PT 10.2 Freezing after windows minimize

[Magicboy]

Hello Pop Music fans,

I have a big problem and I'd be most grateful for your help.

PROBLEM

I click the windows Minimize button, top right corner of Pro Tools window. PT then minimizes to the task bar. I wait a minute of two and then click the PT icon in the task bar to expand PT back out and I get a spinning circle and "Pro Tools (NOT RESPONDING) message top left of the window. PT is now completely FROZEN! The system eventually comes back to life after two or three minutes of the spinning circle.

WHAT I'VE TRIED

I have done ALL of the Windows 7 optimization and trouble shooting that is listed by Avid. I have also done the trouble shooting techniques that are mentioned in AVID's YOUTUBE videos. The videos advise turning off DEP (Data Execution Prevention). The written online guide advises turning it on via msconfig. So I've tried both

I have updated all drivers including the video driver.

I have done a clean install of Windows 7 and just Pro Tools and the problem persists.

It is interesting that this problem also happens when there is no session loaded also. I just open PT and then minimize then BANG! It's frozen.

Now you're probably going to say, "Don't minimize it then." But, this problem ALSO happens randomly when using PT. It's just that doing the minimizing thing makes it pretty much freeze up nearly every time I minimize or switch between programs.

The computer works perfectly with very big heavy Cubase sessions. It's just PT that seems to be giving me troubles.

Thanks so much to anyone willing to help me. I've just spent a small fortune purchasing the ultimate Pro Tools rig and I'd be heartbroken if it just doesn't work with this machine.

BTW, I'm using a STEINBERG/YAMAHA MR816CSX firewire interface. (yes, I've already tried rolling back the firewire driver to "Legacy" as advised in AVID's troubleshooting guide).

SANDRA REPORT

SiSoftware Sandra

ID
Host Name : AlienwarePC
Workgroup : WORKGROUP

Computer
Model : AlienWare (Dell) Aurora-R4 0
Chassis : AlienWare (Dell) Desktop
Mainboard : AlienWare (Dell) 07JNH0
Serial Number : ..CN697021CQ0276.
BIOS : AlienWare (Dell) A03 02/08/2012
Total Memory : 32GB DIMM DDR3

Processors
Processor : Intel(R) Core(TM) i7-3930K CPU @ 3.20GHz (6C 12T 3.5GHz/3.8GHz, 3.5GHz IMC, 6x 256kB L2, 12MB L3)

Chipset
Memory Controller : Intel Core DMI2 (Sandy Bridge-E) 100MHz
Memory Controller : Dell Core (Sandy Bridge-E) Integrated Memory Controller Registers 100MHz, 4x 8GB DIMM DDR3 1.6GHz 256-bit

Memory Module(s)
Memory Module : F3-12800CL10- 8GB DIMM DDR3 PC3-12800U DDR3-1600
Memory Module : F3-12800CL10- 8GB DIMM DDR3 PC3-12800U DDR3-1600
Memory Module : F3-12800CL10- 8GB DIMM DDR3 PC3-12800U DDR3-1600
Memory Module : F3-12800CL10- 8GB DIMM DDR3 PC3-12800U DDR3-1600

Video System
Video Adapter : NVIDIA GeForce GTX 580 (512 SM5.0 1.54GHz, 1.5GB 4GHz 384-bit, PCIe 2.00 x16)
Video Adapter : NVIDIA GeForce GTX 580 (512 SM5.0 1.54GHz, 1.5GB 4GHz 384-bit, PCIe 2.00 x16)

Graphics Processor
OpenCL GP Processor : NVIDIA GeForce GTX 580 (512SP 16C 1.54GHz, 1.5GB 4GHz 384-bit)
Compute Shader Processor : NVIDIA GeForce GTX 580 (512SP 1.54GHz, 1.5GB 4GHz 384-bit)
CUDA GP Processor : NVIDIA GeForce GTX 580 (512SP 16C 1.54GHz, 1.5GB 4GHz 384-bit)

