Trouble with nagging persistent BSOD

mikek82 · 18 Sep 2012

This one is causing me to lose more hair than I naturally already have hehe.

I've never
posted a computer problem before, so please bear with me if I don't include all the info I
need to get help from all you kind folks. Just let me know what else I need.

I'll mention that I consider myself an intermediate computer user. I do have some knoweldge
about windows and computer hardware,so I am not a beginner,but am certainly no expert
either.

This computer is a Tiger Direct barebones I assembled myself in June of 2011. Originally
the crashes only happened while playing Civilization 5 last year, but steadily got worse
over time, later happening at any time while in use and sometimes at idle as well.

I have so far: clean reinstalled my windows 7 64-bit home edition,updated all drivers that
I'm aware of, updated BIOS, run memtest86 with 9 passes and no errors. Also tried my 2
sticks of Corsair 4mb ram each induvidually,as well as tried different RAM slots. I've been
unable to run a complete scan with AVG Free Ed,although I was able to before my clean
reinstall of windows. Note that I have no crashes at all while in safe mode. Also looked
into frequency,voltage,and timing settings of my RAM,although they seem to be right, even
on auto settings.Tempuratures all seem to be OK as well.

But this damn puter

, still gives me bsod's at frequent random times of :
PAGE FAULT IN NON PAGED AREA, with win32k.sys most times as a file reference, and sometimes :
IRQL LESS BUT NOT EQUAL

What am I missing? Is there an (un)obvious fix? Or am I just screwed with incompatible
part(s). I'm at a loss of what to try next,so any and all help and suggestions are greatly
appreciated.Thanks in advance!

mikek82 · 18 Sep 2012

Hmmmmm....seem to be having trouble posting my DMP file. Using WinRAR to compress, but file still seems to be 303mb (too large to post?8Mb max?) Feel like I'm doing something dumb here or missing something obvious. Help with this is greatly appreciated.

Brink · 18 Sep 2012

Hello Mike, and welcome to Seven Forums.

Please read the instructions here instead. :)

Blue Screen of Death (BSOD) Posting Instructions

karlsnooks · 18 Sep 2012

Mike,
Happens frequently.

One suggestion is that us change to minidumps rather than kernel dumps.

I'm including the method I use to make sure that I get the minidumps rather than the full kernel which are not appropriate.

Another point:
Don't pack them up yourself. Use:
https://www.sevenforums.com/crashes-d...tructions.html

============================================
MEMORY DUMPS – REQUIREMENTS

CREATE MINIDUMP FOLDER
WIN | type %systemroot% | ENTER
If Minidump is not shown, Then
CTRL + SHIFT + N keycombo |
CONTINUE button | type Minidump | ENTER

Enable automatic management of the Paging file
WIN + PAUSE key combo |
Advanced system settings (left-hand side) |
Advanced tab, Performance section, Settings |
Advanced tab, Virtual Memory section, Change |
checkmark Automatically manage paging file size for all drives |
OK | OK | OK

STARTUP AND RECOVERY SETTINGS
WIN + PAUSE key combo |
Advanced system settings (left-hand side) |
Advanced tab, Startup and Recovery section, Settings |
System Failure section | checkmark Write an Event to the system log
| uncheck Automatically restart |

Under Write debugging information, select Small memory dump |
in the Small dump directory: box, enter %SystemRoot%\Minidump| OK

If Overwrite any existing file is checked, then:
Ø Under Write debugging information, select Kernel memory dump
Ø Uncheck Overwrite any existing file
Ø Under Write debugging information, select Small memory dump
Ø OK button
If you get a crazy message from Win 7 about your paging file being too small, then just ignore the message since we have already made sure that the paging file is set to be managed by Win 7.

