Win 7 Crash on Startup (Graphics card problem?)

Hello all,

First post so please be gentle. I've been using my PC fine for the last 3 years. A month or so ago I updated to Windows 7 Ultimate x64. That too has been running fine, then today, after about 3-4 hours of use, in the middle of a game, my PC screen suddenly got weird wavy lines and colours all over it and crashed. Long story short this has now happened about 10 times. Interestingly, I thought it was a graphics card problem, so I tried it on my HD TV (both TV and monitor connected via HDMI) and it did it on the TV too. I then uninstalled the nvidia (8800gt) drivers and restarted my PC. It works fine in safe mode, and in normal mode, but I can't change my resolution to 1680x1050, (it's native resolution) without installing the nvidia drivers. I don't know if the problem is the drivers, (but never had an issue before?) or with resolution, (monitor problem?)

Everytime I do install the nvidia drivers the PC restarts normally, screen looks fine, and the PC seems to run, until I click on anything with the mouse and then the wavy lines and weird colours appear again and I can't CTL-ALT-DEL, I have to hard reset it everytime. Once I left it for 5 mins. and moved the mouse a little every min. or so and that was OK, but as soon as I click on anything, it freezes and artefacts again.

Also, my antivirus flashed red a few times and so did the windows clock in the bottom right corner of the screen, (very odd!) when the PC first starts windows. That made me think it could be a virus, (even though I'm very careful about what I DL), but I had Avast run through a deep clean check and it found nothing. I also tried to get Win 7 to repair itself, which did nothing either! I've tried reinstalling the drivers, using newer and older nvidia drivers and I've tried to install my HG216 monitor driver, but since it's a few years old there is no official Win 7 support and all I have is an inf. file I can't install on Win 7.

Sorry I haven't included a dump file, I know a fair amount about computers but I haven't worked out how to do that yet. Also, since I have to hard reboot everytime, in my event view the only errors listed seem to be about 'power failure', so I don't know if the bug or whatever would show up in the dump file?

Any help would be greatly appreciated! I need my PC back ASAP! Thanks guys! :)

One thing to check. Boot up with the driver installed then right click/screen resolution. Check your settings in there. Are both monitors assigned properly?

That drove me mad till I figured it out. It was with amd though.

EDIT: quote, "but since it's a few years old there is no official Win 7 support and all I have is an inf. file I can't install on Win 7."

Just notice that. You might be able to install it through the device manager. Update driver.

Hello all,

Thanks for the tips so far, but still having the problem. I left the power and cables unplugged on my monitor and PC last night. Woke up this morning and my PC worked fine for 2-3 mins. and then suddenly crashed again in the same way as before.

Thanks very much for your help Hipster Doofus, but I only have one monitor plugged in at a time. I normally use my HMDI cable on my monitor, and then if I want to watch a movie I take it out my monitor and plug it into my nearby HD TV. Only one monitor ever shows up on my PC. Also, I can't check my settings anyway unfortunately, since as soon as I move the mouse with the proper drivers installed, it crashes. So I can't get into any programmes in normal mode.

I tried your advice regarding updating my driver and it took quite a while, but I managed it, but still have the problem. In safe mode and normal mode (without nvidia drivers in blurry looking 1280x720) there is no monitor listed in device manager. I followed advice from another website and installed 'standard VGA drivers' and restarted and a monitor tab appeared in DM. I then used the update driver/have disk option to install my monitors inf file and that worked! I thought I was making progress but then I restarted my PC and I was still in a maximum of 1280x720 resolution, (without nvidia drivers). I tried to update the drivers to Win 7 via the guide you posted writhziden, but it just reinstalled my 'generic PnP monitor' driver that listed before I manually installed my HansG216d inf file.

