Why Does My Computer Keep Freezing: Best Ways To Fix It

You are playing your favorite game on your computer and about to defeat the mission’s boss after your 110th attempt. Or, you are watching your favorite rom-com movie, and the hero and the heroine are finally about to kiss. 

However, everything gets stuck in limbo at the wrong moment. So you finally ask yourself – why does my computer keep freezing all the time?

There are various reasons why your computer might freeze. In addition, there are various methods to fix them too. Learn more about these issues by reading this post till the end.

Why Does My Computer Keep Freezing? Primary Causes

The primary causes that make you question yourself, “why does my computer keep freezing?” are:

1. Too Many Programs Are Running Simultaneously

Your “computer freezing randomly” issue happens because you run too many apps simultaneously. Every computer has a limit to its performance. If you have a low computer, running more than two resource-intensive tasks will likely cause your PC to crash. 

2. Insufficient RAM

Insufficient RAM is one memory-related issue that most PC users tend to oversee. You can run into RAM issues if you have 4GB or 8GB RAM. Many apps run in the background, which you need to learn about. Pair this with apps you run, and you will know why your computer freezes randomly.

3. Overheating (Common In Laptops)

One of the most common issues that might cause you to think about why your laptop keeps freezing is overheating. When you conduct many resource-intensive tasks on your laptop, its hardware will automatically start heating up. 

Windows has an inbuilt system that records your machine’s current temperature. Once it sees that it’s becoming too hot, it automatically shuts down and reboots your system. This is why your laptop keeps freezing.

4. BIOS Update Required

BIOS (Basic Input Output System) is the basic startup program for your motherboard. This helps manage all computer tasks, including booting up your OS when you switch it on. You might have to update your BIOS from time to time when a new version gets released.

5. Faulty Peripherals

Sometimes, you will see that nothing happens on your screen, no matter what key you press. You might ask yourself, “why is my computer freezing randomly?”

Here, a faulty keyboard or mouse can be the issue. However, it’s difficult to know whether your PC is freezing or if your mouse cursor is not responding. Attack your peripherals with another system to check whether it works or not.

6. Malware

Another common reason you might have computer freezing issues is the presence of malware in your drives. These can come from various sources, like ads from shady websites and downloading files from third-party pirated websites. These can affect your files and OS in your C: drive, significantly slowing down your system.

7. Missing Or Corrupted Files

Various system files in the computer are essential for your applications to run as they should. However, while deleting junk files and cache memory, you might end up deleting them accidentally. Here, .dll files are the easiest prey since they get flagged as cache memory by storage cleaners. When such files get deleted, the app associated with them might freeze (Steam.dll is still a pretty big concern).

8. Outdated Drivers

If you see that your computer keeps freezing, it might also signal the use of outdated drivers. Most of your apps run on certain programs that require the latest driver to work perfectly. Now, if these drivers have not been updated in quite some time, you might face frequent app crashes and freezes. 

9. No Space In C Drive  

When your C Drive has run out of space, your computer will keep freezing. You need to replace or clear out your C Drive to stop your computer from getting freezed.

10. Software Errors  

If your computer has any third-party software installed into it then that software can freeze your computer. Due to errors in the software your computer might be glitching you can fix this issue by updating all third-party softwares in your computer.

Some third-party apps might take a lot of space, or they might attempt to perform actions that your Windows cannot understand. When this happens your computer is unable to handle the strain that leads to your computer freezing or hanging.

11. Faulty External Drives  

Another reason why your computer is freezing might be due to faulty USB drives that you can easily fix by updating your USB device drives. External devices like keyboards or mouse can also cause your computer to freeze due to being faulty.

Try connecting each device separately to find the device which is faulty so you can replace it.

12. Computer Viruses  

Viruses in computers can hang your device so try using an antivirus on your computer to avoid this problem.Other reasons for your computer freezing is due to insufficient disk space or a broken memory card.

Why Does My Computer Keep Freezing? Best Fixes

You can fix your “why does my computer keep freezing?” issue by following these solutions as explained below:

1. Delete Unrequired Files in C: Drive

After you uninstall applications, many residual files are left behind. These are mostly cached memory and various other files associated with other apps. Therefore, you need to check your C: drive to ensure that residual folders of uninstalled apps get deleted asap. I recommend using the app CCleaner to detect and remove these files by clicking a button.

