freezes every day - Swift 3 (SF314-42)

steveonmars
steveonmars Member Posts: 19 Troubleshooter
edited July 2021 in Swift and Spin Series
I have a Swift 3 (SF314-42) I bought in January 2021. Recently it started freezing and I have to hold the power button down until it shuts off and then restart it. It's gotten to the point where it's happening every day now. I can move the curser around with the mouse or touchpad but nothing happens when I click on anything. I can't change pages or open or close anything. None of the keyboard buttons, or combination of buttons, do anything at all. If I close the lid the laptop does not shut down, even leaving the lid closed overnight. I open the lid in the morning and it's still frozen on the page I was on when it froze the day before. My Bios version is 1.04.

//Edited the content to add model name.

Best Answer

  • steveonmars
    steveonmars Member Posts: 19 Troubleshooter
    Answer ✓
    I have started it in safe mode but I can't just leave it in safe mode. I use my computer off and on all day every day for a one man home business. I don't even know what I'm supposed to be looking for in safe mode. It hasn't froze up in safe mode, but like I said, I can't just let it sit in safe mode and get any work done. Is there something specific I should look for or am I just supposed to wait and see if it freezes in safe mode?
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Answers

  • Easwar
    Easwar Member Posts: 6,727 Guru
    Hi steveonmars,

    Try to do power drain,

    1. Shutdown the unit.
    2. Unplug the cables connected to the unit.
    3. At bottom of the unit there will be a small tiny pin hole with a battery symbol close to it. Take a pin or a paper clip insert into it you feels like pressing a button hold it for 20-30 seconds. ​

  • steveonmars
    steveonmars Member Posts: 19 Troubleshooter
    Thank you, I followed your instructions and I'll give it a few days to see what happens. I'll let you and everyone else know if it worked so maybe it can help someone else.
  • billsey
    billsey ACE Posts: 34,104 Trailblazer
    If that doesn't help, try booting in safe mode with networking and using it there for some time. If it doesn't happen in safe mode then we know it's an issue with some software that's installed...
    Click on "Like" if you find my answer useful or click on "Yes" if it answers your question.
  • Easwar
    Easwar Member Posts: 6,727 Guru
    Hi steveonmars,

    Is there any update. 

  • steveonmars
    steveonmars Member Posts: 19 Troubleshooter
    A few weeks ago I was just about to post that this solution worked but then it happened again. I reset the laptop again with the pinhole in the bottom and it was OK for a few more days before I had to do this again. I've done this 3 times now, so this was a temporary solution at best. I ordered an external drive to back up  the hard drive and it was delivered a couple days ago. The computer froze up again today in the middle of the back up. I'm going to back it up again create a recovery drive in case I need it but this is obviously still not fixed. Does anyone have a permanent solution to this problem? This laptop is way too new to have these kinds of issues.
  • billsey
    billsey ACE Posts: 34,104 Trailblazer
    So, did you try my suggestion of testing in safe mode yet? It'd be a big help to narrow it down to an app or the system...
    Click on "Like" if you find my answer useful or click on "Yes" if it answers your question.
  • steveonmars
    steveonmars Member Posts: 19 Troubleshooter
    Answer ✓
    I have started it in safe mode but I can't just leave it in safe mode. I use my computer off and on all day every day for a one man home business. I don't even know what I'm supposed to be looking for in safe mode. It hasn't froze up in safe mode, but like I said, I can't just let it sit in safe mode and get any work done. Is there something specific I should look for or am I just supposed to wait and see if it freezes in safe mode?
  • billsey
    billsey ACE Posts: 34,104 Trailblazer
    You are trying to determine if the freeze happens in safe mode. If it doesn't then we know the issue is with something that's not loaded in safe mode, so we can then dig into the software that's installed to see what's causing the freeze. If it freezes in safe mode then the issue is either a corrupt Windows installation or hardware and we can approach diagnostics that way.
    Click on "Like" if you find my answer useful or click on "Yes" if it answers your question.
  • steveonmars
    steveonmars Member Posts: 19 Troubleshooter
    edited July 2021
    billsey, I'll try to keep it in safe mode as much as I can for a while and see what happens. Because I'll have to keep switching back and forth from safe mode I'll wait a week before I decide it's not happening in safe mode. I'll also keep the laptop on at night instead of shutting it down like normal, that should speed things up if it does freeze up at night. If it doesn't freeze up in safe mode by next Monday I'll post that here and we can go from there to diagnose what the issue is.

    Just to let you know in case it helps, I don't have a lot of software that I installed after I bought this new. I have McAfee LiveSafe, Ccleaner Pro, software from Iobit such as Advanced system care, drivebooster, malware fighter, Uninstaller, and EaseUS backup for maintaining and backing up the computer. I have FastStone image viewer, and ClipAngel clipboard software and probably a few other things that I use for work. I've been using almost every one of these for many years without issues. My software and drivers are all updated and I do keep up with that. I also, right out of the box, delete all the free games and ***** that is preinstalled since I never play games. I try to delete any programs I don't want to help keep the computer more streamlined and uncluttered. Almost everything I do is for my business, either working with photos for my websites or editing websites, but 99% of the time everything I do is online. I do use Chrome for my browser. I also have a laptop cooler under the laptop so it doesn't overheat. I don't know if any of this info helps but the knowledge can't hurt if you have it.

    I appreciate the help and I'll post a comment next week unless it freezes up in safe mode before then.

    Thank you
  • billsey
    billsey ACE Posts: 34,104 Trailblazer
    Yes, please keep us informed as you progress.
    Click on "Like" if you find my answer useful or click on "Yes" if it answers your question.
  • steveonmars
    steveonmars Member Posts: 19 Troubleshooter
    It looks like I fixed this problem.

