Random BSODs

Arc · 11 Apr 2013

This time the crashes are caused by Symantec Extended File Attributes.

Code:

fffff880`03b32778  fffff880`0178fe6fUnable to load image SYMEFA64.SYS, Win32 error 0n2
*** WARNING: Unable to verify timestamp for SYMEFA64.SYS
*** ERROR: Module load completed but symbols could not be loaded for SYMEFA64.SYS
 SYMEFA64+0xe3e6f

Description here: Driver Reference Table - SYMEFA64.SYS

Uninstall Norton and all Symentec products using Norton Removal tool. Use Microsoft Security Essentials as your antivirus with windows inbuilt firewall, and free MBAM as the on demand scanner.
Download, install and update those, and then run full system scans with both of them, one by one.

BTW, is it a HP's factory installation or a clean reinstall?

wisecraker1 · 11 Apr 2013

Will remove once I download MSE again, it is a HP factory installation. I'm planning on clean installing today or tomorrow, but is it worth trying Windows 8 Enterprise or staying with Windows 7 Home Premium.

Last I talked to HP I requested either a refund or a replacement with a different model with the same/similar specifications. They said they'd get back to me on Friday.

Arc · 11 Apr 2013

Wait upto that time then.

If they dont replace it, go for a clean reinstall with windows 7 home premium. HP's factory installation is really bad. They bloat it with various troublesome junks which hampers windows native performance.

Vir Gnarus · 11 Apr 2013

The screen turning off probably just means the system is set to sleep after a short period of time. Make sure your power options are set accordingly, especially concerning your display.

If the system is stabilizing with your network driver being disabled, then this is probably one of those edge cases where your router is sending what's called a packet of death. That is, a packet of data that is normally innocuous, but there is a bug - be it hardware or driver - for your wifi/NIC that turns that data into a death sentence. There are certain brand/models of network adapters that harbor bugs that cause them to flip out when receiving certain data, like UPnP, or when receiving it from certain routers.

Have you tried alternating between either wifi or ethernet? Does the problem persist with both or just one? You may also want to try another router. I've also found that turning off certain protocols on the router helps as well, if you know anything about navigating the router's setup pages. Again, I've found UPnP (Universal Plug n Play) so far to be the worst offender for these packet of death scenarios, so try disabling it and see how things go then. Besides, UPnP is not worth much and is a pretty big security risk, so no point keeping it on anyways.

wisecraker1 · 13 Apr 2013

The system is set to sleep after a set time, but it isn't going to sleep. The "Turn off display" setting is set to 15 minutes, for power saving. The screen goes black as is intended, but will not turn back on after I move the mouse, hit a key, etc. I have to put it to sleep and wake it up for the screen to come back. I tried uninstalling/reinstalling the display driver, and it still happens. Any thoughts?
Also, I talked to HP, they are in fact replacing the PC, but I lost phone signal and couldn't get a hold of them until I had to go to work. So I will talk to them Monday about the replacement. If it is a laptop, I will undoubtedly be having the same issues once again, as they only have the one network adapter with bluetooth connectivity in their laptop models currently. If it's a desktop hopefully it will be stable and have a different model network adapter as well. If not, I can change parts myself, as I am quite familiar with building custom desktops (Dreamt of building my own for years now

)

EDIT: I did disable UPnP via the router page. Haven't had time to thoroughly rule that out yet.

wisecraker1 · 15 Apr 2013

Well, they're replacing it with the exact same model again. I'll have this one when I receive the new one from their factory in China. Since disabling UPnP, I haven't had any crashes for a few days. So I thought it was safe to resume using bluetooth. I connected my mouse and now the system has intermittent hangs where Video, audio, mouse, keystrokes, etc. freezes for a few seconds and then becomes responsive and sort of catches up to where it should be, and I tried to shut down and restart the laptop several times, and it was stuck on the "Shutting down" screen for 1 hour before I hard reset the PC. So I tried removing my mouse completely and connecting my wireless bluetooth keyboard then my phone, same issues. There are no updates available to the wireless adapter windows 7 64 bit drivers past my current version

At this point I'm leaning towards a combination of bluetooth/wireless drivers being at fault since there are no actual BSOD's after Vir's suggestion of UPnP (yet) and the other ones were credited towards Norton, which is notorious. That just leaves the chipset failures (before this past repair attempt by HP). Could they be caused by the Bluetooth/wireless driver?

Arc · 15 Apr 2013

Do it: Clean Reinstall - Factory OEM Windows 7

It will provide you better stability and performance than HP's factory install, which is utterly bloated.

wisecraker1 · 15 Apr 2013

Will do. I've got the bootable ISO on a flashdrive ready for such occasions, as they are often

Vir Gnarus · 17 Apr 2013

Be aware it could be the bluetooth/wireless hardware and not the drivers causing the problem. Usually if that's the case, that means there's something wrong with the motherboard.

Btw, I forgot about, but type Services in Start menu and check to see if any UPnP service is running on your system. Make sure that's disabled otherwise that too can cause a problem, not just the UPnP coming from the router.

wisecraker1 · 18 Apr 2013

Vir, here is the MEMORY.dmp file for the most recent crash. UPnP is also disabled on my PC and it wasn't running.

https://skydrive.live.com/embed?cid=...A9_sVBsRv0w3KE