Windows 10: Recurring PC hang-up, no BSOD, audio loops. "Fixed" before, comes back

Windows Version: 2004 (OS Build 19041.928) Hello! Ive been experiencing a pretty debilitating hang-up issue on my PC over the course of the past 6 months or so. Ive managed to fix it twice, but it keeps resurfacing, usually giving me 1-4 months between episodes. Now Im on episode 3 and hoping you folks can lend me a hand. Ill try to include as much detail about everything without turning this into a novel. Specs @ the end + in my profile. PCs background This is the first PC I built myself. Put it together in July 2020. Did lots of research, took my time, and everything went well, until... First episode happened around late Oct/Early Nov 2020. Second episode: early Dec 2020. Third and current episode: started yesterday, April 16 2021. Description of the hang-up Screens freeze entirely, no BSODKeyboard/mouse dont have input, but do have powerAt least in this most recent case, if theres audio happening it gets caught in a high frequency loop (did not notice this in episodes 1 or 2, but rarely did it happen while I had audio going).During a hang-up, the rig sounds quiet and happy, fans running normally. No ramp ups or other signs that precede the hang-up.Only way out is a hard resetNo known pattern of my behaviour that sets it offOnce it happens, typically it will happen again within 30s to 120s after singing back in, but not always. It can give me up to two hours, or even a day! Day long reprieves were more common in episode 1.Has never once happened in Safe Mode Things Ive tried, that do not seem to help Malware sweepMemtestLooking for patterns in the error logs / event viewer to no avail. The only major thing it seems to detect is the forced power-off itself.GPU stress testUpdating drivers, reverting drivers (esp. the GPU)Updating BIOSDefrag, disk cleanupchkdsk c: /fsfc /scannowDSIM scanReseating most hardware (not the CPU yet)Restore point to 2 days priorReset this PC (keeping personal files)Signing in as a new userTons of other stuff Im probably forgetting Things that worked in the past: First Episode: Gradually deleting programs and disconnecting peripherals in batches until the hang-ups stopped. I forget which batch of programs solved it, but there were some background cloud syncers in it (e.g. Dropbox). Isolating things like Bluetooth did not stop the hang-ups.Second Episode: A full fresh reinstall of Windows 10 (keeping personal files). I couldnt get this done through the simpler methods and remember going through a much more arduous process than the Reset This PC since the hang-up prevented doing things normally. I couldnt even boot from a USB and re-install Windows because the hang-up occurred during this process. There was a lot of waiting for blue loading screens, a process left to finish overnight (one that froze, but when I restarted everything was fine). Other details When it first began, the hang-ups were few and far between. I was actually able to kind of live with it because it followed a pattern of: hang-up, restart, hang-up after 2 mins, restart, good for 1-2 days. Frequency increased, so I got to troubleshootingThe second episode felt a lot worse, had to go a lot further down the troubleshooting roadIve never overclocked the PCI do have some weird issues with my Bluetooth adapter and a particular pair of headphones (audio buzzing/cutout occasionally). Hang-ups still happen w/ Bluetooth offTower isnt in the perfect spot for ventilation, but no fans are blocked and filters/case gets regular cleaning Specs CPU: Core i5-9400FMoBo: ASUS PRIME B365M-A LGA-1151GPU: GeForce GTX 1660 SuperPSU: CX550M Semi-modular 550WSSD: Crucial P1 1TB 3D NAND NVMe PCIe M.2 Type 2280RAM: Corsair Vengeance LPX 16GB (2x8GB) Thank you in advance for any advice or insight! Happy to post any/all suggested logs as best I can can be tough with the hang-ups intruding

:)

 

Recurring PC hang-up, no BSOD, audio loops. "Fixed" before, comes back

Gotcha.

One thing I came across in poking around—my GPU thinks that my Shift program is a game. Namely, Need For Speed: Shift. (I've never played NFS on this rig, it's not in my Steam library, etc.)

Other people with a similar problem in NVIDIA forums said that reinstalling the driver helped, so since that's on my list I'll give it a go. I wonder if something like this could be at least one source of bamboozling the video driver.

 

Recurring PC hang-up, no BSOD, audio loops. "Fixed" before, comes back

Windows Version: 2004 (OS Build 19041.928)

Hello! I’ve been experiencing a pretty debilitating hang-up issue on my PC over the course of the past 6 months or so. I’ve managed to “fix” it twice, but it keeps resurfacing, usually giving me 1-4 months between episodes. Now I’m on episode 3 and hoping you folks can lend me a hand.

I’ll try to include as much detail about everything without turning this into a novel. Specs @ the end + in my profile.

PC’s background

This is the first PC I built myself. Put it together in July 2020. Did lots of research, took my time, and everything went well, until...

First episode happened around late Oct/Early Nov 2020. Second episode: early Dec 2020. Third and current episode: started yesterday, April 16 2021.

Description of the hang-up

• Screens freeze entirely, no BSOD
• Keyboard/mouse don’t have input, but do have power
• At least in this most recent case, if there’s audio happening it gets caught in a high frequency loop (did not notice this in episodes 1 or 2, but rarely did it happen while I had audio going).
• During a hang-up, the rig sounds quiet and happy, fans running normally. No ramp ups or other signs that precede the hang-up.
• Only way out is a hard reset
• No known pattern of my behaviour that sets it off
• Once it happens, typically it will happen again within 30s to 120s after singing back in, but not always. It can give me up to two hours, or even a day! Day long reprieves were more common in episode 1.
• Has never once happened in Safe Mode

Things I’ve tried, that do not seem to help

• Malware sweep
• Memtest
• Looking for patterns in the error logs / event viewer to no avail. The only major thing it seems to detect is the forced power-off itself.
• GPU stress test
• Updating drivers, reverting drivers (esp. the GPU)
• Updating BIOS
• Defrag, disk cleanup
• chkdsk c: /f
• sfc /scannow
• DSIM scan
• Reseating most hardware (not the CPU yet)
• Restore point to 2 days prior
• Reset this PC (keeping personal files)
• Signing in as a new user
• Tons of other stuff I’m probably forgetting

Things that “worked” in the past:

• First Episode: Gradually deleting programs and disconnecting peripherals in batches until the hang-ups stopped. I forget which batch of programs solved it, but there were some background cloud syncers in it (e.g. Dropbox). Isolating things like Bluetooth did not stop the hang-ups.
• Second Episode: A full fresh reinstall of Windows 10 (keeping personal files). I couldn’t get this done through the simpler methods and remember going through a much more arduous process than the Reset This PC since the hang-up prevented doing things normally. I couldn’t even boot from a USB and re-install Windows because the hang-up occurred during this process. There was a lot of waiting for blue loading screens, a process left to finish overnight (one that froze, but when I restarted everything was fine).

Other details

• When it first began, the hang-ups were few and far between. I was actually able to kind of live with it because it followed a pattern of: hang-up, restart, hang-up after 2 mins, restart, good for 1-2 days. Frequency increased, so I got to troubleshooting
• The second episode felt a lot worse, had to go a lot further down the troubleshooting road
• I’ve never overclocked the PC
• I do have some weird issues with my Bluetooth adapter and a particular pair of headphones (audio buzzing/cutout occasionally). Hang-ups still happen w/ Bluetooth off
• Tower isn’t in the perfect spot for ventilation, but no fans are blocked and filters/case gets regular cleaning

Specs

• CPU: Core i5-9400F
• MoBo: ASUS PRIME B365M-A LGA-1151
• GPU: GeForce GTX 1660 Super
• PSU: CX550M Semi-modular 550W
• SSD: Crucial P1 1TB 3D NAND NVMe PCIe M.2 Type 2280
• RAM: Corsair Vengeance LPX 16GB (2x8GB)

Thank you in advance for any advice or insight! Happy to post any/all suggested logs as best I can… can be tough with the hang-ups intruding

 

computer hang & BSOD

3 dumps point to 3 different device drivers:

• One blames McAffee.
• One Blames your NVIDIA Virtual Audio Driver
• The last one says your Intel WiFi network adapter

I suggest completely uninstalling McAffee and using
built in defender in its place for some time.

The next step would be completely uninstalling and reinstalling both the above said drivers.