Win10 freezes even after reformat - but not in safe mode

[Sui42]

Hi there! Hope you're all well.

So yeah, as the title states:

   

• Windows 10 Freezes about 1 minute after booting. It happens slowly; programs start up fine within the first 20 seconds, then it all grinds to a halt. If I leave it long enough it can say 'windows explorer has crashed' or even just cut to a black screen. It can also happen if I don't login immediately.
• It is, however, completely fine in safe mode with networking (typing this from the comp atm).
• I reformatted the computer as soon as this started happening. It was fine for a few hours, then started again.
•   I've tried booting with just one stick of RAM (tried each one), and I also took out the GPU, but the problem persists without these components.
•   I tried a windows resource protection scan - no integrity violations. I also tried checking the Event Viewer but I couldn't see any errors in either System or Applications. I also watched the task manager while this was happening - there were no crazy spikes in CPU or Memory usage or anything. Seemed normal.
•   I reformatted my comp a couple of months ago becuase I got a virus. Around the same time, I booted the comp up and it said my BIOS was corrupted - but it automattically restored a previous version and I haven't had the same problem since.
•   Around the same time (2 months ago) I installed a new SSD boot drive.
  
  

I've tried searching on google for similar threads pretty extensively, but while I can find some people with similar problems, they always seem to come up with a solution that doesn't apply to me, or the thread trails off...

I'd be super greatful if anyone could lend some insight into this!

SPECS:

Intel i5-4670K = CPU
Gigabyte Z87-D3HP = mobo
Samsung SSD 850 Evo = boot drive
NVIDIA GeForce GTX 970 = GPU
Corsair RM750 = PSU

Many thanks!

[patio]

Any Yellow !!'s in Device Manager ? ?

[Allan]

Are you saying this started when you installed the SSD? If so...............

[Sui42]

Okay, well the problem seems to be fixed. I updated / flashed by BIOS and upated literally every driver I could think of. I then clean-booted with a minimum of programs, and slowly turned on more and more startup programs with each restart. Although actually, I never ran into the problem again. Maybe an old faulty driver was conflicting with something (although for some reason it wouldn't allow me to re-enable 360 Total Security. I use Malwarebytes as well so I'm not that fussed).

But, it's made me reconsider how many things I allow to boot up with my PC anyway. I've trimmed the start-up applications to the bare minimum, in the hope to avoid anything like this happening again.

Thanks so much for your help!

[VintronNZ]

Hi
It is likely the problem was 360 total security and Windows Defender not working together.
All the other things you did were worth while anyway.  :)I suggest you remove total security with add / remove programs, not disable it from start up programs. Disabling start up items is for diagnostics and not recommended as a long term fix.

[spankBot]

Awsome. I honestly think the BIOS had a lot to do with it. I do not even use AV as it causes more problems than it solves for me. The above is correct in saying AV conflicts with Windows defender however some disable WD on installation. I would always disable AV when doing any hardware changes. Well Done!