2. Update All Your Drivers

One of the best ways to learn how to fix computer freezing is by updating the drivers of all the apps on your computer. You can do so by following the steps explained below:

1. First, right-click on This PC (Windows 8+) or My Computer (Windows XP and 7). 
2. When a lot of options pop up, click on Manage.
3. Next, click on Device Manager.
4. Here, you will see a list of various devices. Click on the one you want to update and then click on Update Driver Software. 

3. Run A Memory Check

Your RAM can face many memory problems over time. To troubleshoot such issues, you should use the Windows Memory Diagnostics tool. To use this tool to run a memory check, you need to:

1. Press the Windows + R keys together to open the Run tool.
2. In the Run command, type mdsched.exe and click the Enter button.
3. Now, you will have two options – Restart now and check for problems (Recommended) and Check for problems the next time I start my computer. Click on Restart Now.
4. Now, the Windows Memory Diagnostics tool will run some tests. Naturally, the more your computer passes, the better it will be. For failed tests, the troubleshooter will automatically start to fix these issues.

4. Use System File Checker

If you think some of the files in your drives are corrupted, then you should assess which files are corrupt. Simply try opening them. If your Google Pixel Slate M3 is freezing or the program is not responding, it means it has become corrupted.

If your files are corrupted, then you should use the System File Checker tool if your files are corrupted. To use it, you must:

1. Press the Windows button on your keyboard to bring up the Start menu. 
2. Type cmd in the search box.
3. Click the right mouse button on Command Prompt and select Run as Administrator.
4. In Command Prompt, type sfc/scannow before pressing Enter.
5. The scan will not start. After it’s done, click on Enter again to finish the process.

5. Disable Power Saving (Laptops)

If you are facing laptop freezing issues, then it can be because you have the power saver turned on. Turning on the power saver mode causes your laptop to save its battery charge more. This is a very useful feature to have if you are outside your house and plan to save the laptop battery.

However, having this mode on means that your apps will work slower than before. Therefore, turn this mode off by clicking on the pop-up option on the right-hand side of your taskbar.

6. Mouse Not Working

While the reasons above for why my pc keeps freezing lean a bit on the serious side of things, why not have a reason that is a bit more comic?

This issue happened to me more than once. I remember once when my mouse cursor suddenly stopped working as I was checking out Gang Beast controls. As I was flicking my mouse left and right, the mouse cursor did not move. For a moment, I thought that my laptop picture had frozen. However, as I hit the Windows button on the keyboard, the Start menu popped up!

That’s when I realized that my laptop mouse frozen was a defect in my mouse. My laptop actually did not freeze! Your only solution here is to buy a new mouse. 

8. Perform System Restore  

After trying all the listed solutions, if your computer still freezes be it Windows, 7 or 10 chances are your Windows are corrupted. When it’s this case you will have to restore your whole operating system. When you lose data in the process of restoring your operating system do not panic.

You can recover your lost data by using a software that retrieves your deleted files on your device. You can try MiniTool Power Data Recovery, a data recovery software to recover your deleted files on computers or laptops. Here are steps you can follow to recover your data using this software.

• Download the software on computer or laptop.
• Next, install or launch this software by clicking on the Bootable Media button in the toolbar.
• Click the WinPE-based media with the MiniTool plug-in.
• Select a media destination as per your preference and create a bootable USB drive or CD/DVD.
• Now connect your hang up computer to the bootable drive and boot the drive.
• The use the MiniTool Power Data Recovery software to restore all your lost files.

9. Take Your Computer To A Repair Shop  

When none of the above methods work for your device, take your device to a computer repair shop to find a solution to your problem. Experts might find the actual problem and repair it for you.

FAQs (Frequently Asked Questions):-

Computer users have asked many questions related to the question, “why does my computer keep freezing?” The answers to some of these questions are:

Unfreeze Your Computer Instantly

After reading this post so far, you now have a good idea why my computer keeps freezing. There can be various reasons for it, ranging from insufficient RAM to using many applications simultaneously.

You can fix most of these issues by updating your drivers, running a memory check and a system file checker.

Please comment below if this post helped you with your freezing issues! Also, please read our other posts and guides here at TechMagNews!

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