ASUS F5R often crashes when video is played

My freshly installed W7 Professional often crashes when video is played from local hard disk or though internet. The system sometimes crashes even when only music visualization (e.g. though Winamp) is enabled. The system still crashes and this is independent of movie player used.

I wonder if any of my video drivers are outdated or whether I have insufficient memory...

Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated.
pinterod

ASUS F5R (2007)
32-bit Windows 7 Professional installed on 3/11/2012
original OS: Windows XP

Problem Devices:

Code:

Toshiba Bluetooth	BLUETOOTH\0004&0004\0	The drivers for this device are not installed.
Microsoft Teredo Tunneling Adapter	ROOT\*TEREDO\0000	This device cannot start.

Security Software: ??? I recommend either of these two setups:

• Microsoft Security Essentials - Free Antivirus for Windows
  
  
• Good and Free system security combination.

Download and install the security setup of your choice, update the software, and then run a full scan of your system for viruses and malware. If you only install MSE, I would also suggest installing and updating Malwarebytes : Free anti-malware, anti-virus and spyware removal download, but do not start the free trial/full version of Malwarebytes. Run a full scan with Malwarebytes after updating it. Post back the results.

Code:

Microsoft (R) Windows Debugger Version 6.12.0002.633 AMD64
Copyright (c) Microsoft Corporation. All rights reserved.


Loading Dump File [D:\Kingston\BSODDmpFiles\pinterod\Windows_NT6_BSOD_jcgriff2\041612-28078-01.dmp]
Mini Kernel Dump File: Only registers and stack trace are available

Symbol search path is: SRV*C:\SymCache*http://msdl.microsoft.com/download/symbols
Executable search path is: 
Windows 7 Kernel Version 7601 (Service Pack 1) MP (2 procs) Free x86 compatible
Product: WinNt, suite: TerminalServer SingleUserTS
Built by: 7601.17790.x86fre.win7sp1_gdr.120305-1505
Machine Name:
Kernel base = 0x8284a000 PsLoadedModuleList = 0x829934d0
Debug session time: Mon Apr 16 14:58:34.843 2012 (UTC - 6:00)
System Uptime: 0 days 0:15:25.312
Loading Kernel Symbols
...............................................................
................................................................
......................
Loading User Symbols
Loading unloaded module list
.......
*******************************************************************************
*                                                                             *
*                        Bugcheck Analysis                                    *
*                                                                             *
*******************************************************************************

Use !analyze -v to get detailed debugging information.

BugCheck D1, {9, 2, 0, 988348b3}

Unable to load image \SystemRoot\system32\DRIVERS\athr.sys, Win32 error 0n2
*** WARNING: Unable to verify timestamp for athr.sys
*** ERROR: Module load completed but symbols could not be loaded for athr.sys
Probably caused by : nwifi.sys ( nwifi!Dot11PacketConverterReceivePacket+b5 )

Followup: MachineOwner
---------

0: kd> !analyze -v
*******************************************************************************
*                                                                             *
*                        Bugcheck Analysis                                    *
*                                                                             *
*******************************************************************************

DRIVER_IRQL_NOT_LESS_OR_EQUAL (d1)
An attempt was made to access a pageable (or completely invalid) address at an
interrupt request level (IRQL) that is too high.  This is usually
caused by drivers using improper addresses.
If kernel debugger is available get stack backtrace.
Arguments:
Arg1: 00000009, memory referenced
Arg2: 00000002, IRQL
Arg3: 00000000, value 0 = read operation, 1 = write operation
Arg4: 988348b3, address which referenced memory

Debugging Details:
------------------


READ_ADDRESS: GetPointerFromAddress: unable to read from 829b3848
Unable to read MiSystemVaType memory at 82992e20
 00000009 

CURRENT_IRQL:  2

FAULTING_IP: 
nwifi!Dot11PacketConverterReceivePacket+b5
988348b3 0fb75106        movzx   edx,word ptr [ecx+6]

