BSOD - address ntoskrnl.exe

caerroil · 24 Mar 2012

Hi all,
As you can see from the title I had several BSODs since January, when I did the last clean install of Windows. There is no some special pattern to it. I remember that the last one happened when BWMeter did not start and I tried to do it manually. Following your advice I ran 8 passes of Memtest and it returned no errors. The same thing happened when Driver Verifier ran for about 10 hours. I use MSE, Windows Firewall is on, all updates are in place. The system is about 1 1/2 old (the specs are in the signature) and when I think about it now I have had some BSODs since the beginning, but I never paid too much attention to it. But right now I need the computer for some serious work and I cannot neglect the problem any longer. I hope you guys and gals will be kind enough to help me with this if possible, before I go to the retailer and claim my rights (I do not like them very much because of the paperwork, poor customer service etc. but sometimes they are the last solution

).
Thank you

JaidynM · 24 Mar 2012

Run an sfc/scannow command in an elevated command prompt. If errors are found, run it twice more with each scan followed by a reboot.
SFC /SCANNOW Command - System File Checker

ASACPI.sys may be the cause of the problem. The pre-2009 version of the driver is notorious for causing BSOD's. From the below link, click on Utilities and download and install the 'ATK0110 driver for WindowsXP/Vista/Win7 32&64-bit'.
ASUSTeK Computer Inc. -Support- Drivers and Download P7P55D LE

What anti-virus are you using?

caerroil · 25 Mar 2012

Thanks for the quick answer. SFC did not find any integrity violations. The currently installed ASACPI.sys is 1043.6.0.0 while the one on the ASUS download site is 1043.5.0.0 so I guess that is OK. The anti-virus is MSE, updated on regular bases.

JaidynM · 26 Mar 2012

Make sure all Windows updates are installed including the latest Service Pack.

I would also enable Driver Verifier once again just to see if it comes up with anything new:

Enable Driver Verifier. Enabling this should hopefully crash your system and then point to the faulty driver that is causing problems. However before you do, it is advised that you create a system restore point and backup first.
Driver Verifier - Enable and Disable

You said that you've already run a Memtest scan? How long ago was that?

caerroil · 26 Mar 2012

SP1 is there, as well as all other important updates (those that MS says are important). I will go with another 24 hour session of Driver Verifier. I ran 8 passes of Memtest 5-6 days ago. I will do it again and let you know what happens after all this. Regards

JaidynM · 28 Mar 2012

Okay, keep us posted.

caerroil · 29 Mar 2012

Hi again. Unfortunately, I have to report that I had another 3 BSODs since last night. The story goes like this: I started the verifier 3 days ago and kept it running all this time because Memtest was busy working with the memory and there was no real utilization of drivers. Strange enough, after 8 repeated passes Memtest returned 6 errors this time and then I continued testing one module at a time. In single tests they showed no errors, but when I swapped their places and tested both of them at the same time (just like when it returned 6 errors) everything was OK. Just to confirm, I put all back together like it was the first time and it showed errors again, just four of them this time. Again, single modules show no errors, even when they are not in their original slots. One odd thing too is that the slot#2 identifies the module (I tested both) as RAM 200 Mhz (DDR 400) while the first one (slot #1) displays it right (at least in my opinion) as RAM 800 MHz (DDR 1600). When I wanted to check with 2 blue slots, the system would not boot, even when I tried with one module at a time in different slots. Also, one of the three last BSODs was caused by the verifier trying to verify the graphics driver when I was actually installing the new version. The SFC showed no errors after all this. I will stop the verifier now and I am waiting for your further instructions :).

JaidynM · 30 Mar 2012

With this current RAM setup, how does the memtest go?

Also, what RAM are you using specifically? Brand, model etc.

caerroil · 30 Mar 2012

After 9 passes this RAM setup returned no errors. The memory modules are Kingston HyperX Blu KHX1600C9AD3B1K2/4G. This is the setup where I swapped the memory modules because the previous one showed 6 errors. Also, this all happens in 2 black slots. The blue slots are, for some unknown reason, non-responsive.
2.5 hours of Prime 95 resulted in "FATAL ERROR: Rounding was 0.453125, expected less than 0.4
Hardware failure detected, consult stress.txt file.
FATAL ERROR: Final result was A1FFEDBE, expected: F97F1E2B.
Hardware failure detected, consult stress.txt file."
These stress.txt are just general guidelines.

JaidynM · 30 Mar 2012

Could you upload the stress.txt file?