BSOD even with nothing running

Hi all,

I've been getting some nasty BSOD lately. I've gotten them randomly for months every week or so, but now I can't go a few hours without it crashing.
I can just turn on the computer and walk away and get a BSOD.


Here are my details and attached are my zipped files.

System is a 2 year old ASUS G73JH Laptop
Windows 7 Professional
Full retail version
Reinstalled OS yetserday hoping to fix these BSOD
Reinstalled all my drivers fresh off the ASUS website for my laptop
Updated the OS with all current patches


The one driver I couldn't get to load was for Microsoft Virtual WiFi Miniport Adapter. And even if I disable it, I still get BSOD. I also tried uninstalling it and reinstalling it.

Hope you can shed some light on this issue.

thanks.

The following drivers are out of date and should probably be updated:

Code:

ATK64AMD	fffff880`02c16000	fffff880`02c1e000	Fri Oct 27 06:45:25 2006 (4541ff65)	0000f651		ATK64AMD.sys
btwl2cap	fffff880`042f2000	fffff880`042fe000	Fri Apr 03 18:28:45 2009 (49d6a9bd)	00009866		btwl2cap.sys
athrx	fffff880`02c41000	fffff880`02d99000	Tue Jun 09 12:06:49 2009 (4a2ea4b9)	0015fe99		athrx.sys

The first one appears to be part of the ATKACPI driver and hotkey-related utilities for your laptop.
The second one is BlueTooth
The third one is your Atheros LAN driver.


Your crashes primarily indicate hard disk problems. This could mean hard disk corruption, bad sectors, a failing hard disk, Windows files or registry corruption, viruses, or memory problems.

• If you are overclocking any hardware, please stop.
  
  
• Run Disk Check with both boxes checked for all HDDs and with Automatically fix file system errors checked for all SSDs. Post back your logs for the checks after finding them using Check Disk (chkdsk) - Read Event Viewer Log (you may need to search for wininit instead of chkdsk).
  For any drives that do not give the message:
  Windows has checked the file system and found no problems
  run disk check again as above. In other words, if it says:
  Windows has made corrections to the file system
  after running the disk check, run the disk check again.
  
  
• Run the short and long tests with SeaTools for HDDs.
  SeaTools for Windows
  
  SeaTools for DOS
  
  
• If you have an SSD, make sure the following are up to date:
  • SSD firmware
  • BIOS Version
  • Chipset Drivers
  • Hard disk controller drivers/SATA drivers
  • If you have a Marvell IDE ATA/ATAPI device, uninstall it in device manager and see if the system performs better.
  
  
  
• Check Windows for corruption. Run SFC /SCANNOW Command - System File Checker up to three times to fix all errors with a restart in between each. Post back if it continues to show errors after a fourth run or if the first run comes back with no integrity violations. Use OPTION THREE of SFC /SCANNOW Command - System File Checker to provide us with the sfcdetails.txt file if errors occur.
  
  
• Download and install Malwarebytes, update it, do not start the free trial, and then run a full scan. Also run a full scan with your antivirus software installed on your system. If you do not have antivirus software installed, see the Good and Free system security combination. for better security steps and scanning tools. Make sure to update the security software before running the full scan.
  
  
• Run the boot version of Memtest86+ paying close attention to Parts 2 and 3 of the tutorial. Also, in case Memtest86+ misses anything and comes up with no errors, run the extended version of the Windows Memory Diagnostics Tool for at least five passes. These you may want to run overnight since they take a long time to complete (run them an hour before bed each of the next two nights and check before going to sleep that they are still running).
  
     Warning

  Before you proceed with the following, answer these two questions: Are you still under warranty? Does your warranty allow you to open up the machine to check hardware? If you are unsure of the answers to these questions, contact your system manufacturer. WARNING: The steps that follow can void your warranty!!!
  
  For Part 3: If You Have Errors: If you swap any memory components, follow these steps for ESD safety:
  
  1. Shut down and turn off your computer.
  2. Unplug all power supplies to the computer (AC Power then battery for laptops, AC power for desktops)
  3. Hold down the power button for 30 seconds to close the circuit and ensure all power drains from components.
  4. Make sure you are grounded by using proper grounding techniques, i.e. work on an anti-static workbench, anti-static desk, or an anti-static pad. Hold something metallic while touching it to the anti-static surface, or use an anti-static wristband to attach to the anti-static material while working. If you do not have an anti-static workbench, desk, or pad, you can use your computer tower/case by finding a metal hold in it, such as a drive bay.
  
