User Laptop Image Freezing
Hi guys,
So I have been having OS issues for about 4 months now. Possibly longer. It's an issue thats rather hard to investigate due to its random intervals. Let me start at the beginning and work my way up.
So back in the middle of February I had a user that had noticed a lot of freezing when I gave him a new machine with an MDT image on it. The image installed had Office, Firefox, Adobe Reader etc. When it was freezing it would do what I believe is known as a deadlock so it would freeze for about thirty seconds and then execute all of the interface commands at once. It wouldn't BSOD or do a memory dump. Just freeze and come back. So at first I thought it was the HDD which is an SSD. Swapped that out and still the same issue. I then tried to do a Windows repair buy doing the "WIndows Upgrade". Still the same issue. I tried using a hotfix that I requested from Microsoft and still the same issue.
So after my failed attempts I then wiped the drive and put a new image on it using MDT once more. Still the same problem so after that I then concluded it was the image I was using. We have KACE now so I used a brand new image that I had built using pre-installation tasks and reimaged his machine once more using KACE. After doing that I had started to get other complaints from users with the same issue so I ended up wiping theirs also and installed a KACE image. No issues for a number of weeks after that until this morning.
I have a user that was having the same issue but was wiped and has a new installed KACE image on it. He is experiencing the same issues once more but he is the only one that I know that is having that problem. Everyone else no complaints. I honestly don't know where else to go from here without wiping the machine and putting a fresh Windows image on it using the cd. I want to stay away from having to wipe machines because not only does it take forever but it defeats the purpose in having KACE. Any recommendations or advice is welcome.
Btw the machines I am reffering are Dell Latitudes E6320-E6330 and 340's. They are fully speced with what Dell offers and are using Windows 7 Enterprise 64x.
Answers (3)
Going out on a limb here, but I've found that faulty RAM can do the strangest things. Have you tried running something like memtest on the computer?
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You might also have the F12 diagnostics on the machines themselves. If not, you might be able to use this as well: http://www.dell.com/support/Diagnostics/us/en/555/
The other thing to look at is to see how the drive is configured in the BIOS/UEFI. Is it set to AHCI or to IRRT? How you capture it may make a difference when you deploy it. - jknox 11 years ago -
I have already done diags on the machines. Memory checks out. Good advice on the bios though. I have not tried that. For KACE deployments what is the best practice? - Nithilium 11 years ago
Hello everyone,
Sorry I have been away from ITNINJA for a long while. I just wanted to give a quick status update regarding this problem as it may just help other Helpdesk/Admins and users out there. I have been able to resolve the issue. The problem was with the SSD's that we have installed on the Dell laptops. It does not matter what model. Write Caching had been turned on in my images. I now have this feature turned off within Windows 7 on my images and everything runs smoothly. Thanks for all the help and advice though guys. Case closed :).
As others have said its either going to be parts (you've possible been unlucky and get a bad batch of laptops, if you bought them in one go) or as you say its the image. It might be awkward but if you use the cd/dvd on one machine and see how it runs for a few weeks. It'll either tell you its the image you created if it runs fine or if the problems occur again it may be parts.