Windows 10 is currently the latest and probably the best version of Windows available. It was first released in 2015 and was made as a free upgrade to people who were running Windows 7 or Windows 8 on their computers. Although this is a solid performing operating system there are instances when certain issues can occur which we will be troubleshooting today. In this latest installment of our troubleshooting series we will tackle the windows 10 freezes randomly issue.
How To Fix Windows 10 Freezes Randomly Issue
Before performing any of the recommended troubleshooting steps listed below it’s best to restart your computer first. This action refreshes the operating system and remove any corrupt temporary data that could be causing the problem.
Check for driver updates
Your computer is made of several components each with their own set of drivers which will allow it to work on Windows 10. If you are using an outdated driver then there’s a chance that you will experience this particular issue. Although Windows 10 can update the drivers automatically there are instances when this does not happen and you have to do it manually.
Update using Windows update
- Open Settings.
- Click on Update & Security.
- Click on Windows Update.
- Click the Check for updates button. If a new driver is available it will download and install automatically.
Update using device manager
- Open Start.
- Search for Device Manager and click the top result to open the experience.
- Double-click the category with the device you want to update.
- Right-click the device, and select the Update Driver option.
- Click the Search automatically for updated driver software option. If a new driver is available it will download and install automatically.
Update from manufacturer website
- Download the update from the official manufacturer website. This will usually be a zip file or a self-extracting file.
- Open Start.
- Search for Device Manager and click the top result to open the experience.
- Double-click the category with the device you want to update.
- Right-click the device, and select the Update Driver option.
- Click the Browse my computer for driver software option.
- Click the Browse button.
- Select the main folder with the content you have extracted earlier.
- Click the OK button.
- Check the Include subfolders option to allow the wizard to find the correct “.inf” file with the instructions to update the driver.
- Click the Next button. The new driver will install on your computer.
Check if the Windows 10 freezes randomly issue still occurs.
Run Netsh Winsock Reset Command
The netsh winsock reset is useful command that you can use to reset winsock catalog back to default setting or clean state. You will usually do this if you are having issues with Internet access or networking problem.
Press the Windows Key and Press X. Choose Command Prompt (Admin). In the command prompt, type the following command and press enter: netsh winsock reset
Restart your computer then check if the Windows 10 freezes randomly issue still occurs.
Perform a clean boot
A clean boot on Windows 10 means that you will be starting the system with only the essential files and services required by the operating system. This is a good troubleshooting technique used to identify and fix performance issues within the booting process, including software conflicts, error messages and more.
- Hold the Windows Key and press R.
- Type msconfig and click OK in the Run dialog box.
- Choose the Services Tab, then put a check on Hide All Microsoft Services and select Disable All.
- Click Apply, and Click OK. This prompts you to restart; choose Restart Later.
- Hold the Windows Key and Press R.
- Type msconfig and click OK.
- Choose Start Up and select Open Task Manager.
- At the last field called Start-Up Impact disable all the ones with High Impact.
- Reboot your system and it will start up in the clean boot mode.
If the Windows 10 freezes randomly issue does not occur anymore then you can attempt to find the offending program or service. You can do this by trial and error method. Re-enable half of the Microsoft services then check if the issue still occurs. Narrow down your search until you find the culprit.
To undo the clean boot
- Open Start.
- Search for msconfig and click the top result to open the System Configuration experience.
- On the General tab, select the Normal startup option.
- Click the Services tab.
- Check the Hide all Microsoft services option.
- Click the Enable all button.
- Click the Startup tab.
- Click the Open Task Manager link.
- On the Startup tab, select each item and click the Enable button.
- Close Task Manager.
- Restart your computer.
Increase the virtual memory
You will sometimes experience random freeze issues if the virtual memory of your computer is low. If this is what’s causing the problem then you will have to increase its size. To do this hold the Windows Key and Press R. Type sysdm.cpl and Click OK. Then click Advanced – Settings – Advanced – Changed. Uncheck Automatically Manage paging file size for all drives, and choose Custom Size. Set Initial Size to 1000 and Maximum Size to 8192. Then Click OK and Reboot the PC.
Check if the Windows 10 freezes randomly issue still occurs.