Also, when I rebooted with the generic PnP monitor, when I go back into device manager, my 'monitor' tab disappears again! This is so frustrating, my PC seems to work fine basically, unless I install the nvidia drivers and use my native 1680x1050 resolution, which is the only one that works with my monitor! The only thing I can think of is since my PC worked for a few mins. normally first thing this morning, perhaps my graphics card is getting overheated? I'll check out the fan on it later, make sure it's moving fine and my card is seated properly. They were last month when I cleaned my PC though, so don't think that's the problem.

Can anyone help me fix this problem please? Many thanks guys.

If you are worried about overheating, download and install HWiNFO64 to monitor your temperatures. If your graphics card is getting above 95C, it may be overheating. Your card has a maximum temperature of 105C, so if it is getting close to that, it will shut down.

Could you also please follow the https://www.sevenforums.com/crashes-d...tructions.html to provide us with more information about your crashes? Thank you. :)

Hi again,

As per advice, I have now downloaded Hwinfo64 and it says that all my systems are running OK as far as I can tell, and my graphics card temps are only 64C, so I think that's OK, right? I restarted my PC in safe mode after work today, and for the first time, I suddenly got an error report from 'action centre' saying that there had been a hardware problem with my graphics card. It gave me a link to a dump file, so I have copied the 3 files it gave me into a 'Crash' zip. I have also included the dump files requested by the BSOD posting guide, however I don't think my dump files are complete as I don't think they came from C:windows/dump, because I couldn't find that folder, but if that's the default folder I've never changed the settings on it. Although, I think when I checked the dump file location in DM, it said the default file was currently 'systemroot'.

I'm afraid I also couldn't run a system report file, because there were no files listed in the viewer. Again, I don't know how that went wrong, perhaps because I didn't know how to get the dump files to be saved to windows/dump? Anyway, another weird thing is that in normal mode (without nvidia drivers) I've now started to have problems renaming new folders, it keeps telling me 'folder not found', when I try to rename a new folder? Not always but sometimes. I found this out when I tried to create a 'dump' folder in my windows folder. I'm starting to worry since the temp. doesn't seem to be a problem that my graphics card is on the way out. Just don't want to spend what little money I have on a new one if it's not necessary.

Many thanks again for the help anyone can give me.

Also, my PC specs are:

Windows 7x64 Ultimate
Used Windows Vista Ultimate before, never had an issue.
Intel QuadCore Q6600
4 GB SDRAM
Pointview Nvidia 8800GT
Western Digital 640GB HD
Gigabyte PD35-SL3 motherboard

System is nearly 4 years old, installed Win 7 about a month ago.
PC was good as gold until sudden, recent 'graphics hardware crashes'.

Code:

Loading Dump File [K:\BSODDmpFiles\JoePurple\Crash\WD-20120109-2047.dmp]
Mini Kernel Dump File: Only registers and stack trace are available

Symbol search path is: SRV*c:\symbols*http://msdl.microsoft.com/download/symbols
Executable search path is: 
Windows 7 Kernel Version 7600 MP (4 procs) Free x64
Product: WinNt, suite: TerminalServer SingleUserTS
Built by: 7600.16841.amd64fre.win7_gdr.110622-1503
Machine Name:
Kernel base = 0xfffff800`01a12000 PsLoadedModuleList = 0xfffff800`01c4fe70
Debug session time: Mon Jan  9 13:47:04.703 2012 (GMT-7)
System Uptime: 0 days 7:45:44.796
Loading Kernel Symbols
...............................................................
................................................................
...........................
Loading User Symbols
Mini Kernel Dump does not contain unloaded driver list
*******************************************************************************
*                                                                             *
*                        Bugcheck Analysis                                    *
*                                                                             *
*******************************************************************************

Use !analyze -v to get detailed debugging information.

