Solved Games freezing on launch until alt tabbing + unable to run multiple programs at once

  • Hi there and welcome to PC Help Forum (PCHF), a more effective way to get the Tech Support you need!
    We have Experts in all areas of Tech, including Malware Removal, Crash Fixing and BSOD's , Microsoft Windows, Computer DIY and PC Hardware, Networking, Gaming, Tablets and iPads, General and Specific Software Support and so much more.

    Why not Click Here To Sign Up and start enjoying great FREE Tech Support.

    This site uses cookies. By continuing to use this site, you are agreeing to our use of cookies. Learn More.
  • Hello everyone We want to personally apologize to everyone for the downtime that we've experienced. We are working to get everything back up as quickly as possible. Due to the issues we've had, your password will need to be reset. Please click the button that says "Forgot Your Password" and change it. We are working to have things back to normal. Emails are fixed and should now send properly. Thank you all for your patience. Thanks, PCHF Management
Status
Not open for further replies.

yahzuo

PCHF Member
Jan 25, 2024
11
0
24
Hello,

I was hoping to not have to end up seeking help with this issue but I have now tried pretty much everything I am well enough versed in to try and fix these issues. The PC specs will be listed at the bottom for those who don't care about my blabbering.

The Problem:

When launching any game (most common games I play and have this with are League of Legends, Valorant, Dead By Daylight, Legends of Runeterra but this happens with almost every single game i launch regardless, just adding this for some context) When the game has launched and it reaches the main menu, if I move my mouse at all, it begins to slow down massively, the background will freeze and I have to wait around ten seconds before trying to move it again. Any attempts at moving it when it finally is still however just cause it to freeze all over again. The only way to fix the issue is to hold alt + tab out of the game (which it will do after a second or two) then alt + tab back in then everything works perfectly without any lag or delay at all. The only game that still seems to intermitently have issues is Dead By Daylight where it will randomly freeze on the rare occasion but I can live with this.

On games like League where you load into every game, I have to alt + tab every single time and if I move my mouse before alt tabbing then I have to wait up to 10 seconds for it to stop slowly moving across the screen before the alt tab goes through.

When trying to run things like YouTube on my other monitor and playing something it will freeze. For example, if playing Dead By Daylight and going on YouTube while loading in, I cannot leave the video on as when tabbing back into valorant, the video on YouTube will either slow down massively and the audio and video will be out of sync or it will just come up with the buffering symbol and either no longer play or randomly play for a couple seconds then freeze again.

The Solutions I Have Tried:

All drivers are up to date. I had a few unkown PCI drivers in Other Devices in my Device Manager but after watching a video on this I downloaded some ASUS driver files and these devices became recognised and up to date.

I have ran the Memory Diagnostic Tool and it came up with no errors. I have gone into Command Prompt and used the Restore Health, Check Health commands etc. It found some corrupt files and replaced them but the issue remains.

I have used perfmon /report and gone through the diagnostic report and found one error with a program not functioning properly, though most forums said this is likely a minor program that would not cause major issues.

I checked event logs and found frequent errors with GameInputService giving errors. I have followed a tutorial and since then have not had errors for this but the issue remains. I have checked Event Logs after having the freezing happen and cannot see any errors for this.

I have done Norton Anti-Virus scans too and nothing has come up.

I am at a loss as to what the issue could be at this point as I am not an expert on PC issues. It's a high spec PC that was custom built by Chillblast. It's covered under warranty but I would rather just fix it myself if its just some kind of system thing.

The PC specs:

Meshify_2_Lite_Black_TGL_1-Left-Front.jpg
Custom PC based on Build a Gaming PC​
Comprising of:​
1 x Seagate BarraCuda 2TB SATA III 3.5" HDD​
1 x Samsung 980 PRO 2TB M.2-2280 PCIe 4.0 x4 NVMe SSD​
1 x Microsoft Windows 11 Home Advanced​
1 x Fractal Design Meshify 2 Lite Gaming Case - Black​
1 x Kingston FURY Beast RGB 64GB (2x 32GB) 5600MHz​
1 x Norton 360 for Gamers - Free 90-day Trial​
1 x Intel Core i9 13900K Raptor Lake-S CPU​
1 x Chillblast On-site Warranty - 5 Years (3 Years Parts, Labour and Callout, 2 Years Labour only)​
1 x ASUS Prime Z790-A WiFi Intel Motherboard​
1 x Thermal Grizzly Thermal Paste Replacement​
1 x Gigabyte GeForce RTX 4080 GAMING 16GB OC GPU​
1 x Corsair RMx Shift Series 850W Modular 80+ Gold PSU​
1 x Corsair H100x RGB ELITE 240mm AiO Liquid CPU Cooler​
1 x Arctic P12 PWM PST A-RGB Semi-Passive 120mm Chassis Fan in Black​

Thanks in advance to anyone trying to help. I really appreciate it.
 
