Windows 10 Pro (64-bit) Keeps Freezing/Locking up

I've been getting this issue as of late and I don't know why. Contrary to what seems to be the popular case, I did not suffer through this when I installed the first creators update.

I've run through certain tests involving file system checks, memory checks, and other software checks (e.g. BIOS, firmware, etc.). I've also checked hardware and given the other posts regarding this issue as of late, I sincerely doubt that it's a hardware malfunction.

I've made double sure that the most obvious drivers are up to date. I've updated everything I can possibly think of, including my VPN client.

Incidentally, this issue has only initiated when I had Firefox running. I assumed after the 2nd time that it was due to multimedia content--thusly relating to my video drivers & Firefox--but the third time did not occur with any multimedia being loaded. I simply started Firefox and my machine froze. Left it for an hour and it stayed that way. It's only happened three times so far.

What's bothering me is that I've been checking the logs to see if anything could clue me in on what's causing this to happen, but just as it occurred to many who suffered through the first creator's update bug, I cannot pinpoint this darn catalyst.

In my case, this happens randomly. There is no time-bound expectation for this.

Whatever it is, however, it appears to only be activated when Firefox is running. Whether or not that's accurate needs to be verified.

I have included an attachment of the files requested for aid in this situation (as per the forum suggestions).

What can I do to further test this?

I can only assume Microsoft will eventually get whiff of this seeing as I'm not the only one with this issue.

It might also be worth mentioning that I cannot rollback to an earlier build due to the fact that I deleted that contingency with the disk cleanup utility. My only option now is to refresh my system or wait to get a fix for this.

For my sake, I sincerely hope it's sooner than later.

I'd rather avoid refreshing, but if I must, I will do so.

ATTACHMENT:
Attachment 163019

Update:
I have since had no incidents since my posting here. I've been putting my PC to sleep and letting it sleep on it's own. Incidentally, I do have a screensaver configured, but I also still have my power settings set to sleep after a predetermined time.

I will run the memory tests with the recommended program today. I will aim for at least 10 passes and I will do the same tomorrow.

I want to avoid testing my GPU as it seems the suggested program comes with risk. I just got this card.

UPDATE:
After running the test with memtest86, the result was that my RAM had no errors.

The pictures of those results are the following:
Attachment 163494Attachment 163495Attachment 163496

I am reluctant to continue on with the graphics card test as I've weary of it. I realize that for hardware to be ruled out, conclusive tests must be administered, but this hardware is relatively new. I only purchased it about 9-10 months ago. I understand that doesn't guarantee anything with respect to reliability or faulty hardware, but given the fact that my memory is in good condition (supposedly), I'm willing to bet my GPU is just as fine. Also, considering the other reports being shown not only here, but on other board sites and similar, I can't say this is relating to hardware at all. At least, not as the root cause.

Since I can't give access to dump files that don't exist, what else is there for me to do?

Can I not check logs to determine anything? There must be something that can give me at least a clue. Something that suspects the software, not the hardware. This hasn't been happening until I installed the FCU. There must be some software defect causing this.

1) In the left lower corner search type system > open system control panel > on the left pane click advanced system settings > on the advanced tab under startup and recovery click settings > post an image into the thread

2) In the left lower corner search type clean > open disk cleanup > post an image of files to delete

3) If you use Ccleaner or similar software to delete files please comment in the thread.

4) Download and install Whocrashed > in the left upper corner above analyze click tools > click crash dump test > type: ACCEPT

5) Click analyze > view report > run the DM log collector > post zip into the thread

6) Open administrative command prompt and type or copy and paste:
7) sfc /scannow
8) dism /onlince /cleanup-image /restorehealth
9) chkdsk /scan
10) When these have completed > right click on the top bar or title bar of the administrative command prompt box > left click on edit then select all > right click on the top bar again > left click on edit then copy > paste into the thread

11) msconfig (in the pop up system configuration > move the dot from normal startup to selective startup > uncheck load startup items > click service tab > in left lower corner check hide all Microsoft services > in the lower right side click disable all > click apply or ok > do not reboot)

12) taskmgr (in the pop up task manager > click on the start up tab > click on status so that the column sorts with enable rising to the top > right click on each row with enable and change to disable)

https://support.microsoft.com/en-us/...oot-in-windows
How to perform a Clean Boot in Windows 10 - TechNet Articles - United States (English) - TechNet Wiki

13) shutdown /r (you will reboot the computer so that it is in clean boot)

Evaluate the performance on your computer in clean boot during typical use.
Are the boots faster or slower?
Are the shutdowns faster or slower?
How has the audio and video performance changed? Is it better, worse, or the same?
How have the hangs or freezing changed? Are they better, worse, or the same?
Continue using clean boot indefinitely to monitor performance.

