Windows 11 locking/freezing up after boot

michty_me

michty_me

michty_me

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A mate is away to bring round his desktop PC.

I believe it was a pre-built and all I know so far is that it has a 5700X, 6700XT, 16GB RAM. I can update the specs if required once I get my hands on it.

The issue started a few months ago where it would freeze/lockup after a few minutes once it had booted. Only way to get it to do anything is by holding the power button to force it off.
Initially we thought that (and I still do to a degree) that Win 11 is auto-updating the drivers causing issues. However, I'm now thinking possibly a RAM issue.

What would be your best method for fault finding this? If I remember correctly, I can get into safe mode ok with out any freezing so this make sme think possibly not hard ware related.
 
I'd check the event viewer if possible to load it, it could also be SSD so worth checking SMART.

Driver updates is possible, though you can mostly disable that.
 
Agree with the above, but also...

* Use Memtest 86+ via usb boot drive and run a test for at least 12 hours. If you don't see any issues, its not RAM.
* Use OCCT and run a CPU stress test for a few hours - ideally longer 6-12 hours. (**If its freezing after a few minutes this could be impractical**)

(I was going to say - boot into safe mode and see if it still locks up but I see you've tried that)

Go through Windows services and disable everything that isn't essential - stuff like icue, asus armoury crate, bundled software etc etc.
Same goes for windows start-up items - disable everything that isn't essential
If you are still getting issues, backup his data and re-install windows.
Layer on essential drivers and see where you're up to. Take a windows restore point (does that even exist anymore) incrementally whilst you re-install everything.

Past this, you are looking at swapping components out until you get to the culprit (as previously mentioned windows event viewer might give some clues - filter for critical and errors only in the system log).
 
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Another thing to try is booting from a USB. Mine would boot to the "which language" screen then a minute later would hang. That pointed me more towards CPU
 
Perfect, Thanks all.
I did think of event viewer as I was speaking to him so I'll see what is recorded there. Now got the PC in hand so I'll get that set up shortly and start running the tests. I assume I should be ok to run memtest in safe mode? If it was SSD, Would it still not hand in safe mode? I'm still thinking a software/driver issue though but I'll go through everything that has been suggested.
Any guides for switching off auto updates?
 
michty_me said:
Perfect, Thanks all.
I did think of event viewer as I was speaking to him so I'll see what is recorded there. Now got the PC in hand so I'll get that set up shortly and start running the tests. I assume I should be ok to run memtest in safe mode? If it was SSD, Would it still not hand in safe mode? I'm still thinking a software/driver issue though but I'll go through everything that has been suggested.
Any guides for switching off auto updates?
Click to expand...
Memtest is run from a USB at boot up...
 
I had a similar problem where in idle or low usage the PC would just freeze and crash after a while. I tried many things but few worked. Until I tried the below.

Disable CPU Power Saving Management in BIOS - Thomas-Krenn-Wiki-en

In some cases it is recommended to deactivate the power saving settings of the CPU in the BIOS.[1] In this article we will show you where to find the options and how to disable them, so that the power management options CPU P State Control and CPU C State Control are completely disabled in the BIOS.
www.thomas-krenn.com www.thomas-krenn.com

And also there is a setting for power supplys in the bios. I think its called power supply idle setting, it feeds the pc power it can be in either full, low or auto, and I put into full. And that seems to have stopped the freezing issues for now.
 
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Calabi said:
I had a similar problem where in idle or low usage the PC would just freeze and crash after a while. I tried many things but few worked. Until I tried the below.

Disable CPU Power Saving Management in BIOS - Thomas-Krenn-Wiki-en

In some cases it is recommended to deactivate the power saving settings of the CPU in the BIOS.[1] In this article we will show you where to find the options and how to disable them, so that the power management options CPU P State Control and CPU C State Control are completely disabled in the BIOS.
www.thomas-krenn.com www.thomas-krenn.com

And also there is a setting for power supplys in the bios. I think its called power supply idle setting, it feeds the pc power it can be in either full, low or auto, and I put into full. And that seems to have stopped the freezing issues for now.
Click to expand...

Thanks, I shall keep that in mind once I get stuck in this evening. Away to start memtest now and will leave on overnight.
 
Well since connecting it up, I've run numerous tests which have thrown up nothing, it hasn't locked up on my all afternoon/evening either.

It hasn't been connected to the web yet so that's my next step but I'm now wondering if there is a dodgy peripheral or am I reaching with that?
 
I've managed to get gpedit sorted on W11 home so disabled the auto driver updates within that. Manually updated all his other drivers. Ran numerous scans, been gaming. Only thing I can think of is something that is being plugged in. I'll test it overnight and tomorrow morning but if nothing rears its head it will be plugging one device in at a time.
 
I would try booting a linux live distro and see what happens. If it works ok, then you have a software issue.

However, if linux does the same thing, then you are looking at testing the RAM and SSD as a starting point.

If there is an overclock then obviously take everything back to stock for testing purposes.

Edit: then the advice above :D
 
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Philtor said:
I would try booting a linux live distro and see what happens. If it works ok, then you have a software issue.

However, if linux does the same thing, then you are looking at testing the RAM and SSD as a starting point.

If there is an overclock then obviously take everything back to stock for testing purposes.

Edit: then the advice above :D
Click to expand...
Everything my mate has stated that locks it up instantly (opening word, opening documents etc) has worked flawless for me all afternoon and evening.
All setting stock. Can stick a RAM test on overnight but got another set of RAM I'm going to stick in as his is only 2666Mhz.
 
So what is different hardware or software wise that it’s stable for you and not your mate?

The answer lies within this question.
 
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