Hello

Download and run .. https://www.ccleaner.com/speccy/download

To post.

To publish a Speccy profile to the Web:

In Speccy, click File, and then click Publish Snapshot.

In the Publish Snapshot dialog box, click Yes to enable Speccy to proceed.

Speccy publishes the profile and displays a second Publish Snapshot. You can open the URL in your default browser, copy it to the clipboard, or close the dialog box.
 
Hello

Download and run .. https://www.ccleaner.com/speccy/download

To post.

To publish a Speccy profile to the Web:

In Speccy, click File, and then click Publish Snapshot.

In the Publish Snapshot dialog box, click Yes to enable Speccy to proceed.

Speccy publishes the profile and displays a second Publish Snapshot. You can open the URL in your default browser, copy it to the clipboard, or close the dialog box.
Here is the speccy link: http://speccy.piriform.com/results/v1rCEmINil2aTkhhBNaW3Jx
 
Nice rig but there are a couple of things out of sorts, from the parts list in your OP;

1 x Norton 360 for Gamers - Free 90-day Trial

Hope you haven't paid for this nonsense, you don`t need it as Windows own Defender and Firewall are amongst the best available protection, they come with Windows so have been paid for already and they don`t hog resources or interfere with your internet connection like third party AVs do.

1 x Corsair RMx Shift Series 850W Modular 80+ Gold PSU

For the amount of storage devices you have + the additional screen you have hooked up 850W is not enough; Gigabyte state 850W here so for your rig 1000W would be my minimum.

Which power supply do you need?

1 x Chillblast On-site Warranty - 5 Years (3 Years Parts, Labour and Callout, 2 Years Labour only)

You are extremely limited with what you can do without voiding your warranty, if for example you wanted to add more RAM you would have to ask for documented permission from the provided of the PC before you can so much as open the case.

Couple of things of note in Speccy without going into too much detail because of the warranty situation, as they are list in Speccy;

Graphics
27G2G8 (1920x1080@240Hz)
VG278 (1920x1080@120Hz)

You should never mix the specs of displays and especially when it comes to the resolutions.

Operating System
Windows 11 Home 64-bit
Computer type: Virtual
Installation Date: 14/08/2023 14:16:18

The computer has not been set up correctly from day one, for as to why, see my canned explanation below;

Once Windows has been clean installed you must then install first the MBs chipset drivers then the storage/SATA drivers and third the graphics drivers, the drivers can either come from a disk provided by the motherboard manufacturer or downloaded from their site and saved to a flash drive etc, this is a must and Windows should not be allowed to check for updates before it has been done as more often than not Windows installs the wrong drivers or in the incorrect order and this can cause all sorts of problems.

The reason why this procedure is so important, the chipset is what enables the MB to be able to communicate with all the hardware + are the first drivers that Windows looks for on boot.

The highlighted in red is what has gone on as in the system drivers were not correctly installed and Windows was instead allowed to update first which resulted in bluetooth drivers getting installed before the all important chipset drivers.

Seagate OneTouch HDD SCSI Disk Device
Speed: 5400 RPM
Partition 0
Partition ID: Disk #2, Partition #0
File System: FAT32

Volume Serial Number: 82110322
Size: 196 MB
Used Space: 2 KB (0%)
Free Space: 195 MB (100%)
Partition 1
Partition ID: Disk #2, Partition #1
Disk Letter: E:
File System: exFAT

Volume Serial Number: 5FF80A7F
Size: 3725 GB
Used Space: 2940 GB (78%)
Free Space: 785 GB (22%)

This drive is slow and for some reason has been formatted to what is more appropriate to USB flashdrives, external USB HDDs and games console storage devices, if your games are on this device it will not be helping.

Last but not least,
Network
You are connected to the internet
Connected through: Intel Wi-Fi 6E AX211 160MHz
Adapter Type: IEEE 802.11 wireless

An ethernet connection is a must for any gaming rig as WiFi gaming sucks and especially when you have an intrusive AV program like Norton installed.

Can I ask that you do not quote every reply as we have to read the full post to make sure nothing gets missed,, thanks.
 
  • Like
Reactions: yahzuo
For the amount of storage devices you have + the additional screen you have hooked up 850W is not enough; Gigabyte state 850W here so for your rig 1000W would be my minimum.

You should never mix the specs of displays and especially when it comes to the resolutions.
The computer has not been set up correctly from day one, for as to why, see my canned explanation below;
The highlighted in red is what has gone on as in the system drivers were not correctly installed and Windows was instead allowed to update first which resulted in bluetooth drivers getting installed before the all important chipset drivers.