ENABLE THE WINDOWS ERROR REPORTING SERVICE
WIN key | type SERVICES.MSC | ENTER |
Scroll down to Windows Error Reporting Service |
Rt-clk on Windows Error Reporting Service | Properties |
General tab | for Startup type, choose Automatic |
In Service status, Start button (unless grayed out) | OK

ASSURE THAT CCLEANER IS NOT DELETING DUMPS
CCLEANER | Cleaner icon | Windows tab | System category |
Uncheck Memory Dumps
· WINDOWS ERROR REPORTING SERVICE must NOT be disabled!
· WIN | Services.msc | Enter
· Under Name, locate Windows Error Reporting Service
· If Status is not Started, then
Right-click on Windows Error Reporting Service |choose START
· If Startup Type is not Automatic, then
Right-click on Windows Error Reporting Service |
choose Properties | General tab |
set Startup type to Automatic
· Close Services.msc (I like to use ALT + F4)

After a crash, the minidump file will be in %SystemRoot%\Minidump
%SystemRoot% is generally C:\Windows

===========================================
===========================================

When you finish with that I've got a script which will verify that all requirements were fulfilled.

mikek82 · 04 Oct 2012

Thanks for the help. Sorry I didn't follow up with this post right away,had some personal issues to deal with.

Anyways I'm back and anxious to resolve this problem. I read the bsod posting instructions and used the SF diag tool and here is my zip file. Let me know if there is anything else you need from me. And again,thanks for all your help!

Attachment 235099

karlsnooks:thx, I did follow your post and I think everything is set as you suggested.

koolkat77 · 05 Oct 2012

STOP 0x00000050: PAGE_FAULT_IN_NONPAGED_AREA
Usual causes: Defective hardware (particularly memory - but not just RAM),
Faulty system service, Antivirus, Device driver, NTFS corruption, BIOS

STOP 0x0000000A: IRQL_NOT_LESS_OR_EQUAL
Usual causes: Kernel mode driver, System Service, BIOS, Windows, Virus scanner,
Backup tool, compatibility

Problematic software:

Code:

PROCESS_NAME:  avgui.exe

Start Menu\Programs\AVG	Public:Start Menu\Programs\AVG	Public

Please uninstall AVG, AVG | Download tools
and utilities install Microsoft Security Essentials instead and make a full scan once installed and updated. Microsoft Security Essentials - Free Antivirus for Windows

Run Disk Check to check a selected hard disk for file system errors and bad sectors on it.

Then run the System File Checker it scans the integrity of all protected Windows 7 system files and replaces incorrect corrupted, changed/modified, or damaged versions with the correct versions if possible.

Then look for an update on your BIOS version

Code:

BIOS Version/Date	American Megatrends Inc. 2102, 6/17/2010

Keep us posted

mikek82 · 05 Oct 2012

Thx koolkat. Uninstalled AVG and installed Microsoft Security Essentials,and did the scans as you suggested. I know the bios seems old, but I looked last year after I first assembled this computer for an update and ver.2102 appears to be the latest.
I will mention that after the clean Win 7 install last month,I had the bsod's before I installed AVG.And it crashed too after I just uninstalled AVG today.Boots faster now though.
Ran memtest 4.0 again for 8 passes and still no errors. Can I rule out bad/incompatible RAM? I've seen there is a memtest+ 4.2. Is that a better tester of my RAM? I had some trouble creating a bootable disk of that version.
I sometimes suspect my video card/drivers. Only times it originally bsod'd,was randomly while playing Civ 5.But over some time it seem to spread to randomly anytime. Could it be the AMD catalyst drivers?
Well just puttin out any info I can think of that might help.Thx.

koolkat77 · 05 Oct 2012

How many sticks of ram do you have?
And yes you can test each stick on different slot and see which one it crashes on

mikek82 · 05 Oct 2012

I have 2 sticks, 4GB each.I have tried each one by itself in different slots,and both together in different slots.Still had crashes.
Which is why I wondered about my video card/drivers. Unfortunately I'm unable to try a different card as my older cards are AGP,and this mobo has only PCI slots.

koolkat77 · 05 Oct 2012

Hmm. Does it crash with 1 stick in either of the slots?

Do you have another graphic card to test on your computer.

You may take a video card stress test

Video Card - Stress Test with Furmark
→ Video Card - Stress Test with Furmark

Monitor your temps with Speccy during these tests
→ Speccy - System Information - Free Download