Summary:
Product: HP Pavilion dv7-1030ev, Win 7 64-bit Pro
The laptop hangs very often, task manager is inaccessible (with error message) and applications do not open (error message in some cases); laptop does not shut down
Detailed info:
I have recently experienced some unpredictable behavior with my laptop which cannot troubleshoot no matter what. All of sudden and after some time (usually minutes) of normal operation, the systems becomes unresponsive:
- the Task Manager does not open (error: "Failure to display security and shut down options")
- no other application opens (they either do nothing or give error "The service did not respond to the start or control request at a timely fashion")
- Internet does not work
- some task bar icons do not work (sound is gone, networks not displayed)
- the computer hangs on a black screen after shut down, with the cursor visible, before the "Shutting down" message appears.
I have read various forums usually related to Win 7 and tried anything possible I could find:
- scanned for spyware with Malware, Hitman, Adwcleaner, Junk Removal Tool, MS Security Essentials
- tried the Windows Troubleshooter
- scanned memory and disk diagnostics (F2 during boot)
- did a "netsh winsock reset" from a cmd as administrator from safe mode
- run an "sfc /scannow" from cmd as admin from safe mode
- did a clean boot with only Windows services
- did a "chkdsk c: /f /r" as admin
- run a check from the Action Center
- did a full virus scan with Symantec Antivirus/Endpoint Protection
- uninstalled extraneous applications
- restored to a previous point (before the latest Windows Update)
- switched to Chrome because Mozilla was freezing (Not Responding) and thought this might be the curlpit
None of the diagnostic tests/tools found any problem. The problem does not seem to appear in Safe mode. Startup time has increased considerably to 4-5 minutes until computer is ready to be used (~2 mins to login and 2 more to desktop)
I am out of ideas and energy. It seems that HP might be my only solution, since I've read somewhere that this might be a motherboard problem.
Any advice would be utterly appreciated!
--Panagiotis