BSOD when playing games

dwrecks said:

after about 20 minutes of playing a game, the game will crash with generic errors. Sometimes it'll bluescreen, but occasionally it'll just crash and crash again if you reboot it.

After the bluescreen, my pc was trying too boot from a non existent (that apparently now exists, according to My Computer) a drive (floppy disc drive). It only does this after the bluescreen, however the floppy disc drive is now permanently listed under My Computer.

I'm using W7 64bit. Originally it was vista 32, but fresh installed up to w7. I THINK its an OEM copy, as I obtained it while I was a university student through some scheme (mdsna or something? i dont really remember). The system itself is approx 3 years old. I have never made any hardware modifications.

Thanks in advance to anyone who can help, and i'll be routinely popping back here to see if there any additional information required.

also i should be noted prior to the crash i experience artifacts prior to the crash. sometimes even with watching a video after the crash (when it hasnt bluescreened on me)

Memory corruption from an UN-named driver. Please run these two tests



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.

Just remember, any time Memtest reports errors, it can be either bad RAM or a bad motherboard slot.

Test the sticks individually, and if you find a good one, test it in all slots.



Driver verifier

I'd suggest that you first backup your stuff and then make sure you've got access to another computer so you can contact us if problems arise. Then make a System Restore point (so you can restore the system using the Vista/Win7 Startup Repair feature).

In Windows 7 you can make a Startup Repair disk by going to Start....All Programs...Maintenance...Create a System Repair Disc - with Windows Vista you'll have to use your installation disk or the "Repair your computer" option at the top of the Safe Mode menu .

Then, here's the procedure:
- Go to Start and type in "verifier" (without the quotes) and press Enter
- Select "Create custom settings (for code developers)" and click "Next"
- Select "Select individual settings from a full list" and click "Next"
- Select everything EXCEPT FOR "Low Resource Simulation" and click "Next"
- Select "Select driver names from a list" and click "Next"
Then select all drivers NOT provided by Microsoft and click "Next"
- Select "Finish" on the next page.

Reboot the system and wait for it to crash to the Blue Screen. Continue to use your system normally, and if you know what causes the crash, do that repeatedly. The objective here is to get the system to crash because Driver Verifier is stressing the drivers out. If it doesn't crash for you, then let it run for at least 36 hours of continuous operation (an estimate on my part).

If you can't get into Windows because it crashes too soon, try it in Safe Mode.
If you can't get into Safe Mode, try using System Restore from your installation DVD to set the system back to the previous restore point that you created.

I hear memtest will take a long time, so is it best to leave that till overnight? and i'll go for the driver verifyer now

I blue screened it with verifier, what now ?

Its taken me several hours to get back to the desktop on my pc. The restore disc I made failed to work, and immediately after I got back to the desktop following the bluescreen I forced, it bluescreened again in a circumstance it has never happened in before (just on the homescreen).

included are the two minidumps, although the first one from when verifier was running mysteriously disappeared between restarts, and i have been unable to locate it again.

i believe the most recent of these two dumps to certainly have verifier, the first may not have had it running

dwrecks said:

Its taken me several hours to get back to the desktop on my pc. The restore disc I made failed to work, and immediately after I got back to the desktop following the bluescreen I forced, it bluescreened again in a circumstance it has never happened in before (just on the homescreen).

included are the two minidumps, although the first one from when verifier was running mysteriously disappeared between restarts, and i have been unable to locate it again.

i believe the most recent of these two dumps to certainly have verifier, the first may not have had it running

Please remove any CD virtualization programs such as Daemon Tools and Alcohol 120%.

They use a driver, found in your dmp,sptd.sys, that is notorious for causing BSODs.

Use this SPTD uninstaller DuplexSecure - Downloads

when you're done you can use this Freeware MagicISO Virtual CD/DVD-ROM(MagicDisc) in its place.

think that will solve my problems, or should i still memtest over night?

Just crashed after watching 50mins of a film. Too ill to memtest now, will run it tomorrow

I'm tempted to just format my pc. will that help?

dwrecks said:

I'm tempted to just format my pc. will that help?

If it is software it might, hardware wouldnt help. I clean install about every 4 months just to keep the machine efficient.