BSOD; Multiple stop errors inc. 0x00000F4, 0x0000124

Hi everyone,

Sorry if I'm a bit too in-depth or present too much useless information, I'm a newbie and just trying to get a fix on my OS.

I have a custom build PC running Windows 7 ultimate x64. The pc has been working fine since I built it back in November a few BSOD's due to some issues when I was overclocking the RAM (RAM defaults to 1333mHz, however the CPU and RAM speed both say 1600mHz.) Those BSODs were one's I knew and could deal with. This time I haven't a clue what's happening.

I was using a Digital Audio Workstation called Pro Tools (DAW) earlier today and was routing some tracks to an submaster bus when suddenly the program stopped working and a horrible audible sound was playing, this is standard when an error occurs with a DAW usually you just Kill the task, restart the system and reload and continue. However this time after attempting Cntrl+Alt+Del the system froze and a BSOD appeared, I thought nothing of it and assumed it was the hardware I was using that had crashed (External Sound Card, USB connection, Avid Eleven Rack). I shutdown the pc and came back to in about 3 hours later and I got to the user log in stage. It came up with the message dwm.exe - System error - userinit.exe is missing.

I proceeded to pass this message by when suddenly a BSOD comes up with the title BAD_POOL_HEADER, I didn't have time to jot anything else down and my computer did not save any dump files, (Even though I had set-up the mini-dump setting upon the setting up of windows, it could have possibly been deleted when I performed a system restore, not sure...) the computer restarted itself and then a black screen and another restart, I could tell preemptively when the computer would BSOD because my backlit keyboard would turn off about 5-10 seconds before the error message or black screen would occur. I was able to access safe mode at this point so I enabled restore settings on my pc and tried to come to a solution, I noticed over time I was getting the STOP0x0000124, I did some research and found out it is most commonly a hardware error, however all of my HDD's were readable and accessible, I did a RAM test which came back 100% conclusive, my GPU is hooked up to my TV so I presumed that could not be the faulty device (Although I could be incorrect) The CPU and the MOBO are all that's left. At this point I attempted to reboot in Normal mode however the same cycle of errors kept occurring. I checked my BIOS and everything was the same as I'd left it.

After this I proceeded to complete a system restore to Early last night when the computer was running perfectly, this did not rectify the problem and the computer kept cycling multiple blue and black screens resetting almost 4-5 times a minute. At this point I received the error - STOP0X00000F4. At this point I took my PC apart and checked all power connections temperatures, liquid cooling devices etc but nothing was out of the ordinary.

I turned my PC back on but this time inserted my recovery disk, set up a startup recovery but the computer seemed to think everything was fine, I then went to do a system restore to a few days ago (24th Feb). This came back slightly more successful, no BSOD's so far, however when the user screen came about it showed a black screen with no images for users but still displayed the correct information, password options etc. I logged in and received this error message: dwm.exe - System error - windowscodecs.dll is missing.

From here the UI loaded but in classic mode and my desktop was black as opposed to Tard the Grumpy Cat.

My startup programs booted, (Skype, Core_Temp) on cue and everything was moving smoothly components wise, no horrible sounds from the PC. however I tried to access certain files, I cannot view pictures or video thumbnails, when I attempt to load a picture I get the error message: There was a problem starting C:\program files\windows photo viewer\photoviewr.dll - The specified module could not be found.
I tried to save a screenshot of some of the errors I was getting but I got the error message in paint: Paint cannot save this file. Save was interrupted, so this file cannot be saved. Didn't matter what file extension I used, I couldn't create an image using paint. I opened other intensive programs such as Minecraft, Steam, Adobe Premiere Pro etc. and they ran smoothly as anything.

I then moved over to this forum to find help, I tried out the SF Diagnostic Tool but to no avail, the program cannot create a folder on my desktop for some reason, I do have two minidumps saved from 6PM today, I have Zipped and attached these DMP. files so hopefully they can provide some useful information.

Any and all assistance will be greatly appreciated. I will be backing up all my files right now in order to safe guard all of my university work.

Once this is complete I plan on opening the program that created this incident too see if the Audio Interface caused the issues or the software and see if this can rectify the problem, although I believe too much damage has probably been caused to my OS so it might be that I start from scratch.

Many thanks,

Sam Ryan.

Code:

BugCheck 124, {0, fffffa80192dc028, be200000, 5110a}

Probably caused by : GenuineIntel

Code:

===============================================================================
Section 2     : x86/x64 MCA
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Descriptor    @ fffffa80192dc138
Section       @ fffffa80192dc2c0
Offset        : 664
Length        : 264
Flags         : 0x00000000
Severity      : Fatal

Error         : GCACHEL2_ERR_ERR (Proc 2 Bank 7)
  Status      : 0xbe2000000005110a
  Address     : 0x0000000791637100
  Misc.       : 0x0000009082000086

The first parameter or argument has the value of 0x0, which is a Machine Check Exception, which means the CPU has detected a hardware problem and the address points to a processor error because the CPU has found one, so it could be a different form of hardware which is causing the issue.

In such a situation, it is best to use these steps:

• Hardware - Stress Test With Prime95

Enable "Round off checking" before the test (see first post below tutorial).

• 
  Stop 0x124 - what it means and what to try

All the hardware seeming to be running stable and tests reporting no errors, could mean a bad motherboard.

Thanks for that info Blue, I'm doing the stress test at the moment, everything seems to be running smoothly and has done for 30 minutes now, I have downloaded new BIOS for my MOBO and will install after an hour of Stress testing. If nothing works I'll just put a clean version of windows on.

If that fails then I'll be speaking with the Manufactuerer as the part was only bought new a few months ago. Is there a way I can share my results from the Prime95 tests with you? I set up an account and linked with the program. My user on that account is also Zombiesparty.

It should save a log file called results.txt, which you can then upload to this thread:

• Screenshots and Files - Upload and Post in Seven Forums

It will be saved in the folder, where you installed Prime95.

Okay clean installation of windows has salvaged the problem, turns out my external Hardware was the uni that crashed and is now not working. At least the PC is okay.

Glad your problem is solved.