Solved Another BSOD even after formatting, caused by ntoskrnl.exe

[jelam]

I've been having trouble with this computer for the last week or so. Freezing, running slowly and a couple of BSOD's. I restored it to the original factory image and the problems persisted. I formatted the partition and the problems persisted. Finally I deleted all the original partitions and formatted the drive. It ran beautifully for a couple of days. This afternoon however, got a BSOD and it is running incredibly slowly now. Last night I also had one of the drives in my RAID 1 fail but by this morning the array had finished rebuilding.

My zip folder is attached, as per the instructions. Bluescreenview says it was likely caused by ntoskrnl.exe, but I don't really know where to even start with that...

Any help would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks much,
J

 

[x BlueRobot]

[COLOR="Red"]BugCheck C4[/COLOR], {91, 1, fffffa8008b68060, 0}

Probably caused by : ntkrnlmp.exe ( nt! ?? ::FNODOBFM::`string'+4884 )

Usual causes:  Device driver

The bugcheck indicates that Driver Verifier detected a problem with a driver, however, Driver Verifier wasn't enabled at all.

0: kd> [COLOR="SeaGreen"]!verifier[/COLOR]

Verify Level 0 ... enabled options are:

Summary of All Verifier Statistics

RaiseIrqls                             0x0
AcquireSpinLocks                       0x0
Synch Executions                       0x0
Trims                                  0x0

Pool Allocations Attempted             0x0
Pool Allocations Succeeded             0x0
Pool Allocations Succeeded SpecialPool 0x0
Pool Allocations With NO TAG           0x0
Pool Allocations Failed                0x0
Resource Allocations Failed Deliberately   0x0

Current paged pool allocations         0x0 for 00000000 bytes
Peak paged pool allocations            0x0 for 00000000 bytes
Current nonpaged pool allocations      0x0 for 00000000 bytes
Peak nonpaged pool allocations         0x0 for 00000000 bytes

Update BIOS:

DELL INC. A15, [COLOR="Red"]10/26/2009[/COLOR]

Install and perform full scans with:

• Malwarebytes : Free anti-malware download
• Microsoft Security Essentials | Protect against viruses, spyware, and other malware

   Information

Remember to install the free version of Malwarebytes not the free trail; untick the free trial box during installation. MSE is the most lightweight and compatible with the Windows 7 operating system

You can also view this thread for a complete free and lightweight security protection combination:

• http://www.sevenforums.com/system-security/206705-good-free-system-security-combination.html

Run Driver Verifier to scan for any corrupted drivers which may be causing problems, this program works by running various stress tests on drivers, in order to produce a BSOD which will locate the driver; run for least 24 hours:

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

   Information

Additional Help - http://www.sevenforums.com/crash-lo...-driver-verifier-identify-issues-drivers.html

 

[jelam]

I have everything installed and updated and I'm about to start the Driver Verifier. I will check back in tomorrow with the results.

Thanks a million!

 

[x BlueRobot]

Thanks for the update

 

[jelam]

I let the Driver Verifier run 24+ hours and never got a BSOD, but it did freeze on me once, forcing me to re-boot. The results on the Verifier showed that all the tested drivers ran except for one, nvbridge.kmd which "never loaded". I've updated a bunch of drivers (Driver Max says they are all now up-to-date) and updated to the new BIOS from Dell (A16). The anti-virus/malware utilities you mentioned have been installed and run. No problems found.

The computer is still quite slow to respond and drags from one thing to the next. And for some reason, even after I stopped the Verifier, I occasionally hear two or three beeps out of my speakers, almost like an audio test. While the Verifier was running I presumed it was a result of audio drivers being stressed.

I've run the SF Diagnostic Tool again and attached the resulting zip file. Any clues as to what the remaining problems may be?

Thanks again for your help..

 

[x BlueRobot]

Turn off Driver Verifier for now, using the same tutorial you used to enable the tool.

There's no dump files in the folder for some reason, please go this directory:

%systemroot%/Minidump

Copy all the files within the folder, into a zipped folder, and then upload using this tutorial to assist you - http://www.sevenforums.com/tutorials/9733-screenshots-files-upload-post-seven-forums.html

 

[jelam]

That Minidump directory is empty. It's configured to give a kernel memory dump on system failure, and the dumpfile location is correct. I never did get a BSOD from the Verifier, it just froze.

I had already turned the Verifier off when I ran Diagnostics this second time. Should I have not?

 

[x BlueRobot]

Configure it to a Minidump file, and make sure Driver Verifier is disabled by running this command:

1. Start rb:
2. Type: cmd > Right-Click
3. Run as Administrator
4. Type: verifier \query <-- Post output of this command
5. Type: Exit

 

[jelam]

The output reads:
Warning - ignoring unexpected parameter: \query.
No settings were changed.

I set it to produce a small memory dump.

 

[x BlueRobot]

Sorry I wrote the command wrong:

verifier /query

If Driver Verifier has been disabled, then the output should be "no drivers are currently verified".

 

[jelam]

Gotcha. It says "no drivers are currently verified"

 

[jelam]

Also, running in safe mode seems to completely remedy the problems. It is not slow or lagging at all, and the strange beeping stops.

 

[TimPonken]

Im getting the same.. But it seems nobody can help :/

 

[x BlueRobot]

Okay, it seems to be some kind of third-party driver issue at the moment, are you able to boot into Windows normally with no problems?

 

[jelam]

Yes, I can still boot normally into Windows, but everything is very sluggish.

 

[x BlueRobot]

Try these steps and see if it makes any difference - http://www.sevenforums.com/tutorials/11728-optimize-windows-7-a.html

 

[jelam]

Well, since it is likely a third-party driver that is the culprit (and I imagine it is, since it ran so well immediately after formatting) I've decided to start over with a clean slate. I've formatted it and installed a fresh Win 7 SP1 (again) and will meticulously go through installing and updating drivers one-by-one and try to nab the problem that way. I also placed an order with Crucial this afternoon; my 6 GB of memory will soon be 16 GB, so I can rule out lack of resources as a potential problem.

Thank you very much for your time, assistance and info, BlueRobot. I definitely will spend some time on your forum, as you folks are a wealth of knowledge (and I'm not very keen on jumping into Win 8 just yet).

Admins can mark this thread as resolved.

 

[x BlueRobot]

Okay, glad your issue seems to be resolved, remember to install all the essential drivers and then when installing programs do it in small groups