Bsod
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Bsod
I just had a curious experience.
Upon start up, everything proceeded normally until the sign in screen... which disappeared after a split-second, and a BSOD popped up instead. It said something about a "Paging file in a non-paging area".
It gave me the option of starting Windows normally, or running a repair. I chose the repair option. That led to a second blue screen, telling me to uninstall any new devices. I didn't, because there were no new devices. I had to do a hard shut down to restart it.
After that, it brought up the usual black screen, saying "Windows didn't shut down normally...". From there, it seems to have started up correctly. Everything is where I left it earlier today.
Question: Is there any way I can find out what the heck happened? Some sort of error log I can check and decode?
Thanks
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Sure, there's logs for your system.
Type "event" without quotes in the start menu search box. Open event viewer that shows. Now have a look at the windows logs.
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Thanks Torrentg.
I tracked down the bug check from the relevant event (I think) in the minidump. I want to take a look at it, but I can't get Notepad to open it... it gives me an "access denied" message. I took ownership of the minidump, opened notepad as an administrator, and I still get the "access denied" message.
What should I open this file with?
Edit: Also tried opening it with WordPad. Still getting "access denied". Changed the permissions for the entire minidump file to "Everyone", but still cannot access it. Grrrr....
Last edited by stevieray; 25 May 2009 at 21:30.
Reason: Additional steps tried
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BSOD Again
Well, I just got the BSOD again. I was simply browsing at the time.
I wonder if this is related to the Gadget crashes I've been experiencing today? Every hour of so, the gadgets shut down, and my pc looks online for a fix. They restart a few seconds later.
I had no crashes at all until today... now I've had two in a few hours. The only changes made to my system in the last day is the Windows 7 updates sent out last night. They offered Silverlight and Windows Live Essentials with the updates.
Hmmm. Think I'll uninstall Live Essentials... see if that helps.
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Crash #3. Went to the bathroom, came back to find the "Windows didn't close normally" screen.
Live Essentials is uninstalled... guess it wasn't that.
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I'm up to five crashes now... all since 5:00 a.m. this morning.
During the last crash I noticed the reason given for it -- "Bad Pool Caller". Not very helpful... could be anything from a bad device to bad ram.
I still cannot access the minidumps. I have granted myself full access, for both the minidump folder and each file in it, but I still get "access denied" messages. I checked the "properties > security" tab, and I have the same checkmarks as System.
I downloaded WhoCrashed and ran it. It cannot install the debugging tool... it crashes and gives me an error message (2203).
I tried manually downloading the debugging tool and symbols. The Itanium version won't install (as expected... I'm not on an Itanium machine), and the regular x64 can't access the minidumps either... "access denied" again.
I can copy the minidump files to my desktop, but the debugger can't read them there... it gives me a "xxx isn't a windows file name" message. I can't copy them to Notepad... the "paste" function stays grayed out.
I ran sfc /scannow. It repaired some things, but couldn't fix them all... and gave me the example of CBS.log. Strangely, I could bump myself up to Admin status for those files, and I checked them out in Notepad. Judging from what I could make out, that was the corrupted debugging tool that WhoCrashed tried to install.
And to further confuse me, I checked out CPU-Z. I don't know much about it, having learned of it only two days ago, but it looks to me like my CPU spends most of its time running at 2/3 speed (1600Mhz instead of 2.4 Ghz), and my RAM is running as PC2-6400, instead of 8500... the memory slot voltage is back in the mb's default setting of 1.8 volts instead of the 2.0 my RAM calls for.
I'm at a loss here... don't know what to try next. I could use some ideas...
Last edited by stevieray; 26 May 2009 at 08:47.
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Check your bios and see what the CPU is reported as in there. My CPU was getting very hot and it was running like a dog with two legs. Bios temps were quite high. After some fresh thermal paste on the processor cooler, the processor was back to running at normal speeds and temperatures dropped back to half. Let us know how you get on.
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I find that most crashes are resolved after looking at what you've done prior to when the crashes started. It's usually something that you'll remember that seemed a bit off when you did it (such as installing or removing a program/update).
If you have the correct Debugging Tools installed for your system, you can run the debugger and then drag a dump file from the desktop onto the debugger window (and it should launch. More instructions on how to use it here: Diagnosing Bsod's (originally posted 02Oct08)
Alternatively, you can select the minidumps on your desktop by pressing "Ctrl" and then left clicking on each one. Then right click on them and select "Sent to...", then select "Compressed (zipped) folder". Then upload that zipped file along with your next post and we'll have a look at them.
While waiting, I'd suggest that you check your RAM and hard drive. Here's some links:
RAM: Bootable Memory Test Diagnostics
Hard Drive: Bootable Hard Drive Diagnostics
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usasma: Is that your site? Nice! Its going in my bookmarks. I had no crashes at all until after the updates for rc1 on Sunday night. You've given me enough tests to keep me busy for a while... thanks!
hammerhead: I haven't spent much time at all looking at the bios for this pc. I wouldn't know what was normal and what was wonky. I have one of those dual bios Gigabyte mbs designed for overclockers... it has a billion user-changeable settings... probably all set on [auto] right now. I was planning on figuring it all out in the future... I guess the future arrives today!
torrentg: Thanks for the link. I'll use it to double check the debugging tool I installed... make sure I've got the right version. But until I figure out why I'm denied access to the minidumps, I can't use the tool. I guess I can temporarily disable UAC... hmmm...
Good thing I have this week off from work! Gonna be busy! Heh
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