Computer keeps freezing

I have an old Toshiba Satellite L355-S7905 that was handed down to me back in 2009. It gave me some problems beforehand (needed a new OS twice since I got it) but over the past year it's been fine. Suddenly, out of the blue, the OS crashed on me a few days ago.

The crash was pretty bad and the OS wouldn't boot anymore. So, I did what any logical person would do; I reformatted my HDD (to ensure no viruses or spyware remained) and attempted to reinstall Win7 Ultimate. After the install, I manually updated all my drivers, and went underway resituating my programs. All was well with the universe, and then it happened.

My system froze. One reboot later and it started freezing any time I tried to launch Firefox. Shortly after that, it started freezing whenever I tried launching any program at all. It even froze when I launched the Command Prompt. I've tried everything I can think of, but nothing seems to solve the problem of the CPU spiking then the system locking up. I've tried virus scans, registry cleaner, disk defragenation, and disk clean up. Nothing's worked so far.


Any idea what could be causing my system to crash repeatedly? And any idea how to fix it without spending any money?

If the CPU is spiking, any reason to think it might be getting hot?

Have you run a Memtest?

Since the problem reoccurs so soon after a reinstall, I would not think Windows Update was responsible.

When you reinstalled, did you clean the drive, or reformat it?

It's sitting on a laptop table (one with vent shafts lining every inch of the surface) so I don't think it's getting hot.

Ran the Memory Diagnostics Test and it came up with no errors.

And when I installed, I used the format drive option it gives you when you put in the Windows 7 Ultimate installation disk. Would have done a clean reformat manually (like I had to my flash drive a few days ago) but the laptop wouldn't even run Command Prompt.

If you decide to try, you can open a command prompt during the install. On the second page, after selecting a language, hit Shift+F10. You can run the clean command from Diskpart. As you continue the install, you may need to refresh the drive when it gets to the partitions page. This would wipe out any OEM type partitions recovery partitions.

The only reason I suggest this is in case something is still on your drive that might be causing problems.

As far as getting hot, I have seen the cooling airflow path become restricted from dust or other contaminants. Do you have a panel or a way to access the airflow path?

The only panels under my laptop are the panels for the some cards and the HDD.

Everything seems to be working fine now, so long as I don't run too many things at once (like iTunes, Firefox and Rainmeter all at once).

Originally Posted by calhoun13

Everything seems to be working fine now, so long as I don't run too many things at once (like iTunes, Firefox and Rainmeter all at once).

That could indicate what Saltgrass has implied: heat. With more programs running... up it goes... down it comes.

We have this basic tool called vacuum cleaner. Open the box, and give it a good clean. You can even clean parts with a moist cloth, as long as you're careful and don't start until... it's safely dried. Do not give it a shower!

Best of luck.

Heat would make sense, except I clean my vents daily with a low power vac and it used to freeze up seconds after pressing the Start Button to open a program (I left it alone for a weekend before coming here). Today and I was able to launch Firefox (6 tabs at a time), uTorrent, iTunes, Rainmeter and AIM all at once without a problem.