WSOD & BlackSOD, recent crashes & other misc problems

Carpet Man · 31 Oct 2012

As the title suggests my Windows 7 Dell Laptop has been crashing recently.
Last Monday I received a Black screen of death and a white screen of death while browsing the internet.
A quick Google search for help led me to do a System Restore, so I did this, giving back as far as possible without having to re-install any programs (eg Office, Serif, Sibelius, McAffee)
This didn't help at all, since then I've received two more WSODs, one BlackSOD and a flashing black and white screen of death, which occurred while using Sibelius 6 first.
Research shows most people generally have these problems:
A. On startup
B. With an Apple device
or C. With the infamous 'Blue Screen of Death'
Although neither of these fit my case: I am yet to occur a blue screen of death, and all crashes happen between 15 minutes to several hours after startup.

More notes:

-last August I rebooted my laptop after a backup due to a persistent virus problem. I have a feeling this may resolve my current issue but it's an inconvenience to reinstall my software and backup.
-i have had trouble logging into hotmail recently and am resetting my password
-McAffee safesearch plugin for Google Chrome reports some Of my frequently used sites as Red Alerts, such as Facebook and Pokemon Showdown but when I look at the full report they come up as Green or Untested.

Idont know if any of these miscellaneous problems are related to the current issue, but I thought I'd mention them in case.

Anyway, what is the cause of these crashes and what can I do to stop them? Is my laptop infected?
Thanks in advance

koolkat77 · 01 Nov 2012

Welcome to SevenForums

McAfee alone is a problem (+BSOD causer) consider uninstalling it with its removal tool and replace with free Microsoft Security Essentials at least to test

McAfee Removal Tool - McAfee Uninstaller

If you cannot uninstall with the removal tool, try uninstalling using Free Revo Uninstallers Advanced Mode:

Download Revo Uninstaller Freeware - Free and Full Download - Uninstall software, remove programs, solve uninstall problems

Reboot the system after uninstallation

Recommended antivirus program for Windows 7 based on stability compared to others:-

Do not start the free trial of Malware Bytes; remember to deselect that option when prompted

Run a full scan with both (separately) once downloaded, installed and updated

Run these tools and delete anything they find:

Anti-rootkit utility TDSSKiller

ESET online scanner:

Free Online Virus Scanner | ESET

In addition, run the malicious software removal tool and WDO:

System Specs are always helpful:
__________________

Click on User CP on the top right of this page
Click on Edit System Spec
Fill in your computer specs
- System Info - See Your System Specs

__________________
Let us know the results of above ^

Run the System File Checker that scans the of all protected Windows 7 system files and replaces incorrect corrupted, changed/modified, or damaged versions with the correct versions if possible:

SFC /SCANNOW Command - System File Checker

Run Disk Check on your hard disk for file system errors and bad sectors on it:

Disk Check

----

*Are you able to get into your computer in safe mode from Advanced Boot Options

Please upload your msinfo32.nfo file. To get this:
1. Click on the Start

2. Type msinfo32 into the Search programs and files box
3. When it opens, go to File, Save
4. Save as msinfo32.nfo and save in a place you will remember
5. Let it finish the process of gathering and saving the system info
6. Right click the .nfo file, click send to compressed (zipped) folder
7. Upload the .zip file here

Keep us posted

Carpet Man · 09 Nov 2012

Hey Koolkat,

I ran the free ESET Scanner and it reported no problems
I also un-installed McAffee using the removal tool, and then installed Microsoft Security Essentials. I ran a full scan with this which reported no problems.

Unfortunately, while it seems to be less frequent, I am still experiencing crashes, and have no idea why. I will get the msinfo32 file soon in the hope this provides more information.

Thanks a lot,
Carpet Man

Arc · 09 Nov 2012

Carpet man, you upload the latest dumps too. It will be helpful for us.

Post following the Blue Screen of Death (BSOD) Posting Instructions.

Carpet Man · 09 Nov 2012

Will do. I have college work to do at the moment but when that is complete I'll upload what information I can ASAP.

Carpet Man · 09 Nov 2012

Okay, I think I've done this right... sorry for the double post.

All the info you need should be in this folder.

Arc · 10 Nov 2012

The dump you uploaded is of 12/09. It will not give the current impression for sure. Still, based on that dump,

► Update display driver.

Code:

lmvm atikmpag
start             end                 module name
fffff880`02f71000 fffff880`02fa7000   atikmpag   (deferred)             
    Image path: \SystemRoot\system32\DRIVERS\atikmpag.sys
    Image name: atikmpag.sys
    Timestamp:        Wed Mar 24 06:53:51 2010 (4BA969A7)
    CheckSum:         0003F46E
    ImageSize:        00036000
    Translations:     0000.04b0 0000.04e4 0409.04b0 0409.04e4

Its too old. Get it from AMD Graphics Drivers & Software

► Update Atheros network adapter driver

Code:

lmvm athrx
start             end                 module name
fffff880`04456000 fffff880`045df000   athrx    T (no symbols)           
    Loaded symbol image file: athrx.sys
    Image path: \SystemRoot\system32\DRIVERS\athrx.sys
    Image name: athrx.sys
    Timestamp:        Wed Mar 03 06:15:21 2010 (4B8DB121)
    CheckSum:         00186AC4
    ImageSize:        00189000
    Translations:     0000.04b0 0000.04e4 0409.04b0 0409.04e4

Get it from ATHEROS drivers for Microsoft Windows (Atheros?????)

► Use Microsoft Security Essentials.
Uninstall McAfee Using McAfee Removal Tool.
Use Microsoft Security Essentials as your antivirus with windows inbuilt firewall, and free MBAM as the on demand scanner.

Download and install those, and then run full system scans with both of them, one by one.

► Disc Check:

Update your SSD's Firmware (Skip it, if it is not a SSD)
Reseat the sata and power.
Run chkdsk /f/r, following the option two of the tutorial Disk Check
Seatool for dos: SeaTools | Seagate download
Burn it in a blank cd. boot from the CD, click on "Accept", wait for it to finish detecting the drives, then in the upper left corner select "Basic Tests", then select "Long Test" and let it run.

Let us know the result.

Carpet Man · 10 Nov 2012

That was what the auto grab picked up. I searched for others but I couldn't find any past 2010 :S

koolkat77 · 10 Nov 2012

Can you tell us if the crashes are blue screen crashes or some other sort of crash? Please fill in system specs as well.

Carpet Man · 10 Nov 2012

As stated in the original post, they are usually black screens, but I've had a few white screens, and occasionally a grey and white screen. There are some specs in the OP too.