Try turning off Link State Power Management
Link State Power Management allows users to specify the Active State Power Management (ASPM) policy to use. There are two options to this feature the first which is Moderate Power Savings which saves less power but recovers quickly from the sleep state. The second one is Maximum Power Savings which saves more power and the time to recover from the sleep state is increased.Some users have reported that turning this feature off helped with blank screens and freezing issues when NVIDIA/AMD Graphic Cards were being used.
- Hold the Windows Key and Press R.
- Type powercfg.cpl and Click OK.
- Click Change Plan Settings for your Active Plan.
- Choose Change Advanced Power Settings, scroll down until you see PCI Express -> Link State Power Management -> Click “whatever” the option is next to Settings, and set it to Off.
Check if the Windows 10 freezes randomly issue still occurs.
Disable Fast Startup
Fast Startup is a feature that is designed to minimize the time required for Windows 10 to boot up from shut down. This is achieved because Windows will save some of your computer’s system files to a hibernation file upon shutdown. Then, when you turn your computer back on, Windows will use these saved files to boot up quicker, basically, booting from hibernate instead of from scratch. Although this is a great feature, it can sometimes cause issues on incompatible hardware.
- Right-click on the Start Menu button to open the WinX Menu.
- Click on Power Options.
- Click on Choose what the power buttons do in the right pane of the window.
- Click on Change settings that are currently unavailable.
- Uncheck the checkbox beside Turn on Fast Startup (recommended), thus disabling it.
- Click on Save changes.
Restart your computer then check if the Windows 10 freezes randomly issue still occurs.
Check your hard disk
Your computer will sometimes freeze due to issues with the hard disk. To check if this is what’s causing the problem you will need to run the CHKDSK utility.
- Right-click on the Drive which you wish to check and select Properties.
- Click on the Tools tab and under Error-checking, click on the Check button.
- If the system detects that there are errors, you will be asked to check the disk.
- Click on Scan drive
- If errors are found, you will see the following message: Restart your computer to repair the file system. You can restart right away or schedule the error fixing on next restart.
Check if the Windows 10 freezes randomly issue still occurs.
Use the Microsoft network adapter driver ( applies if you have a Broadcom network adapter)
There have been several reports of people experiencing the problem after updating their Broadcom network adapter. To check if this is what’s causing the problem you should try switching to the Microsoft network adapter driver.
- Right-click on the Start Menu button to launch the WinX Menu.
- In the WinX Menu, click on Device Manager.
- On the Device Manager, locate and double-click on Network adapters to expand that section of the Device Manager.
- Search your computer’s Broadcom network adapter under the Network adapters section, right-click on it and click on Properties in the context menu.
- Navigate to the Driver
- Click on Update Driver
- Click on Browse my computer for driver software.
- Click on Let me pick from a list of device drivers on my computer.
- You should see two different variants of driver software for your Broadcom network adapter – click on the Microsoft variant to select it and then click on Next. Your computer will begin installing the Microsoft variant of the driver software. Wait for the installation to finish.
- Once the Microsoft variant of the driver software has been installed, you can exit the Device Manager
Restart your computer then check if the Windows 10 freezes randomly issue still occurs.
Remove temporary files
There are instances when the temporary files in the computer can cause this problem ( most likely caused by some corrupted files). To fix this you will have to remove these files from the system.
- Open Settings.
- Click on System.
- Click on Storage.
- Under the “Local Disk” section, click the Temporary files option.
- Select the temporary files to be removed.
- Click the Remove files button.
Check if the Windows 10 freezes randomly issue still occurs.
Restore your computer
In case the above steps fails to fix the problem then you should restore your computer to an earlier date when the issue did not occur. Before performing this step you should backup your important data.
- Press the “Windows” and “S” key on your keyboard simultaneously.
- Type “Restore” in the dialogue box and click on the “Create a Restore Point” option.
- Click on the “System Protection” tab and select the “System Restore” option.
- A “System Restore” wizard will open up, click on the “Next” option and a list of restore points will be listed along with the dates on which they were created.
- Click on a “Restore Point” from the list to select it and click on “Next“.
- Click on “Yes” when you are asked to confirm your actions.
- Windows will now automatically restore your files and settings to a previous date
Check if the Windows 10 freezes randomly issue still occurs.