W10 system suddenly started locking up for a short time

[David]

This system was upgraded in situ from W7 to W10 a while back.

In the last few weeks it has started to lock up for short periods - say 30
seconds - where the mouse pointer freezes or disappears.
I think this is mainly when in Chrome browser, but that is probably
because I spend most of the time in Chrome.
It is not exclusive because I had this in Edge yesterday.

The system then springs back to life and seems to have remembered mouse
clicks from just before the lock up.

Any suggestions on how to track this down?

Cheers




Dave R

[Andy Burns]

Post by David
it has started to lock up for short periods

How locked-up is it?

Does it still respond to caps-lock key (by lighting the caps LED)

does it still respond to pings from another machine

does it respond to Ctrl-Alt-Del

Does it respond to power button

[David]

Post by Andy Burns

Post by David
it has started to lock up for short periods

How locked-up is it?
Does it still respond to caps-lock key (by lighting the caps LED)
does it still respond to pings from another machine
does it respond to Ctrl-Alt-Del
Does it respond to power button

Numlock still seems to work.
Alt+Tab doesn't seem to work.
I think Ctrl+Alt+Del can work but then again this would be acted on when
the freeze unfroze.

The main lock up seems to be screen updating - but it isn't clear if
everything else is still working or if everything else is locked.

I feel a "while true" or similar loop coming on to confirm that it isn't a
total freeze.

Can't at the moment think where "screen not responding" would be logged.

Cheers



Dave R

[Andy Burns]

Post by David
The main lock up seems to be screen updating - but it isn't clear if
everything else is still working or if everything else is locked.
I feel a "while true" or similar loop coming on to confirm that it isn't a
total freeze.
Can't at the moment think where "screen not responding" would be logged.

If it's a GPU driver reset, could be shown in event log
does Reliability History say anything?

[Jaimie Vandenbergh]

Post by David

Post by Andy Burns

Post by David
it has started to lock up for short periods

How locked-up is it?
Does it still respond to caps-lock key (by lighting the caps LED)
does it still respond to pings from another machine
does it respond to Ctrl-Alt-Del
Does it respond to power button

Numlock still seems to work.
Alt+Tab doesn't seem to work.
I think Ctrl+Alt+Del can work but then again this would be acted on when
the freeze unfroze.
The main lock up seems to be screen updating - but it isn't clear if
everything else is still working or if everything else is locked.
I feel a "while true" or similar loop coming on to confirm that it isn't a
total freeze.

I'd be preparing for a storage failure. Are you backed up, ideally in a
manner that gives you an easy reinstall+restore path on a new drive?

Cheers - Jaimie

[GlowingBlueMist]

Post by Jaimie Vandenbergh

Post by David

Post by Andy Burns

Post by David
it has started to lock up for short periods

How locked-up is it?
Does it still respond to caps-lock key (by lighting the caps LED)
does it still respond to pings from another machine
does it respond to Ctrl-Alt-Del
Does it respond to power button

Numlock still seems to work.
Alt+Tab doesn't seem to work.
I think Ctrl+Alt+Del can work but then again this would be acted on when
the freeze unfroze.
The main lock up seems to be screen updating - but it isn't clear if
everything else is still working or if everything else is locked.
I feel a "while true" or similar loop coming on to confirm that it isn't a
total freeze.

I'd be preparing for a storage failure. Are you backed up, ideally in a
manner that gives you an easy reinstall+restore path on a new drive?
Cheers - Jaimie

I'd verify all the cooling fans are actually functioning. I had similar
lockups and it was a thermal shutdown due to a failing fan as well as
cooling fins filled with dust.

[David]

Post by GlowingBlueMist

Post by Jaimie Vandenbergh

Post by David

Post by Andy Burns

Post by David
it has started to lock up for short periods

How locked-up is it?
Does it still respond to caps-lock key (by lighting the caps LED)
does it still respond to pings from another machine
does it respond to Ctrl-Alt-Del
Does it respond to power button

Numlock still seems to work.
Alt+Tab doesn't seem to work.
I think Ctrl+Alt+Del can work but then again this would be acted on
when the freeze unfroze.
The main lock up seems to be screen updating - but it isn't clear if
everything else is still working or if everything else is locked.
I feel a "while true" or similar loop coming on to confirm that it
isn't a total freeze.

I'd be preparing for a storage failure. Are you backed up, ideally in a
manner that gives you an easy reinstall+restore path on a new drive?
Cheers - Jaimie

I'd verify all the cooling fans are actually functioning. I had similar
lockups and it was a thermal shutdown due to a failing fan as well as
cooling fins filled with dust.

Cooling fans seem OK.
I have a variable speed fan controller which keeps everything nice and
cool.
I also have a display of CPU temperatures (CoreTemp) which displays in
the Task Bar.
I will try and remember to listen next time it locks up.

Cheers


Dave R

[David]

Post by Jaimie Vandenbergh

Post by David

Post by Andy Burns

Post by David
it has started to lock up for short periods

How locked-up is it?
Does it still respond to caps-lock key (by lighting the caps LED)
does it still respond to pings from another machine
does it respond to Ctrl-Alt-Del
Does it respond to power button

Numlock still seems to work.
Alt+Tab doesn't seem to work.
I think Ctrl+Alt+Del can work but then again this would be acted on
when the freeze unfroze.
The main lock up seems to be screen updating - but it isn't clear if
everything else is still working or if everything else is locked.
I feel a "while true" or similar loop coming on to confirm that it
isn't a total freeze.

