Blue Screens of Death - BSOD and Application Crashes

I wrote the page below before I read the instructions on what to do for a crash. I will include it as it may provide additional insight.

After I ran the “BSOD Dump & System File Collection app” my system crashed again just in case that makes a difference with the rest of the information gathered.

Here is everything:

Windows 7 64 bit - x86 (32-bit) or x64 ?
Vista - the original installed OS on the system?
Full retail - an OEM or full retail version?
Best Buy - Full Retail = you purchased it from retailer
3/8/08 - What is the age of system (hardware)?
9/21/10 - What is the age of OS installation (have you re-installed the OS?)


Thank you!

JJ



For some reason, I am all of a sudden getting Blue Screens of Death for the past 2 weeks.

What I have done:

1. 2 system restores, 1 going way before I had any trouble.
2. Full scans with MS Security Essentials
3. Ran Memtest86+ for 7 hours for what I believe is 3 passes
4. Tried uninstalling recent programs
5. Checked driver and chipset updates
6. Everything in Device Manager looks fine
7. Pulled the few remain hairs from my head!

Specs on my system:

- Gateway PC model GM5632E – Complete specs - http://support.gateway.com/s/PC/R/1014739R/1014739Rsp2.shtml
- Windows 7 64 bit (upgraded from Vista 32 bit over 1 yr ago)
- 8 GBs Corsair 2 x 4 GB kits(upgraded approximately 2 months ago from 3 GBs)
- Running old Sony TV off of graphics board via S Video to RCA for Windows Media Center
- Running X10 system via USB port as well as installed program on my system

What have I been doing in the 2-4 weeks:

- A lot of “music identification” and organization via programs like Metatogger 4, MPTagThat, FastDuplicateFileFinder, MediaMonkey.
- I noticed that the crashes started after I had tried a program called zbar to give you a task bar on the 2nd monitor but it wasn’t even a installed program. It was just an executable that I erased. As mentioned, I have also done 2 system restores since then.
- Started running IE9

I have noticed:

- Various apps have been crashing such as Outlook 2007 much more than ever before, today Dropbox which has never crashed, IE9, Windows Media Center
- Monitor going black for a second and then a change in the color or transparency of the task bar.

I don’t know how to read mini dumps or full dumps but here is a collection of both plus screen shots of BSOD and Memtest86+:

Mini Dumps:
http://dl.dropbox.com/u/6350326/BSOD%20%20Windows%207%20100811-26515-01.zip


Full Dumps:
http://dl.dropbox.com/u/6350326/MEMORY%2010-15-11.zip

http://dl.dropbox.com/u/6350326/MEMORY%2010-18-11.zip

Screen shots of BSOD and Memtest86+:
http://dl.dropbox.com/u/6350326/BSOD%20%26%20Mem86%20results.zip

Your help would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks,

JJ

JJTech said:

I wrote the page below before I read the instructions on what to do for a crash. I will include it as it may provide additional insight.

After I ran the “BSOD Dump & System File Collection app” my system crashed again just in case that makes a difference with the rest of the information gathered.

Here is everything:

Windows 7 64 bit - x86 (32-bit) or x64 ?
Vista - the original installed OS on the system?
Full retail - an OEM or full retail version?
Best Buy - Full Retail = you purchased it from retailer
3/8/08 - What is the age of system (hardware)?
9/21/10 - What is the age of OS installation (have you re-installed the OS?)


Thank you!

JJ



For some reason, I am all of a sudden getting Blue Screens of Death for the past 2 weeks.

What I have done:

1. 2 system restores, 1 going way before I had any trouble.
2. Full scans with MS Security Essentials
3. Ran Memtest86+ for 7 hours for what I believe is 3 passes
4. Tried uninstalling recent programs
5. Checked driver and chipset updates
6. Everything in Device Manager looks fine
7. Pulled the few remain hairs from my head!

