Repeated crashes - Please help

First, I apologize for the lengthy post, but there are a lot of details to include. I have been fighting to fix these crashes for nearly a year now, and I just can't seem to do. I have a custom build (built by me) that is repeatedly crashing at random times. Here are the details:

1) Build - You should be able to see the components of my Win 7 Home Premium x64 build in my profile.

2) Crash details - The machine crashes completely with no blue screen. It's just as if someone hit the reset button. Screen goes black, then starts to boot up again. It all started about 9 months. It would almost always crash when I tried to burn a DVD. It would also crash when I would launch "Programs and Features" to try to uninstall something. It would start building the list, and just crash. And sometimes, it would just crash while sitting idle.

I ran Memtest, and the memory checked out. I updated all drivers. I replaced the PSU, and bought really good cooling fans for the CPU and case. None of that helped the problem. I finally did a System Restore to a date right after I built and installed everything, and that seemed to fix the problem.

Unfortunately, the same thing started happening again in the past week or so. I rolled the system back using System Restore to a date about a month ago when there were no problems, but it hasn't fixed it.

3) Debugging - I have installed WhoCrashed, but there are no recent crash dumps (even though it is enabled). The dumps it shows are from last May, when the problem first started. I have also monitored the temperatures, and nothing is running hot. The hottest temp I see is the GPU at 65C. Not nearly hot enough to crash.

So those are the details. I feel like I have tried everything possible, but I am still unable to determine the root cause. Am I missing something? Any help and/or recommendations would be greatly appreciated.

GoldenEagle78 said:

First, I apologize for the lengthy post, but there are a lot of details to include. I have been fighting to fix these crashes for nearly a year now, and I just can't seem to do. I have a custom build (built by me) that is repeatedly crashing at random times. Here are the details:

1) Build - You should be able to see the components of my Win 7 Home Premium x64 build in my profile.

2) Crash details - The machine crashes completely with no blue screen. It's just as if someone hit the reset button. Screen goes black, then starts to boot up again. It all started about 9 months. It would almost always crash when I tried to burn a DVD. It would also crash when I would launch "Programs and Features" to try to uninstall something. It would start building the list, and just crash. And sometimes, it would just crash while sitting idle.

I ran Memtest, and the memory checked out. I updated all drivers. I replaced the PSU, and bought really good cooling fans for the CPU and case. None of that helped the problem. I finally did a System Restore to a date right after I built and installed everything, and that seemed to fix the problem.

Unfortunately, the same thing started happening again in the past week or so. I rolled the system back using System Restore to a date about a month ago when there were no problems, but it hasn't fixed it.

3) Debugging - I have installed WhoCrashed, but there are no recent crash dumps (even though it is enabled). The dumps it shows are from last May, when the problem first started. I have also monitored the temperatures, and nothing is running hot. The hottest temp I see is the GPU at 65C. Not nearly hot enough to crash.

So those are the details. I feel like I have tried everything possible, but I am still unable to determine the root cause. Am I missing something? Any help and/or recommendations would be greatly appreciated.

Several things you can check

Event Viewer
Please provide us with your Event Viewer administrative logs by following these steps:
{Instructions courtesy of writhziden}

Click Start Menu
Type eventvwr into Search programs and files (do not hit enter)
Right click eventvwr.exe and click Run as administrator
Expand Custom Views
Click Administrative Events
Right click Administrative Events
Save all Events in Custom View As...
Save them in a folder where you will remember which folder and save as Errors.evtx
Go to where you saved Errors.evtx
Right click Errors.evtx -> send to -> compressed (zipped) folder
Upload the .zip file here.


Run a system file check

SFC /SCANNOW Command - System File Checker

How to use the System File Checker tool to troubleshoot missing or corrupted system files on Windows Vista or on Windows 7


Ensure that the system is configured as below



We do need the DMP file as it contains the only record of the sequence of events leading up to the crash, what drivers were loaded, and what was responsible.

If you are overclocking STOP

You may be able to get the DMP files without crashing by booting into safe mode (F8) with networking.

To enable us to assist you with your computer's BSOD symptoms, upload the contents of your "\Windows\Minidump" folder.

The procedure:

* Copy the contents of \Windows\Minidump to another (temporary) location somewhere on your machine.
* Zip up the copy.
* Attach the ZIP archive to your post using the "paperclip" (file attachments) button.
*If the files are too large please upload them to a file sharing service like "Rapidshare" and put a link to them in your reply.

Let us know the results

To ensure minidumps are enabled:

* Go to Start, in the Search Box type: sysdm.cpl, press Enter.
* Under the Advanced tab, click on the Startup and Recovery Settings... button.
* Ensure that Automatically restart is unchecked.
* Under the Write Debugging Information header select Small memory dump (256 kB) in the dropdown box (the 256kb varies).
* Ensure that the Small Dump Directory is listed as %systemroot%\Minidump.
* OK your way out.
* Reboot if changes have been made.

I am attaching the Minidump file and the Event Viewer log.

The system file check came up clean, and I am not overclocking.