[Aaron__]

Hello. I'm new on this forum, but was seeking some assistance with a strange problem that has suddenly afflicted my computer. Before I go on, I'll list my system Specs.

Microsoft Windows 7 Home Premium 64-bit SP1
Intel Core i7 2760QM @ 2.40GHz
8.00 GB Dual-Channel DDR3 @ 665MHz (9-9-9-24)
CLEVO P150HMx (SOCKET 0) (Motherboard)
AMD Radeon HD 2048MB 6990M
699GB (750GB) Seagate ST9750422AS (SATA)

To describe what's happening, about two days ago I tried to boot up my computer after getting home from work, business as usual, but after the initial (POST?) screen, the boot process hung on the blinking white _ cursor instead of going on to boot Windows. I waited for around 15-20 minutes, eventually the white cursor went away but nothing else happened. So, I had to hold the power button to turn it off, waited several seconds, turned it back on. Similar results. Next time, I tried to check things in the BIOS options, and I noticed that the menus were very sluggish to scroll around. Even the system clock timer would sometimes take up to 4 or 5 seconds to update itself and display the new second. This has never been a problem before.

Well, I don't remember the 'exact' details, but after I believe another powerdown, the computer booted normally, though it seemed sluggish. Once getting into Windows everything behaved perfectly fine the rest of that night, no slow downs, no issues, I even played a resource intensive game for several hours with nothing out of the ordinary happening. Now tonight the computer is doing two more odd things that it has never done before. First and foremost, menus are very sluggish when they never had been before. Opening or minimizing windows seems to be 'slo-mo' taking 2-3 seconds for the animation to finish. As I'm typing this, sometimes the text will lock up and take a bit to catch up as the browser acts unresponsive. Scrolling pages suffers a slow down. None of this ever occurred before.

Secondly, Windows INCESSANTLY notifies me that a "USB Device is Not Recognized" literally over and over and over non-stop. If I click the "X" to close the bubble, it immediately pops up again. This is visible in Device Manager, the Device list constantly refreshes itself as if it keeps trying to detect something, even if nothing is plugged in. I don't know if this is related to the above, but it started happening around the same time.

I know this sounds like a potential malware issue, but let me say that I am pretty good about being safe on the internet, and I do my best to avoid any risky behavior all together. I have scanned for malware with several programs, including updated versions of Avast! Antivirus, Prevx 3.0, Malwarebyte's Anti-malware, and Spybot S&D, all of which claim the system is clean. Avast and Prevx have real-time protection which has always been on and nothing was noticed by them, nor have I even engaged in any dicey downloads or activity to cause this.

I ran the in-depth CHKDSK today, and no bad sectors were located. Also ran System File Checker, which said that no integrity issues were detected. Defraggler seems to think my HDD is in "Good" health and I don't see any non-zero 'real time values' for any uncorrectable sectors, or other things which I know to be serious.

I'm kind of stumped, these issues seem unrelated to me but all have coincided. I don't really do anything strange to this computer, only every day things. No overclocking or anything. The only thing I can think of for the Device Recognition pop-up would maybe be the fingerprint reader, which no longer works, trying to somehow reconnect itself and failing. It has been out of operation for months though, so that would be strange.

If anyone can shed some light on this issue, I would appreciate the assistance. Please let me know if there is anymore relevant information which I can provide to you to help troubleshooting.

Thank you.

 

[Aaron__]

Just updating. I've been messing around trying things. The computer was getting painfully slow, having trouble even opening a basic text file. The HDD Access light was constantly blinking showing activity, and the processor cores were running pretty hot despite me not running any program other than the web browser and normal background processes. Task Manager actually only indicated the CPU working around 2-3% capacity most of the time.

I downloaded SeaTools and ran some diagnostics. It passed S.M.A.R.T., Short Drive Self Test, and the Short Generic tests without any issues.

After that, I tried to boot up in Safe Mode with Networking, and after holding F8 the menu came up for these boot options, but then completely froze. I could not scroll, enter an option, or even exit with Esc. So, once again I had to hold the power and force a shutdown. Waited about 20 seconds, turned it back on, and it has booted to Windows with minimal problems. As I'm typing this, the computer is behaving completely normally and at full speed (thus far) just as it did the night before. It is still constantly mentioning that a non-existent attached USB device is malfunctioning and unrecognized over and over though.

No idea what's going on. I might try a Long Generic test in SeaTools overnight. I may just leave the computer on...it seems like restarting randomly decides whether the computer will run properly or not.

