HELP Why Is My Dell PC frequently, randomly freezing up

1. Run DiskCleanup, clear temporary files, remove caches, empty recycle bin.
2. Run a system C drive clean up, check, and clean some large files that are useless, such as emptying the Download folder,etc.
3. See if your disk has free and unused space, and if the C drive gets nearly full, extend the C drive with the unused free space.
4. Uninstall some useless apps and programs via Apps & features.
5. Update disk drivers and graphics/GPU drivers.
6. Update Windows if necessary.
7. Run antivirus and clean all unknown or suspicious malware.
8. Move some big programs from C drive to another local drive.
9. Add a new SSD and migrate OS to SSD if possible. SSD is much faster than the HDD.

Noman said:

The causes for Ramdon PC's stuck or freeze issue could be various, like low disk storage, too many startup programs, RAM issues or your newly added RAM memory not matching with the old one, GPU issues, faulty operating system, outdated driver, or malware/virus error.
Check the list here and see if it works:

1. Run DiskCleanup, clear temporary files, remove caches, empty recycle bin.
2. Run a system C drive clean up, check, and clean some large files that are useless, such as emptying the Download folder,etc.
3. See if your disk has free and unused space, and if the C drive gets nearly full, extend the C drive with the unused free space.
4. Uninstall some useless apps and programs via Apps & features.
5. Update disk drivers and graphics/GPU drivers.
6. Update Windows if necessary.
7. Run antivirus and clean all unknown or suspicious malware.
8. Move some big programs from C drive to another local drive.
9. Add a new SSD and migrate OS to SSD if possible. SSD is much faster than the HDD.

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xrms3 said:

@Deex2
Hi,
I don't know if the following will help with your problem but the timings in your first post suggest it might be the same problem as referred to below. It is based on threads in the Dell Community forums.
The first version of the 8940 came out in mid-2020. These machines had a 10th Gen cpu and a motherboard number KV3RP. As far as I know they were not affected by the freezing problem. I've got one of these and it has never frozen up. You can get your motherboard version from Windows System Information under 'Baseboard version'.
Intel released 11th Gen cpus in early 2021 and Dell released a new motherboard shortly thereafter, presumably to accomodate it; this motherboard bore the number 427JK. There was also a later one. At this point several threads began to appear on the Dell forum describing how 8940s were freezing up and got many contributors and many suggestions to solve the problem.
As far as I know the root cause was never identified and the threads rumbled on. The best improvements seemed to come following BIOS updates from Dell. The following link is one such:
https://www.dell.com/community/en/conversations/xps-desktops/xps-8940-freezing-again-after-almost-a-year-without-freezing/650c74c82ae49d628fae48ed
If you do visit the Dell forums check for posts by ispalten; very knowledgeable and posted frequently summarising progress.
Good luck.
Bob

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zbook said:

When available update the progress with the steps in post #39.


After the above please run each of the 1 one hour OCCT tests > take pictures > post images or share links

OCBASE/OCCT : Free, all-in-one stability, stress test, benchmark and monitoring tool for your PC

Ocbase is the home of OCCT, the most popular all-in-one stability / stress testing / benchmarking / monitoring tool available for PC

www.ocbase.com

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Deex2 said:

Thank you for all the info Norman and responding, I actually had done the majority of what you posted above before signing up for this site and asking my question. In response to: (9) I already have the OS on an SSD. (8) I don't have that may programs installed on the same drive as the OS/SSD and it still has a ton of space, the majority of my docs are oh my HDD

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Noman said:

What about the RAM memory? My computer has the same problem. I did almost everything and finally found it was the RAM storage issue. It was not sufficient. Every time I opened the browser, I opened more than five tabs, and then the computer started to get stuck.
So, here are two last things I've tried:
a. Add a new RAM. It worked for about half a year, but a similar issue happened again.
b. Reinstall the OS, not reset the computer; I tried 3 times to reset the OS to keep the pure OS on the PC, but all failed. Finally, I downloaded the ISO image from Microsoft and reinstalled the OS. Everything is going alright now.

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Deex2 said:

Not exactly sure by what you mean by add more ram or how to do that?
Yeah i reinstalled the OS from ISO and the issue still happens. so far it hasn't happened in about 5 days now, when it does happen, the freeze.. it is just random. After looking at the post that someone else on here suggested on Dell site, there are about 40 people (but likely more) who are claiming to have the same issue so it isn't just me/my computer. So before I download anymore suggested programs and run any scans I'm going to research what others have done who are or have experienced this issue.

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Noman said:

My problem was in the OS; I executed a pure reinstall, and the problem was resolved.
I hope this can help you a bit. To add a new RAM stick, extending its physical storage. For example, mine was a 16GB RAM in DDR4-3200; I could purchase one more 16GB RAM with the same spec. Then, it was added to the RAM slot to expand its storage. This can resolve low or insufficient RAM storage issues, along with some PC lag or stuck problems.

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Deex2 said:

Thank you. A few months back i did a reinstall of the OS... via USB stick and then a few weeks later it started freezing again. I guess I could try again. I read on the Dell site some people having the same problem said it had something to do with NVidia...

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