Nvidia Crash, CPU, and Overheating?

[Krishire]

Hello Forum!

Sorry that my first post will be a cry for help, but I'm at a loss.

I've only had my Z12 (win7x64/ i5) for about a year and a half and have been fighting with these troubles since about the 6th month in. I'm really hoping that either I can fix the problem or find an answer for the next time I send in my computer to the repair center.

The first issue is with CPU/memory spikes and over heating. Upon start up my computer's fan will kick loudly and the unit gets pretty toasty on the side of the fan. Sometimes this happens randomly, the computer will start fine but then kick into high gear without warning. A quick ctl+alt+del to my performance tab shows some pretty crazy spiking (CPU 25%/1.97 memory ----> 98%/2.40+ memory). Sometimes this will even happen when I am away from the laptop and I can hear it kick up from another room!

Furthermore, it has recently started freezing. The cursor will stop moving and I usually have to give it a second or two before squiggling my finger around the touchpad will cause movement again. But sometimes the cursor freeze will be accompanied by my screen flickering, going black, and upon coming back I get the error report "- Display driver stopped responding and has recovered, display driver Nvidia Windows Kernal Mode driver, version 188.80".

And it takes longer and longer to transfer files. Moving a 1g file from my laptop to a flash, phone, or external can take up to a half hour.

I used to just leave my Viao in the Stamina mode to avoid the crashing, freezing, overheating, and loudness, but after the most recent update, I get then no matter the setting.


I sent my Z12 in for a repair twice already and have spent countless hours on the phone with support. But my work takes me around the globe and I won't have the chance to send it in again until this summer. And calling tech support from Korea requires me to wake up at 2-3am and they have never been able to fix (or even pinpoint the cause of) these issues.

I really don't know what I can do and if there's anyone who can help me, I would be eternally grateful.

[beaups]

Sounds like you could have some malware. Why don't you just restore the system?

[Krishire]

Originally Posted by beaups

Sounds like you could have some malware. Why don't you just restore the system?

I did. System restore, adaware/malwarebytes, avast, and finally just reformatted when all else failed. And the problems persist.

[5ushiMonster]

Sony Korea are usually rather good at fixing these kinda issues (and offer pretty good solutions to boot).

Can I ask what Task Manager (if you can see it) is reporting as causing the spikes?

Either way. I'd suggest clean installing. Got this gut feeling that Vaio Media Center is analysing those music, picture, and video files in the background. But no idea whether the Z12 ever came with that preinstalled.

[Krishire]

When viewing my task manager, I can't tell what is causing the spikes. Is there anything specif I should be looking for? I'm not nearly as tech savy as most people on these boards. Sorry.

The last time I reformatted I ended up with this exact same issue after a few weeks. I'm worried it may be a fault with my graphics driver or even the ssd.

Thank you for suggesting Sony's support in Korea! I hadn't even considered it.

[Ashers]

Vaio Media Center is a horrible piece of software for consuming CPU. If you have it installed and don't use it, I'd recommend removing it. You can tell if you have it as when you press the Vaio button, it starts the program (otherwise it just mutes the sound).

In task manager, first "show processes from all users" and then sort by "CPU" and see if you can see what program is consuming the CPU.

[Krishire]

I did my best to avoid as much Viao bloatware as possible during my last format.

Thank you for the advice about sorting my task manager! I actually haven't had a spike, screen flicker, or generally bad session of use in about two days now. It's so sporadic, but often follows a system update. So, right now the heaviest toll on my CPU is Chrome and the task manager itself.

One more thing, is there any easy way/optimum way to install drivers for my fn keys and graphic card switch? Every time I format this is really tough to get correct. Sorry for all the questions and thank you so much for helping me. I really appreciate it!

[AuVaioVai]

Hi Krishire,

I experienced the same issues. Techsupport and Repaircenters seem to be clueless. Please let me know, if you are still investigating the problem. I'd really like to discuss that issue in detail.

I am really tired reading posts about various vaio models freezing, hanging, locking-up, or randomly restarting.

Originally Posted by Krishire

Hello Forum!

Sorry that my first post will be a cry for help, but I'm at a loss.

I've only had my Z12 (win7x64/ i5) for about a year and a half and have been fighting with these troubles since about the 6th month in. I'm really hoping that either I can fix the problem or find an answer for the next time I send in my computer to the repair center.

The first issue is with CPU/memory spikes and over heating. Upon start up my computer's fan will kick loudly and the unit gets pretty toasty on the side of the fan. Sometimes this happens randomly, the computer will start fine but then kick into high gear without warning. A quick ctl+alt+del to my performance tab shows some pretty crazy spiking (CPU 25%/1.97 memory ----> 98%/2.40+ memory). Sometimes this will even happen when I am away from the laptop and I can hear it kick up from another room!

Furthermore, it has recently started freezing. The cursor will stop moving and I usually have to give it a second or two before squiggling my finger around the touchpad will cause movement again. But sometimes the cursor freeze will be accompanied by my screen flickering, going black, and upon coming back I get the error report "- Display driver stopped responding and has recovered, display driver Nvidia Windows Kernal Mode driver, version 188.80".

And it takes longer and longer to transfer files. Moving a 1g file from my laptop to a flash, phone, or external can take up to a half hour.

I used to just leave my Viao in the Stamina mode to avoid the crashing, freezing, overheating, and loudness, but after the most recent update, I get then no matter the setting.


I sent my Z12 in for a repair twice already and have spent countless hours on the phone with support. But my work takes me around the globe and I won't have the chance to send it in again until this summer. And calling tech support from Korea requires me to wake up at 2-3am and they have never been able to fix (or even pinpoint the cause of) these issues.

I really don't know what I can do and if there's anyone who can help me, I would be eternally grateful.

Foreget restoring the System or checking the System for Malware. You are wasting your time. I restored the System many, many times in the past months without any result. I experienced those problems even on a clean system.

[Krishire]

I would love to hear what you have tried and trends you have noticed with your Viao. Perhaps it could help us narrow down the infinite list of possible quirks. When I have more than 15 minutes at my disposal, I'll start compiling my "evidence" collected thus far. ^^

[AuVaioVai]

Hi, first of all my System is a VPC-Z12X9E which was bought in summer 2010. A couple of months later, the following problems occured. The Distpay or the entire System locked-up and reboots. Sometimes the Display went black and the computer did not respond anymore.
I also noticed the Display driver 188. not responding message.

After a couple months and an number of phone calls and insufficient services it now turns out, that drivers and firmware was not up to date.

What is Vaio Care good for, if it does not provide up to date drivers?

I would highly suggest to check with Sony to get the SSD Firmware checked first, as it may cause display and System freezes, also similar to your description. See: SSD Freeze windows 7 AND crucial C300 firmware update

After having done that, try to request new display drivers from Sony.

Display driver nvlddmkm stopped responding - Vaio Z

SONY pretends, that the 188. is fine but NVIDIA itself recommends to use newer drivers. I though, the idea behind SONY VAIO CARE ist, that the system is regularly updated with the latest SONY Certified drivers.

I fear, this is an illusion...