There are many reasons why your computer may be freezing with some regularity. We do not refer to a matter of low temperatures. The number of reasons why does my computer keep freezing are many, but there are common problems which are almost always the cause, which we will cover in this article. If your computer suffers from freezing regularly or randomly and you want to know what the causes and their solutions are, keep reading this.
Why does my computer keep freezing?
We will describe the reasons with the solution. Read below and make your PC OK.
1- Malware
The first possibility and probably the most common cause is a virus. Viruses can do anything to a computer. While they are stealing your data or ruining your files and applications, they are also consuming precious resources that could be used for other important tasks. While they run in the background without you noticing, viruses can suck all the power of your processor or bump the RAM causing instability in your system. Symptoms that your computer has a virus:
-Pop-up ads
Pop-up windows with striking messages like the typical “This is not a joke, you are the 10,000th visitor of this day! Click here to claim your prize.” They also tend to be product promotions or pornographic content. If this happens frequently and you have no browser open. Then, it is an almost certain guarantee that your pc is infected. Keep reading types of engineering.
-Email and hijacked social media accounts
This occurs when you have been sending spam or malware-laden messages to your contacts without your consent. It is an obvious sign that your accounts have been hijacked.
-Invariably essential system functions
If you cannot access the task manager or the system restore function, your computer likely has a virus that does not want to be found.
-Excessive consumption of processor or RAM in the “IDLE” mode.
Use of more than 70% of the processor or RAM while on the desktop and no foreground application is running. Something must be consuming all those resources. Most likely, it is one or more malicious programs running in the background.
Solution:
If you think the problem may be causing a virus, the first thing you should do is download anti-virus software to find and remove it. It is important that afterward proceed to repair the operating system. The viruses can damage the registry or vital files of the system. For this, you have to boot from the bootable USB or DVD that you used to install your operating system and select the option to repair instead of installing (Windows only). After this, your computer should work much more smoothly and without freezing.
2. Hardware
The problem could also be due to fault or misused hardware. Hardware failures confuse the computer causing it not to perform the tasks correctly and not knowing how to continue. The easiest action for an operating system when this happens is to freeze to prevent loss of information or other damage to the computer. It is vitally important to note that there are 2 WRONG BELIEFs about the causes of freezing that have to do with hardware, here are the following:
– Due to CPU overheating:
All motherboards are programmed to shut down the system if temperatures in the processor exceed the maximum permissible level. If this protective mechanism is deactivated and the processor overheats, it will burn and can no longer send instructions to the graphics card or GPU to provide video signal.
– For a power source that does not supply:
As with the CPU overheating, the power sources are automatically turned off when the system demands more power than they can supply. A power source cannot cause freezing. Because it is not directly related to the logical operation of the other components of a computer. Now we go with the possible variables that YES. They could be causing the freeze:
– RAM Memory
RAM is one of the components that cause more headaches, and although its function is quite basic. It is also one of the most important. So, any problem With a memory stick (module) is a recipe for disaster.
Solution:
Discovering that the cause is due to a defective module takes a lot of work. If the freezes are random, it is very difficult to replicate the problem on another computer with the “suspicious” module since it may be that when installing on the new PC, it works perfectly for several days. Some tools can help us analyze the state of our RAMs. The most recommended is MemTest86. It serves to diagnose defective memories and identify them as the cause of instability in the equipment.
It is important that you also use benchmarking programs such as the memory stresstest of AIDA64 and also the Intel Xtreme Tuning Utility. These programs push the components that are tested to the limit, bringing out the slightest instability. If you manage to find the defective stick, there is no choice but to replace it.
XMP profile, a possible suspect
All RAM comes with speed and latency certified by the JEDEC (Joint Electron Device Engineering Council) standard, which is the following:
-DDR2: CAS 5-5-5-15
-DDR3: CAS 7-7-7-20 for DDR3-1066 and CAS 9-9-9-24 for DDR3-1333
-DDR4: CAS 15-15-15-35 for DDR4-2133
These standards ensure that any DDR2, DDR3 and DDR4 memory will operate at the speeds and latencies specified by the JEDEC. Any other speed and latencies are considered to overclock, that’s where the XMP profile comes in.