14) type control in the left lower corner search > click on control panel > click on large or small icons > click on troubleshooting > on the left pane click on view all > run the following windows troubleshooters:

a) Hardware and Devices
b) Video Playback
c) Playing Audio > open audio enhancements > play test sounds > advanced > change sample rate > test multiple sample rates
d) Recording Audio

For each troubleshooter make sure that advanced is clicked to apply repairs automatically.
For each troubleshooter click on view detailed information.
Report any problems using images that were fixed or not fixed.

@Ztruker
The reason I opted for memtest86 was because I found a source that mentioned possible incompatibility with newer builds. Can't remember now which one it was mentioning as I was under the impression they were the same. One just being slightly outdated and the other wasn't.

I was under the impression that the 8 passes would be run through the "test". It wasn't until I finished it the first time that I realized it only ran 4 passes and that I would effectively have to run 2 tests. Assuming memtest86+ follows in the same operations as the original program does, this would then require that I run two tests in total. Two tests. Not one. That will take time.

To alleviate any doubt, I will run the test with memtest86+ tonight. I will undoubtedly receive the same result. I'll upload the results for that after I've done the other things zbook as asked.

Right now, I'm almost positive this is a software issue. I need to determine why it happened and why it isn't happening anymore.

@zbook
My results so far are the following:

1)
Attachment 163560
2)
Attachment 163561Attachment 163562
3) I don't use CCleaner. I manage my stuff well and my build is pretty fast. SSDs bring me so much joy. :)

4) I ran the crash test and wound up with two dump files. I'm assuming DM Log output will carry that in somehow.

5) I will upload another archive of those files again.

DM LOG: Attachment 163564

7) SFC results:
Attachment 163563

8) dism results:
Deployment Image Servicing and Management tool
Version: 10.0.16299.15

Image Version: 10.0.16299.19

[==========================100.0%==========================] The restore operation completed successfully.
The operation completed successfully.
9) chkdsk results:
The type of the file system is NTFS.

Stage 1: Examining basic file system structure ...
502272 file records processed.
File verification completed.
5368 large file records processed.
0 bad file records processed.

Stage 2: Examining file name linkage ...
12544 reparse records processed.
598614 index entries processed.
Index verification completed.
0 unindexed files scanned.
0 unindexed files recovered to lost and found.
12544 reparse records processed.

Stage 3: Examining security descriptors ...
Security descriptor verification completed.
48172 data files processed.
CHKDSK is verifying Usn Journal...
36479680 USN bytes processed.
Usn Journal verification completed.

Windows has scanned the file system and found no problems.
No further action is required.

233609215 KB total disk space.
113112752 KB in 212531 files.
150644 KB in 48173 indexes.
0 KB in bad sectors.
620775 KB in use by the system.
65536 KB occupied by the log file.
119725044 KB available on disk.

4096 bytes in each allocation unit.
58402303 total allocation units on disk.
29931261 allocation units available on disk.

As for the remainder, I will have to get back to you. That will take time.

- T.R.G.

@Ztruker

To clear any doubt:
Attachment 168267

I can't really see this being a hardware issue, but if I could get more proof, then I'd be happy to get replacement hardware.

@zbook

I haven't seen any changes from the clean boot. AVG would not let me do a thorough clean boot. It appears there's almost no way to disable it. Disabling all other non-Microsoft services didn't really make much of a difference with booting up and shutting down AFAIC. It would probably show significant difference with AVG out of the way, but I can't for the life of me figure out how to completely disable it without uninstalling. I ran the recommended troubleshooters and came across no issues.

I've also rerun the above mentioned sfc and dism checks and all have reported no issues.

I have attached another DM log zip file.
Attachment 168266

Incidentally, my system has still been crashing. I've checked Event Viewer and all it tells me is that it rebooted unexpectedly. There have been other warnings and errors, but none that I believe would cause what I've been experiencing.

I think it should be noted that I attempted to install the KB4054517 update yesterday and I experienced one of the weirdest update processes ever. It might not be listed in the files under DM log, but I was able to identify a bug check error in Event Viewer after the failed installation attempt.

I will post a new thread detailing that as it isn't entirely related to this.

How do I proceed?