    I set the laptop so it never went to sleep or turned off and then I would leave it on at night, I'd alternate between safe mode and regular mode. it never froze up in safe mode but it did at first when not in safe mode. I started uninstalling some more preinstalled programs that I didn't use. One of those must have been the problem. It hasn't frozen up in 3 or 4 days now when left on in regular mode overnight and hasn't frozen up during the day when I'm working. I don't know what program was causing the problem since I'd uninstall a few at a time each night until it stopped freezing. Sorry I can't narrow it down farther but it was definitely a program that was installed by either windows or Acer before I got the computer.

    Hopefully it'll stay fixed, if not I'll come back and post that it's freezing again if it happens.

    Thanks for all the help, especially billsey. I appreciate all the effort to help me out.

    Steve
  • billsey
    billsey ACE Posts: 34,104 Trailblazer
    I'm glad that you seem to have it sorted... I sometimes get impatient too when doing this type of thing, it takes *so long* to remove one at a time then test for a few days then remove the next. :)
    Click on "Like" if you find my answer useful or click on "Yes" if it answers your question.
  • JenL
    JenL Member Posts: 1 New User
    I am having the EXACT same issue and I also JUST bought my Acer Swift 3 (Dec. 30th 2020). I am beyond frustrated. I am not as computer savvy as the original poster. I have no idea how to go about uninstalling programs. How can I get some help with this? I also noticed that at about the same time my computer started freezing my speakers became scratchy, meaning that when I get a notification alert that sound is scratchy.
  • steveonmars
    steveonmars Member Posts: 19 Troubleshooter
    JenL,

    I uninstalled my programs by going in settings, then Apps. You can uninstall a lot of the games and programs, and apps that you don't use that way. I also remembered that this computer came with an app to link my phone with the computer. I didn't really use it but I did set it up when I first set up the laptop. That was one of the apps that I either uninstalled or at least changed it so it doesn't work anymore. I don't remember which one exactly. You might want to try that one if you don't need it. I think that might be a likely candidate for this problem since it was the only one that was actually set up and working out of the ones I got rid of.

    I always have the sound turned off on my laptop since I don't really need to listen to anything on it so I can't help you there. If it happened to me I never noticed it.

    Steve
  • steveonmars
    steveonmars Member Posts: 19 Troubleshooter
    Things were going so good and now this happened twice today already. I haven't changed anything since my last post when it had stopped freezing up again. This is getting ridiculous, I really don't want to have to return this computer too but if this doesn't get fixed I will be trying a different brand, again. I'm getting sick of fixing computers more than I use them. That's why I tried Acer in the first place. After using nothing but HP laptops for years I had two of them die on me, one in a little less than a year and the second one only lasted 3 weeks. When I pay close to or more than $1000 for something I expect it to work, is that really asking too much? Somebody from Acer needs to contact me and fix this or I'll be returning another piece of junk.
  • Callistemon
    Callistemon Member Posts: 106 Skilled Fixer WiFi Icon
    Maybe try optimizing the SSD with the TRIM command through Windows Drive Optimizer or another tool that offers similar functionality. If possible, try disabling APM (Advanced Power Management), because the computer can freeze up when the SSD or HDD is turned off by aggressive power management. If that is not enough, check if your SSD is overheating by using a tool that monitors the temperatures of your SSD, including Temperature 2 (which is the controller), and displays the highest temperatures reached during the time that the tool is running. Start an antivirus scan, and if the temperature of the controller exceeds 60 C, then you should remove the SSD and install an HDD if possible.
  • steveonmars
    steveonmars Member Posts: 19 Troubleshooter
    edited August 2021
    I have crystaldiskinfo and the temperature never gets over 40c. I run antivirus and antimalware all the time and never had any problems and don't now.

    Everything else you recommend you don't actually tell me how to do any of it so maybe a little help would be nice. I tried finding the other things on my computer and can't find any of them. Windows Drive Optimizer? Advanced Power Management? Temperature 2? How do I actually do any of this?
  • JaimeDLH
    JaimeDLH Member Posts: 43 Devotee WiFi Icon
    I have crystaldiskinfo and the temperature never gets over 40c. I run antivirus and antimalware all the time and never had any problems and don't now.

    Everything else you recommend you don't actually tell me how to do any of it so maybe a little help would be nice. I tried finding the other things on my computer and can't find any of them. Windows Drive Optimizer? Advanced Power Management? Temperature 2? How do I actually do any of this?
    Hi @steveonmars,

    Have you tried updating the BIOS to the latest version (version 1.10 at the time I'm writing this)? 1.09 solved some problems that *may* be related to what you're going through. Specifically, several users, myself included, reported hangs/reboots when the computer was returning from sleep state and virtualization features were enabled both in the BIOS and Windows. The newer BIOS versions work just fine for me and other folks, so I think it could be worth a shot for you.

    Upgrading the BIOS should be a relatively hassle free process, but as always, it's recommended you backup important data first, etc. If you try this, post your results if you can!
  • steveonmars
    steveonmars Member Posts: 19 Troubleshooter
    Thank you JaimeDLH, I just updated my bios, I'll see what happens for a while, hopefully that was it.
  • billsey
    billsey ACE Posts: 34,104 Trailblazer
    Also be aware that these forums are not an entry into Acer support. No one from there will respond, the only Acer employees that frequent the forum are the moderators. If you want a response from Acer you have to actually get in contact with their support department.
    Click on "Like" if you find my answer useful or click on "Yes" if it answers your question.