AO521 Randomly Freezing, Tech Support Useless

Greetings all,

I discovered this forum while trying to solve an issue with the Aspire One 521 I purchased 1 month ago. I've noticed similar problems reported for other netbook models and hope to find a solution, as Acer support has been less than helpful.

The netbook shipped with Windows 7 Starter (yes, I know...), which has been fully updated. I also swapped out the stock 1GB RAM stick for a 2GB PNY DDR3 1066 upgrade. Google Chrome, Windows Security Essentials, OpenOffice and Steam have been the only software I have installed. This past Thursday (September 17th), I experienced two episodes of complete system freeze where the hard drive ceased all activity for several minutes, before I performed a hard restart. Both occurred about an hour into a usage session, both while using Chrome to browse Facebook. One second I would be typing, the next everything (the cursor, any and all open programs) would lock up to the point that the keyboard was unresponsive trying to raise Task Manager. These freezes were accompanied by the characteristic 'click' of the hard drive heads locking into place (I assume that is what happened, as it was the exact same sound as when a proper shutdown would occur, different in tone and slightly louder than the periodic noise during seeking sessions). The hard drive light stayed completely dark for several minutes, something no computer I've ever had has done without a problem being evident.

I subsequently contacted Acer support through their website, as they lack a toll-free phone support line. The response was a standard copy-pasta that others have posted before, directing me to download GWScan 5.12 from the Gateway support site. That would be all well and good if I could actually locate a workable link to that file, as the URL given in the e-mail links to a page with 0 results. Attempts to search both the Gateway site and the broader internet for the GWScan program have been unsuccessful.

I thus am wondering if anyone has a workable link to the GWScan program so that the results can be sent back to Acer and the RMA process can begin. The new 521 had received positive reviews and I was very happy with it up until a few days ago. Thanks are due in advance for any and all who respond.

Have a good day.

 

Try putting the old memory back in. Sounds like your memory could be faulty.

 

+1 to this. Some people have upgraded RAM modules, to begin with the upgrades appeared to be a success but after a while some random freezes, either faulty ram or not 100% compatible

 

Thanks for the replies and advice. I ran two memory test programs yesterday, Microsoft Diagnostic and the more intensive MemTest86+ 4.10. Neither test returned any errors, though that doesn't discount the possibility of a hardware problem with the RAM. I will post more when I get a chance to re-install the original RAM stick and run the same tests on it.

 

Hi I have an Aspire One D255 with N550 using Windows 7 Starter and Android. It also frequently locks up or freezes (I only use Windows as my Android is stuck in Chinese), i.e. the touchpad and keyboard stop working forcing a power off to restart. The lock up occurs about every third time I use the PC and usually occurs after about 20 to 40 minutes but today it occurred after less than a minute. I HAVE NOT CHANGED THE PC'S RAM NOR MADE ANY OTHER HARDWARE CHANGES.

I don't think it can be due to overheating as the location is not hot and usage was light unless the netbook has a cooling problem?

I suspect the Android installation and I am considering repartioning to get rid of Acer's Android variant and reinstalling Windows 7 Starter and proper version of Android or some other Linux.

 

Just thought I would add to those saying it is your RAM. For years I thought my Mac Ibookg4 was shot because it kept freezing as you mentioned. I pulled out the upgraded RAM module and it works like a dream again. All the memory tests also said it was fine.