The debugging of the mini dump displayed bugcheck EF with 1 misbehaving software driver:
avgSP.sys

1) For startup and recovery > system failure > un-check automatically restart
2) Uninstall AVG
How to uninstall AVG software | AVG Support
3) Turn on Windows defender
4) Turn off Windows fast startup:
Turn On or Off Fast Startup in Windows 10 Performance Maintenance Tutorials
5) The BIOS: Version/Date American Megatrends Inc. F2, 7/15/2013update the BIOS F2 > F3
GA-990FXA-UD3 (rev. 4.0) | Motherboard - GIGABYTE Global
5) The freezing may be related to the Graphics card/driver.
At this time let's see what happens after fixing the misbehaving AVG driver and update the BIOS

Code:

avgSP        avgSP                  avgSP                  File System   System     Running    OK         TRUE        FALSE        16,384            323,584     0          11/14/2017 6:23:32 AM  C:\WINDOWS\system32\drivers\avgSP.sys            12,288

Code:

Event[3525]:  Log Name: System  Source: Microsoft-Windows-Kernel-Boot  Date: 2017-11-23T19:53:09.854  Event ID: 29  Task: N/A  Level: Error  Opcode: Info  Keyword: N/A  User: S-1-5-18  User Name: NT AUTHORITY\SYSTEM  Computer: Bryan-AMD  Description: Windows failed fast startup with error status 0xC0000411.

Code:

Event[5391]:  Log Name: System  Source: volmgr  Date: 2017-12-13T15:05:21.181  Event ID: 46  Task: N/A  Level: Error  Opcode: N/A  Keyword: Classic  User: N/A  User Name: N/A  Computer: Bryan-AMD  Description: Crash dump initialization failed!

Code:

Event[5688]:  Log Name: System  Source: Display  Date: 2017-12-14T20:56:58.722  Event ID: 4101  Task: N/A  Level: Warning  Opcode: Info  Keyword: Classic  User: N/A  User Name: N/A  Computer: Bryan-AMD  Description: Display driver nvlddmkm stopped responding and has successfully recovered.Event[5689]:  Log Name: System  Source: Display  Date: 2017-12-14T21:03:37.677  Event ID: 4101  Task: N/A  Level: Warning  Opcode: Info  Keyword: Classic  User: N/A  User Name: N/A  Computer: Bryan-AMD  Description: Display driver nvlddmkm stopped responding and has successfully recovered.

Code:

12/15/2017 2:50 AM    Windows Error Reporting    Fault bucket , type 0
Event Name: BlueScreen
Response: Not available
Cab Id: 0

Problem signature:
P1: ef
P2: ffff84846a680080
P3: 0
P4: 0
P5: 0
P6: 10_0_16299
P7: 0_0
P8: 256_1
P9: 
P10: 

Attached files:
\\?\C:\WINDOWS\Minidump\121417-8203-01.dmp
\\?\C:\WINDOWS\TEMP\WER-21093-0.sysdata.xml
\\?\C:\WINDOWS\MEMORY.DMP
\\?\C:\ProgramData\Microsoft\Windows\WER\Temp\WER6ADF.tmp.WERInternalMetadata.xml
\\?\C:\ProgramData\Microsoft\Windows\WER\Temp\WER6B1D.tmp.csv
\\?\C:\ProgramData\Microsoft\Windows\WER\Temp\WER6B3E.tmp.txt

These files may be available here:
C:\ProgramData\Microsoft\Windows\WER\ReportArchive\Kernel_ef_8e2841ead0cf8a6d7d13778aae566074e13619_00000000_cab_15686c08

Analysis symbol: 
Rechecking for solution: 0
Report Id: 72f3b9d8-66fd-42c9-8f57-4bad9f38c83f
Report Status: 2049
Hashed bucket:12/15/2017 2:50 AM    Windows Error Reporting    Fault bucket , type 0
Event Name: BlueScreen
Response: Not available
Cab Id: 0

Problem signature:
P1: ef
P2: ffff84846a680080
P3: 0
P4: 0
P5: 0
P6: 10_0_16299
P7: 0_0
P8: 256_1
P9: 
P10: 

Attached files:
\\?\C:\WINDOWS\Minidump\121417-8203-01.dmp
\\?\C:\WINDOWS\TEMP\WER-21093-0.sysdata.xml
\\?\C:\WINDOWS\MEMORY.DMP
\\?\C:\ProgramData\Microsoft\Windows\WER\Temp\WER6ADF.tmp.WERInternalMetadata.xml
\\?\C:\ProgramData\Microsoft\Windows\WER\Temp\WER6B1D.tmp.csv
\\?\C:\ProgramData\Microsoft\Windows\WER\Temp\WER6B3E.tmp.txt

These files may be available here:
C:\ProgramData\Microsoft\Windows\WER\ReportQueue\Kernel_ef_8e2841ead0cf8a6d7d13778aae566074e13619_00000000_03306b3d

Analysis symbol: 
Rechecking for solution: 0
Report Id: 72f3b9d8-66fd-42c9-8f57-4bad9f38c83f
Report Status: 4
Hashed bucket: