Atikmdag.sys error BSOD error 0x00000018

Welcome aboard, BlueSOD.

Daemon Tools, Alcohol 120% (or any other version) and Power Archiver Pro uses SCSI Pass Through Direct (SPTD), which is a well known BSOD causer. Uninstall Alcohol at first. Then download SPTD standalone installer from Disk-Tools.com, and execute the downloaded file as guided below :

• Double click to open it.
• Click this button only:
• 
• If it is grayed out, as in the picture, there is no more SPTD in your system, and you just close the window.

Free up the startup. Windows does not need any other program to auto start with it, but the auto start programs often conflicts and causes various problems including BSODs.

1. Click on the Start button
2. Type “msconfig (without quotes), click the resulting link. It will open the System Configuration window.
3. Select the “Startup” tab.
4. Deselect all items other than the antivirus.
5. Apply > OK
6. Accept then restart.

Update your ATI/AMD display driver. Get the latest WHQL.
You can get it from the link in our forum, Latest AMD Catalyst Video Driver for Windows 7, or you may go to AMD Graphics Driver and Software and opt for Automatically Detect and Install the appropriate driver for your card.


During installation, you may opt for advanced installation, and install the display driver only, not the Catalyst Control Center.


Let us know the results.
___________________________________________________________________________
BSOD ANALYSIS:

Code:

*******************************************************************************
*                                                                             *
*                        Bugcheck Analysis                                    *
*                                                                             *
*******************************************************************************

Use !analyze -v to get detailed debugging information.

BugCheck 18, {852b3660, 87d75988, 1, 1}

*** WARNING: Unable to verify timestamp for atikmdag.sys
*** ERROR: Module load completed but symbols could not be loaded for atikmdag.sys
*** WARNING: Unable to verify timestamp for atikmpag.sys
*** ERROR: Module load completed but symbols could not be loaded for atikmpag.sys
Probably caused by : atikmdag.sys ( atikmdag+176b2 )

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

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

REFERENCE_BY_POINTER (18)
Arguments:
Arg1: 852b3660, Object type of the object whose reference count is being lowered
Arg2: 87d75988, Object whose reference count is being lowered
Arg3: 00000001, Reserved
Arg4: 00000001, Reserved
    The reference count of an object is illegal for the current state of the object.
    Each time a driver uses a pointer to an object the driver calls a kernel routine
    to increment the reference count of the object. When the driver is done with the
    pointer the driver calls another kernel routine to decrement the reference count.
    Drivers must match calls to the increment and decrement routines. This bugcheck
    can occur because an object's reference count goes to zero while there are still
    open handles to the object, in which case the fourth parameter indicates the number
    of opened handles. It may also occur when the object’s reference count drops below zero
    whether or not there are open handles to the object, and in that case the fourth parameter
    contains the actual value of the pointer references count.

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


CUSTOMER_CRASH_COUNT:  1

DEFAULT_BUCKET_ID:  WIN7_DRIVER_FAULT

BUGCHECK_STR:  0x18

PROCESS_NAME:  System

CURRENT_IRQL:  2

TAG_NOT_DEFINED_c000000f:  FFFFFFFF807E3000

LAST_CONTROL_TRANSFER:  from 830b01a2 to 83116c2c

STACK_TEXT:  
807dea2c 830b01a2 00000018 852b3660 87d75988 nt!KeBugCheckEx+0x1e
807dea50 830b0150 87d75988 904216b2 807deb10 nt!ObfDereferenceObjectWithTag+0x4b
807dea58 904216b2 807deb10 863e0000 00000000 nt!ObfDereferenceObject+0xd
WARNING: Stack unwind information not available. Following frames may be wrong.
807dea70 9042376b 0033fc52 807debac 807deb10 atikmdag+0x176b2
807dea84 90430481 863e0000 807deb10 807deaec atikmdag+0x1976b
807dea94 90462d75 860e4000 807deaa8 807deb84 atikmdag+0x26481
807deaec 90463aa2 86400000 90423718 863e0000 atikmdag+0x58d75
807deb48 90465085 86400000 8640af40 00000001 atikmdag+0x59aa2
807deb68 90464fe9 86400000 807deb84 86527480 atikmdag+0x5b085
807dec28 904613dd 86400000 86527480 807dec48 atikmdag+0x5afe9
807dec38 904235bc 86400000 860e09d8 807dec58 atikmdag+0x573dd
807dec48 8f93f90a 86527480 8652de90 807dec78 atikmdag+0x195bc
807dec58 9182eb45 86527480 860e0d10 807c7884 atikmpag+0x590a
807dec78 830af655 860e0d10 860e0920 00000000 dxgkrnl!DpiFdoDpcForIsr+0x28
807decd4 830af4b8 807c2120 807c7800 00000000 nt!KiExecuteAllDpcs+0xf9
807ded20 830af2d8 00000000 0000000e 852c4d08 nt!KiRetireDpcList+0xd5
807ded24 00000000 0000000e 852c4d08 03000800 nt!KiIdleLoop+0x38


STACK_COMMAND:  kb

FOLLOWUP_IP: 
atikmdag+176b2
904216b2 ??              ???

SYMBOL_STACK_INDEX:  3

SYMBOL_NAME:  atikmdag+176b2

FOLLOWUP_NAME:  MachineOwner

MODULE_NAME: atikmdag

IMAGE_NAME:  atikmdag.sys

DEBUG_FLR_IMAGE_TIMESTAMP:  50d224e9

FAILURE_BUCKET_ID:  0x18_CORRUPT_REF_COUNT_atikmdag+176b2

BUCKET_ID:  0x18_CORRUPT_REF_COUNT_atikmdag+176b2

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

1: kd> lmvm atikmdag
start    end        module name
9040a000 90d8d000   atikmdag T (no symbols)           
    Loaded symbol image file: atikmdag.sys
    Image path: \SystemRoot\system32\DRIVERS\atikmdag.sys
    Image name: atikmdag.sys
    Timestamp:        Thu Dec 20 02:04:49 2012 (50D224E9)
    CheckSum:         009386DC
    ImageSize:        00983000
    Translations:     0000.04b0 0000.04e4 0409.04b0 0409.04e4

BlueSOD said:

AMD Autodetect software detected that I have the latest graphics driver.

Thank you :)

It appears that AMD autodetect failed here .... there is a very latest update.

   Information

WHQL
Release Date: April 24th 2013
Version: 13.4
In Device Manager: 12.104

Follow this link : Latest AMD Catalyst Video Driver for Windows 7