When using Adobe Premiere, or other movie making software, the computer often freezes and I must cold-boot (i.e. turn the computer off and then on) to restore operation. However, this results in the computer stopping at the ‘Checking NVRAM’ stage of the power-on self-test. In turn, this means I need to restart the computer again to get it to boot properly. The CMOS battery was replaced two months ago, but could it have gone flat again? The computer is running Windows XP.

NVRAM stands for non-volatile random access memory. This is different to the other well-known types of RAM in computers (such as SDRAM) as NVRAM is not volatile, meaning it does not lose the data stored in the memory when the computer is turned-off (or power to the memory is terminated). Common forms of NVRAM include USB flash drives and memory cards for digital cameras. Of more interest to your situation, NVRAM also includes the non-volatile memory on the computer motherboard which stores the BIOS/CMOS configuration information. In contrast, SDRAM and other types of RAM are volatile memory, and will lose data stored in memory when the memory loses power.

Since the computer hangs at the ‘Checking NVRAM’ message it would be logical to assume there could be a problem with the NVRAM in the computer. However, more often than not the NVRAM itself should be alright, but there is a problem reading the BIOS/CMOS information stored in the memory. Users have reported numerous possible causes of this issue, ranging from a flat CMOS battery to hardware problems with the computer (such as incorrectly recognised or conflicting devices). However, your situation is unique since the problem only occurs after turning the computer off and then back on due to Windows freezing in the movie making software. Tracking down the exact cause of this issue is going to be very tricky, since I am unable to check the computer myself. In other cases, I have seen this problem occur due to the CMOS battery going flat, but since the battery was only replaced two months ago this is unlikely. Of course, you may have been unlucky enough to have a dud replacement battery and thus it has already gone flat. If you are confident enough with replacing the battery yourself, you could always try buying and installing a new battery to check whether that resolves the problem (the batteries only cost around $10 - 20). However, I would only recommend this procedure if you are comfortable about operating inside your computer, and appreciate the risks and best practices for such a procedure.

Another potential cause of the problem may be an external device connected to the computer causing a conflict or interference during the boot-up process. Since the problem only occurs when cold-booting immediately after using the computer, it is possible one of these external devices is causing a conflict of some description. So, next time the problem occurs, try unplugging all external devices from the computer, such as all printers, thumb drives, etc. to see whether the problem persists. However, make sure you leave the keyboard connected, otherwise the BIOS is likely to complain that no keyboard is connected to the computer, since this device is required for the computer to boot. Should the problem stop, it seems one of these devices is causing the problem. In which case, it is now just a process of elimination to find the problem device.

However, should the problem not be resolved there is nothing else I can suggest which would help without seeing the computer myself. In this case, you may wish to take the computer to a computer shop to have them look at the problem and provide advice on the cause, hopefully with a solution!

Assuming the NVRAM problem is resolved, we should also look at the problem of the movie making software on the computer freezing. As you mention the problem is not localised to one program, but occurs in Adobe Premiere and ‘other movie making software’, it would seem the problem relates to something system-related rather than being a software specific problem. Unfortunately, this makes it quite a bit more difficult to diagnose and fix. The simplest explanation for the issue is that some other program or process running in the background is conflicting with the movie making software (perhaps the codecs being used in the movie encoding or decoding process). Next time, before using the movie making software, try closing all non-essential background programs and processes. First, start by closing all visible programs running on the computer and in the system tray (next to the clock). Once this has been completed, there still may be processes running in the background. Press CTRL-ALT-DEL to open the Task Manager. Click the ‘Processes’ tab and then click the ‘User Name’ column to sort the processes by user name (if the User Name column is not visible, go to the ‘View’ menu > ‘Select Columns’ and enable ‘User Name’). End all of the non-essential processes running under your user name. Make sure you don’t close ‘explorer.exe’, ‘taskmgr.exe’ or any security software (e.g. antivirus or firewall software) as these are all essential to the safe operation of the computer. Should the problem stop after closing the background programs and processes, it seems one of these processes is causing a conflict. Like before, now you just need to undertake a process of elimination to determine which program(s) or process(es) are causing the problems.

However, should the problem still continue after closing the background processes, it is likely being caused by some other corruption or conflict within Windows. You could try running the System File Checker (SFC) utility in case any Windows system files have become corrupt. Go to the ‘Start’ menu > ‘Run’ and type ’sfc /scannow’ (without the quotes, and please note there is a space between ’sfc’ and ‘/scannow’). The SFC utility will automatically begin operation. Once it has finished, the SFC will exit silently with no user feedback.

Should running the SFC not resolve the issue, my only other suggestion would be trying a complete reinstallation of Windows on the computer. This should solve such problems, as it will install a fresh copy of Windows which should not suffer from the same problem which you are currently experiencing with Windows freezing.