Windows 8 and 7 Hangs or Freezes

If you find that your Windows 8, Windows 7 or Windows Vista  is freezing or crashing randomly, the reasons could be many, and the solutions many too! Having your Windows computer freezing often can be really irritating. This post will just show you the direction in which you can work on. You may try these troubleshooting steps in no particular order. Before you start, do create a system restore point first, so that you can revert back, if you don’t like the changes.

Windows Hangs or Freezes

• 1. First see if a System Restore to a good prior old point helps make the problem go away.
• 2. Run your updated Antivirus software followed by a junk cleaner like CCleaner, to clear up PC junk.
• 3. Install the latest Windows Updates.
• 4. Disable Aero, if your operating system has it and see if it’s helping.
• 5. Try disabling the Indexing Service.
• 6. Most such Windows freezes are caused due to Crapware installed on pre-installed OEM Windows machines. So open the Control Panel, check up which programs you don’t need and uninstall them. Clean up with a good Registry Cleaner to clean up residual junk registry entries. You may check out these free crapware removal software, that can help you identify these Craplets.
• 7. Check out the start-up entries and remove all start-up programs, that you do not need. Remove from Startups all those programs that you do not want starting up, every time your computer starts. I for one have only my security software as a startup, having disabled most others.
• 8. Check for Error Events. To do so, open Control Panel > Administrative Tools > Event Viewer > Custom Views > Administrative Events. Check if any recent events show a round red exclamation mark error icon. Double-click that error and an Event Properties window will pop up. See if the information helps you identify the problem.

For example, if Windows Search Indexer does not work, due to the inability of the Search Service to start, then the system tends to freeze periodically. In such a case it is best to change the Recovery Actions for this service. To do so, open Services > Windows Search > Properties > Recovery Tab. For first failure, choose Restart the service. For second and subsequent failures, choose take No Action option. Apply > OK.

Windows Freezing

• 9. If none of this helps you, you may have to consider Updating / Flashing your BIOS. Take care while doing it.
• 10. Check for Bad or Outdated Drivers.
• 11. Check if your hardware is the cause for these freezes.
• 12. See the Reliability Monitor. It lists the failures and the problems your machine may have faced.
• 13. Microsoft has released a hotfix to address random Windows 7 freezes. See if it applies to you.
• 14. Run System File Checker.
• 15. If you are running Windows 8, open Advanced Boot Menu Options and select Automatic Repair. You may also want to consider a Windows 8 Refresh or Reset. If you are running Windows 7, open Advanced Boot Options screen > Repair your computer > Select  keyboard layout > Next > System Recovery Options >  Startup Repair. Also see this post on Repair Windows 7.

Note: If this tutorial worked for you (and it should work), please leave a comment below. Thanks.

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