLC. Since the External was off, WMP couldn't run ISO it thought was there and my entire system froze.

I am going to try to replicate the problem using VLC tonight. First time I have done something stupid in W7 that caused a problem...

I managed to lock up my win7 last night trying to install Visio 2007 (from MSDNAA downloaded iso) with Daemon tools.

It worked after the next reboot.

I think Daemon tools still has some issues with win7.