Desktop PC Freezing yet powered on.

Lately I've been experiencing a problem with my desktop PC .. It is a custom build.
1st the problem. Each morning I go to check the logs from last night's backup. Lately and without any pattern I'll occasionally find that my desktop, while running, is unresponsive to both my keyboard and mouse clicks. Only by pressing the reset button can I get back into the PC. My build is..

CURRENT SYSTEM COMPONENTS
ASUS AMD AM4 ROG Strix X570-E Gaming ATX Motherboard
AMD Ryzen 9 3950X 16-Core, 32-Thread Unlocked Desktop Processor
CORSAIR Vengeance RGB Pro 64GB (4 x 16GB) 288-Pin DDR4 SDRAM DDR4 3200
Corsair RMx Series (2021), RM850x, 850 Watt, GOLD power supply
ASUS TUF Gaming NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3080 Ti Graphics Card
WD_BLACK 2TB SN850X NVMe - Gen4 PCIe, M.2 2280 - C: (Boot)
WD_BLACK 2TB SN850X NVMe - Gen4 PCIe, M.2 2280 - D:
Corsair iCUE H150i Elite CAPELLIX XT Liquid CPU Cooler - Three AF120 RGB Elite Fans - 360mm Radiator
Corsair iCUE Elite CPU Cooler LCD Display Upgrade Kit
CORSAIR 7000D AIRFLOW Full-Tower ATX PC Case, Black case

Windows 11 Pro 23H2 Build 22631.3737

Looking at the temps reported by the iCUE LCD the CPU is ~116 F and the pump shows ~95-96 F

I've run sfc /scannow with no problems found.

I reviewed the Event logs for System / Application et al and there is nothing in it The log stops at a different time each time with no discernable events that would indicate a problem. In the log I can find the last event date/time and then the messages from hours later when I press the reset to restart the PC.

There is no pattern to the problem. It'll go a couple of weeks, and the a couple of days. Today it was back to back with yesterday.

rpetruzz said:

unresponsive to both my keyboard and mouse clicks

Click to expand...

Are they wired or wireless?

If wireless it could be a bluetooth issue? A simple test is to try switching mouse and keyboard off then back on again to see if they respond again. Do them one at a time (not both together).

If this works it may mean a driver issue. Check for driver updates anyway.

My mouse is wireless, but my keyboard is wired USB A. However, both the keyboard and the wireless dongle for the mouse are connected via USB extender wires. A legacy need from my old desktop PC where the USB ports were lower on the machine. I was able to get the keyboard and mouse to work with direct connect to the motherboard ports. So, we'll see what happens over time.
Thanks for the thought.

Oh BTW... a couple of weeks ago when this happened I ran sfc /scannow and it did find a bluetooth driver corrupted and it replaced it. Today though when I ran it nothing was found.

Turn off fast startup.

I'll check on that.......
Oh BTW I'm assuming the note about filling out my system specs in my profile is just your standard signature block? My profile is fully filled out.

I checked on "fast startup" It was off
Thank you for the suggestion

rpetruzz said:

I checked on "fast startup" It was off
Thank you for the suggestion

Click to expand...

Did you make any settings changes before your problem started ? Settings changes may be in Windows settings or in BIOS settings ? Did you install any programs or hardware drivers recently ? Are your wireless peripherals bluetooth or RF ?
Hope this helps.

A Freeze or BSOD is your computer, either hardware of software crying for HELP!
Something just "ain't right!" and it probably won't heal all by itself.

Something I'd check first, and it's usually easy on a Desktop PC, is the CMOS battery.
I'm just thinking of what I'd do if you brought me your PC to FIX. (fixing PC's is what I've done for a living, for over 40+ years, and I'm still doing it.)

