Solved Vista x64 locking up need help ASAP

[backwardsK]

Ok so I built the machine that I am using right now (see sig for details) close to the beginning of the year. Every once and a while (including the first day I used it) it would do this hard lock up sort of thing. Basically everything would be going ok and then all of a sudden the computer would completely freeze, even the keyboard and mouse would freeze. When I hit ctrl+alt+del, the circle on the loading cursor goes for like half a second and then freezes. The only thing I can do is a hard reboot. Up until recently, the problem had been happening sporadically and it didn't really bother me that much, so I didn't even bother troubleshooting it or anything like that. In the last week (even before vista sp2), it has just been locking up uncontrollably. I log into windows and within 5 minutes it has locked up again.
Here are some things that aren't mentioned in the computer build:
-I'm using a 500gb western digital mybook external hard drive and sometimes when i turn off the computer, the blue light on the hard drive stays on (the usb ports are still sending power, maybe it's overspinning or drawing too much power and causing windows to lock up but even without the hard drive plugged in it still freezes...just a thought though)
-I'm using an EDIMAX wireless card adapter (can't hard wire to where I am in the house) and I've heard that the card has issues with vista 64-bit so this is my best lead on the problem right now...the card is EDIMAX EW-7128g
-I am currently running a memory test to check for bad RAM but the test has been stuck at 21% on the first pass (10% overall) for about an hour and a half now

If you can help or have the same problem please let me know, it's driving me insane
...also, I might have posted this in the wrong forum...so sorry if that's the case

Thanks,
backwardsK

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OS: Windows Vista 64-bit
CPU: i7 920 @ 2.66 Ghz
MB: GIGABYTE GA-EX58-DS4
GPU: EVGA nVidia GeForce GTX 260 216-core 896mb
RAM: G.Skill 3x2GB DDR3 1333 Triple Channel
HD: WD Caviar 640gb 7200rpm
PSU: Corsair 650tx
DVD: Samsung 22x DVD-R w/Lightscribe
CASE: Cooler Master RC-690
DISPLAY: Dell 22" e228wfp

 

[backwardsK]

UPDATE: The test is still moving, it is not on 88% on the first pass (44% overall)

 

[AstaLaVista]

I have a similar issue, it has to do with my RAM, my mobo sees my RAM as 800 and not as 1066, like it should be so, from the beginning, I manually set the, voltage, timings and frequency for it.

Now, from time to time, my Bios decides to put the RAM back at 800mhz and w/o realizing it, I can be on the PC for 5 mins to 2 hrs when all of a sudden it would lock up on me. Only thing left to do is to Hard Boot.

As soon as I do that, it can go back to showing 800mhz on the bios or the Manual Frequency set by me before... that's is how I am able to know why it locked.

Now, you may have something similar to what I am suffering from, not an answer, just a suggestion to check your Ram or Bios settings.

 

[backwardsK]

Thank you for the response, when the test finishes I will look into that. It completed the first pass with no problem, and is almost done with the second pass, so I don't think theres a problem with the RAM hardware-wise. It could easily be what you said.

PS. Out of curiousity, what motherboard are you using?

Thanks again

 

[hclarkjr]

I'm using a 500gb western digital mybook external hard drive

that could be one of your problems right there. i have an older gigabyte board and have a 750gb mybook. everytime i leave it plugged in by mistake it causes all kinds of havoc with my system. gigabyte boards have trouble with external drives plugged into the USB during bootup.

 

[Frostmourne]

This sounds like a motherboard/hardware issue. Can you flash the motherboard to possibly fix the mybook errors?

 

[AstaLaVista]

PS. Out of curiousity, what motherboard are you using?

Thanks again

My Mobo is under my system specs but... EVGA 780i SLI FTW

I also have a problem when I have my external USb 320GB passport or USB SansaDisk plugged in but I think it has to do more because I have enabled USB boot on my Bios. I never have a problem with them locking once I am booted up though.

 

[backwardsK]

I think I have ruled out the hard drive issue because I have rebooted a couple times without the external hard drive plugged in at all and it still locks up. I still havent had a chance to do the RAM suggestion made by AstaLaVista, but I am going to do that right now. However, the problem almost always occurs when I am doing something related to the internet (browser, skype, online gaming, etc.) so if the thing with the RAM doesn't work I am going to remove the wireless card and see what happens then.

 

[backwardsK]

OK I'm pretty sure it is fixed now. After running a bunch of tests, altering lots of settings, and reinstalling a bunch of hardware I finally just gave up and took out the wireless card and now it runs fine with no lock ups...if only I had just done that first I would have saved myself a lot of trouble. Thanks guys for all the help you've given me to help with this problem. I learned a few new things actually so it wasn't all bad haha

Thanks,
backwardsK