I'd be preparing for a storage failure. Are you backed up, ideally in a
manner that gives you an easy reinstall+restore path on a new drive?
Cheers - Jaimie

Will check SMART data.

Cheers



Dave R

[David]

Post by Jaimie Vandenbergh

Post by David

Post by Andy Burns

Post by David
it has started to lock up for short periods

How locked-up is it?
Does it still respond to caps-lock key (by lighting the caps LED)
does it still respond to pings from another machine
does it respond to Ctrl-Alt-Del
Does it respond to power button

Numlock still seems to work.
Alt+Tab doesn't seem to work.
I think Ctrl+Alt+Del can work but then again this would be acted on
when the freeze unfroze.
The main lock up seems to be screen updating - but it isn't clear if
everything else is still working or if everything else is locked.
I feel a "while true" or similar loop coming on to confirm that it
isn't a total freeze.

I'd be preparing for a storage failure. Are you backed up, ideally in a
manner that gives you an easy reinstall+restore path on a new drive?
Cheers - Jaimie

Ah!
Acronis Drive Monitor reports Current Pending Sector Count as 488.
This is my old W7 500GB HDD which I left in after cloning to an SSD.
It isn't being actively used so I could just extract it.

IIRC it did this once before, but then miraculously cleared.
It is also showing Reported Uncorrectable Errors 11780 but status of OK!

I posted about this some time back, I think, but can't see it in here so
probably dropped off the end.

I think I'll check it isn't being used by anything then unplug it.

I must revise my understanding of what a Pending Sector Count is and what
can cause it to appear then disappear.

Cheers



Dave R

[Jaimie Vandenbergh]

Post by David

Post by Jaimie Vandenbergh

Post by David

Post by Andy Burns

Post by David
it has started to lock up for short periods

How locked-up is it?
Does it still respond to caps-lock key (by lighting the caps LED)
does it still respond to pings from another machine
does it respond to Ctrl-Alt-Del
Does it respond to power button

Numlock still seems to work.
Alt+Tab doesn't seem to work.
I think Ctrl+Alt+Del can work but then again this would be acted on
when the freeze unfroze.
The main lock up seems to be screen updating - but it isn't clear if
everything else is still working or if everything else is locked.
I feel a "while true" or similar loop coming on to confirm that it
isn't a total freeze.

I'd be preparing for a storage failure. Are you backed up, ideally in a
manner that gives you an easy reinstall+restore path on a new drive?
Cheers - Jaimie

Ah!
Acronis Drive Monitor reports Current Pending Sector Count as 488.
This is my old W7 500GB HDD which I left in after cloning to an SSD.
It isn't being actively used so I could just extract it.
IIRC it did this once before, but then miraculously cleared.
It is also showing Reported Uncorrectable Errors 11780 but status of OK!

Yeah, it felt like a "trying desperately to write to disk and retrying,
eventually timing out" sort of thing, that IO blocking where mouse
clicks process afterwards is familiar.

Post by David
I must revise my understanding of what a Pending Sector Count is and what
can cause it to appear then disappear.

Pending Sector Count is I think 'need to try and copy these sectors to
elsewhere then mark them as dead and remove them from the map", so the
copy out hasn't happened.

I replace drives on a pending sector or bad sector count of one :)
Ideally as an RMA under mfr warranty, check to see if yours is.
Warranties run anywhere up to five years.

Cheers - Jaimie

[David]

Post by Jaimie Vandenbergh

Post by David

Post by Jaimie Vandenbergh

Post by David

Post by Andy Burns

Post by David
it has started to lock up for short periods

How locked-up is it?
Does it still respond to caps-lock key (by lighting the caps LED)
does it still respond to pings from another machine
does it respond to Ctrl-Alt-Del
Does it respond to power button

Numlock still seems to work.
Alt+Tab doesn't seem to work.
I think Ctrl+Alt+Del can work but then again this would be acted on
when the freeze unfroze.
The main lock up seems to be screen updating - but it isn't clear if
everything else is still working or if everything else is locked.
I feel a "while true" or similar loop coming on to confirm that it
isn't a total freeze.

I'd be preparing for a storage failure. Are you backed up, ideally in
a manner that gives you an easy reinstall+restore path on a new drive?
Cheers - Jaimie

Ah!
Acronis Drive Monitor reports Current Pending Sector Count as 488.
This is my old W7 500GB HDD which I left in after cloning to an SSD.
It isn't being actively used so I could just extract it.
IIRC it did this once before, but then miraculously cleared.
It is also showing Reported Uncorrectable Errors 11780 but status of OK!

Yeah, it felt like a "trying desperately to write to disk and retrying,
eventually timing out" sort of thing, that IO blocking where mouse
clicks process afterwards is familiar.

Post by David
I must revise my understanding of what a Pending Sector Count is and
what can cause it to appear then disappear.

Pending Sector Count is I think 'need to try and copy these sectors to
elsewhere then mark them as dead and remove them from the map", so the
copy out hasn't happened.
I replace drives on a pending sector or bad sector count of one :)
Ideally as an RMA under mfr warranty, check to see if yours is.
Warranties run anywhere up to five years.
Cheers - Jaimie

Update:

Fitted my 1TB M.2 NVMe drive and removed the old HDD.
It was the system drive before I migrated the W7 system to a 2.5" SSD.
The system has been OK since as far as I can tell.

Next up is cloning the 2.5" SATA3 SSD to the M.2 drive.

When I have a moment.

Cheers


Dave R