The XMP profile is a configuration that allows the RAM module to operate at the speeds and latencies specified by the manufacturer, even if they are higher than the JEDEC standard. When activating the XMP profile, the BIOS automatically overclocks the RAM memories. Modify values ​​such as the processor base clock (BCLK), timings and voltages. As all overclock, this can cause instability in the system. Some processors are not able to support high frequencies of RAM, making this the source of our freezes.
Solution:
If your pc experiences freezing and you have activated the XMP profile, we recommend you deactivate it and see if the problems still occur. It is necessary to increase the VCCIO and VCCSA voltages so that the integrated memory controller (IMC) in the CPU has enough “juice” to work stably with high RAM memory frequencies. By increasing voltages more than due, we can overheat, degrade the life of the components or singe them.
Storage unit
It is well known that a hard disk with damaged sectors causes innumerable problems, even if it is not the disk where the operating system is installed. In the most favorable cases, only the programs used to open, copy or save files such as Windows Explorer are frozen. Still, in several situations, it can cause total freezing and even blue screens.
If the disk that has stopped working is connected to a SATA port, this can spread to the entire storage system, not just the disk that is having problems. It certainly has the potential to spread to the entire controller since most systems have a single disk controller (the one that is integrated into the motherboard).
A hard drive will try to read a damaged sector until it reaches its time limit threshold or until the host sends an abort signal. Since the SATA bus can be attached waiting for the end of the reading, the operating system can’t send an abort signal at the storage command level.
Solution:
You can use tools like HDTune and HDDScan to verify that your hard drive has bad sectors. Knowing that you have a defective component, the best recommendation is to replace it with one that works correctly, in the case of hard drives it is not so easy because they can contain valuable information that we cannot afford to lose.
To save this information, we recommend placing the hard disk in a USB enclosure or docking station. So, you are no longer directly connecting the damaged disk to the SATA controller. In addition to adding an extra layer of “sacrificable” hardware between your motherboard and the damaged disk is always a good idea.
3. Drivers and software errors
Third-party software is one of the most common causes of system freezes. The functions of some applications may attempt to execute actions or access resources that the operating system cannot understand, causing it to hang or freeze. The drivers, on the other hand, are software that allows devices to communicate with other devices and the operating system. The drivers are constantly being used by the system, being exposed to a great risk of failure.
Solution:
The best way to solve these problems is to update all third-party software and drivers to their latest version (as soon as a new version comes out). By constantly downloading and updating, many errors are prevented since each revision of software contains corrections to problems of the previous revisions.
If you use Windows, we recommend you download only the drivers certified by the Windows Hardware Quality Labs (WHQL) evaluations. It means that they have passed several compatibility tests with the current versions of Windows. It is the most official driver of the most well-known developers and they have the WHQL certificate.
Another great tip is always to review the space we have available on our hard drives to ensure that at least 10% free space exists, which is the minimum level that the operating system uses as virtual memory. If you are on the verge of that amount, it is necessary to delete the files and programs that are no longer necessary.
I already tried all the above and my computer is still freezing, what do I do?
Consider talking to qualified professionals to get to the bottom of the problem. It is not easy to diagnose problems manually, as there are too many variables to take into account one by one. If you are not an IT professional, it is much more difficult.
If you are a multimedia user, student, gamer or small business owner, you can visit the nearest hardware store or computer repair center or call a qualified technician to perform a diagnosis or repair.
For large companies, it is better to go to professional IT firms to diagnose the computer network and determine the cause of the problem. In addition to their expertise, IT companies rely on automated industrial tools to accurately determine problems and repair them. Also, they offer ongoing, managed service plans as a proactive way to minimize or even eliminate problems that arise in the future.
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