CUSTOMER_CRASH_COUNT:  1

DEFAULT_BUCKET_ID:  VISTA_DRIVER_FAULT

BUGCHECK_STR:  0xD1

PROCESS_NAME:  plugin-contain

TRAP_FRAME:  8078aa44 -- (.trap 0xffffffff8078aa44)
ErrCode = 00000000
eax=849ff948 ebx=00000000 ecx=00000003 edx=84e17830 esi=977f4008 edi=8078ab98
eip=988348b3 esp=8078aab8 ebp=8078aacc iopl=0         nv up ei pl zr na pe nc
cs=0008  ss=0010  ds=0023  es=0023  fs=0030  gs=0000             efl=00010246
nwifi!Dot11PacketConverterReceivePacket+0xb5:
988348b3 0fb75106        movzx   edx,word ptr [ecx+6]     ds:0023:00000009=????
Resetting default scope

LAST_CONTROL_TRANSFER:  from 988348b3 to 8288b5eb

STACK_TEXT:  
8078aa44 988348b3 badb0d00 84e17830 8078aaa8 nt!KiTrap0E+0x2cf
8078aacc 988504fe 977f4008 8078ab98 8078abac nwifi!Dot11PacketConverterReceivePacket+0xb5
8078ab54 988507d1 8078ab74 977f4008 849ff948 nwifi!ExtSTAFilterBeforeReassemble+0x772
8078ab78 9883240c 00000001 8078ab98 00000001 nwifi!ExtSTAReceivePacket+0x10d
8078abc8 9883340e 977f4008 9885d1a0 85e25a10 nwifi!WPP_SF_qdd+0x358
8078abec 8843256a 98620758 849ff948 00000000 nwifi!Pt6Receive+0x14a
8078ac08 88432504 85e206a0 85ab7328 00000000 ndis!ndisFilterIndicateReceiveNetBufferLists+0x46
8078ac24 8d4e9c85 85e206a0 85ab7328 00000000 ndis!NdisFIndicateReceiveNetBufferLists+0x2f
8078ac50 88456553 85e25014 85ab7328 00000000 vwififlt!FilterReceiveNetBufferLists+0xcf
8078ac78 88401c78 857cd0e0 85ab7328 00000000 ndis!ndisMIndicateReceiveNetBufferListsInternal+0x62
8078aca0 8e0233ff 857cd0e0 85ab7328 00000000 ndis!NdisMIndicateReceiveNetBufferLists+0x52
WARNING: Stack unwind information not available. Following frames may be wrong.
8078ace4 8e022758 85a8e020 00000001 00000001 athr+0x203ff
8078ad00 8e1134b7 85a8e020 8078ad34 8e11bff2 athr+0x1f758
8078ad0c 8e11bff2 85a9a020 987809d0 8509bab8 athr+0x1104b7
8078ad34 8e0330fd 85a9a020 8078ad50 8e004781 athr+0x118ff2
8078ad40 8e004781 857d5020 85a8e020 8078ad8c athr+0x300fd
8078ad50 8845689a 85a8e020 00000000 8078ad7c athr+0x1781
8078ad8c 8843818d 8509bacc 0009bab8 00000000 ndis!ndisMiniportDpc+0xe2
8078adec 88407fa4 8509bb8c 8078ae70 00000000 ndis!ndisQueuedMiniportDpcWorkItem+0xd0
8078ae08 828c4039 854ebc88 00000000 b01fb7fc ndis!ndisPeriodicReceivesTimer+0xce
8078ae4c 828c3fdd 82974d20 8078af78 00000002 nt!KiProcessTimerDpcTable+0x50
8078af38 828c3e9a 82974d20 8078af78 00000000 nt!KiProcessExpiredTimerList+0x101
8078afac 828c200e 0000e754 9a49bd34 00000000 nt!KiTimerExpiration+0x25c
8078aff4 828c17dc 9a49bce4 00000000 00000000 nt!KiRetireDpcList+0xcb
8078aff8 9a49bce4 00000000 00000000 00000000 nt!KiDispatchInterrupt+0x2c
828c17dc 00000000 0000001a 00d6850f bb830000 0x9a49bce4


