Memory Management BSOD right after plugging in new external HDD

After I've finished upgrading to the latest version of Western Digital SmartWare, I plugged in my new external HDD. A memory management BSOD appeared immediately.

Code:

 
Technical Information from kernel memory dump:
 
*** STOP: 0x0000001a (0x0000000000041790, 0xfffffa80008fa0f0, 0x000000000000ffff, 
0x0000000000000000)
 
*** win32k.sys - Address 0xfffff96000089926 base at 0xfffff96000080000 DateStamp 
0x5202f253

Other than trying to pinpoint the exact cause of the BSOD, I'm also concerned about whether this will cause any damage to my new HDD (eg. bad sectors).

Any advice?

ICit2lol said:

Hello stg mate can you get into safe mode? If so then you could run these

https://www.sevenforums.com/tutorials/1538-sfc-scannow-command-system-file-checker.html

https://www.sevenforums.com/tutorials/433-disk-check.html

Maybe a system restore?

I ran both scannow and disk check after I got into safe mode.

No errors showed up for Scannow and Chkdsk ('Automatically fix file system errors') fixed the following problems:

Code:

 
CHKDSK discovered free space marked as allocated in the
master file table (MFT) bitmap.
CHKDSK discovered free space marked as allocated in the volume bitmap.
Windows has made corrections to the file system.

Another memory management BSOD appeared today while I was playing a game and downloading a video file via a torrent client. I'm using wireless connection (wireless N USB adapter) by the way.

What do I do now?

ICit2lol said:

Hmm stg memory seems to keep popping up mate try reseating the RAM sticks and then if that doesn't do much I think we might have to go to a memtest if only to eliminate that possibility of the RAM going bad or perhaps one of the slots.

To do that -

https://www.sevenforums.com/tutorials/105647-ram-test-memtest86.html this one you will need to make a bootable disk set the BIOSto optical (or USB if preferred) boot the machine and let it run for at LEAST 8passes unless the errors come up straight away. Takes fair time to complete andsome leave it running overnight.

No errors are shown after 15 passes. What can I do next?

ICit2lol said:

I should have asked before stg mate have you run those tests with the new hard drive unplugged?

The memory is ok at 15 passes so it isn't a problem. Now the Smart Ware what exactly did you upgrade it for and was the drive functioning ok before that upgrade.

The mem test was run with the new HDD unplugged.

SmartWare is pre-loaded with the new external HDD and I upgraded to a new version after being prompted to by its update function. The drive was somewhat ok before that upgrade.

ICit2lol said:

Hmm stg then it is the Smartdrive stuff. Personally I do not like the software that some of these sorts of drives come with but that is just me.

If it is being used purely as backup drive then one shouldn't need any help from add on softwares like that. Now if it were mine I would uninstalling that SmartDrive stuff - format the drive and just use the Windows back up feature. But again that is just me.

I have scoured the WD site for a downland for the SmartDrive stuff but can only find the update WD Product Update

I don't know but maybe a system restore to before you added that update because it looks to me like a firmware update as well. Now I don't want you to do anything you don't want to do or that mucks up the drive I can only reiterate what I have said I would do but the choice has to be yours. As it is the drive software looks to be what is causing the machine to not function properly and I do not know what else I can advise you to do.

ICit mate, I share your sentiments. I have not had good experiences with pre-loaded software like these most of the time. Diagnostic utilities from the drive manufacturers are usually alright though.

I have already uninstalled the SmartWare. Any reason why one needs to format the drive again (since it is already NTFS pre-formatted)? I have thought of using Windows 7 built-in backup. However, it seems there are other problems with full and incremental back-ups as mentioned in this thread Windows7 Backup not doing incremental. So I am now trying out different third-party backup programs.

After the mem test, I tried installing that SmartWare update after having first uninstalled the pre-loaded SmartWare. There was no error message that I needed the pre-loaded or any full/standalone version. Whether the description 'update' is misleading or not, I can't tell since I have not done any new backups with it. My thoughts are that the label 'update' was to some extent, confusing.

By telling me what you would have done in my situation, is already very helpful advice in my opinion. :)

It may be weird to ask this now, but here goes: have you already examined the mini-dumps in both my file attachments? I noticed that you didn't post any bug checks or go through stuff like driver verifier, so I'm just being curious here. If you have your reasons, can you share them with me? Would be nice to learn more about BSOD troubleshooting.