Skype is freezing my computer

[chrisphillips71]

I am having the same problem.  I use an emachines desktop running Windows 7.  Approximately 50% of the time when I am video chatting on skype my computer completely freezes, and I am forced to restart (i.e. physically turn off the computer).  I have the most recent version of skype.  Is there anything that I can do to fix this problem?  It is very, very annoying.

[TheUberOverLord]

If you are using Win7 Please try this:

Open Windows Event Viewer. Go to Custom Views -> Administrative Events. Look for the recent error messages. Click on any errors and post the details here if they happen at the time things fail.

Otherwise do this:

Using your Windows Control Panel:

Adminstrator Tools -> Event Viewer

Click on System and later Applications, do you see any errors logged during the times this happens, if so what errors ("If you click on the errors you can get more details and copy/paste them here")?

Also, please check times after you reboot to see if any errors are produced when you system is restarting.

Are you current with ALL Windows Updates and any Updates from your manufacturers web site for your system and any attached devices?

[inderlamba2]

Whenever I try to make video call to my contact why VGA driver of  my Monitor:  SAMTRON 56E/57E/56V  (Driver: Sis300iv driver) does not work normally (I get this message). I have unloaded & Loaded & updated this driver with out success. The color Quality of DISPLAY is changed to 4 Bit from 32 Bits  

[trogdor796]

I am having this issue as well. The skype window will come up, I can type in my name and password, and exactly 1 second after hitting login, everything freezes. No CTRL ALT DEL, nothing, I am forced to do a hard reboot. Skype has been working fine for months, now this comes up.

I am running Windows 7 64 bit, and using the latest version of Skype. I have tried re-installing countless times, have made sure DeBug is disabled, reset settings in Internet Explorer, undone Over clocking, made sure Skype isn't running in compatibility mode, all the usual stuff.

In event viewer, this is the only error that seems to be consistent:

Event filter with query "SELECT * FROM __InstanceModificationEvent WITHIN 60 WHERE TargetInstance ISA "Win32_Processor" AND TargetInstance.LoadPercentage > 99" could not be reactivated in namespace "//./root/CIMV2" because of error 0x80041003. Events cannot be delivered through this filter until the problem is corrected.

And no, my system is not overheating. I monitor my temps 24/7, my i5 2500k never goes above 45C. At the desktops it's in the low 20's.

Does anyone have any suggestions?

[ruwim]

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trogdor796 wrote:

I am having this issue as well. The skype window will come up, I can type in my name and password, and exactly 1 second after hitting login, everything freezes. No CTRL ALT DEL, nothing, I am forced to do a hard reboot. Skype has been working fine for months, now this comes up.

I am running Windows 7 64 bit, and using the latest version of Skype. I have tried re-installing countless times, have made sure DeBug is disabled, reset settings in Internet Explorer, undone Over clocking, made sure Skype isn't running in compatibility mode, all the usual stuff.

In event viewer, this is the only error that seems to be consistent:

Event filter with query "SELECT * FROM __InstanceModificationEvent WITHIN 60 WHERE TargetInstance ISA "Win32_Processor" AND TargetInstance.LoadPercentage > 99" could not be reactivated in namespace "//./root/CIMV2" because of error 0x80041003. Events cannot be delivered through this filter until the problem is corrected.

And no, my system is not overheating. I monitor my temps 24/7, my i5 2500k never goes above 45C. At the desktops it's in the low 20's.

Does anyone have any suggestions?

---

See this Microsoft article on the reason and fix for the mentioned error:

http://support.microsoft.com/default.aspx?scid=kb;en-US;2545227

However, this has probably nothing to do with your Skype problems. Look for any other error or warning messages with timestamp corresponding with the crash events.

What is the version ofFlash Player installed on your computer? Can you watch any videos on YouTube.com using your Internet Explorer (must be Internet Explorer, even if you are using another browser).

[trogdor796]

Ran the fix from Microsoft. Didn't work, just like you said.

