Win7 freezes 1-5 mins after login - Safe Mode works

[FredHuergo]

Hello all,
it seems my PC is acting up again, but what seems to be (hopefully) a software issue.

Yesterday I accessed the computer remotely using LogMeIn (as I've been doing for a while now) and when I was done shut the computer down. When I returned home, I found it in a state of BSOD. I powered it off, gave it a couple of hours, and booted back up.

When I did, the computer froze at the login screen - everything but the mouse cursor.
I had to do a hard restart, and when the computer booted again, I was able to get past the login screen but once I tried to open anything the computer would freeze, like if it was in a constant state of thinking/processing - again, the mouse cursor was able to be moved around.
This is happening every time, sometime I get more time to do stuff before it freezes, but mostly it all happens within the first 5 minutes.

I am able to log into Safe Mode without a problem though.

So here are the things I tried:
1) Logged into Safe Mode and ran msconfig and removed any and all unnecessary startup items. That did not seem to do the trick.
2) Installed Process Explorer to see if there was something that was causing the computer to freeze. This didn't help, for the computer freezes before Process Explorer can update the process list.
3) Tried to do a System Restore but couldn't since I never made an original to restore to - my mistake.
4) Tried to do an Acronis Restore, but neither Acronis nor myself could find the hidden partition made by Scan. I checked the documentation in the forums and couldn't find it.

So guys, what are my options? Will I need to reinstall Win7? Is there a workaround?

I wouldn't mind reinstalling Win7, it just seems odd that one BSOD on shutdown would cause this snowball of problems.

I have one theory, but I might be wrong: Maybe upon shutting down there was a Windows Update that the computer didn't like at all for some reason, and I wasn't there personally to see if there was/wasn't an update. That's why I've been trying to restore to the Scan Factory Default, but alas to no avail.

Also, because Safe Mode works, could this be a driver issue?

Thank you for your time,

Fred Huergo.

[Jasp]

Is the rig an overclocked one? could be the overclock has failed, also sounds a little like memory issues to me, try running memtest on it during boot http://www.memtest.org/

Hmmzz their also used to be a way to check for a failed windows update and reset it but can't for the life of me remember the command...

[FredHuergo]

Yeah, it's OC'd. During boot it still shows that it has been OC'd.
I will run memtest later today and post an update.

Thanks Jasp!

[FredHuergo]

Ok, well I ran the test and am glad that Memtest returned a message saying that the Pass was complete, and there were absolutely no errors.

Any clue what it could be?

[pctech2012]

Hi Fred

If the problem isn't apparent when running in Safe mode it is either likely to be a service that loads a driver or a system driver that has had a bug exposed by the particular set up you have at the moment as a blue screen is a critical kernel stop.

What AV are you using and have you updated or changed the drivers that Scan installed?

[FredHuergo]

Haven't changed any drivers at all, maybe one of the Windows Updates did something that's clashing with my current setup?

As far as AV, I'm using Avast.

So it seems like it is probably a software issue, I guess the best thing to do is reinstall Windows, make a restore point once everything is smooth, and take it from there?

[YaoNg]

Haven't changed any drivers at all, maybe one of the Windows Updates did something that's clashing with my current setup?

As far as AV, I'm using Avast.

So it seems like it is probably a software issue, I guess the best thing to do is reinstall Windows, make a restore point once everything is smooth, and take it from there?

I did a reinstall of Windows 7 recently and it was surprisingly quick. Partly due to the SSD, but the process of this and installing drivers is much easier these days.

I also did a backup, which I'm hoping works. I stupidly didn't test it which I recommend doing just after the backup.

[pctech2012]

I think a Windows reinstall is a good idea under the circumstances.

Yes you could be right about the Windows Updates as they do sometimes break stuff.

You could also check for updates for your graphics card and sound card (if these are separate cards)

[FredHuergo]

Hello all, well I finally got everything back to normal.
Did a format and reinstall of windows and it's running pretty smooth.

If I had to guess, it would be because of the Windows Update.
Lesson learned here is to make restore points

[pctech2012]

Hi Fred, apologies, got side tracked by other stuff.

I would agree sounds like an update caused an issue but it may install ok now.