BSOD regularly but randomly, even when computer was idle.

[charlestonc]

Purchased the computer late Oct 2011, only 2 month old when system would randomly blue screen and restart at regular interval (about couple times within few hours of each other every 9-10 days). Current OS came OEM with the system, I have not re-installed OS but is considering it.

More on the Window 7 installed here:
64 bit
Windows 7 Enterprise, SP1, came pre-installed with the computer.

I have followed the steps to zip Windows_NT6_BSOD_jcgriff2 folder & the PERFMON HTML file. Please let me know if any additional information is needed.

Thanks in advance!

 

[zigzag3143]

These crashes were caused by memory corruption (probably a driver). Please run these two tests to verify your memory and find which driver is causing the problem.

If you are overclocking anything reset to default before running these tests.
In other words STOP!!!


1-Memtest.

*Download a copy of Memtest86 and burn the ISO to a CD using Iso Recorder or another ISO burning program. Memtest86+ - Advanced Memory Diagnostic Tool

*Boot from the CD, and leave it running for at least 5 or 6 passes.

Just remember, any time Memtest reports errors, it can be either bad RAM or a bad motherboard slot.

Test the sticks individually, and if you find a good one, test it in all slots.

Any errors are indicative of a memory problem.

If a known good stick fails in a motherboard slot it is probably the slot.

http://www.sevenforums.com/tutorials/105647-ram-test-memtest86.html



2-Driver verifier

Using Driver Verifier is an iffy proposition. Most times it'll crash and it'll tell you what the driver is. But sometimes it'll crash and won't tell you the driver. Other times it'll crash before you can log in to Windows. If you can't get to Safe Mode, then you'll have to resort to offline editing of the registry to disable Driver Verifier.

I'd suggest that you first backup your data and then make sure you've got access to another computer so you can contact us if problems arise. Then make a System Restore point (so you can restore the system using the Vista/Win7 Startup Repair feature).

In Windows 7 you can make a Startup Repair disk by going to Start....All Programs...Maintenance...Create a System Repair Disc - with Windows Vista you'll have to use your installation disk or the "Repair your computer" option at the top of the Safe Mode menu .

Then, here's the procedure:
- Go to Start and type in "verifier" (without the quotes) and press Enter
- Select "Create custom settings (for code developers)" and click "Next"
- Select "Select individual settings from a full list" and click "Next"
- Select everything EXCEPT FOR "Low Resource Simulation" and click "Next"
- Select "Select driver names from a list" and click "Next"
Then select all drivers NOT provided by Microsoft and click "Next"
- Select "Finish" on the next page.

Reboot the system and wait for it to crash to the Blue Screen. Continue to use your system normally, and if you know what causes the crash, do that repeatedly. The objective here is to get the system to crash because Driver Verifier is stressing the drivers out. If it doesn't crash for you, then let it run for at least 36 hours of continuous operation (an estimate on my part).

If you can't get into Windows because it crashes too soon, try it in Safe Mode.
If you can't get into Safe Mode, try using System Restore from your installation DVD to set the system back to the previous restore point that you created.

http://www.sevenforums.com/tutorials/101379-driver-verifier-enable-disable.html


Further Reading
Using Driver Verifier to identify issues with Windows drivers for advanced users

 

[charlestonc]

Thank you for the response. I'll look into implementing the first test (Memtest). Regarding the second test, when my computer blue screened in the past, I tried to use system restore (since the problem did not start until about 1.5 months after I have the computer, I thought maybe something I installed was causing this problem). But I have never been successful in system-restore -- I would get an error that says the system was not restored. I don't have the exact error messages now but if I cannot system restore, should I still try test 2?

 

[zigzag3143]

Thank you for the response. I'll look into implementing the first test (Memtest). Regarding the second test, when my computer blue screened in the past, I tried to use system restore (since the problem did not start until about 1.5 months after I have the computer, I thought maybe something I installed was causing this problem). But I have never been successful in system-restore -- I would get an error that says the system was not restored. I don't have the exact error messages now but if I cannot system restore, should I still try test 2?

You can do them in any order but IF it is something you installed (which it usually is) verifier is the test to run

Be sure to back up as the instructions say, just in case.

BTW, BSOD's are always a combination of things, so it could be directx and anything else you have installed. Thats why Clean installs are so effective.

 

[charlestonc]

driver verifier led to BSOD

Hi,
I followed step 2 and had the driver verifier running in the background. The computer crashed after about an hour (during which I was watching a DVD). One difference of the BSOD this time is that the computer did not automatically restart. I have attached the crash report here, but am not sure what other information I should give you to help determine the faulty driver. I also followed instruction for reporting BSOD and attached the Windows_NT6_BSOD_jcgriff2 folder again (but did not run perfmon).

