XP64 freezes for 25 seconds !

[xmarcelo]

Hi,

I have a Dell Precision Workstation 670 running on XP-64bit, 2.0GB Ram with an NVIDIA Quadro FX 3400/4400 512MB video card, driver version 5.40.02.38.10 , with dell 19' dual LCD monitors.

I run 3D software like 3d studio 7.0 Autodesk, Adobe After Effects, Photoshop, Maya Alias Wavefront and more multimedia and compositing programs.

The problem that I have is that every time that I am using the software maximize on both monitors for a while and then I minimize to go to the desktop the computer will freeze for at least 25 seconds or more, the machine will do this also every time I jump from one aplication to another aplications.

I don't get any errors, the machine is not overclock.

It looks that Windows XP64 does not handled very well the 2 monitors !!

I checked my virtual memory and is fine I also checked on the video card settings and everthing looks fine.

...any clue?

Thanks

xmarcelo

[cluberti]

Usually, this is caused by a deadlock condition or a race condition on a thread (or threads) running on your system, and when the system gets backed up enough, it'll hang until the offending deadlock is cleared. If you can get a memory dump via the keyboard the next time the issue is occurring, I can likely tell you what's causing it and what to do to fix it - my guess is that it's the video driver, not Windows, but without a memory dump it's just an educated guess.

Follow these steps to enable complete memory dumps on your machine (you need a PS/2 keyboard for this to work!):

1. If you have a feature like Compaq's Automatic System Restart (ASR), please disable it. This setting is usually found in the BIOS. With this feature enabled, if the BIOS does not detect a heartbeat from the OS, it will restart the machine, and this will interrupt the dump process.

2. Create or set the following registry value:

Key: HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Services\i8042prt\Parameters

Value: CrashOnCtrlScroll

Type: REG_DWORD

Data: 1

Refer to the following Knowledge Base article for more information on this registry key:

244139 Windows Feature Allows a Memory.dmp File to Be Generated with Keyboard

http://support.microsoft.com/?id=244139

3. Right-Click on the "My Computer" icon on the desktop and select "Properties"; this will open the "System Properties" window. Go to the "Advanced" tab and click "Performance Options". Click "Change" under "Virtual Memory". Set the pagefile to be located on the partition where the OS is installed, and set it to be equal to Physical RAM + 50 MB, for both min and max.

4. Also in the "System Properties" window, click on the "Advanced" tab, then click "Startup and Recovery". Make sure "Complete Memory Dump" is selected (see 4a if this is not in the list). You can change the location of the memory dump file to a different local partition if you do not have enough room on the partition where the OS is installed.

4a. If the "Complete Memory Dump" option in step 4 is not available, you will need to manually set this registry value:

Key: HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Control\CrashControl

Value: CrashDumpEnabled

Type: REG_DWORD

Value: 1

5. You will need to reboot the machine for these changes to take effect.

6. The next time that the machine crashes, hold the RIGHT-hand CTRL key, and press the SCROLL LOCK key twice. This should bugcheck the machine, and a memory.dmp file will be created when it reboots. After the machine comes back up, wait for the disk activity to stop before logging in. Once the disk activity has stopped, please log in and find the resulting memory dump file (again, located by default at %systemroot%\memory.dmp).

7. Please compress the resulting dump file and then PM me for instructions on how to upload the file to me for review.

Edited April 29, 2006 by cluberti

[ClauSoft]

Great post cluberti!

Thank you very much. Had the same problem sometimes.