New Gaming Rig, BSOD's / crashes frequent.

DragonX75 · 05 Aug 2010

Hello Win7 Board, I've recently built a new computer to handle the latest games, since my last build could hardly run Crysis with stable FPS I had to upgrade. However, my old machine didn't support DDR3 memory or the new AMD processors, so I figured I'd just start from scratch. Anyways, just days after getting the PC up and running, I'm bombarded with countless BSOD's and errors. It's quite depressing, I honestly don't know where to begin and am hoping maybe you guys can help me figure this out.

Basically, things started going wrong about 2 days after I got Windows 7 Ultimate (64-bit) installed. Got all the drivers I needed, installed a few games, they ran wonderfully. It seemed as if it was going to be fine. After running some benchmarks, I figured I'd install some software to communicate with some friends such as Windows Live Messenger and Skype. Did a few Google searches and from what I've seen they should be fine to use on 64-bit systems. The problem first showed itself when I tried to start Skype after I started up my PC. It was saying that the file was corrupted and had to be reinstalled. Okay, strange, but not a problem. I go to to the Control Panel, click on Skype, uninstall it. However, it then says that the Windows Installer service could not be located (probably not exact message, but it was similar to that). I begin to get a little frustrated, so I open up the Command Prompt in Administrator Mode and use the command "sfc /scannow" to check the integrity of the Windows files. After a minute or so, it stops and displays a message saying that it doesn't have access to the Windows System Resources (again, not exact message but I will get that later).

Not long after that, I begin to Google the problems, seeing if there is a fix anywhere. everything starts falling apart, random Windows Processors may crash (Windows explorer included), Google Chrome will stop responding, everything is a mess. Within just seconds, the computer BSOD's on me and shuts down. I've tried running memory tests and checking the hardware and they come up clean, so I'm unsure as to what the problem is. After trying to fix it, it's always reached the same outcome: Windows ends up Blue Screening on me. I'm slightly worried because there are so many different BSOD messages. So many problems, where to begin?

It was a new install of Windows 7, I figured it would be easiest to just format + reinstall. I did so, and the same thing. Worked fine for the first few days, then things start corrupting or the system seems to become completely unstable. My hardware will be posted below:

CPU: AMD Phenom II x4 965 (3.4 GHz, never OC'd)
Memory: 4GB OCZ Low voltage DDR31600
Mobo: MSI 790X-G45
PSU: 850W Black Widow Series
HDD: 1 TB Samsung
GPU: 9800GTX+ (Zotac)
Case: Antec 902, stock cooling.
---

The system seems to run quite cool, so I don't think temperature is the problem here.
I will upload my BSOD reports to try and shed more light on this. It's quite an annoyance, I have some work I'm trying to complete, but the computer is spewing errors left and right.

ttran · 06 Aug 2010

I really think this is hardware problem. So many different stop codes with different things was blamed including memory and hard drive.
WinDbg not always point to the problem, therefore we need to take general approach. I'm not sure what memory test did you use, because I usually dont trust in built in memory test.
The results from the DMP files do not give a definitive answer. While we investigate further here are a few things that you can do.

1-Run a system file check to verify and repair you system files. You do this by typing cmd in search, then right click and run as admin. SFC/ SCANNOW

2-Download a copy of Memtest86 and burn the ISO to a CD using Iso Recorder or another ISO burning program. Boot from the CD, and leave it running for at least 5 or 6 passes.

Try this free stress test: Free Software - GIMPS

Prime95 Setup:
- extract the contents of the zip file to a location of your choice
- double click on the executable file
- select "Just stress testing"
- select the "Blend" test. If you've already run MemTest overnight you may want to run the "Small FFTs" test instead.
- "Number of torture test threads to run" should equal the number of CPU's times 2 (if you're using hyperthreading).
The easiest way to figure this out is to go to Task Manager...Performance tab - and see the number of boxes under CPU Usage History
Then run the test for 6 to 24 hours - or until you get errors (whichever comes first).
The Test selection box and the stress.txt file describes what components that the program stresses.

Use http://www.almico.com/speedfan.php for you system temperature.

3-Event viewer
Go into event viewer (type eventvwr in search). Go to the windows log>application tab.

You want to look for critical errors (they have red in the left column ).

When you find them you want to look for critical errors that say app hang, app crash, or anything that relates to the problem.

When you find them please note the event ID, and the source codes and tell us what they are.

4-Device manager
Please go to start>search>type device manager.
Are there any "unknown devices" with yellow triangles on them?
Is you driver there , listed, and working?

If y our driver is missing, or there is a yellow triangle on it, you will need to update it.

5-Driver verifier
please run Verifier with these settings:

Using Driver Verifier is an iffy proposition. Most times it'll crash and it'll tell you what the driver is. But sometimes it'll crash and won't tell you the driver. Other times it'll crash before you can log in to Windows. If you can't get to Safe Mode, then you'll have to resort to offline editing of the registry to disable Driver Verifier.

So, I'd suggest that you first backup your stuff and then make sure you've got access to another computer so you can contact us if problems arise. Then make a System Restore point (so you can restore the system using the Vista/Win7 Startup Repair feature).

Then, here's the procedure:
- Go to Start and type in "verifier" (without the quotes) and press Enter
- Select "Create custom settings (for code developers)" and click "Next"
- Select "Select individual settings from a full list" and click "Next"
- Select everything EXCEPT FOR "Low Resource Simulation" and click "Next"
NOTE: You can use Low Resource Simulation if you'd like. From my limited experimentation it makes the BSOD's come faster.
- Select "Select driver names from a list" and click "Next"
Then select all drivers NOT provided by Microsoft and click "Next"
- Select "Finish" on the next page.

Reboot the system and wait for it to crash to the Blue Screen. Continue to use your system normally, and if you know what causes the crash, do that repeatedly. The objective here is to get the system to crash because Driver Verifier is stressing the drivers out. If it doesn't crash for you, then let it run for at least 36 hours of continuous operation (an estimate on my part).

Reboot into Windows (after the crash) and turn off Driver Verifier by going back in and selecting "Delete existing settings" on the first page, then locate and zip up the memory dump file and upload it with your next post.

If you can't get into Windows because it crashes too soon, try it in Safe Mode.
If you can't get into Safe Mode, try using System Restore from your installation DVD to set the system back to the previous restore point that you created.

If that doesn't work, post back and we'll have to see about fixing the registry entry off-line:

Code:

Delete these registry keys (works in XP, Vista, Win7):
        HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Control\Session Manager\Memory Management\VerifyDrivers
        HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Control\Session Manager\Memory Management\VerifyDriverLevel

More info on this at this link: Using Driver Verifier to identify issues with Windows drivers for advanced users