This drive is slow and for some reason has been formatted to what is more appropriate to USB flashdrives, external USB HDDs and games console storage devices, if your games are on this device it will not be helping.
Hi Phil,


Thank you for your thorough and helpful reply. I can't say im that surprised to hear there are this many issues.

I had no clue that mixing monitors would make much of a difference so that is good to know. I've always been told Norton was good but if you think it's pointless then perhaps on a fresh install I won't bother with it.

As for the HDD that you mentioned being slow, that's because its an external harddrive that I haven't used since having this PC. I just stored big files I didn't care about on it on my old computer really so its essentially unused so that's fine.

In terms of not voiding the warranty, the only proper solution I can think of is returning it to Chillblast and requesting they upgrade the PSU. I've checked and they do offer upgrade support and can add the new parts. I could perhaps ask they do a fresh install of windows and relay this issues over to them? It sounds like that would clear up the vast majority of these issues that I'm dealing with.


Would you say that's probably the best thing I can do in this scenario?


Thanks again for all your help, I really do appreciate it.
 
They are not issues per se but more of a set up mishmash.

Can I ask who installed Windows on this computer.

As for the HDD that you mentioned being slow, that's because its an external harddrive

I recognised the brand name as such but for some reason it was detected as being an internal SATA device, it does however explain the exFat format.

In terms of not voiding the warranty, the only proper solution I can think of is returning it to Chillblast and requesting they upgrade the PSU.

It would be a shame to have to do that but Im afraid Chillblast should have made allowances for the end user to add more storage devices and extra screens, the GPU for example supports up to four screens, the extra display is not so much of a problem when it comes to power draw as they are mains powered.

Are your games on one of the SSDs.

You are welcome btw :)
 
  • Like
Reactions: yahzuo
They are not issues per se but more of a set up mishmash.

Can I ask who installed Windows on this computer.
Chillblast set it up originally but they installed windows on the HDD instead of the SSD which I didn't want. Because of this, I did a clean install myself on the SSD but clearly managed to mess that up as you mentioned originally.
I recognised the brand name as such but for some reason it was detected as being an internal SATA device, it does however explain the exFat format.
Yes I have no clue why it's being seen as an internal device, i'll probably just get rid of it.
It would be a shame to have to do that but Im afraid Chillblast should have made allowances for the end user to add more storage devices and extra screens, the GPU for example supports up to four screens, the extra display is not so much of a problem when it comes to power draw as they are mains powered.

Are your games on one of the SSDs.

You are welcome btw :)

I meant more as in send it to them to upgrade the PSU and return it back to me after. I had a look and they said its a service that they do offer. I am just hoping that they would be able to do a fresh install of Windows correctly unlike myself.

Yes I put all my games on the SSD. I tried one on the HDD around a week ago out of curiosity and I remember the random freezing and bad framerate and decided never to do that again lol.

Fingers crossed they offer the option to upgrade and clean install windows again then hopefully this will all be sorted.
 
Chillblast set it up originally but they installed windows on the HDD instead of the SSD

Sorry but the above is not possible as your PC has two SSDs and the only HDD that is present is the external USB OneTouch drive, what this means, you have two Windows OS installed on two different SSDs.
 
Sorry but the above is not possible as your PC has two SSDs and the only HDD that is present is the external USB OneTouch drive, what this means, you have two Windows OS installed on two different SSDs.
I think this must be some kind of mistake I've made installing stuff again because the PC came with a HDD too and I can see it in the case, it must not be
registering as one. I can see it in the performance monitor too:
1706206347830.png


Bearing in mind that USB here is listed as the SeaGate HDD. Disk 1(C:) is Samsung SSD 980 PRO 2TB and the HDD at Disk 0 is listed as ST2000DM008-2UB102. How strange.
 
If you can see a HDD I believe your eyesight over Speccy, this just makes the original set up of the computer even more bizarre, when you boot up you want Windows loaded as fast as possible and so put it on the SSD rather than the mechanical HDD.
Partition 0
Partition ID: Disk #0, Partition #0
File System: FAT32
Volume Serial Number: 6633226A
Size: 96 MB
Used Space: 28 MB (29%)
Free Space: 68 MB (71%)
Partition 1
Partition ID: Disk #0, Partition #1
Disk Letter: D:
File System: NTFS
Volume Serial Number: 6216C096
Size: 1862 GB
Used Space: 30.7 GB (1%)
Free Space: 1831 GB (99%)
Partition 2
Partition ID: Disk #0, Partition #2
File System: NTFS
Volume Serial Number: D835BD7C
Size: 849 MB
Used Space: 666 MB (78%)
Free Space: 183 MB (22%)

Partition 0 and Partition 2 are two partitions that Windows creates as part of the installation procedure so we can tell that Windows is installed on that drive.