Cheers!

Problem signature:
Problem Event Name: BlueScreen
OS Version: 6.1.7601.2.1.0.256.4
Locale ID: 1033

Additional information about the problem:
BCCode: 3b
BCP1: 00000000C0000005
BCP2: FFFFF8000318DB2C
BCP3: FFFFF8800C90CE60
BCP4: 0000000000000000
OS Version: 6_1_7601
Service Pack: 1_0
Product: 256_1

Files that help describe the problem:
C:\Windows\Minidump\011512-40809-01.dmp
C:\Users\Charleston\AppData\Local\Temp\WER-64085-0.sysdata.xml

Read our privacy statement online:
http://go.microsoft.com/fwlink/?linkid=104288&clcid=0x0409

If the online privacy statement is not available, please read our privacy statement offline:
C:\Windows\system32\en-US\erofflps.txt

 

[zigzag3143]

Hi,
I followed step 2 and had the driver verifier running in the background. The computer crashed after about an hour (during which I was watching a DVD). One difference of the BSOD this time is that the computer did not automatically restart. I have attached the crash report here, but am not sure what other information I should give you to help determine the faulty driver. I also followed instruction for reporting BSOD and attached the Windows_NT6_BSOD_jcgriff2 folder again (but did not run perfmon).

Cheers!

Problem signature:
Problem Event Name: BlueScreen
OS Version: 6.1.7601.2.1.0.256.4
Locale ID: 1033

Additional information about the problem:
BCCode: 3b
BCP1: 00000000C0000005
BCP2: FFFFF8000318DB2C
BCP3: FFFFF8800C90CE60
BCP4: 0000000000000000
OS Version: 6_1_7601
Service Pack: 1_0
Product: 256_1

Files that help describe the problem:
C:\Windows\Minidump\011512-40809-01.dmp
C:\Users\Charleston\AppData\Local\Temp\WER-64085-0.sysdata.xml

Read our privacy statement online:
Windows 7 Privacy Statement - Microsoft Windows

If the online privacy statement is not available, please read our privacy statement offline:
C:\Windows\system32\en-US\erofflps.txt

Still memory corruption (driver verified) and this was running at the time mpc-hc.exe

 

[charlestonc]

Hi,
So... was that informative about what driver I should remove/reinstall to help make the system stable?

And yes, I was using media player classic to watch DVD at the time. Though in past, I don't think I need to be using MPC for the computer to blue-screen.

Since the last post, it had blue-screened one more time, also while watching DVD.

 

[zigzag3143]

Hi,
So... was that informative about what driver I should remove/reinstall to help make the system stable?

And yes, I was using media player classic to watch DVD at the time. Though in past, I don't think I need to be using MPC for the computer to blue-screen.

Since the last post, it had blue-screened one more time, also while watching DVD.

verifier just catches things when they mis behave. In this case it didnt. If you have more DMP files always upload them

 

[charlestonc]

OK! I will keep running verifier in the background and wait for more BSOD.
Cheers.

 

[zigzag3143]

OK! I will keep running verifier in the background and wait for more BSOD.
Cheers.

Good luck and let us know if you need help


Ken

 

[charlestonc]

Hi,
The computer has blue-screened a few more times since I turned on driver verifier last night. dmp files attached, please let me know if any of them are informative. (All dmp files starting 1/15/2012 happened while driver verifier were running).

 

[zigzag3143]

Hi,
The computer has blue-screened a few more times since I turned on driver verifier last night. dmp files attached, please let me know if any of them are informative. (All dmp files starting 1/15/2012 happened while driver verifier were running).

The only dMP file that caught a driver was related to your video driver. I would re-install newest available using this method

When upgrading your graphic driver you MUST remove all traces of the current driver. In order to do that we recommend using

Phyxion.net - Driver Sweeper

When it is removed then download and install the fresh copy.



At some point you are going to have to start thinking about a clean install.

 

[charlestonc]

Hi,

OK, I will give it a try to remove and re-install the graphic driver. A couple of questions:

1. I assume it remains possible that more than one driver is causing the blue screen, therefore even after re-installing the graphic driver I should still keep testing for faulty driver?

2. A clean install means I should reformat the hard drive and re-install windows 7, right? I may consider doing that sooner rather than later, when the computer is still relatively new. But in general, how should I make sure not to install a conflicted driver again? Should I always go to the manufacturer website and download the newest driver rather than relying on window's plug and play?

Thanks a bunch!

 

[zigzag3143]

Hi,

OK, I will give it a try to remove and re-install the graphic driver. A couple of questions:

1. I assume it remains possible that more than one driver is causing the blue screen, therefore even after re-installing the graphic driver I should still keep testing for faulty driver?

