BSOD just after logging in and desktop comes up

[PatrickGSR94]

I got at least 2 BSOD's this morning just after logging in to my office workstation. At least one of them happened when something having to do with AMD graphics was initializing, or it appeared that way. At least one of them happened again after the computer restarted but I had not yet logged in.

I generally leave my computer on when I leave each day, but log off before leaving. In the past I have come in and after logging in Win7 tells me it had recovered from an unexpected shutdown. I figure it may be related, but who knows.

I've had the computer nearly 4 years, I think I'll be reformatting it here pretty soon, assuming I can keep it running and usable until I'm able to do so on a weekend.

 

[Arc]

Hi PatrickGSR94.

All your latest BSODs are stop 0xF4.

[COLOR=Red]BugCheck F4[/COLOR], {3, fffffa800e0abb30, fffffa800e0abe10, fffff800033d87b0}

----- ETW minidump data unavailable-----
Probably caused by : csrss.exe

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

It is supposed to be storage related issue. And your HDD is a Seagate 1 TB one.

Test the HDD using Seatools. http://www.sevenforums.com/tutorials/313457-seatools-dos-windows-how-use.html

If no issue is found, it is the issue with the storage controller. And then the situation will go critical. Because of the storage controller mode that you have applied.

Name    Intel(R) ICH8R/ICH9R/ICH10R/DO/5 Series/3400 Series SATA RAID Controller
Driver    c:\windows\system32\drivers\iastor.sys (9.5.0.1037, 524.52 KB (537,112 bytes), 10/22/2010 10:07 PM)

Intel Rapid Storage and RAID, both are problematic. And for a single HDD, RAID is unnecessary there.

Boot into the BIOS and set the storage controller mode to AHCI.
Beware that this will make your computer no more bootable.

And at that point you need to perform a clean reinstall.

Before you start, if you have any more questions about the suggestions, feel free to ask.

 

[PatrickGSR94]

I will try the SeaTools when I have some time.

Perhaps the HDD actually needs to be replaced instead of just reformatted?

 

[Arc]

I will try the SeaTools when I have some time.

Perhaps the HDD actually needs to be replaced instead of just reformatted?

If the test fails, changing the HDD is a must.

But if the test is OK, reformatting is needed, to change the storage controller mode. Even if you change the HDD, you need to change the storage controller mode to AHCI.

 

[PatrickGSR94]

Tried running SeaTools for Windows, and it just sits there forever saying "SCSI: Scanning for supported drives. Please wait..."

 

[Arc]

A may need to do this part of the guide .....

View attachment 315053

And then Run Seatools for DOS.

SCSI/RAID is sometimes problematic for disc checks, too.

 

[PatrickGSR94]

Nevermind, I rebooted and then saw a desktop shortcut, and it now seems to be running. The installation didn't tell me to restart. Oh well.

Also upon restarting, I looked in the BIOS and it appears the only options for the HDD is either ATA or RAID. Couldn't find any AHCI options.

I ran the Short Generic test on the Seagate drive and it passed. Should I run any other tests?

 

[Arc]

Then you opt for the ATA option.

 

[PatrickGSR94]

I still think there are issues with my HDD. I'm trying to download SeaTools for DOS but I keep getting an alert saying our firewall appliance has blocked the file, saying it's Zbot.YW_238 trojan.

 

[essenbe]

Hi PatrickGSR94, are you downloading from Seagate's website? SeaTools for DOS | Seagate. I have downloaded it quite a few times and it has never given me a problem. I feel confident that Seagate would not be including viruses with their programs.

Also, please run the short drive self test (which will most likely pass) then run the long drive self test. It can take up to 4 hours to run and tests in increments of 10%.

 

[PatrickGSR94]

Hi PatrickGSR94, are you downloading from Seagate's website? SeaTools for DOS | Seagate. I have downloaded it quite a few times and it has never given me a problem. I feel confident that Seagate would not be including viruses with their programs.

Also, please run the short drive self test (which will most likely pass) then run the long drive self test. It can take up to 4 hours to run and tests in increments of 10%.

Well I was, but this morning it gave me that trojan message, but now seems to be working fine. Who knows.

I suppose it's moot now as I just ordered a new HDD this morning and should have it by tomorrow.

I may run the long test anyway tonight, just for kicks.

 

[essenbe]

I hate for you to do that until and unless we know for sure that the hard drive is the issue. You can go broke buying parts that we 'think' are causing the problem. That being said, I would run the tests anyway so you will know. The hard drive can be used as back ups and storage. I'm pretty much a fanatic about back ups, and am embarrassed to tell you how many hard drives I own. My personal opinion is, it is not a question of if a hard drive will die, but when it will die. But, it would be good to know if the drive you have is bad or not.

 

[PatrickGSR94]

I ran some tests from the "utility" partition of this hard drive (the original one that came from Dell 3 1/2 years ago) and it reported some failures, so I'm pretty sure the drive is the issue. But I do plan to run SeaTools overnight.

 

[essenbe]

Great, that's a good choice. Dell's diagnostics are pretty good on hard drives. I just hope it solves your problems. I know how aggravating that can be. Been there, done that.

 

[Arc]

Great, that's a good choice. Dell's diagnostics are pretty good on hard drives. I just hope it solves your problems. I know how aggravating that can be. Been there, done that.

Dell diagnostics is trustworthy.

If you plan for seatools long test, there is a mechanism that attempts to rectify the disc errors, if possible (as described in PART - IV: Results : of http://www.sevenforums.com/tutorials/313457-seatools-dos-windows-how-use.html). Go for that option after the test is done. If it rectifies the error, well and good. But if it cannot, you have to replace the HDD, unfortunately.

 

[PatrickGSR94]

Well I burned the SeaTools for DOS ISO to a disc yesterday and tried to boot from it, but it gave me this error:

Starting BCDW...

Error!  Cannot load file (code: 04FDh):
\bcdw\bcdw.bin
Press any key to boot from hard disk or ESCape to restart.

So I ran the SeaTools for Windows long generic test, and it failed.

Oh well, new HDD will be here today, so no big deal other than the few hours it will take to format and load everything.

 

[PatrickGSR94]

So after all this, since I'll be installing a new HDD anyway... since it appears the BIOS will only offer ATA or RAID, should I really be setting it to ATA? I've read there are a number of features/functions that would not be available if set to ATA.

 

[Arc]

You dont need to use RAID, specially when you are using a single HDD. Moreover, RAID is always problematic, and is not supposed to give you a stable system.

If you set it to ATA, you will not loss anything literally. But the system will be stable.

And, as the Seatools long test failed, too; your decision to change the HDD is right.

 

[PatrickGSR94]

Do you think it would be worth it to clone the Dell utility partition from my old drive to the new drive using something like Acronis True Image?

 

[essenbe]

You can if you want to, but personally, I wouldn't. Most enthusiasts who buy an OEM computer, bring it home and do a clean install to get rid of the bloatware the OEMs usually put in the OS. This is a tutorial which will guide you step by step in how to do it. http://www.sevenforums.com/tutorials/219487-clean-reinstall-factory-oem-windows-7-a.html