Things can be sorted but a bit of work is involved, apart from the PSU being slightly underpowered Chilliblast are not liable for correcting this.
 
  • Like
Reactions: yahzuo
If you can see a HDD I believe your eyesight over Speccy, this just makes the original set up of the computer even more bizarre, when you boot up you want Windows loaded as fast as possible and so put it on the SSD rather than the mechanical HDD.


Partition 0 and Partition 2 are two partitions that Windows creates as part of the installation procedure so we can tell that Windows is installed on that drive.

Things can be sorted but a bit of work is involved, apart from the PSU being slightly underpowered Chilliblast are not liable for correcting this.
I completely agree. I shouldn't have tried to do it myself but im hoping asking them to do a fresh install might have it function properly. If not, ill just have to get someone to fix it, but the PSU upgrade shouldn't be too complicated.
 
i dont need to fresh install windows to fix the issues? I thought you said that the way it has been set up was completely wrong. Forgive me for not understanding, my knowledge on BIOS/UEFI stuff and those kind of things is very limited.
 
What you do is back up any personal data on the C: drive, download and save to a flashdrive the chipset, the SATA and the Intel VGA drivers for the CPUs HD video from here and then do a Windows reset choosing the Remove everything option.

Once you have done the above, restart the PC and install first the chipset driver, next the SATA drivers and then the Intel VGA drivers, you must not let Windows update before you do this so you will be best to disconnect from the router before you restart the PC after the Windows reset.

Before you do the above can you first of all do the below;

Can you upload an expanded screenshot of Disk Manager for us.

Access Disk Management via Run.

Press the Windows+R keys to open Run, type diskmgmt.msc in the empty box then press OK.

To capture and post a screenshot;

Click on the ALT key + PRT SCR key..its on the top row..right hand side..now click on start...all programs...accessories...paint....left click in the white area ...press CTRL + V...click on file...click on save...save it to your desktop...name it something related to the screen your capturing... BE SURE TO SAVE IT AS A .JPG ...otherwise it may be to big to upload... after typing in any response you have... click on Upload a File to add the screenshot.

Screenshot instructions are provided to assist those that may read this topic but are not yet aware of the “how to”.
 
Can you upload an expanded screenshot of Disk Manager for us.

Access Disk Management via Run.

Press the Windows+R keys to open Run, type diskmgmt.msc in the empty box then press OK.

To capture and post a screenshot;

Click on the ALT key + PRT SCR key..its on the top row..right hand side..now click on start...all programs...accessories...paint....left click in the white area ...press CTRL + V...click on file...click on save...save it to your desktop...name it something related to the screen your capturing... BE SURE TO SAVE IT AS A .JPG ...otherwise it may be to big to upload... after typing in any response you have... click on Upload a File to add the screenshot.

Screenshot instructions are provided to assist those that may read this topic but are not yet aware of the “how to”.
Hi Again,

I've send a screenshot, i had to use the snipping tool because my keyboard is a 60% one so doesnt have the button so hope this is still okay.
 

Attachments

  • Disk Management Screen.jpg
    Disk Management Screen.jpg
    220.1 KB · Views: 3
That's fine thanks (y)

The core Windows on the D: drive has been deleted but there are two small partitions remaining, the UEFI and the Recovery partitions, neither are of any use without Windows being on the same drive but the amount of space to be gained is so small as to be negligible, the main thing that we were checking is that the drive is not bootable and because it isn't it is safe to go ahead with the steps that I suggested in my reply #16.
 
That's fine thanks (y)

The core Windows on the D: drive has been deleted but there are two small partitions remaining, the UEFI and the Recovery partitions, neither are of any use without Windows being on the same drive but the amount of space to be gained is so small as to be negligible, the main thing that we were checking is that the drive is not bootable and because it isn't it is safe to go ahead with the steps that I suggested in my reply #16.
I've done exactly what you said and am now back on Windows :) need to boot up some games and see if it's functioning better (though the PSU issue still remains so i am doubtful)
 
Update: I have played on the PC today and have had absolutely no issues since following the chipset, SATA and VGA driver installation instructions. I have had YouTube on whilst gaming too and have had no stutters or lag or freezing whatsoever. Everything is running like an absolute dream again.

Thank you so much for your help, I'm genuinely really grateful and will drop a donation to the site when I get paid as a token of my appreciation.

I will probably still upgrade PSU just to be safe but for the time being everything is working perfect so I believe my problem is fixed :)

Thanks again!!!
 
Status
Not open for further replies.