I'd first check the voltage on that little CR2032 Coin-Size battery. It must be 3.0vdc or better, or it would get changed. ( I buy them by the dozen and always have a supply on hand.)
Then I'd pull the RAM. I'd polish the edge connector with something like an ink eraser, very light abrasive, and then clean with a soft cloth dampened in Denatured Alcohol. Then firmly re-seat the RAM.
Then run "Memtest 86+". After several passes with the ram checker, there should be NO errors.

By this time, I would have spent literally NO $'s and I would have eliminated two very common sources of PC problems.
Then I might plug your Power Supply into one of my Digital PSU testers, to make sure that all the PSU voltages are within Spec.

Then look at all the things that are running in the background. If there is anything that you don't need running all the time, end it.
At that point, I'd give your entire system a good cleaning and remove every bit of JUNK, that includes the Registry.
I've seen PC's with over 500,000 junk files, and thousands of Tracking Cookies, and several thousand bad entries in the Registry.
Garbage build up, of any kind, in your PC can have a very Negative effect.

Regular PC Maintenance is very important, for a lean, clean, and efficient running PC.


Good Luck,
TM (retired PC tech)

TechnoMage:
I've been suspecting it might be my memory. I'm loath to open it up and such as my machine is in a corner between my desk and wall and a bookcase... But alas I believe you are onto something and that will be my next effort. Even though the case & system weight upwards of 50-60 lbs... I will check the battery then too
Thanks

First try a Clean Boot. If this works, you can keep it this way, or you can add one or more Startup Items and Services until the freezing returns, the you will know the culprit.

Technomagic:
Well I ran memtest86 for 10 hours... 4 passes of 12 tests.. All my memory passed. That being the good news, I still have to open up the PC and test the bios battery.
Still puzzling the freezing of the PC.

Another suggestion from wiganken I have a wired keyboard. But my mouse uses the little dongle plugged into a USB port. I did move that from a USB port in the back of the machine to the top front of the machine. We'll see on that

Still trouble shooting........

As a working computer tech, who always did most of my work, ON SITE, I hated PC's that were built in to furniture. Even as a younger and more flexible guy, it was still a pain to crawl under desks, etc., to service a PC.
The hood on a car is not welded down, because the engine requires 'Maintenance' and likewise a PC. They are just NOT 100% maintenance free, and should be where they can easily be accessed for maintenance!

When you box in your PC, you set it up for failure!

When I worked for the County, I discovered that almost every PC in the county was located, on the floor, back under a desk. They sat there, out of sight, sucking in dirt off of the floor, and even being a foot rest for the operator. Arggg!
I got a a decree from the IT manager, who I directly worked for, that all PC's would be moved to the desktop, and be backed up once a week, on Friday, whenever possible. You should have heard those old gals scream about that!!!

Every one of those old PC's (1990 DOS machines) had an air filter in the lower front, and every one of them had an air filter that looked like a wool rug,,,, totally plugged with dirt! Before I could get around to every PC, to clean and re-locate them, three of them crashed from Overheating.
Every Friday became "you bet your job" day, with mandatory backups, which I set up on every PC.

That experience wiped out any doubt I might have ever had, about the value of keeping a PC clean and cool.

I'm sorry, old folks do have a tendency to Ramble On.

Good Luck, Mate!
TM

Technomage:

I understand all that you say. I worked IT from 1979 - 2014. Varying responsibilities... My 1st PC was 1983 the original IBM with 2 5/14" floppy disks and no hard drive. Been building them ever since.

Mostly I was a software developer for $$$ and PCs for hobby. I do pull out the machine from time to time and clean it's filters. This Corsair 7000D has great filtration and you can remove them and clean them w/o moving the machine.

Anyway... ta ta for now.

UPDATE:
I agree with Technomage that I think it is a hardware problem with my system. Something new in my machine that I hadn't considered is my C: boot drive. I replaced my 1tb WD SN850X with a 2tb WD SN850X last month. I'm considering that the problem started after that? I have a new SSD on order and I'll be replacing it next week after the grandkids, who are visiting this week, go home.

