BSOD when rebooting/restarting

Hey, this is my first post here at SevenForums, so let me know if I've forgotten anything important. Basically, when I'm booting or restarting my computer, I get a BSOD error and the computer restarts itself. After several attempts, usually restarting 5 or 6 times, it finally reaches the desktop and runs completely fine, even with games and web browsing. I've searched other similar problems on the site, but have been unsuccessful in finding a solution. Basic information is as follows:

OS: Windows 7 Home Premium 64 bit OEM
Age: roughly 3 weeks since build completion
Mobo: Gigabyte 870A UD3
CPU: AMD Athlon II x4
HDD: Seagate Barracuda SATA 500G / 16mb cache
Graphics: Gigabyte w/ ATI Radeon HD4670 1G DDR3
Memory: G.Skill DDR3 2x2G
Power: Rosewill 500W

correction to original post:

I'm now experiencing crashes and BSOD stop errors in the middle of random activities, such as browsing through file folders and playing media files. I cannot provoke a crash, it just seems to happen randomly... and on start-up, of course.

Ok, so after a few diagnostic tests... here's what I have so far.

Ran SeaTools for Windows (since I have a Seagate hard drive):
SMART Check - Fail
Short DST - Fail
Long DST - Fail
Short Generic - Pass
Long Generic - Pass

Ran Windows Memory Diagnostic:
No errors detected

Ran SFC / Scannow:
Did not find any integrity violations

Also, after one of the crashes the other day, I ran the built-in Windows Repair feature that pops up after a crash during start-up. It basically said that there was something wrong with my hard disk and it was unable to repair the problem automatically. Before researching this problem on SevenForums, I downloaded and ran HD Tuner and it told me that I had 4095 bad sector on the HDD and that it failed the Health Check. The only suggestions that it gave was to replace the hard drive.

Yes, captain, I'm afraid that may be the route I end up going. But, I wanted to give an update before heading to work. After running chkdsk /r through the night, I awoke to a DOS-style screen from Windows Boot Manager, saying this at the bottom:

Error: 0cx0000428
Windows cannot verify the digital signature on the file.

Also with this message was some other information telling me to run Windows Repair (which have been unsuccessful in both identifying and repairing the problem).

Basically I wanted to verify that the hard drive was what was giving me the BSOD problems.

So this hard drive is still under warranty from Seagate... I will be sending it to get a replacement. Hopefully the next one will be error-free.

I've researched compatibility issues with Seagate hard drives and Windows 7 and found that many people experience problems with the drive not being recognized during the initial Windows setup (although the drive is recognized in BIOS). Perhaps I would avoid installation/partitioning problems with a Western Digital or other brand?

Just one more thing that I'm curious about... When I receive my new hard drive and go through the Windows 7 install again, am I going to run into problems activating Windows? I've read several sites that say that I won't; however, correct me if I'm wrong, but I thought that "OEM" meant that the OS can only be installed once. That is, it's tied to one "computer" (whereas retail versions are tied to one "user").

mzimmer4 said:

Just one more thing that I'm curious about... When I receive my new hard drive and go through the Windows 7 install again, am I going to run into problems activating Windows? I've read several sites that say that I won't; however, correct me if I'm wrong, but I thought that "OEM" meant that the OS can only be installed once. That is, it's tied to one "computer" (whereas retail versions are tied to one "user").

1) If you have a win7 OEM restore disk provided by the vendor (also called OEM recovery disk), you can reinstall win7 simply by booting from the disk and running install. Win7 will auto-activate and you will not be required to input any key.

2) If you dont have such a disk, you have 2 options. You can order one from your OEM vendor (dell, HP whatever) for a small price. Heck, if you explain your circumstances to them, they might even ship the disk free.

The other option is to get hold of a generic win7 disk (borrow from a friend or download etc.), then install, and activate using the COA key at the back of or beneath the battery of your computer. You'll need to phone activate.

Activate Windows 7 by Phone

3) In case you mean, you've installed from a System builder's OEM disk (like the ones from Newegg etc.), those behave and activate like retail ones, except that MS has no responsibility for tech support. In that case, you would have activated ONLINE. To reactivate after reinstalling from a such a disk, you'll again need to go online and unless you've changed hardware like crazy in recent times, it should go through. Thats because certain weightages are assigned to certain hardware changes and simply changing a hdd should not upset the balance.


4) See, OEM activation is tied to the first computer it is installed on, you cant transfer the license to another machine. Thats about it.

Ok... so I ended up just buying another hard drive (Seagate 1TB) and reinstalled Windows on it. After copying some video files over, I wanted to take it for a spin. About 2 minutes in, I encountered another BSOD. Attached is a zip file containing some reports. Let me know what's up. Thanks in advance.