BugCheck 117, {fffffa800431c4e0, fffff880033da9c8, 0, 0}

Unable to load image nvlddmkm.sys, Win32 error 0n2
*** WARNING: Unable to verify timestamp for nvlddmkm.sys
*** ERROR: Module load completed but symbols could not be loaded for nvlddmkm.sys
Probably caused by : nvlddmkm.sys ( nvlddmkm+1759c8 )

Followup: MachineOwner
---------

2: kd> !analyze -v
*******************************************************************************
*                                                                             *
*                        Bugcheck Analysis                                    *
*                                                                             *
*******************************************************************************

VIDEO_TDR_TIMEOUT_DETECTED (117)
The display driver failed to respond in timely fashion.
(This code can never be used for real bugcheck).
Arguments:
Arg1: fffffa800431c4e0, Optional pointer to internal TDR recovery context (TDR_RECOVERY_CONTEXT).
Arg2: fffff880033da9c8, The pointer into responsible device driver module (e.g owner tag).
Arg3: 0000000000000000, The secondary driver specific bucketing key.
Arg4: 0000000000000000, Optional internal context dependent data.

Debugging Details:
------------------


FAULTING_IP: 
nvlddmkm+1759c8
fffff880`033da9c8 ??              ???

DEFAULT_BUCKET_ID:  GRAPHICS_DRIVER_TDR_TIMEOUT

TAG_NOT_DEFINED_202b:  *** Unknown TAG in analysis list 202b


BUGCHECK_STR:  0x117

PROCESS_NAME:  System

CURRENT_IRQL:  0

STACK_TEXT:  
fffff880`06750630 fffff880`03f3c5f7 : fffffa80`0431c4e0 fffff880`03f88e28 fffffa80`0431c4e0 fffff880`03f0a843 : watchdog!WdDbgReportRecreate+0xa3
fffff880`06750b50 fffff880`03f3d2bc : fffff8a0`03035660 fffff8a0`03035660 00000000`00000080 fffffa80`0431c4e0 : dxgkrnl!TdrUpdateDbgReport+0xcb
fffff880`06750ba0 fffff880`03f116b3 : 00000000`00000001 fffffa80`05bb8000 00000000`00000000 fffff880`0000004f : dxgkrnl!TdrCollectDbgInfoStage2+0x220
fffff880`06750bd0 fffff880`03f3de0f : fffffa80`05bc9658 ffffffff`fffe7960 fffffa80`0431c4e0 00000000`00000000 : dxgkrnl!DXGADAPTER::Reset+0xef
fffff880`06750c80 fffff880`03237ec1 : fffffa80`060039d0 00000000`00000080 00000000`00000000 fffffa80`05bc9010 : dxgkrnl!TdrResetFromTimeout+0x23
fffff880`06750d00 fffff800`01d226fa : 00000000`01a82ad8 fffffa80`05bbf4d0 fffffa80`036879e0 fffffa80`05bbf4d0 : dxgmms1!VidSchiWorkerThread+0x101
fffff880`06750d40 fffff800`01a60b46 : fffff800`01bfce80 fffffa80`05bbf4d0 fffff800`01c0ac40 fffff880`0125f810 : nt!PspSystemThreadStartup+0x5a
fffff880`06750d80 00000000`00000000 : fffff880`06751000 fffff880`0674b000 fffff880`0d771b70 00000000`00000000 : nt!KiStartSystemThread+0x16


STACK_COMMAND:  .bugcheck ; kb

FOLLOWUP_IP: 
nvlddmkm+1759c8
fffff880`033da9c8 ??              ???

SYMBOL_NAME:  nvlddmkm+1759c8

FOLLOWUP_NAME:  MachineOwner

MODULE_NAME: nvlddmkm

IMAGE_NAME:  nvlddmkm.sys

DEBUG_FLR_IMAGE_TIMESTAMP:  4e99233b

FAILURE_BUCKET_ID:  X64_0x117_IMAGE_nvlddmkm.sys

BUCKET_ID:  X64_0x117_IMAGE_nvlddmkm.sys

Followup: MachineOwner
---------

This crash is similar to crash 0x116 meaning the display card or display card driver failed to respond to a system instruction in a timely manner. Closely follow the first three posts of STOP 0x116: VIDEO_TDR_ERROR troubleshooting and proceed through each step. Let us know if you need further help.