STACK_COMMAND:  kb

FOLLOWUP_IP: 
nwifi!Dot11PacketConverterReceivePacket+b5
988348b3 0fb75106        movzx   edx,word ptr [ecx+6]

SYMBOL_STACK_INDEX:  1

SYMBOL_NAME:  nwifi!Dot11PacketConverterReceivePacket+b5

FOLLOWUP_NAME:  MachineOwner

MODULE_NAME: nwifi

IMAGE_NAME:  nwifi.sys

DEBUG_FLR_IMAGE_TIMESTAMP:  4a5bc89f

FAILURE_BUCKET_ID:  0xD1_nwifi!Dot11PacketConverterReceivePacket+b5

BUCKET_ID:  0xD1_nwifi!Dot11PacketConverterReceivePacket+b5

Followup: MachineOwner
---------

Crashes are being caused by your Atheros wireless adapter. Go to ATHEROS Wireless drivers for Windows and select the blue check mark furthest to the right for AR5006EG. Scroll down and click "Click for Download"

Now, I will give some information that most do not know because they have not had an Atheros driver on their systems themselves or maybe they were just lucky not to have the problem that many have updating these drivers. The Atheros drivers for some reason cause problems in Windows. When you install them to overwrite the current drivers via the install package that vendors provide, they don't stick. I do not know why. Also, if a user tries to update them through device manager, for some reason, Windows informs the user that the system already has the most up to date drivers. Again, I do not know why. There is a special procedure that must be followed for these devices to update them properly.

Now that you have downloaded the latest Atheros package, here are the steps to install it so it sticks and actually updates the drivers for the device.

1. Click Start Menu
2. Right Click My Computer/Computer
3. Click Manage
4. Click Device Manager from the list on the left
5. Expand Network adapters
6. Right click the Atheros network device
7. Click Uninstall (do not click OK in the dialog box that pops up after hitting Uninstall)
8. Put a tick in Delete driver software for this device and hit OK
9. Do not restart your computer
10. Install the downloaded driver for the Atheros network device.

Alternatively:

1. Login as an adminstrative user.
2. First, download the latest driver. Then do the next steps.
3. Click Start Menu
4. Click Control Panel
5. Click Hardware and Sound
6. Click Device Manager (the last link under Devices and Printers)
7. Expand Network adapters
8. Right click the Atheros network device
9. Click Uninstall (do not click OK in the dialog box that pops up after hitting Uninstall)
10. Put a tick in Delete driver software for this device and hit OK
11. Do not restart your computer
12. Install the downloaded driver for the Atheros network device.

To install the drivers, use the steps in OPTION TWO of Drivers - Install Vista Drivers on Windows 7 (you may have to scan for hardware changes first by clicking at the top of the Device Manager window where the magnifying glass is shown over the computer).

Dear Mike & all,
Thank you very much for your analysis of my problems and advice.

I have installed Microsoft Security Essentials & Malwarebytes as you suggested. Malwarebytes did not uncover any serious threats on my laptop. I am posting the (old) results here.

I have tried to update the ATHEROS Wireless driver according to the first instructions above. However, I have not been able to do it exactly the way described above, because the old driver kept reappearing. What I did is the following and I believe this removed the old driver permanently.
First I updated the driver for Atheros AR5006EG to one of the newest versions (10.0.0.42 or 10.0.0.45). Then I rolled back to the old driver, which I uninstalled in the next step with deletion of it.

However, I am not sure whether I did it right or whether ATHEROS driver is the source of instability since the system is still utterly unstable and crashes regularly. I think it usually happens during operations that require lots of computation.


I have used the SF Diag Tool.exe and I am posting the obtained result here with hope that somebody can help me figure out what is wrong with my laptop.

Thanks a lot,
Dana