Windows 7: Very frequent hanging and BSOD

Nyanja · 01 May 2012

Hi guys.

My problem started happening since I played the Guild Wars 2 beta (27 of april). When I was in the game, about every hour, my computer would freeze for 10-15 seconds then focus back to my desktop and display memory adress access error on running for (almost) every running application and a message from Window Media Player saying "The library database is corrupted [...]". Then, I was able to get back into the game (it wasn't closed, just minimized) but some time later, the screen would display a lot of lines in the middle of the screen and the sound would loop very loudly then BSOD. The system would reset automatically but before booting, I have this message "Reboot and select proper boot device or insert boot media in selected boot device and press a key." Then, I manually power my computer down and open it back and it boots.

Also, sometimes, the problem wouldn't occur for 2 or 3 hours but as soon as I ALT+TAB out to window, explorer would stop responding and hang and my computer would crash.

I thought the problem was related to high demanding graphical application or heat (note I checked heat and it's not a problem at all) but my computer just keeps crashing every hour or so even if I'm not in a game. I could be watching a video, browsing the internet, working on Adobe Flash, it crashes. It even crashes when it's iddle and I'm away from the computer. In fact, I always wake up to this "Reboot and select proper boot device or insert boot media in selected boot device and press a key." screen.

System Info:
OS: Windows 7 64-bit Ultimate Full Retail
CPU: Intel Core i5 2500K @ 3.30GHz
RAM: 8.00 GB Dual-Channel DDR3 @ 665MHz (9-9-9-24)
MOBO: ASRock P67 Extreme4 Gen3 (CPUSocket)
Graphic: AMD Radeon HD 6900 Series (MSI)
Hard Drives:
125GB M4-CT128M4SSD2 (SATA-SSD) (OS)
977GB Western Digital WDC WD1001FALS-00E8B0 (SATA) (Data)

The system is 6 months old. I built it myself and installed the OS at that moment.

What I've done so far:
-Ran 4 instances of memtest86 with 1500MB each. Couldn't complete it since I had a crash but it didn't find any error and was at 90ish%.
-Reseated my RAM and graph card
-Uninstalled/reinstalled graphic drivers

Event viewer log critical error:

Code:

- <Event xmlns="http://schemas.microsoft.com/win/2004/08/events/event">
- <System>
  <Provider Name="Microsoft-Windows-Kernel-Power" Guid="{331C3B3A-2005-44C2-AC5E-77220C37D6B4}" /> 
  <EventID>41</EventID> 
  <Version>2</Version> 
  <Level>1</Level> 
  <Task>63</Task> 
  <Opcode>0</Opcode> 
  <Keywords>0x8000000000000002</Keywords> 
  <TimeCreated SystemTime="2012-05-01T23:45:17.450003500Z" /> 
  <EventRecordID>69604</EventRecordID> 
  <Correlation /> 
  <Execution ProcessID="4" ThreadID="8" /> 
  <Channel>System</Channel> 
  <Computer>Alex-PC</Computer> 
  <Security UserID="S-1-5-18" /> 
  </System>
- <EventData>
  <Data Name="BugcheckCode">0</Data> 
  <Data Name="BugcheckParameter1">0x0</Data> 
  <Data Name="BugcheckParameter2">0x0</Data> 
  <Data Name="BugcheckParameter3">0x0</Data> 
  <Data Name="BugcheckParameter4">0x0</Data> 
  <Data Name="SleepInProgress">false</Data> 
  <Data Name="PowerButtonTimestamp">0</Data> 
  </EventData>
  </Event>

The dump file and system health html file are attached to the thread.

Any help will be greatly appreciated.
Thanks!

jcgriff2 · 01 May 2012

Quote: Originally Posted by Nyanja

In fact, I always wake up to this "Reboot and select proper boot device or insert boot media in selected boot device and press a key." screen.

That is an indication of a hard drive issue -

Code:

Hard Drives:
125GB M4-CT128M4SSD2 (SATA-SSD) (OS)

Check SSD manufacturer's site for a firmware upgrade.

If no firmware upgrade available, install Windows 7 onto SATA HDD - see if the system is stable.

Quote: Originally Posted by Nyanja

-Ran 4 instances of memtest86 with 1500MB each. Couldn't complete it since I had a crash but it didn't find any error and was at 90ish%.

Run memtest86+ DOS bootable version. Burn ISO to CD; boot w/ CD. Run 1 stick at a time; alternate the slots.

The SSD should be looked at first.

Regards. . .

jcgriff2

`

p.s. There were no BSOD dumps, nor any sign of them in the logs. This further confirms hardware failure.

Nyanja · 02 May 2012

Quote: Originally Posted by jcgriff2

That is an indication of a hard drive issue -

Code:

Hard Drives:
125GB M4-CT128M4SSD2 (SATA-SSD) (OS)

Check SSD manufacturer's site for a firmware upgrade.

If no firmware upgrade available, install Windows 7 onto SATA HDD - see if the system is stable.

Thanks for your quick answer jcgriff2. You were right. In fact there was an issue with Crucial M4 SSDs where after 5000 hours of use, BSOD would occur every hour or so (AnandTech - Crucial to Fix M4 BSOD Issue in Two Weeks).

Updated the firmware this morning and no crash since then.

Thanks!

jcgriff2 · 02 May 2012

Hi -

You are most welcome.

Thanks for posting back & for the link. Very much appreciated.

Regards. . .

jcgriff2

Windows 7: Very frequent hanging and BSOD

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