Stumped here.

 

[CubicleCowboy]

Is this a factory model laptop or a customized one? How long have you had it?

What temperature readings can you see in BIOS? It sounds to me like it might be a heat issue.

 

[Aaron__]

The laptop is customized insofar that I selected what specific hardware components went into it, like the CPU model, HDD size, graphics card, etc. I built the laptop on a website called xoticpc.com. They are basically resellers of various manufacturers like Asus, msi, etc. This laptop is ultimately Sager branded.

Anyhow, I'm in the middle of the Long Generic SeaTools test, but I could maybe look at the BIOS temperature readings tomorrow. What I can tell you now is that with this test running, Speccy and SpeedFan both report that the various CPU cores are anywhere from 50-65C, it keeps bouncing around by several degrees at a time a lot. Not sure how accurate this is.

The HDD seems to be steady at 47C, but that is with the Long Generic test running for quite some time now. The GPU is idling at about 45-47C.

Normally the CPU and HDD would be significantly cooler just idling at the desktop. (What is a safe upper temp for the Sandy Bridge CPUs? I've heard a pretty wide range from various sources.)

In any case, temperature issues wouldn't explain the USB issue, or the laggy BIOS when cold-booting (at least I don't think?). I typically turn my computer off at night and it stays off until I get home, so internally at that time it would only be slightly above room temperature, but the issue can still be present.

 

[CubicleCowboy]

As a general rule you usually don't want to go past 80C on any CPU. I believe that SB has a TJ max temp of around 100C but you still don't want to be anywhere near that. I'm inclined to think that the wide range you see from different sources reflects how close some people are willing to get to the max temp. Can you post the BIOS temps whenever you can get to it? Those readings will be the most reliable ones. As it is, your temps do seem normal.

Hardware failures (that sometimes cause random error messages) and slowdowns for basic tasks are common symptoms of overheating; it could also be a power issue. Do you have the same problems while running on battery power?

How long have you had the laptop?

 

[shawnpb]

Clean out all air ports with a can of compressed air. Also concider getting a cooling pad. Also redo the hard drive test with Seatools but this time to the long test which tests every sector of the hard drive.

 

[Aaron__]

CubicleCowboy,

Thanks for the information about the temps. I tried to retrieve my temps in the BIOS, but if I'm not mistaken, this BIOS doesn't have an option to view them. = /

I'm looking at it right now (typing this on my old back-up laptop) and the only options are: Main, Advanced, Security, Boot, and Exit, none of which have any temperature readings available. Is it possible for a BIOS to not have this feature?

Running the laptop from the Battery only doesn't seem to fix the problem.

Also, sorry I forgot to mention last time, the laptop was purchased during a Black Friday sale in 2011, so I would say about 1 year and 3 months old approximately.

JackBauer_24,

I could try cleaning it out. I did run the Long Generic test in SeaTools last night, in the morning I saw that it stated that the HDD passed the test with no faults shown. CHKDSK also didn't find anything wrong, even on the 3-hour-ish thorough scan.

Also, while I was in the BIOS I enabled the POST beep-codes. When rebooting, it only had 1 moderate length beep. I don't know the Beep Codes for this specific computer, but to my understanding a single beep is usually an "Everything Checks Out" code.

 

[i MaRk i]

Yes, sadly OEM computers will usually not display this information (should be a crime).

Because of the fact that you have had problems with this before windows actually boots (such as the problem getting into safe mode). I am inclined to believe that is a Hardware issue. Heat seems to be a likely culprit. Maybe something is wrong with the CPU cooler ? (loose cable for the fan?).

Not really sure what you can do software wise. Any chance the warranty is still good?

 

[Aaron__]

i MaRk i,

Unfortunately, I was thinking the same thing. I decided to post here anyway hoping one of the gurus around here could somehow diagnose it as something else...I never thought heat was above safe levels (if a bit toasty while gaming) but I suppose it is possible.

Admittedly, I've never dusted out the inside of the laptop since I've had it. (bad I know) I haven't ever opened up the laptop before, so I always kind of put it off, not wanting to somehow mess things up. Is there any real chance of cleaning the inside fixing the problem? The computer does seem to get slower the longer it has been on which could make sense as more heat builds up, but the slow BIOS and Windows 7 boot animation would be left unexplained. I know when I bought this PC they supposedly applied IC Diamond 7 higher-end thermal compound paste to the CPU and GPU chips to help them run more coolly.