Code:

Specs on my system:

-      Gateway PC model GM5632E – Complete specs - http://support.gateway.com/s/PC/R/1014739R/1014739Rsp2.shtml
-      Windows 7 64 bit (upgraded from Vista 32 bit over 1 yr ago)
-      8 GBs Corsair 2 x 4 GB kits(upgraded approximately 2 months ago from 3 GBs)
-      Running old Sony TV off of graphics board via S Video to RCA for Windows Media Center
-      Running X10 system via USB port as well as installed program on my system

What have I been doing in the 2-4 weeks:

-      A lot of “music identification” and organization via programs like Metatogger 4, MPTagThat, FastDuplicateFileFinder, MediaMonkey.
-      I noticed that the crashes started after I had tried a program called zbar  to give you a task bar on the 2nd monitor but it wasn’t even a installed program.  It was just an executable that I erased.  As mentioned, I have also done 2 system restores since then.
-      Started running IE9

I have noticed:

-      Various apps have been crashing such as Outlook 2007 much more than ever before, today Dropbox which has never crashed, IE9, Windows Media Center
-      Monitor going black for a second and then a change in the color or transparency of the task bar.

I don’t know how to read mini dumps or full dumps but here is a collection of both plus screen shots of BSOD and Memtest86+:

Mini Dumps:
http://dl.dropbox.com/u/6350326/BSOD%20%20Windows%207%20100811-26515-01.zip


Full Dumps:
http://dl.dropbox.com/u/6350326/MEMORY%2010-15-11.zip

http://dl.dropbox.com/u/6350326/MEMORY%2010-18-11.zip

Screen shots of BSOD and Memtest86+:
http://dl.dropbox.com/u/6350326/BSOD%20%26%20Mem86%20results.zip

Your help would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks,

JJ

Hi JJ and welcome

Both the full DMP and the mini's report the crashes were related to memory management. Usually either RAM, or a driver.

I know you have run memtest for ~ 3 passes but recommendations are 6-7. In addition if the memory passes 6-7 passes please run driver verifier as instructed.

These were caused by a memory exception. Please run these two tests to verify your memory and find which driver is causing the problem.


1-Memtest.

*Download a copy of Memtest86 and burn the ISO to a CD using Iso Recorder or another ISO burning program. Memtest86+ - Advanced Memory Diagnostic Tool

*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.

RAM - Test with Memtest86+



2-Driver verifier

I'd suggest that you first backup your data 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.

Driver Verifier - Enable and Disable

Thanks zigzag3143.

I will do that.

I am feeling/hoping more and more that it is the graphics driver. I went through days finding 4 good sticks of memory that worked. They say to get 4 consecutive serial numbers but then again Corsair doesn’t sell 8 GB kits so you have to go with 2 x 4 GB kits.

If I don’t get any errors after 6-7 passes with all the sticks in place, is that good enough? I would hate to go through the 1 stick at a time in each slot.

One of your links took me to liutilities.com for “Free Driver Scan.” Did you mean for me to run that? I read some reviews that said it was not the safest site?

JJ

JJTech said:

Thanks zigzag3143.

I will do that.

I am feeling/hoping more and more that it is the graphics driver. I went through days finding 4 good sticks of memory that worked. They say to get 4 consecutive serial numbers but then again Corsair doesn’t sell 8 GB kits so you have to go with 2 x 4 GB kits.

If I don’t get any errors after 6-7 passes with all the sticks in place, is that good enough? I would hate to go through the 1 stick at a time in each slot.

If you dont have any errors in 6-7 your ram is probably good.

One of your links took me to liutilities.com for “Free Driver Scan.” Did you mean for me to run that? I read some reviews that said it was not the safest site?

No dont run that, I simply forgot to remove the link.

JJ

Keep us in the loop

zigzag,

I finally got a chance to stress the drives today. It crashed around 10pm but it didn't reboot as it is set to under "startup and recovery" nor can I find the memory.dmp that I thought was supposed to be under C:\ or any place on the C drive.

