Computer Freezes Randomly For No Reason

[apple266]

Hey guys,

I have a newer asus g73jh. The specs are:
Intel Core i7 Q720 1.3ghz
6GB DDR3 1033mhz ram
ATI mobility radeon 5870 HD
Windows 7 Home Premium

Now this problem occurs randomly and not always when I"m even using the pc. It will just be idle doing nothing and just totally lock up and can only be resolved by holding the power button. When it does happen when I'm doing something though, the sound freezes and sticks in a loop where the sound was at. Also, sometimes I wake up in the morning and it's at a black screen with words at the top that say something along the lines of "set the correct bootup device and restart" or something like that which makes no sense considering I have the only hard drive configured to boot. All of my drivers are up to date, I have AVG and run it consistently, I run ccleaner and clear the registry twice a week. Nothing malicious on my pc. Another thing to note, when the thing does freeze, the hard drive light stops blinking completely. Any help on this issue would be appreciated.

[jason2074]

1. Use safemode to check on driver or software issue.
2. Try running chkdsk or diagnose HD via manufacturer's diagnostic tool.
3. Monitor Hardware temps for any possible overheat and revert overclocking options(if any) to default.
4. Minimize or swap RAM usage to test on the issue.
5. Disable powersaving mode or options(Hibernate or Sleep)
6. Try removing screensaver to none when idling.

[Allan]

All of my drivers are up to date, I have AVG and run it consistently, I run ccleaner and clear the registry twice a week.

Probably the causes of your problems right here.

First of all, NEVER use any registry cleaners. They cause problems, they do not cure them. There is no such thing as a good registry cleaner.

Second, drivers should only be updated if there is a specific need to do so. And then, all drivers should be obtained from the OEM websites, not from Windows Update.

At this point I suggest the following:

1) Right-click on a command prompt icon and open as administrator. In the command prompt window type:chkdsk /r  (then press ENTER). You'll be told the disk is in use and asked if you want to run checkdisk on the next boot. Say yes, exit the command prompt window, and reboot.

2) To check the ram, download memtest (http://www.memtest.org/). Burn it to a cd using a dedicated .iso burning utility (http://www.petri.co.il/how_to_write_iso_files_to_cd.htm), make sure the cd drive is at the top of the boot order in bios, then boot to the newly created cd and run the utility.

3) Boot to your Windows disc and run startup repair options

Let's see where we are after that.