I've been struggling with a frustrating computer freezing issue for the last four months, and I'm reaching out for help. It all started after I upgraded my graphics driver and switched to Windows 11 in December. Soon after, my PC began to freeze hard—my mouse locks up, and nothing responds. After rebooting, it seemed fine for a few minutes before freezing again. Initially, I thought it was the graphics driver's fault, so I uninstalled it and rolled back, which didn't work. I even tried different drivers and eventually reset my PC, which temporarily fixed the issue. Unfortunately, the freezing has come back, and even after replacing my SSD and doing a fresh install of Windows, the problem persists. I really need advice on what might be causing this, as the cycle of resetting my PC has started again. I have a setup that's nearly ten years old, and I'm wondering if faulty hardware could be at play. Here are my specs:
- OS: Microsoft Windows 11 Home
- CPU: Intel i7-6700K @ 4.00GHz
- GPU: NVIDIA GeForce RTX 2060
- RAM: 48GB
- BIOS: ASRock Z170 Gaming K4
- Running 4 monitors.
4 Answers
It sounds like it might be a RAM problem. I recommend taking out your RAM sticks and testing them individually. Sometimes, just running on single-channel with one stick can help narrow down if one of them is faulty. RAM issues are often overlooked, but they can cause exactly this kind of freezing.
Have you checked the Event Viewer for errors? It can sometimes give you insights into what's crashing your system. If you find any red flags, that might help pinpoint the issue. Let me know if you need help navigating Event Viewer!
Yeah, I looked through Event Viewer but didn’t see anything helpful. I even kept it open to catch any errors during a freeze, but nothing noteworthy showed up. I'm pretty familiar with event logs since I'm a software engineer, but I'm really at a loss.
Just a heads-up, ChatGPT might not be the best help for these kinds of tech issues. Sometimes it's better to consult forums or tech support directly.
Make sure you've got your data backed up before making any changes to your BIOS or drives. That way, if anything goes wrong, you won't lose important stuff. It's something a lot of people overlook!
That's a good suggestion! I'll definitely try that the next time it freezes. Can you explain how bad RAM can lead to freezing like this?