One other peculiar thing is that at times, when I click on a selection, I will get a different selection, i.e. click on a folder and get a different one.

What do you think?

Thanks,
JJ

BTW: I could not get it to reboot until I went into safe mode and disabled verifier.exe.

Hey Everyone,

I hate to jinx myself or speak too soon but it looks like I found the problem.

Nvidia mistakenly sent me a 32 bit graphics driver which somehow installed. Last Thursday I found this and replaced it with a 64 bit as I am running Windows 7 64 bit.

No BSOD so far! I am crossing my fingers.

Just thought you may want to know FYI.

Thanks to everyone that helped me!

JJ

I knew it. I jinxed myself!

Although having a 64 bit graphics driver instead of32 bit one probably helped, it didn’t solve my BSOD!

I am now running 4 GBs in slot 1 & 3 and I haven’t had any BSOD in the last couple of days but I still notice a general noticeable lag in response time whether I am cutting and pasting or finding something on the net.

Here is what I have done since then.

Maybe 3 months ago I upgraded from 3 GB (2x1 GB sticks and 2x512 MB) that came with the Gateway to 4 sticks of Corsair CM2X2048-6400C5. They were 2x4 GB kits and although I could not get 1x8 GB kit, I tried to get the serial numbers as close as possible (see below). About a month ago I started to have BSOD. Because the system was stable for some 2 months after the install of the memory, I didn’t think memory was the issue.

I have run 2 mem86 tests when all 4 sticks were in place. The fist pass (maybe 3 passes) passed. The second didn’t, so I ran Mem86 on each stick separately, each in its respective slot. I hope that was OK as opposed to testing them all in slot 0. I figured this method would not only check the respective stick but the slot as well. Here are the results:


Stick 1, SN 693, Channel A, Dimm 0, Passed during the 7th pass
Stick 2, SN 699, Channel A, Dimm 1, Passed during the 11th pass
Stick 3, SN 694, Channel B, Dimm 0, Passed during the 7th pass
Stick 4, SN 700, Channel B, Dimm 1, Passed during the 12th pass

Questions:

1. Why would each separate stick pass and one of the tests with all sticks in fail????
2. How critical is it to have all 8 GBs from the same “lot?” Could this be causing my BSOD and would that explain why #1?




Another issue I found when I ran sfc/scannow was:

I got 52 of:

Cannot repair member file [l:28{14}]"iassdo.dll.mui" of Microsoft-Windows-Networking-Internet_Authentication_Service_Iassdo.Resources, Version = 6.1.7600.16385, pA = PROCESSOR_ARCHITECTURE_INTEL (0), Culture = [l:10{5}]"en-US", VersionScope = 1 nonSxS, PublicKeyToken = {l:8 b:31bf3856ad364e35}, Type neutral, TypeName neutral, PublicKey neutral in the store, hash mismatch


and 26 of:

Could not reproject corrupted file [ml:60{30},l:58{29}]"\??\C:\Windows\SysWOW64\en-US"\[l:28{14}]"iassdo.dll.mui"; source file in store is also corrupted

I have already done several system restores going back to 10/1/11. The next one would take me back to 2/11.

Questions:

1. Could this be causing my BSOD?
2. Is this an easy fix???

I have twin WD 640 GB drives as well as a TB WD. The second 640 has only 8 MB free but I only use that for Windows backup which I have disabled now. Could the 8 MBs be a problem even though it is not the system disk?

I have successfully run WD’s “extended” disk diagnostics on drive C and it came out OK.

Is that just as good as either Spinrite or System Mechanic or Windows disk check??

Thanks much!

JJ

Well all has been stable now for over 2 weeks now. Corsair did a very nice job shipping out 2x4 GB replacement kits.

Although I could not get those up and running, I eventually made a combination of the 16 GBs that seems to be working.

Thanks to all that helped!

JJ