BSOD shortly after powering on

Jordyi · 20 May 2013

Hi there.

My brother's computer has been BSODing for weeks now with no real improvement. I'm fairly certain it's hardware related, but can't tell for sure. Going to do trial and error stuff like replacing pieces but need your help. I've tried running the diagnostic tool to create the dump files but the application just won't start and crashes upon running it.

I forget the way of collecting this information the other way, or perhaps could somebody help me with the program issue? I'm getting the EventType: clr20r3 error message upon startup which after google searches just relates to developers and not user fixes.

Dsprague · 20 May 2013

Blue Screen of Death (BSOD) Posting Instructions

x BlueRobot · 20 May 2013

Could you please check this directory?

Code:

C:\Windows\Minidump

You may substitute the C:\ for the partition in which you installed Windows on.

Or, just use this:

Code:

%systemroot%\Minidump

Jordyi · 20 May 2013

Dsprague said:

Blue Screen of Death (BSOD) Posting Instructions

Not much help considering said program won't run.

x BlueRobot said:

Could you please check this directory?

Code:

C:\Windows\Minidump

You may substitute the C:\ for the partition in which you installed Windows on.

Or, just use this:

Code:

%systemroot%\Minidump

Alright. I'll check that folder.

Just got a BSOD related to ntfs.sys. I'm right in thinking this may be caused by the hard-drive?

x BlueRobot · 20 May 2013

ntfs.sys is related to the driver used by hard-drives formatted with NTFS file systems, however, does not mean necessarily that the hard-drive is at fault.

Jordyi · 20 May 2013

It's currently doing a windows file system consistency check on startup so I'm just letting it do it's thing. If there's a dump file in there, should I zip it up and post it? Or try and get this program to work?

x BlueRobot · 20 May 2013

Zip up all the dump files (if any) and then post the files in your next post. You will also need to add your MSINFO32 file to the folder also, by following these steps:

Start
Type: msinfo32
File, Save
Copy file into the zipped folder

Jordyi · 20 May 2013

Here's a folder containing all the dumps along with the Msinfo32 information inside.

x BlueRobot · 20 May 2013

Code:

BugCheck 4E, {7, d4d32, 4000000000, 0}

Probably caused by : ntkrnlmp.exe ( nt! ?? ::FNODOBFM::`string'+347c5 )

Code:

Usual causes:  Device driver, memory

This bugcheck indicates that the Page Frame Number list has become corrupted for some reason. Every page has a PFN, which contains important information. More specifically, a driver has unlocked a page file more times than it was locked. Pages are locked into physical memory are guaranteed not to be written to a page file until the process is stopped.

More Information - VirtualLock function (Windows)

No Service Pack 1?

Code:

Windows 7 Kernel Version 7600 MP (4 procs) Free x64

Learn how to install Windows 7 Service Pack 1 (SP1)

Service Pack 1 has provided many security and stability updates for Windows 7, which would be highly beneficial for your system.

Run Driver Verifier to scan for any corrupted drivers which may be causing problems, this program works by running various stress tests on drivers, in order to produce a BSOD which will locate the driver; run for least 24 hours:

Driver Verifier - Enable and Disable

Information

Additional Help - Using Driver Verifier to identify issues with Drivers

RAM - Test with Memtest86+

Run Memtest86+ for least 9-10 passes, and preferably overnight as it can take a while to fully complete.

Test each RAM stick individually, if an error is found then move the same RAM stick into the next DIMM slot and test again, if errors are found for the same RAM stick in every available slot then you have a faulty RAM module. On the other hand, if no errors are found in the next slot or the other slots for the same RAM module, then you have a faulty DIMM slot.

Test each RAM stick and every motherboard DIMM slot available.

Arc said:

No code has to be inserted here. It is a RAM, a bad RAM.

But if you have got a result like that:
No code has to be inserted here. It is a motherboard issue. The particular slot is bad.

Jordyi · 20 May 2013

Thank you so much for looking into the dump files so quickly and for the helpful links. I recently reinstalled Windows on his machine hence no SP1, installed that now. Driver issues may also not be the problem due to recently installing windows again (not sure if I'm right about this). In light of the problem possibly being RAM related, I've installed a stick of 4GB RAM from my own computer on the computer and as of yet, the computer has not BSODed, but it's still early days. I'll run Memtest overnight and get back to you with the results. Thanks again, I appreciate it.