Storage Devices
SanDisk SDSSDX240GG25 (240GB, SATA600, SSD) : 224GB (C:)
Seagate ST31000524AS (1TB, SATA600, 3.5", 7200rpm) : 932GB (D:)
Seagate ST31000524AS (1TB, SATA600, 3.5", 7200rpm) : 932GB (F:)
ASMT 2105 (USB3) : N/A (G:)
HL-DT-STDVDRWBD CH20N (SATA, BD-R, DVD+-RW, CD-RW) : N/A (E:)

Logical Storage Devices
System (C:) : 223GB (NTFS) @ SanDisk SDSSDX240GG25 (240GB, SATA600, SSD)
Media I (D:) : 931GB (NTFS) @ Seagate ST31000524AS (1TB, SATA600, 3.5", 7200rpm)
Media II (F:) : 931GB (NTFS) @ Seagate ST31000524AS (1TB, SATA600, 3.5", 7200rpm)
Removable Drive (G:) : N/A @ ASMT 2105 (USB3)
Optical Drive (E:) : N/A @ HL-DT-STDVDRWBD CH20N (SATA, BD-R, DVD+-RW, CD-RW)

Peripherals
LPC Hub Controller 1 : Dell Patsburg LPC Controller
LPC Legacy Controller 1 : T0 10-05
Audio Device : Dell Patsburg High Definition Audio Controller
Audio Codec : Realtek Semi High Definition Audio
Audio Device : nVidia GF110 High Definition Audio Controller
Audio Codec : nVidia Riva 128 Graphics Accelerator [NV3]
Audio Codec : 1 0001h
Audio Codec : 1 0001h
Serial Port(s) : 1
Disk Controller : Dell Patsburg 6 Port SATA AHCI Controller
USB Controller 1 : Dell Patsburg USB2 Enhanced Host Controller #2
USB Controller 2 : Dell Patsburg USB2 Enhanced Host Controller #1
USB Controller 3 : Dell 0015h
FireWire/1394 Controller 1 : Avlab Technology XIO2200(A) IEEE-1394a-2000 Controller (PHY/Link)
FireWire/1394 Controller 2 : 13330 XIO2213A PCI Express to 1394b OHCI with 3-Port PHY
SMBus/i2c Controller 1 : Intel ICH SMBus
SMBus/i2c Controller 2 : Intel SNB-E XMB Ch 0 SMBus
SMBus/i2c Controller 3 : Intel SNB-E XMB Ch 1 SMBus

Printers and Faxes
Printer : Microsoft XPS Document Writer (600x600, Colour)
Fax : Microsoft Shared Fax Driver (200x200)
Printer : CutePDF Writer (4000x4000, Colour)

Peripherals

Network Services
Network Adapter : Realtek PCIe GBE Family Controller (Ethernet)
Wireless Adapter : TP-LINK Wireless USB Adapter (802.11n (HT), AES-CCMP, 300Mbps)

Operating System
Windows System : Microsoft Windows 7 Ultimate 6.01.7601 (Service Pack 1)
Platform Compliance : x64

Windows Experience Index
Current System : 7.8

[Kris75]

Try disabling any network devices. Both wifi and LAN. I wonder if you computer is networked to any other win7 machines.

[Magicboy]

Hi Kris, thanks so much for your response.

I tried what you suggested and it didn't work I'm afraid. There are also no other WIN 7 machines connected to my PT rig.

Anyone else have some suggestions?

Thanks to you all.

[Magicboy]

Ok, sorted it.

The problem was the AVID RECOMMENDED firewire card,

Siig NNE20012S2 1394a PCI Express x1 Card NN-E20012-S2

Comes up in Sandra report as "Avlab Technology XIO2200(A) IEEE-1394a-2000 Controller (PHY/Link)" didn't work properly in my system.

Removed it and everything is sweet. Now, just need another firewire card to run my MOJO. I won't be going with AVID's recommendation this time. The SYBA LOW Profile PCI-E 2x 1394b+1x 1394a ieee Firewire Controller Card works flawlessly.