Random BSOD, error 0x000000f4 every time

shutyourj · 12 Jun 2013

I've been having trouble with fairly frequent crashes lately. I reinstalled Windows about a week ago and it has not fixed the issue. It seems to happen randomly, or at least there's nothing I can pinpoint that is causing the crashes.

BlueScreenView is telling me that every crash has been involving ntoskrnl.exe and the same set of other drivers/processes (not sure what they are).

I have my C: drive with my programs on an SSD and all my files on storage HDDs. I have run Memtest several times with no errors found. My best guess is that some part of my hardware is causing these, either the SSD or my motherboard. I upgraded my GPU a few weeks ago so I'm confident that's not the source of these.

Any help would be greatly appreciated!

Dsprague · 12 Jun 2013

You may want to start by checking to make sure the the firmware for your SSD is up to date, the particular type of blue screen you are having is usually related to hard drive failure, but in the case of an SSD it may just need a firmware update.

shutyourj · 12 Jun 2013

Thanks for the response, Dsprague. I have had this problem on and off since I built this computer a little more than a year ago, I actually did update the firmware at one point last summer. It didn't fix the issue then. That being said, there is now a more recent firmware update, so I'll definitely consider doing that. It will mean reinstalling windows again so I won't be able to do it right away though.

Dsprague · 12 Jun 2013

Other things you may want to try are running the system file checker to make sure there isn't any file system corruption:

SFC.EXE /SCANNOW
Go to Start and type in "cmd.exe" (without the quotes)
At the top of the search box, right click on the cmd.exe and select "Run as adminstrator"
In the black window that opens, type "SFC.EXE /SCANNOW" (without the quotes) and press Enter.
If the program ends with anything other than "no integrity violations found" run the command two more times
If after the third run there are still problems run the command at boot: SFC /SCANNOW : Run in Command Prompt at Boot

you can also try running the check disk command from an elevated command prompt:

Code:

chkdsk /f /r

shutyourj · 12 Jun 2013

Just started the scan, isn't corruption unlikely since it's a week-old Windows installation though?

Dsprague · 12 Jun 2013

It is but I am just trying to rule out all the possible factors.

shutyourj · 12 Jun 2013

The scan ran twice with no errors, I'll run it one more time to be safe. Is there anything else I should do before just going ahead and wiping the SSD to update the firmware?

Thanks again for the help.

Dsprague · 12 Jun 2013

you could re-seat the power and SATA connections on the drive and on the motherboard (in the case of the sata cable).

shutyourj · 12 Jun 2013

Will do. I'll actually try plugging the SSD into the other SATA port I have open on the motherboard in case the current port is faulty.

The unfortunate thing about this problem is that I can't say with confidence that it's fixed until like a week later, once I haven't had a BSOD. So it goes, haha.

Dsprague · 12 Jun 2013

Well I am subscribed to the thread so when ever you have an update I will get an email notification so no worries if it takes a while to replicate the issue.