Windows 7: BSOD Nightmare!

Hey everyone!

I've been getting BSOD's ever since last week and it's been a real annoyance. I really don't know what prompted these BSOD's; perhaps it had something to do with my weekly anti-virus/spyware updates. I've even taken desperate measures and re-installed (clean install, by the way) Windows 7 (64-bit) yesterday; hoping it'll fix everything. Unfortunately, it hasn't.

My computer has never given me any problems and it's relatively new (bought it almost two years ago). Hopefully you guys can help. I'm at my wits end.

I don't know if it'll help, but here are the following anti-virus/spyware programs I use:

• Avast
• Malwarebytes
• Spybot

I also use Comodo's firewall and CCleaner.

Thanks.

This crash is fairly straight forward Memory management. To test yours;
Download a copy of Memtest86 and burn the ISO to a CD using Iso Recorder or another ISO burning program. Boot from the CD, and leave it running for at least 5 or 6 passes.

Ken

Please enable driver verifier: Using Driver Verifier to identify issues with Drivers

Third party anti-virus programs and firewalls are notorious for causing crashes on Vista and 7 systems. To eliminate as much as possible, please remove them. If you later determine they were not the cause, go ahead and reinstall them if you like.

Avast removal tool: http://files.avast.com/files/eng/aswclear5.exe

MBAM removal too: http://www.malwarebytes.org/mbam-clean.exe | Note: This tool is meant to be used after a normal uninstall of MBAM and a reboot.

Install the free Microsoft Security Essentials instead: http://www.microsoft.com/security_essentials

...Summary of the Dumps:

Code:

Built by: 7600.16539.amd64fre.win7_gdr.100226-1909
Debug session time: Sat Jul 31 23:29:40.539 2010 (UTC - 4:00)
System Uptime: 0 days 3:23:29.801
*** WARNING: Unable to verify timestamp for Unknown_Module_00000000`00000000
BugCheck 1A, {41287, 0, 0, 0}
Probably caused by : ntkrnlmp.exe ( nt!PoIdle+53a )
BUGCHECK_STR:  0x1a_41287
PROCESS_NAME:  System
¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨
  
  
 

Hey Ken,
Just finished the Memtest86 scan (which lasted for two hours), and surprisingly, there are no errors. Weird.

Anyway, I'm going to uninstall Avast/Malwarebytes/Comodo to see if it'll help my situation.

Also, Jonathan_King, the "driver verifier" thread you linked sounds intimidating.

Is it absolutely necessary to enable the driver verifier? Are there other ways around it? But if uninstalling my anti-virus/spyware programs won't work, then I suppose I might have to try it.

Wish me luck.

Thanks for the quick responses! I really appreciate it.

That tutorial isn't quite accurate...there is no reason to fear using it. Go ahead and enable it.

Okay. I've uninstalled Avast, Malwarebyes, Spybot and Comodo, and installed Microsoft Security Essentials at your suggestion. And I've also enabled the Driver Verifier.

Now the waiting begins...

I've left my computer on for a day now. There were no BSOD's and everything seemed to be fine, until my computer froze. Along with the numerous BSOD's I'd received since last week, my computer also freezes. How fun.

I forgot to mention it in my previous posts, but on several occasions, normally after a freeze, my monitor would become static-y. I don't know how to explain it exactly, so I've attached a picture.

Anyway, after I manually rebooted my computer today, I went into the minidump file in Windows to see if there had been any recent BSOD's when I was away. No new BSOD's; just that one "memory management" BSOD from yesterday.

I'm absolutely fed up with this computer and I'm at a loss of what to do. Hopefully someone can help.

And another thing before I go; Windows 7 isn't the original OS for my computer. Windows Vista was.

Make sure your monitor cable is plugged in securely, and your video card seated properly.

Another day, and no BSOD's. Not even one. Aside from my computer randomly freezing yesterday, nothing has happened.

I took your advice and checked my monitor to see if it is securely plugged and opened my computer to see if my video card is seated properly. Cleaned the dusty insides with a can of air duster, and with the help from my tech savvy brother, we checked to see if anything was off. Nothing was out of the ordinary, so we closed up the computer and plugged everything back.

I did move the monitor closer to the edge of my desk recently (before the invasion of BSOD's); and I guess the movement might have loosen the plug or something. But I find it strange that a loose monitor plug could be the cause of all these BSOD's and freezes.

Anyway, everything seems to be securely in place and I haven't received any BSOD's yet. I'll report to this thread when anything happens.

By the way, should I turn off the Driver Verifier now that it has been a couple of days? And reinstall the anti-virus/anti-spyware programs? My computer feels kind of naked and vulnerable with just MSE and Windows Firewall. lol

Yes, go ahead and turn off Verifier.

Do not reinstall the other security programs. Honestly, MSE is so lightweight it doesn't seem like it's protecting you, but it is. Look up its detection rates!

The Windows Firewall is just as secure as others, but it lacks the features, like telling you when a programs tries to access the internet.