  Once these steps have been followed, it is safe to remove and replace components within your computer.

I would recommend checking the cabling. A cable is a lot cheaper to replace than a hard drive. As a simple test, you could swap your two cables and see if you get the same problem with the other drive instead.

As you add and remove hardware and/or connections, follow these steps for ESD safety:

1. Shut down and turn off your computer.
2. Unplug all power supplies to the computer (AC Power then battery for laptops, AC power for desktops)
3. Hold down the power button for 30 seconds to close the circuit and ensure all power drains from components.
4. Make sure you are grounded by using proper grounding techniques, i.e. work on an anti-static workbench, anti-static desk, or an anti-static pad. Hold something metallic while touching it to the anti-static surface, or use an anti-static wristband to attach to the anti-static material while working. If you do not have an anti-static workbench, desk, or pad, you can use your computer tower/case by finding a metal hold in it, such as a drive bay.

Once these steps have been followed, it is safe to remove and replace components within your computer.

It's a laptop. I was going to swap them tonight though to see if that tells me anything. The good news is I have eveything backed up that was on that hard drive. I've been wanting a SSD, so maybe this is just the thing to push me to buy it. :)

I'll finish my remaining steps too (SEA Tools for DoS & Memtest86+) and post my results. So far SEA Tools for Windows long test was my only issue found.

Thanks for the help.

You're welcome. Let us know if/when (hopefully when) you find a solution. :)

OK, here's my lastest update. I did everything you mentioned and the one that failed was the Seagate Tools. I had ordered a new SSD, so instead of trying to repair these, I just took both of my hard drives out and installed the SSD. I reinstalled Windows 7 which got a BSOD at the end, however, after the reboot I didn't have any issues.

Until today when my computer just restarted and loaded my Bios setup without me having to mash the delete key. I looked at the Boot options and my SSD isn't even listed. I changed the Boot option to my CD drive and restarted with my Windows 7 disk. I tried to repair the OS, but it's not seeing the hard drive either.

The common theme here is my hard drives just keep disappearing. This sounds like a mother board issue correct?

There are really no motherboard tests, unfortunately.

For your SSD, make sure the following are up to date:

• SSD firmware
• BIOS Version
• Chipset Drivers
• Hard disk controller drivers/SATA drivers
• If you have a Marvell IDE ATA/ATAPI device, make sure the drivers are up to date from the Intel site or Marvell site and not from your motherboard/vendor support site.

Also, make sure your SSD is being seen by the system properly: Try doing a power cycle of the SSD. The following steps should be carried out and take ~1 hour to complete.

1. Power off the system.
2. Remove all power supplies (ac adapter then battery for laptop, ac adapter for desktop)
3. Hold down the power button for 30 seconds to close the circuit and drain all components of power.
4. Reconnect all power supplies (battery then ac adapter for laptop, ac adapter for desktop)
5. Turn on the system and enter the BIOS (see your manual for the steps to enter the BIOS)
6. Let the computer remain in the BIOS for 20 minutes.
7. Follow steps 1-3 and physically remove the SSD from the system by disconnecting the cables for a desktop or disconnecting the drive from the junction for a laptop.
8. Leave the drive disconnected for 30 seconds to let all power drain from it.
9. Replace the drive connection(s) and then do steps 4-8 again.
10. Repeat steps 1-4.
11. Start your computer normally and run Windows.

The above steps were a result of: Why did my SSD "disappear" from my system? - Crucial Community

While that may not be your drive, a power cycle should be the same on all SSD drives. See how the system responds after the SSD power cycle.

I'll gladly do this tonight, but my old SATA ST9500420AS hard drives had the same issue. Last night it was working fine for a while. I shut it down and a Microsoft update was applied. This morning when I turned it on, it ran Chkdsk and found a bunch of bad sectors ~140. After it restarted it didn't see my SDD, even in the BIOS. Very annoying.

I haven't gone to the latest BIOS for my motherboard because of issues I've read about, but I think it's time to take the plunge.

Thanks again for the advice.