I attached all errors that happened around the time of the freeze.

Adobe Flash player is up to date, running version 11. I am able to view any youtube video without problems in Internet Explorer 64bit, and I use firefox.

Any other ideas?

EDIT - wow, it wont let me attach the files, I'll have to copy and paste. Here they are:

Level    Date and Time    Source    Event ID    Task Category
Error    3/6/2012 4:07:14 PM    Steam Client Service    1    None    Error: Failed to start temp bootstrapper
Error    3/6/2012 4:05:49 PM    Microsoft-Windows-Eventlog    1101    Event processing    Audit events have been dropped by the transport.  0
Critical    3/6/2012 4:05:29 PM    Microsoft-Windows-Kernel-Power    41    (63)    The system has rebooted without cleanly shutting down first. This error could be caused if the system stopped responding, crashed, or lost power unexpectedly.
Error    3/6/2012 4:05:47 PM    EventLog    6008    None    The previous system shutdown at 4:03:23 PM on ‎3/‎6/‎2012 was unexpected.

[ruwim]

You are mentioning Internet Explorer 64-bit. Skype heavily depends on Internet Explorer 32-bit, while the 64-bit version is not used at all. Is your 32-bit version working?

[trogdor796]

Yes, 32bit works perfectly. I am able to display web pages and load youtube videos just fine.

I did a system restore and that solved the issue. But now, a day later, the problem is back. Skype was working fine all day, and then the second I took the computer out of sleep mode, i was getting a call from skype. Soon as the call appeared on my screen, the whole maching froze. Restarted computer, and that still didn't fix it. As soon as I logged into skype, the whole maching froze again. 

I am extremely frustrated and dissapointed at the support for this problem. It's obviously something big, seeing as how large this thread is. How is there no known cause or solution for this?

[ruwim]

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trogdor796 wrote:

Yes, 32bit works perfectly. I am able to display web pages and load youtube videos just fine.

I did a system restore and that solved the issue. But now, a day later, the problem is back. Skype was working fine all day, and then the second I took the computer out of sleep mode, i was getting a call from skype. Soon as the call appeared on my screen, the whole maching froze. Restarted computer, and that still didn't fix it. As soon as I logged into skype, the whole maching froze again. 

I am extremely frustrated and dissapointed at the support for this problem. It's obviously something big, seeing as how large this thread is. How is there no known cause or solution for this?

---

In the past there have been several reports on problems with starting Skype after Windows wakeup from hibernation mode. See e.g. this:

http://community.skype.com/t5/Windows/Skype-Sleep-BSOD-Windows-7/td-p/212/highlight/true/page/2

In any case, it might also be a good idea to completely reset Skype settings.

Quit Skype or use Windows Task Manager to kill any Skype.exe process. Go to Windows Start and in the Search/Run box type %appdata%, press Enter or OK button. The Windows File Explorer will popup. Locate there a folder with the name Skype. Rename this folder to something different, e.g. Skype_old. Restart Skype.

N.B. If needed, you will still be able to re-establish your call history. All data are still saved in the Skype_old folder.

[trogdor796]

I tried the AppData thing, didn't work. But that doesn't matter, seeing as I have found the actual problem.

Disabling my Soundcard in Device Manager allows Skype to function properly. This is my soundcard:

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16829118006

The problem is that now, whenever I want to use the soundcard and my 5.1 speaker system(Battlefield 3, movies, etc.), I won't be able to have Skype open, my friends won't be able to contact me. I guess I'll have to deal with it though, as turtle beach doesn't support this card anymore, and they won't release a new patch/driver for it. Oh well. Soon enough I'll get a new graphics card, and then I can output the audio from that via HDMI, bypassing a sound card all together.

It's strange though, I've used this soundcard for months without and Skype issues. It was only after I hooked up my 5.1 system and configured it with the soundcard that I had this problem. I'm guessing there is a conflict somewhere on how skype adresses it's produced sounds with 5.1 setups? Who knows...