I just did a refresh on my hard drive, but now my computer keeps freezing often.
I just did a refresh on my hard drive, but now my computer keeps freezing often.
So lately, I had to refresh my computer because I did something wrong, and tried to fix up all the programs (I don't even know if I got them right). Now every hour or two it gets stuck in a frozen state and I have to shut down and start again. Any ideas on how to solve this?
And what happened? You might go to the site of your motherboard maker and check their support page too. Go to the site for your graphics card maker like Nvidia or AMD or Intel. First, list all the parts you have in full detail. Make sure to write down the exact name of your power supply unit because it's printed right on the box. Then, run memtest86 to test if your memory sticks work correctly. Next, check your hard drives using HDTune and use a special tool from the maker for your SSDs like Intel or Samsung. Finally, take pictures of what you see and upload them to imgur.com so you can share the link here.
I need more space on my SSD so I messed up the Windows folder by accident. I think I fixed that, but I also used apps like Driver Booster to help. Here are my specs: motherboard Z370M Gaming Pro, CPU Intel i7 9700k with a cooler called Noctua D15S, 1TB WD Blue hard drive, 240GB Kingston A400 SSD, GPU AMD Radeon RX 6650 XT, power supply Seasonic Focus Plus 650W Gold. The link to it on Amazon is here.
For the health check of my SSD there are no failures or warnings, just a low percentage for wear. I can't run memtest86 right now because I don't have a USB drive, but I tested using Windows and nothing happened. Link to photos showing tests for HDD and SSD: https://imgur.com/a/eu71GQ8
One thing I noticed after my last freeze were a couple of things, including my AMD Radeon software, which crashed. After it stopped freezing for a few days (I haven't restarted the PC yet) Update: started freezing again
The Windows Refresh feature isn't worth the time it takes. It just updates the Windows modules but doesn't reinstall third-party drivers. Since those drivers are where most problems happen, this makes the refresh useless for fixing a shaky system. Cloud Refresh is also pointless for the same reason. The only real benefit of refreshing Windows is that it leaves your installed apps alone, which is why people try it after all. If you accidentally deleted third-party drivers or apps inside the Windows folder, the refresh won't help at all. Instead, I suggest making bootable installation media using the Windows Media Creation Tool, then boot from it and delete existing UEFI partitions. After that, clean install Windows into the free space left behind. You'll still have to run Windows Update many times across several restarts until no new updates come up. Then check Device Manager to make sure there are no devices with a yellow triangle and an exclamation mark next to them. If you see any of those, click "View optional updates" on the Windows Update page, go into Driver Updates, and look for suitable drivers. Finally, you'll need to reinstall all your third-party apps and copy over any user data you backed up before starting this process.
Actually, back on my last day, I tried downloading all those extra programs and software without stopping. It didn't freeze then. But now? Something weird started happening today.
No driver booster needed. It might have put something weird in there. Only get drivers from the motherboard maker's website or AMD's site. When you install them, always start with chipset drivers first. MSI Global - The Top Brand for High-end Gaming & Making Things Professional. We are a big name in gaming and eSports because we stick to good ideas. We make cool gear like motherboards, graphics cards, laptops, and desktops. www.msi.com https://www.amd.com/en/support/graphics/...rx-6650-xt
Since we don't really know what happened or which programs you ran, it's probably best to wipe your computer completely and start fresh with a new copy of Windows. Also skip any things like Driver Booster. Even though these tools might seem useful, they can cause more problems than they fix. You also need to know exactly why you're installing each program and what you do for them instead of just blindly clicking buttons.
How can I safely finish this step so that my data stays safe from getting lost?
Copy those files to some other storage place. Then... How To - Windows 10 clean install guide If you want the Windows 11 Clean install guide, you can find it here: Windows 11 Clean install guide (Click here) Otherwise, welcome to the Windows 10 Clean install guide This guide is meant to help you, one by one, to do a clean install of Windows... forums.