Random, all over the map BSODs with no clear cause

TiberiusB · 03 Mar 2013

I'm getting BSODs all over the place lately. You name it, I've had it, "Kmode_exception_not_handled" to "irql_not_less_or_equal" to "driver_power_state_failure" to "page_fault_in_nonpaged_area" to everything else, it seems. They happen during boot up, when reading email, watching a video, or simply sitting idle. I have tested the HD and the RAM with no clear culprit emerging. A windows update might be the cause as well, but since no 100% new software has been added since last Fall, it's unlikely to be a software problem, I would think. This is an old work PC, so the registry is a bit of a mess, but that hasn't been a problem before. The best possibility is the video card, which I upgraded back in December of last year, so I'm putting my money on video drivers or a dying power supply (though my anti-virus is another possibility since "vsdatant.sys" came up once or twice). Plus, the video card is an Nvidia GTX 560 which bumped an old ATI card. Besides the obvious potential driver conflicts (I'm still digging the odd Ati stuff out), there is a big difference in power consumption, too.

Arc · 04 Mar 2013

Zone Alarm TrueVector Device Driver

Code:

fffff880`031a6618  fffff880`03d508a1Unable to load image \SystemRoot\system32\DRIVERS\vsdatant.sys, Win32 error 0n2
*** WARNING: Unable to verify timestamp for vsdatant.sys
*** ERROR: Module load completed but symbols could not be loaded for vsdatant.sys
 vsdatant+0x8f8a1

Description here: Driver Reference Table - vsdatant.sys

avast! Self Protection Driver

Code:

fffff880`031a6548  fffff880`04394c7bUnable to load image \SystemRoot\System32\Drivers\aswSP.SYS, Win32 error 0n2
*** WARNING: Unable to verify timestamp for aswSP.SYS
*** ERROR: Module load completed but symbols could not be loaded for aswSP.SYS
 aswSP+0x10c7b

Never use more than one antivirus at a single time. Uninstall Zone Alerm and Avast, both. 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.

Let us know the results. Also, upload your MSINFO32.nfo file.

Click on the start button
Type "msinfo32" (without quotes) in the search bar of the start menu, click the resulting link. It will open the System Information window.
File>Save. In the "File Name" filed, put "MSINFO32" (without Quote), give the save location to desktop, and click the "save" button.
Give the time for processing, it will save a .nfo file on your desktop.
Zip it, and upload it following the instruction.

TiberiusB · 04 Mar 2013

I was worried it was a conflict with ZoneAlarm or Avast after spotting vsdatant.sys. It's odd, as they worked together just fine for a good long time and I only use Zone Alarm for the firewall and Avast for virus protection (and even then only really to block any possible intrusion attempts while on the web...they've never happened, but IT work made me paranoid). I'll knock them out and see how it goes.

Thanks!

TiberiusB · 19 Mar 2013

Well, after pulling both Zone Alarm and Avast off my system, things seemed a bit better at first. I still got occasional BSOD crashes during boot up, but once in Windows, everything seemed stable. Until now. The BSOD has re-appeared and struck multiple times while watching videos and even just reading e-mail. Software wise, my machine is virtually unchanged, save the occasional Windows update (one of which immediately preceded this new round of trouble). I have tested the RAM and Video RAM with no errors (though the crashes all seem to point to a memory problem), but Chkdsk has failed twice immediately after starting the final test (the previous tests all worked perfectly). SFC and Verifier return no errors. I'm going to clean the interior of my PC and try removing/re-installing the video card and drivers next.

Arc · 19 Mar 2013

Your crash dumps are not showing any finite probable cause. In such a situation, it is better to enable Driver Verifier to monitor the drivers.
Driver Verifier - Enable and Disable
Run Driver Verifier for 24 hours or the occurrence of the next crash, whichever is earlier.

Information

Why Driver Verifier:
It puts a stress on the drivers, ans so it makes the unstable drivers crash. Hopefully the driver that crashes is recorded in the memory dump.

How Can we know that DV is enabled:
It will make the system bit of slow, laggy.

Warning

Before enabling DV, make it sure that you have earlier System restore points made in your computer. You can check it easily by using CCleaner looking at Tools > System Restore.

If there is no points, make a System Restore Point manually before enabling DV.

Tip

If you fail to get on the Desktop because of DV, Boot into Advanced Boot Options > Safe mode. Disable DV there. Now boot normally again, and try following the instruction of enabling DV again.
If you cannot boot in Safe mode too, do a System Restore to a point you made earlier.

Let us know the results, with the subsequent crash dumps, if any.

TiberiusB · 20 Mar 2013

I've run Verifier for roughly 24 hours now with no crashes...which figures. I'm going to let it run for another 24, just in case, though I'm back to wondering if it is a hardware issue.

Arc · 20 Mar 2013

Good :)

Test your RAM modules for possible errors.
How to Test and Diagnose RAM Issues with Memtest86+
Run memtest for at least 8 passes, preferably overnight.

Stress test the Graphics Card using Furmark.
Video Card - Stress Test with Furmark

Stress test the CPU.
Hardware - Stress Test With Prime95

Seatool for dos: SeaTools | Seagate download.
Burn it in a blank cd. boot from the CD, click on "Accept", wait for it to finish detecting the drives, then in the upper left corner select "Basic Tests", then select "Long Test" and let it run.

Is the computer hot? Report us the heat of the computer after a couple of hours of your normal usage. Upload a screenshot of the summery tab of Speccy.

Is the PSU supplies adequate power? Make it sure.

TiberiusB · 31 Mar 2013

All the tests (mem+86, Furmark, Prime95, and SeaTools) came up 100% clean with no errors...naturally. No sign of over heating, either. Two of the three new BSODs were interesting as they involved USBSTOR.SYS and TCPIP.SYS, which I haven't seen before. I did a sweep of my registry with CCleaner to see if any legacy garbage needed to be swept out (there were a lot of old ATI keys in there, as it turns out). Still getting generic memory corruption BSOD's, though (SYSTEM_THREAD_EXCEPTION_NOT_HANDLED). I am going to clean out the computer this week and if that produces no benefit, send off for a fresh PSU as my current one is now 3 years old and was only rated at 460W (or something like that) to begin with. It's strange that the system doesn't seem to crash when under a heavy load, though, so the PSU seems an unlikely source of the trouble. I may try rolling the entire system back to it's original state and then slowly bringing it back up to date. That's going to take some serious time, though, so I'd rather avoid it. Going to run Speccy tonight.

Arc · 31 Mar 2013

Now this is odd..... and contradictory to each other.

It is not crashing within Driver Verifier .... hardware are fine ..... so next suspect is going to be something big.
If possible, let us see the USBSTOR.sys and tcpip.sys BSODs.

carwiz · 01 Apr 2013

"The CACHE_MANAGER bug check has a value of 0x00000034. This indicates that a problem occurred in the file system's cache manager."

Looking at the OP's disks (which are defined as IDE by the way), it appears that there may be multiple pagefiles on the same disk drive with multiple disk partitions. The Virtual Memory size looks a little odd is the reason I question the pagefile. Perhaps the OP could post an image of the advanced settings?

It could also be that the disk drives can't keep up with the cache requests under IDE. Also, can we see the specs on the memory modules. Are they matched?

Random, all over the map BSODs with no clear cause

Random, all over the map BSODs with no clear cause

Stupid vsdatant.sys just had to go and catch my eye...

Update: BSOD still randomly killing my machine

No BSOD with Verifier

Three more BSODs but all hardware came up clean