Programs are not responding

[Venn]

So sometimes Firefox randomly stops working and doesn't respond. This usually happens shortly after i've started my pc (either sleep or from shut down). This also happens sometimes when i open 2-3 tabs at the same time.

 

Chrome flat out just doesn't work for me. It keeps not responding every 5-10 seconds all of the time.

 

This also happens to some other games such as TF2 or AC Black Flag, but more rarely than my browser.

 

Those freezes don't occur that often, however when they do it's really annoying to deal with and it can lead to more freezing to other programs, like a domino effect.

 

I've got no clue if this is a software or a hardware issue. my PC is pre-built and is 3-4 years old. My CPU is running at 100% in some games, but that's for another topic. Those are my specs (PSU and GPU are new)

 

AMD Phenom II x4 955

Gtx 950 FTW

EVGA 500w PSU

8 gb ram

foxconn 2a92 mobo

1TB seagate

 

Any help is appreciated

[BlueChinchillaEatingDorito]

4 minutes ago, Venn said:

-snip-

It could be caused by a conflicting program running in the background. Have you tried boot the PC into Safe Mode and see if the problem persists? You can't open games in Safe Mode, but you can still open basic programs like Chrome. 

[tomoki]

Do you have a core unparker utility or any third party program you recently installed/think it may possibly interfere with your system? 

I've had an experience where I learnt about core unparking and that started freezing up my system after many months of using it. For some reason I don't know, I thought it was my hardware and so I tested everything. It was until much later that I found this piece of software that froze my whole system. 

 

Are you hosting any server programs? 

[Venn]

2 minutes ago, tomoki said:

Do you have a core unparker utility or any third party program you recently installed/think it may possibly interfere with your system? 

I've had an experience where I learnt about core unparking and that started freezing up my system after many months of using it. For some reason I don't know, I thought it was my hardware and so I tested everything. It was until much later that I found this piece of software that froze my whole system. 

 

Are you hosting any server programs? 

 

Well, if im hosting servers nope. And i've got no idea what a core unparker is. I mainly stick to my games and browsing the web.

[NeoFrux]

I see that motherboard is associated with HP systems - Might be an idea to check with HP to see if there's a BIOS update available for your system. Other than that, this is a pretty broad range of possible issues. I'd check the temperatures first off - Grab Open Hardware Monitor and see what it looks like when you browse or run a game. I'd also suggest checking the health of your hard drive(s) with DiskCheckup, and to rule out a hardware acceleration problem, try toggling that off in Chrome and Firefox to see if that helps.

One other thing you might do is grab LatencyMon to see if it can help pinpoint what's causing these hangs.

[tomoki]

1 minute ago, Venn said:

 

Well, if im hosting servers nope. And i've got no idea what a core unparker is. I mainly stick to my games and browsing the web.

When I was searching for the solution to my problem, I read that hardware failures aren't as likely to occur as software. With my problem it was software. At that point my system was around 2 years old though and other problems I've had were all software. Perhaps you installed something that's interfering with other components? Like @BlueChinchillaEatingDorito said, try safe mode first. 

[Venn]

17 minutes ago, Runefox said:

I see that motherboard is associated with HP systems - Might be an idea to check with HP to see if there's a BIOS update available for your system. Other than that, this is a pretty broad range of possible issues. I'd check the temperatures first off - Grab Open Hardware Monitor and see what it looks like when you browse or run a game. I'd also suggest checking the health of your hard drive(s) with DiskCheckup, and to rule out a hardware acceleration problem, try toggling that off in Chrome and Firefox to see if that helps.

One other thing you might do is grab LatencyMon to see if it can help pinpoint what's causing these hangs.

 ill check out hardware monitor. i dont have smart technology so diskcheckup doesn't seem to help, and latency mon seems really complicated to use

[NeoFrux]

Just now, Venn said:

 ill check out hardware monitor. i dont have smart technology so diskcheckup doesn't seem to help, and latency mon seems really complicated to use

You... Don't? That's very strange. Hard drives have had SMART pretty much universally since the late 90's. That tells me there may be something very wrong with yours, or with your motherboard's drive controller. Check your BIOS to see if there's a setting for SMART (not common these days), and if not, you're definitely going to want to test your HDD with Seagate SeaTools or WD Data Lifeguard.

[Venn]

2 minutes ago, Runefox said:

You... Don't? That's very strange. Hard drives have had SMART pretty much universally since the late 90's. That tells me there may be something very wrong with yours, or with your motherboard's drive controller. Check your BIOS to see if there's a setting for SMART (not common these days), and if not, you're definitely going to want to test your HDD with Seagate SeaTools or WD Data Lifeguard.

And how do i do that? I just checked diskcheckup and it says SMART supported: No

[NeoFrux]

11 minutes ago, Venn said:

And how do i do that? I just checked diskcheckup and it says SMART supported: No

Just because SMART isn't available doesn't mean SeaTools or WD DLG won't be able to test the disk. If all else fails, HDTune should be able to run its own error scan. I'd also suggest trying a different SATA cable to connect your drive to your motherboard, in case it's just a cable issue; That's the cheapest part in the chain to replace.

[Venn]

40 minutes ago, Runefox said:

Just because SMART isn't available doesn't mean SeaTools or WD DLG won't be able to test the disk. If all else fails, HDTune should be able to run its own error scan. I'd also suggest trying a different SATA cable to connect your drive to your motherboard, in case it's just a cable issue; That's the cheapest part in the chain to replace.

Ran HD Tune and it says i do have SMART.... huh... anyway when i go to the health section says warning on the reallocated sector count. says im at 39 data.

 

also, cant run seatools for some reason. program just dosent respond and when i open it nothing responds anymore

[NeoFrux]

7 hours ago, Venn said:

Ran HD Tune and it says i do have SMART.... huh... anyway when i go to the health section says warning on the reallocated sector count. says im at 39 data.

 

also, cant run seatools for some reason. program just dosent respond and when i open it nothing responds anymore

Yeah, that's sounding like you've got a dying hard drive. Got another SATA cable to rule that out?