Hi guys,

Many thanks for your assistance writhziden. I'm starting to think I might need a new GPU. Last night I left my fan pointing at my PC all night and when I turned it on, my PC worked for a little longer than yesterday morning, about 5 mins. but then it crashed again. This made me think overheating was the issue again, but at startup I was able to load the HWInfo prog and my GPU temp was still hovering around 65C, those temps are fine, right? So does that mean I can rule out overheating?

When I got home from work today I'm going to take out the fan, give it a good dust and then make sure it's properly seated again. If the problem persists, is it worth trying a full Win reinstall?

It's strange though because my card works fine in safe mode, and fine in 1280 mode, but my monitor's native resolution is 1680x1050 and nothing else displays correctly on it. Doesn't the fact that it works fine in other modes suggest it's not a GPU problem? Does running the card in 1680x1050 mode make a diff. to the temps? I also tried rebooting via F8 into 'vga 640x480' mode and my PC immediately crashed AND started making a whiny scratchy noise, which I assume was coming from the GPU. I'm now running it in 'safe mode with networking' but I can't play any of my games or watch videos, so it's useless really.

Also, I tried to follow some of the steps in the STOP 0x116 link you post, many thanks for that, I've tried the first few instructions now before work, but I can't get the Furmark test to run. Both in safe mode, and normal mode I get a 'could not initialise ZoomGPU. FurMark startup failed. Bye!' message. I'll try the Prime95 overnight tonight as the test can take 6 hours+. I also haven't overclocked my system at all, and since it was running fine on Win 7 and I haven't changed any drivers for weeks, I thought it was unlikely that any of that was a problem. Perhaps I'm wrong though?

If anyone can let me know if it's worth trying a full Windows reinstall, that'd be appreciated. I tried the Windows auto-fix thing and that did nothing. Perhaps my GPU is just failing and I'll just have to get a new one. I just need my PC to work, feels like I'm missing a limb when it doesn't, lol! Thanks again for the help so far. :)

You can test your GPU by running a game with logging enabled in HWINFO, just make sure you know where the CSV file is saved so you can check it later or have us check it. If you want us to check it, just compress (zip) the file and upload on here.

As for cleaning the dust out, follow the following general procedure. If you have a desktop bought from Dell, HP, Sony, Lenovo, etc. make sure removing the desktop casing will not void your warranty first. Call the company if you are still under warranty and ask if it is okay to remove the casing and blow dust out. The procedure described is fine for laptops; just make sure no stickers are on panels saying if you remove the panel it will void the warranty.

1. Shut down and turn off your computer.
2. Unplug all power supplies to the computer (AC Power then battery for laptops, AC power for desktops)
3. Hold down the power button for 30 seconds to close the circuit and ensure all power drains from components.
4. Remove the casing for a desktop, or remove any screwed on panels and disc drives for laptops.
5. Blow out the dust inside by using a can of compressed air or a low pressure compressor. You will want to put the computer on a desk or table so you can maintain the can in an upright position if using a can of air. Blow into all crevices on the motherboard, heat sinks, cards, modules, etc. for a desktop. Blow into vents, opened panels, disc drive areas, USB ports, and the keyboard if it is a laptop. You may also want to blow inside the disc drive by replacing the drive to the laptop, starting the computer, opening the drive, and then turning off the computer and removing all power as described above including the 30 second power button step. For a desktop, you may also want to blow inside the disc drive by starting the computer, opening the drive, and then turning off the computer and removing all power as described above including the 30 second power button step.
6. Replace casing for the desktop. Replace panels and disc drive (if you have not already done so) for the laptop.
7. Plug power supplies in. AC adapter for the desktop. Battery and then AC Adapter for the laptop.
8. Start the computer and see if performance is better.