Wifi is causing Windows 10 to freeze


  1. Posts : 11
    Windows 10
       #1

    Wifi is causing Windows 10 to freeze


    My laptop for the past month and a half has been experiencing frequent freezes in which first the window freezes, then the cursor moves slightly and freezes, occasionally letting me move it and inch before the cursor freezes again. Other times, everything I click lags or start not responding, and the busy animation freezes on the first frame on the cursor, but I can still move the cursor.

    I launched safe mode without networking and it didn't freeze. I tried again and launched safe mode with networking and it froze, leading me to suspect the network adapter as the problem. As soon as I disconnected from the Wifi, not actually disabling the driver/adapter, and experimented a bit, my computer showed no signs of the past freezes. I've tried uninstalling and reinstalling the driver, but nothing seems to have an effect. I also have no option to roll back the driver as well. Any help or tips would be appreciated.

    My specs are:

    Toshiba Satellite C855-S5214
    Windows 10 Home 64-bit
    Intel Pentium B970 @ 2.30GHz 4.00GB Single-Channel DDR3 @ 665MHz TOSHIBA Portable PC (U3E1) Intel HD Graphics (Toshiba) Realtek High Definition Audio

    Thanks in advance!
      My Computer


  2. Posts : 9,765
    Mac OS Catalina
       #2

    Are you using any kind of third party security software? My wife has that series and we never had issues with it. If it came with the standard Realtek mini PCIe Wifi card you can replace it with the Intel 726x series with no issues. If the window is a browser window, any kind of third party process can be an issue.

    You will have to locate the second antenna up in the battery area, since trying to get it up the screen hinge is more work than it is and you risk damaging the hinge. I just kind of made a figure eight loop to place the excess wire where the Ethernet/USB board is and used some Masking tape to hold it down right before I located the second antenna as far to the edge of the battery compartment.
      My Computer


  3. Posts : 11
    Windows 10
    Thread Starter
       #3

    bro67 said:
    Are you using any kind of third party security software?

    If it came with the standard Realtek mini PCIe Wifi card you can replace it with the Intel 726x series with no issues.

    If the window is a browser window, any kind of third party process can be an issue.
    The only third party security software I have installed is Malware-Bytes, which I already reinstalled after having problems even with out it.

    It doesn't only freeze my browser, but Windows Explorer as well.

    Is there any solution without replacing the chip? I'd feel more comfortable buying a USB wireless adapter instead.

    Edit: After trying a USB adapter I can confirm that the freezing has stopped. But I would rather replace the Wifi card if it's simple. How difficult is it to replace it as you said?
    Last edited by Pantsface16; 15 Jan 2017 at 16:21.
      My Computer


  4. Posts : 9,765
    Mac OS Catalina
       #4

    It is freezing because something such as the driver or MBAM is doing real time checks. The replacement process of the card involves taking off the two back plates, the screws on the back, remove the battery, the Hard Drive, use a small eyeglass flathead to pry the cover up and then remove. You have to remove the DVD drive and the board for USB and Ethernet. That unit will take up to 16gb RAM. the Intel APU/CPU/GPU has had issues with Windows for a very long time. I have 12gb RAM in my wife's and a 120GB SSD, since everything like documents and the such get saved to our NAS.

    I totally dumped Windows 10 and put Linux Mint on it, since it was getting to the point that I spent more time fixing OS issues every time Microsoft would push out an update that I would have to spend a few hours fixing.
      My Computer


  5. Posts : 11
    Windows 10
    Thread Starter
       #5

    In that case, I'll just stick with my temporary solution that I have. If problems arise, I may see myself taking the same route you did, seeing as each update breaks more things than it fixes. Thank you for your help.
      My Computer


  6. Posts : 9,765
    Mac OS Catalina
       #6

    Pantsface16 said:
    In that case, I'll just stick with my temporary solution that I have. If problems arise, I may see myself taking the same route you did, seeing as each update breaks more things than it fixes. Thank you for your help.
    You can try the Farbar Service Scanner and Minitoolbox to check for messed up services issues. I stripped as much of the extra Toshiba stuff out on my wife's when I ran 10 and also with the extra RAM, you will see a huge boost in speed. If you still have the original Hard Drive that can be also causing issues if you have not done a Chkdsk or sfc /scannow for a long time.

    I also turned off Hybernate and would purge the Pre-Fetch in Safe Mode when I have had issues like this on prior editions of Windows. The Farbar tools you can get from Publisher page for Farbar All of the tools are good to have on a USB stick so that you have them if you get asked to check someone's computer.
      My Computer


  7. Posts : 9,765
    Mac OS Catalina
       #7

    Pantsface16 said:
    In that case, I'll just stick with my temporary solution that I have. If problems arise, I may see myself taking the same route you did, seeing as each update breaks more things than it fixes. Thank you for your help.
    Have you "Deferred" the updates with the current release of Windows 10? They will allow in Redstone 10 to push updates out as far as 35 days. Also go into System in Control Panel and turn off letting Windows update Device Drivers, check Realtek to make sure your Driver is up to date, which the Realtek site has some times fixes incorporated that Microsoft does not have on theirs. If yours was a in place Upgrade, that can also cause issues coming from 8 to 10.
      My Computer


 

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