Vista - Vista Random Freezing + Other Probs

Hi, Im new here, as i only just got vista 64!

My vista keeps locking up after various amounts of time, no matter whether its just idling, or im making the computer work hard.

As ive read on other topics, I think its a driver issue, but I just dont know what to do. I will try another fresh vista install tomorrow and get the vista updates quickly to see whether that helps the situation. I have ensured it isnt overheating like it did initially when I bought the system, and it is now a safe and low temperature in a running state.

Also, it only detects 3.5Gb of the 4Gb of RAM I have in my system.

PC Spec:

Asus M2N32-SLI-Wireless Edition
AMD Athlon X2 6400+ 3.2Ghz, Black Edition
XFX GeForce 8800GT, 512MB RAM
4Gb Corsair (4x1Gb) XMS2-6400
600W Power Supply
Windows Vista Home Premium x64

Any help would be much appreciated!

**EDIT**
Ive re-installed, windows, and it froze after I installed the chipset driver. I contiuned, and found a sound driver wasnt digitally signed. However it still crashes. I have got the latest drivers for it. For it to crash, all i did was open recycle bin, from idle state. Its driving me maaaaaaaad! Could it be a memory problem?

Here are a couple of suggestions/ideas.

This procedure: vista x64 install with 4gb hotfix

This hotfix: Download details: Update for Windows Vista for x64-based Systems (KB929777)

Plus, make sure you have the latest bios for your motherboard.

OH, and welcome to the forum!:>)

Ive got that update, finally when my pc stayed on long enough. Checked the memory with the diagnosis check, that seems fine, just the amount difference. Got every update, and installed the latest drivers.

I think it could be a power issue, as it runs fine on "high performance", however it just gets a bit warmer inside the case. Im addressing that with a silver based thermal compound, and maybe some cooling holes in the top panel of my case, to let the heat escape from the heat sink.

Ill sort the BIOS out tomorrow, and see if that helps. It may be a AMD cool'n'quiet issue alongside the vista 64 OS. Thanks for the tips

I had a similar problem with an older ASUS motherboard (ASUS A8N32-SLI-Deluxe), except I had intermittent BSODs every couple of minutes. I eventually tracked down the problem to an errant settings in the BIOS - one of my hard disks had 32-Bit disk access turned off. WHen I turned it on, the problem went away.

As for the memory differences (Physical 4GB, 3.5GB Available), that's a hardware "issue" that (forgive me) I'm getting tired of explaining to people. If you disable the boot logo in the BIOS (or press TAB right after power-up, or check in the BIOS itself), the BIOS should report the amount of physical ram vs. the amount of available ram. It happens because some devices on the moherboard have the memory mapped into the 3GB - 4GB range, and the BIOS gives preference to those devices. This was never a problem before, when people counted their installed memory in MB, not GB.

The newer motherboards, such as the ASUS M3A32 MVP Deluxe WiFi/AP that I'm using now utilizes "memory remapping" for those hardware devices whose memory overlaps RAM, thus allowing almost the full complement of ram to be used by the system. I have 4094 MB available system ram (3.99GB) of an installed 4096MB (4GB).

Welcome to the Forums, TG-AB

Cheers for your help, I think the BIOS versions between the latest one and the one i have at the moment address that, as the updates constantly talk about RAM fixes. I shall install that now after I read the ASUS manual, and hopefully that should do the trick for the memory. I shall go through the options then and make sure everything is set correctly!

You're welcome. Let me know if your freezing problem goes away.

I updated the BIOS and got my 4Gb back, and as long as I keep my power plan as high performance, it doesnt crash. I shall have a look through the BIOS tomorrow, but it is running ok at the moment!

Glad to hear it, TG-AB.

You gotta admit that ASUS do make quality products, and provide some really good backup support too.

yeah, they seem to bring out a new BIOS very regularily, and the ez flash function is great! After getting it to settle down, I'm glad that I bought what I did. Its a great computer! hehe

Good to hear. Glad the bios update solved it. Asus EZ Flash is tops. I would never use their windows bios updater again. Been some horror stories about it.