As far as the warranty being valid still, well...yes and no.

No, as in the original manufacturer warranty was only good for 1 year.

Yes, (I think) as in the entire laptop purchase was put on a Discover credit card, and most credit card membership benefits provide a free extension on warranties for items purchased fully by credit, to include laptops. So, in theory, Discover willing, they would probably pay for any necessary repair or replacement if it came to that. But the claim process would likely be pretty lousy to go through, and slow. I'm guessing I'd have to pay out of pocket in the meantime to get the repair as well, so I'm praying to avoid that...I'm sure laptop repairs are not inexpensive or easy.

 

[CubicleCowboy]

Admittedly, I've never dusted out the inside of the laptop since I've had it. (bad I know) I haven't ever opened up the laptop before, so I always kind of put it off, not wanting to somehow mess things up. Is there any real chance of cleaning the inside fixing the problem?

It's possible. If you open it up and you see the cooling fan caked with a thick layer of crud, then that would most likely be your problem. Still, a few blasts of compressed air into the vents is usually enough to clear out any dust or other particles.

A mechanical problem with the fan itself would require someone to work on it directly.

You don't often have the exhaust vents covered up, do you? For example, placing the laptop on the bed or other soft surface. Also, do you use a cooling pad? If not, then it might be worth getting one just to see if that would solve the issue. If it doesn't, you could always just return it.

 

[Aaron__]

The dual-vents on the back are never obstructed, and the laptop always sits on a flat desk with nothing underneath it. I don't have a cooling pad.

Here's a screen shot of the SpeedFan temperature reports on the computer while it has been idling for several hours. (It's currently still experiencing slow-down at these temps)

imgur: the simple image sharer

This temperature doesn't seem like it should be causing any problems. In fact, the HDD has actually dropped 2 degrees since taking this screen shot. I wouldn't pay any mind to it saying the GPU Fan is 0 RPM, I haven't ever told SpeedFan to do anything other than monitor temps. Definitely have not set-up manual fan controls.

 

[Aaron__]

An update. I just did a stress test for probably 15 minutes on a pretty new game called Planetside 2 at nearly maxed settings. The game ran with no issues, and SpeedFan reported the GPU somewhere around the mid 70's (C) for temp, and all 4 CPU cores around the mid 60's range. This isn't really too hot. I think the HDD was low 40's. Yeah, it was only 15 minutes, but that's usually long enough to start hitting the upper end operating temps.

This seems bizarre that the POST and boot screens would have laggy animations, as well as stuttering scroll bars and sluggish minimize/maximize animations on windows and browser tabs when it was just running an intensive game application completely normally on high settings.

What the heck could be the root of this problem?

In other news, I think one of my USB ports randomly went on the fritz, because disabling one through process of elimination managed to stop the unceasing USB device unrecognized pop-up. The port still actually works though, I tried plugging my wireless mouse receiver into it, and the mouse worked fine. The pop-up just won't quit when it is enabled.

I've read on another forum where a user suggested a faulty USB port can cause a slower POST, but animations and scrolling, too? Even the laggy BIOS clock?...

Even animated emoticons like this guy here: :dance: move in slow-motion, to include ads and other motion. But yet somehow not online videos or intensive video games...

 

[CubicleCowboy]

If it's not heat or power then I am at a loss. I'm not sure what else it could be; it might just be a simple hardware failure. Sometimes parts just crap out. It could have suffered permanent damage from a voltage spike, or something. I can't think of anything without opening the whole thing up and taking a look.

I think it's a hardware issue, but as a total shot in the dark I would restore to factory settings or re-install the OS and drivers from scratch (after backing everything up and creating a system image with repair disc) if I ran out of options. Maybe flash the BIOS. Like I said, shot in the dark. Taking advantage of the warranty would probably be the best bet.

 

[i MaRk i]

Hi-

Maybe there is a problem with power. Does the Laptop behave differently when it is plugged in versus running on battery?

Because this happens at POST, fingers can be pointed at the hardware.

Regards,

Mark

 

[Aaron__]

It behaves the same whether it is on battery or the power supply.

It's totally weird, right now it's working fine again. I didn't really do anything else to fix it, and it booted extremely slow, but once in windows, it worked fine. No slow animations or scrolling or anything.

I swear I'm not making this up. No idea what's wrong with this computer. Tomorrow I suppose it will be slow again.