NTOSKRNL.sys Intermittent BSODs

I am running Windows 7 Pro 64-bit, it is from the Microsoft Action Pack partnership, so I think it's classified as OEM, but not sure.
System is *approx.* 3 years old, except for the GFX card and 2nd HDD (see hardware on my profile if necessary) which are newer. However, the current OS install is less than 2 months old. I had a different install of Win7 (64 bit RC) before that.

I've had these bluescreens intermittently since install (I imagine you can see the dates on the bluescreens in the data attached). In my previous Win7 install and the 32-bit Vista before that I had bluescreen problems, but they stopped mid way through my use of the Win7 RC. Personally, I don't think the Vista bluescreens were the same cause, although I'm not totally sure about the RC ones.

Most of these bluescreens are "probably caused by" ntoskrnl.sys according to WinDbg. I have tried reinstalling GFX drivers multiple times (uninstalled from Add/Remove Programs, restart, download, install, restart). Haven't done a memtest, don't think that's likely though, due to the old OS being fine for a while...

Requested files according to the BSOD sticky are attached. Did I miss any details? Thanks ahead of time!

Edit: Fail... attachment is now uploaded.

I apologize if this is not allowed, but I am bumping as this thread as it has no responses and it is on page 3...

Hello ! Welcome to SF !

Seems like multiple issues are going on with your System.
Run a Hardware Diagnostic Hardware Diagnostic !! « Captain Debugger
Then there are few crashes happened on nVidia follow this link and clean up the driver and reinstall it nVidia Driver Cleanup Guide !! « Captain Debugger

Update the Driver

NVIDIA DRIVERS 15.25 WHQL

What Internet security are you using ? Because there were lot of crashes with svchost.exe with Sysmain usually caused by Internet security.

Hope this helps,
Captain

Thank you very much for the reply, running diagnostics (except for CHKDSK, did that a week ago and nothing was found, you want the log?) and updating drivers now. As for as security goes, the only thing I'm running is the full version of MBAM (with prot module enabled) and Auslogics Boostspeed (don't think that counts, added just in case).

Edit: That driver you linked says it's for Vista, ok to install anyway, or should I use NV's search to find appropriate drivers?

Also, hesitant to run the FurMark as I'm running a 10$ aftermarket fan on the CPU and a cheap case fan for cooling. Don't have a house fan or IR thermo available for use.

aggixx said:

Thank you very much for the reply, running diagnostics (except for CHKDSK, did that a week ago and nothing was found, you want the log?) and updating drivers now. As for as security goes, the only thing I'm running is the full version of MBAM (with prot module enabled) and Auslogics Boostspeed (don't think that counts, added just in case).

Edit: That driver you linked says it's for Vista, ok to install anyway, or should I use NV's search to find appropriate drivers?

Click to expand...

If you find the driver more updated one for Windows 7 please install that if not you could use this driver. I don't think MBAM will cause the System to crash.

- Captain

Ran a MemTest. Would've done a couple passes, but it took longer than I thought it would. Did 1 pass and it found 155 errors... Figured that is enough testing to tell you what the problem is.

Also uninstalled all nVidia drivers and then rebooted into safe mode, DriverSweeped them, and then restarted and reinstalled. (Note for future readers, don't Driver Sweep your "nVidia - Chipset", it uninstalls your ethernet drivers)

Installed new mobo drivers from here (W7 x64 WHQL 15.53).

So, I imagine the next step would be to check the RAM one stick at a time to see which stick(s) are bad? As far as I can tell, 155 errors in one pass is really, really, really bad.

Edit: Often when I'm gaming the program will crash and tell me that one of the data files is corrupted, and then I have to restore it from backup. I was told by some friends that this could be HDD sectors failing, but CHKDSK showed nothing. Could this be due to the ram problems or at the very least, could it be the same problem as the BSODs?

aggixx said:

Ran a MemTest. Would've done a couple passes, but it took longer than I thought it would. Did 1 pass and it found 155 errors... Figured that is enough testing to tell you what the problem is.

Also uninstalled all nVidia drivers and then rebooted into safe mode, DriverSweeped them, and then restarted and reinstalled. (Note for future readers, don't Driver Sweep your "nVidia - Chipset", it uninstalls your ethernet drivers)

Installed new mobo drivers from here (W7 x64 WHQL 15.53).

So, I imagine the next step would be to check the RAM one stick at a time to see which stick(s) are bad? As far as I can tell, 155 errors in one pass is really, really, really bad.

Edit: Often when I'm gaming the program will crash and tell me that one of the data files is corrupted, and then I have to restore it from backup. I was told by some friends that this could be HDD sectors failing, but CHKDSK showed nothing. Could this be due to the ram problems or at the very least, could it be the same problem as the BSODs?