UPDATE:
So yesterday I replaced my Western Digital SN850X 2tb with a like WD SN850X. All went very smoothly. While the machine was open I checked my CMOS battery too. The machine ran fine all day.
This morning I awoke to a frozen system. It was running just fine. Making all the right noises. Just screen frozen, no response from mouse or keyboard. Remotely couldn't connect to my shared local drives.
Only solution was to press the reset button and reboot.
Sigh....

rpetruzz said:

UPDATE:
So yesterday I replaced my Western Digital SN850X 2tb with a like WD SN850X. All went very smoothly. While the machine was open I checked my CMOS battery too. The machine ran fine all day.
This morning I awoke to a frozen system. It was running just fine. Making all the right noises. Just screen frozen, no response from mouse or keyboard. Remotely couldn't connect to my shared local drives.
Only solution was to press the reset button and reboot.
Sigh....

Click to expand...

Hi.
Next time when your screen freezes, press WinKey + Ctrl +Shift +B keys together. This resets your graphics card. If freezing goes away, even temporarily, then you may have graphics card driver issue. You start troubleshooting this area on your PC.
Hope this helps.

suatcini54:
Thank you for that suggestion. Will do.

FWIW...... I have a NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3080 Ti that I installed in August of 2022. I use Nvidia's GeForce Experience app to identify and install driver updates. I use the Studio version of the drivers as I use Adobe Photoshop and it needs the studio driver to work properly.
Current NVIDIA Studio Driver version 560..81 Release date 08/06/2024.

The freezing problem started back in July, but that doesn't mean it wasn't an earlier driver up date so I'll happily try the key board short cuts next time.

rpetruzz said:

suatcini54:
Thank you for that suggestion. Will do.

FWIW...... I have a NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3080 Ti that I installed in August of 2022. I use Nvidia's GeForce Experience app to identify and install driver updates. I use the Studio version of the drivers as I use Adobe Photoshop and it needs the studio driver to work properly.
Current NVIDIA Studio Driver version 560..81 Release date 08/06/2024.

The freezing problem started back in July, but that doesn't mean it wasn't an earlier driver up date so I'll happily try the key board short cuts next time.

Click to expand...

Something happened with recent Nvidia drivers and I am also having issues with these drivers. I have started having BSOD issues related to Nvidia. Nvidia has made some changes recently and introduced POPCNT instruction requirement into the drivers just as Microsoft did with the release of Windows 11 24H2. This POPCNT thing started with Nvidia driver set of version 555. Therefore, I reverted to an earlier driver set of version 551. Now I will see if my BSOD events will have gone. My graphics card is Geforce GTX 1050 Ti and is compatible with the recent Nvidia driver releases. My Windows 11 is 24H2 build 26100.1457.
Hope this info is useful.

suatcini54 said:

Something happened with recent Nvidia drivers and I am also having issues with these drivers. I have started having BSOD issues related to Nvidia. Nvidia has made some changes recently and introduced POPCNT instruction requirement into the drivers just as Microsoft did with the release of Windows 11 24H2. This POPCNT thing started with Nvidia driver set of version 555. Therefore, I reverted to an earlier driver set of version 551. Now I will see if my BSOD events will have gone. My graphics card is Geforce GTX 1050 Ti and is compatible with the recent Nvidia driver releases. My Windows 11 is 24H2 build 26100.1457.
Hope this info is useful.

Click to expand...

Hmmmm... I'm not familiar with how to get to an older version of the driver. I'm going to look into that to see if it solves my problem. Thanks for that information.,

Well, it was as simple as a google search. I how have 551.61 from Feb 15, 2024 installed and we'll see how that goes. Thanks again for your suggestion.

suatcini54:
I'm now on day 6 of the reverted Nvidia driver. I haven't had one freeze up this week. I'm becoming optimistic that putting back the older driver has corrected the problem

Thanks to everyone who posted suggestions here. This really is a great place to get help.