2. A clean install means I should reformat the hard drive and re-install windows 7, right? I may consider doing that sooner rather than later, when the computer is still relatively new. But in general, how should I make sure not to install a conflicted driver again? Should I always go to the manufacturer website and download the newest driver rather than relying on window's plug and play?

Thanks a bunch!

My pleasure
1-BSOD's are almost always a combination of things. Some of the big causes are Malware (and malware apps), old drivers, etc.

2-A clean install does involve formatting (and re-installing your apps). There is no sure fire way of not installing a driver that may conflict with another. You can limit the problem by only installing the absolutely essential applications.

How To Find Drivers:

- search Google for the name of the driver
- compare the Google results with what's installed on your system to figure out which device/program it belongs to
- visit the web site of the manufacturer of the hardware/program to get the latest drivers (DON'T use Windows Update or the Update driver function of Device Manager).
- if there are difficulties in locating them, post back with questions and someone will try and help you locate the appropriate program.

- - The most common drivers are listed on this page: Driver Reference Driver Reference
- - Driver manufacturer links are on this page: Drivers and Downloads

 

[charlestonc]

Hi,

I've deleted all graphic driver with Driver Sweeper, downloaded the latest non-beta version of the driver from the manufacturer's website (NVIDIA), which actually turns out to be the same version as my original installed driver. Still having driver verifier running in the background and the computer has still bluescreened a number of times. All the dmp files have been attached here, could you tell me any additional faulty drivers could be responsible?

Thanks!

 

[zigzag3143]

Hi,

I've deleted all graphic driver with Driver Sweeper, downloaded the latest non-beta version of the driver from the manufacturer's website (NVIDIA), which actually turns out to be the same version as my original installed driver. Still having driver verifier running in the background and the computer has still bluescreened a number of times. All the dmp files have been attached here, could you tell me any additional faulty drivers could be responsible?

Thanks!

As you can see only one of the DMP's was verified and it was inconclusive. Memory management still is blamed for the most recent crash.

One thing of note is that the #3D nvidia driver appears in the active process on several of the crashes.

You arent overclocking right?

 

[charlestonc]

As you can see only one of the DMP's was verified and it was inconclusive. Memory management still is blamed for the most recent crash.

One thing of note is that the #3D nvidia driver appears in the active process on several of the crashes.

You arent overclocking right?

Hmm... I'm not familiar with how to overclock a computer, and never (knowingly at least) overclocked it myself. But I did check the BIOS just now, System Performance is set to "normal" rather than "System Optimal" (which has a speedometer symbol that suggests overclocking). The Ai Overclock Tuner and Turbo Ratios were all set to "Auto", which is the default.

I could remove the 3D NVIDIA driver -- I have not started playing games on this computer yet so I'm not sure why it'd be running in the active process.

Is it possible that the latest non-beta driver is actually in conflict with the system and I should install a slightly older version?

Thanks!

 

[zigzag3143]

As you can see only one of the DMP's was verified and it was inconclusive. Memory management still is blamed for the most recent crash.

One thing of note is that the #3D nvidia driver appears in the active process on several of the crashes.

You arent overclocking right?

Hmm... I'm not familiar with how to overclock a computer, and never (knowingly at least) overclocked it myself. But I did check the BIOS just now, System Performance is set to "normal" rather than "System Optimal" (which has a speedometer symbol that suggests overclocking). The Ai Overclock Tuner and Turbo Ratios were all set to "Auto", which is the default.

I could remove the 3D NVIDIA driver -- I have not started playing games on this computer yet so I'm not sure why it'd be running in the active process.

Is it possible that the latest non-beta driver is actually in conflict with the system and I should install a slightly older version?

Thanks!

It is possible that the newest vid driver "might" do that.

"Ai overclock tuner"?

Can you give us your system specs so we know what hardware we are dealing with.

 

[charlestonc]

Sure. Is there an utility you would recommend to give you detailed sys spec? I want to give you all the information you need, which is probably not me looking at my computer and reporting it to you.

Also, is it safe to rule out the memory sticks or slots being responsible for this? Since BSOD happens much more frequently once I turned on driver verifier. It's more difficult for me to run the memtest (esp. swapping out the physical sticks to test one by one, not so sure I want to risk opening up the computer myself).

Cheers!

 

[zigzag3143]

Sure. Is there an utility you would recommend to give you detailed sys spec? I want to give you all the information you need, which is probably not me looking at my computer and reporting it to you.

thanks

There are a bunch, and everyone has their own favorite. Things like SIW2, Everest, AIDA64, etc.

For just the video "stuff" you can type dxdiag in search, zip the output, and upload it.

For a simple built-in tool, type sysinfo32 into search.

Let us know if you need help