Click to expand...

Yes ! Test it with different sticks with different slots to make sure.

- Captain

aggixx said:

Also uninstalled all nVidia drivers and then rebooted into safe mode, DriverSweeped them, and then restarted and reinstalled. (Note for future readers, don't Driver Sweep your "nVidia - Chipset", it uninstalls your ethernet drivers)

Installed new mobo drivers from here (W7 x64 WHQL 15.53).

So, I imagine the next step would be to check the RAM one stick at a time to see which stick(s) are bad? As far as I can tell, 155 errors in one pass is really, really, really bad.

Edit: Often when I'm gaming the program will crash and tell me that one of the data files is corrupted, and then I have to restore it from backup. I was told by some friends that this could be HDD sectors failing, but CHKDSK showed nothing. Could this be due to the ram problems or at the very least, could it be the same problem as the BSODs?

Click to expand...

We do not recommend using third party driver programs. Update drivers yourself from the manufacturers' websites (best option) or use Windows Updates or Device manager.

To answer your question, yes, the cause could be memory corruption.

CarlTR6 said:

We do not recommend using third party driver programs. Update drivers yourself from the manufacturers' websites (best option) or use Windows Updates or Device manager.

To answer your question, yes, the cause could be memory corruption.

Click to expand...

The link I provided was to the newest version of nForce drivers for x64 W7, instead of using the link to the Vista x86 ones Jack provided.

And thanks for that clarification, it's good to know.

More on topic: Busy for the time being, will be able to run individual ram tests in a couple hours.

We will be here waiting for the results.

Got the chance run some tests. 2 of the sticks had flawless runs, 1 stick came up with 85 errors across 3 passes, and the 4th stick ended up with 34,000 errors in just one run.

I think it's safe to say that the 4th stick is reasonably screwed up, so I am running on the other 3 sticks right now. What should I do about the 3rd stick, keep it in for the time being?

Obviously I won't know if this will solve the problems until I get some use into the comp due to the (seemingly) random nature of the BSODs.

Edit: Should probably add that I don't have spare money to spend on getting new RAM ATM. So would keeping the ram in cause enough instability for it to not be worth the extra 1gb of ram?

Have you tested each of your slots with a known good stick? If not, that is your next step. It looks to me like you have two bad sticks and two good sticks.

I would fix your ram problem as soon as possible. Bad sticks can corrupt your data on your hard drive. I've seen that first hand and had to reinstall my OS.

aggixx said:

Got the chance run some tests. 2 of the sticks had flawless runs, 1 stick came up with 85 errors across 3 passes, and the 4th stick ended up with 34,000 errors in just one run.

I think it's safe to say that the 4th stick is reasonably screwed up, so I am running on the other 3 sticks right now. What should I do about the 3rd stick, keep it in for the time being?

Obviously I won't know if this will solve the problems until I get some use into the comp due to the (seemingly) random nature of the BSODs.

Edit: Should probably add that I don't have spare money to spend on getting new RAM ATM. So would keeping the ram in cause enough instability for it to not be worth the extra 1gb of ram?

Click to expand...

I would recommend to remove the bad RAM run with the good ones until you get new ones.

CarlTR6 said:

Have you tested each of your slots with a known good stick? If not, that is your next step. It looks to me like you have two bad sticks and two good sticks.

Click to expand...

I haven't thoroughly tested the slots, but I do know that at least the first 2 slots work, so I suppose I'll run two sticks and those and scrap the other two once I'm sure this has solved the problem.

No BSODs since I took out the 4th stick, taking out the 3rd stick ASAP.

On the bright side, maybe I can go get 2x2gb sticks and upgrade to 6gbs of RAM.

Thanks very much for all your help guys, I'm very impressed with this community and I should be coming back here in the future if I've got any problems. I've got a lot of respect for you guys that know what you're doing and spend your free time helping others. Once again, thanks much guys.

I'll post back in a few days and give a status report.

Glad you can run smoothly on two sticks. That is progress. Do test the slots to make sure you don't have a bad slot or slots. We will be waiting for your update.

Haven't had any video game crashes or BSODs since the fix, so all looks good. Haven't really gotten around to testing the other slots (it's not really that high on my priority list TBH).

Thanks again for the help guys.

Will post info on those 3rd and 4th slots when if/when I get the chance.

aggixx said:

Haven't had any video game crashes or BSODs since the fix, so all looks good. Haven't really gotten around to testing the other slots (it's not really that high on my priority list TBH).

Thanks again for the help guys.

Will post info on those 3rd and 4th slots when if/when I get the chance.

Click to expand...

Thanks for the Update !

Thank you very much for reporting back. I am glad to hear you are running smoothly. I will ask the moderators to mark this thread as solved. Do post back when and if you test those other slots. Happy computing.