White Screening & Freezing

GEARspiWDM.sys is not a system file and can cause problems. Safe to remove.

Read more here.

The file may well be the cause of your problems so we should eliminate it, as it has caused lots of problems to others. It may not be the culprit but lets narrow down the suspects. Don't install itunes.

Download the free Agent Ransack file searching utility and find it with that.

That is surprising the file could not be found so it must have another name because a search finds not such file exists.

If you have Norton's security installed:
GEARDIFx.exe belongs to the CD/DVD authoring software that Norton 360 uses to backup to CDs and DVDs

Try a search for GEARAsp (don't forget the uppercase) because if the file we are looking for exists, Agent Ransack would have found it unless it has a different name or is just not on your PC.

Going by the symptoms you have described:

I'm having a problem with my laptop freezing & sometimes white-screening just after startup/logging-in.
The computer becomes completely unresponsive & has to be restarted several times before it eventually works.
I've resolved this problem in the past by doing a factory restore, but eventually it happens again.
I would like to resolve this issue before having to revert to a factory restore

I'm starting to suspect this is a hardware, not software problem as the laptop does sound a bit long in the tooth (?)

If you haven't done so as yet, I would strongly advise backing-up anything on the laptop you do not wish to loose.

Check your hard drive brand as they all have a testing disk you can burn from their available ISO on the brand support site. Do any back-up you need to do first before testing the hard drive.

Cheers,
Lee

In hindsight, the PC behavior still sounds like a hardware issue. Now we have ruled out a hard drive problem, it might be a good move to test the RAM with Memtest86+, just so we can also rule that out as causing any problems.

Left over iTune files (or from other programs) shouldn't be causing the symptoms described. If it was software, the problem shouldn't be happening again after a factory restore. Try searching for leftover iTune files anyway.

Yes, correct download.

When unzipped you should see the ISO mt20

Download and install Imgburn / open it and click on Write image to disk.

In the next window that opens, select a slow write speed (I use 8X). Burn that and you will have your bootable disk.

Lets run an Overdrive test and take a look at what is happening on your PC. It is safe, free, takes only a few minutes and will assist us in spotting possible problems or conflicts.

PC Pitstop 'OVERDRIVE' for XP, Vista and W7
For XP only, start at step 4

OverDrive is Fast, Comprehensive, and Free.
In just a few minutes, OverDrive creates an extensive report of your PC's performance, security, software, drivers, and more. In order to receive the full benefit and display the full Results of OverDrive, use Internet Explorer.

Note: Vista/Windows 7 users with UAC must first Right-click IE - Select "Run as Administrator"

1) Close all instances of Internet Explorer and any other open programs.
2) Click on Vista or W7 Start
3) Right-Click on Internet Explorer and choose "Run as Administrator"
This will give your machine full privilege to take advantage of all the features of PCPitstop's OverDrive full test.

4) Navigate to PC Pitstop's Overdrive using Internet Explorer and click on "Create free account".
5) Register and accept the necessary active-X needed to run "Overdrive".
6) Run PC Pitstop Overdrive.
7) Post the URL link here from the address bar which will allow us to view your results. No personal information or serial numbers etc. will be shown. You and your PC remain anonymous.

Caution: During the testing of your PCs Video Adapter, a variety of patterns, shapes, colors and text are “flashed” onto the users monitor screen. In the many thousands of daily uses of the PCPitstop full test over several years, two individuals who suffer epilepsy experienced discomfort and temporary dizziness when viewing the flashing patterns. If you know that you are susceptible to photo driven seizure, please look away from your screen during the Video Adapter testing sequence.

Note: PCPitstop is a free service, but like many free services and programs, it is supported by various paid products and we do not necessarily support their use.

Cheers,
Lee

I agree, nothing out of the ordinary, but it wouldn't hurt to defrag. your C: drive.

Returning to possible hardware problems and specifically your mention of "white screening".

I can think of no software issue that could be responsible.
It does however, sound like a failing or loosely connected Video Flex Cable from the M'board to the LCD. That problem is beyond the scope of this forum to direct you as to check or replace that item. It is a Tech. hands-on job.

I think the file we were looking was possibly GEARAspi.dll not GEARspiWDM.sys
Have a read here about uninstall issues of Gear software drivers and the above file and others on Intel based computers. The page is a Gear Software page.

Uninstalling iTunes can leave Gear Software problems behind.

Remember to do an ERUNT backup if you decide to alter or remove anything in the registry.

Personally (and I'm not the only one) I consider iTunes a piece of junk software when used in Windows based systems. It was designed by Apple for their OS system.

The majority of the problems with iTunes, are with iTunes for Windows. The interface and version numbers may be the same, but the overall user experience is completely different in Windows XP, Vista or W7 than on Apple. For many Windows users, a primary complaint with iTunes is that it is a resource HOG. Even on a fast, well configured system, it can be frustrating to see one application consume so many processes or use so much RAM.

There are plenty of other media player programs (that were designed for Windows) that can be used for playing, downloading, saving, and organizing digital music and video files on desktop or laptop computers.

Cheers,
Lee