BSOD at random times

[bigak82]

Getting STOP 0x00000124 BSOD, doesn't seem to matter what I'm doing - sometimes playing Dragon Age Origins, sometimes surfing on Firefox, sometimes running iTunes.

Kind of suspect cooling; had a heat sink or something replaced under warranty about 2 years ago. Run a stand/external fan under the laptop now.

system info:
x64
originally Vista, free upgrade to 7 (purchased just before 7 was released)
~2.5 years old
OS installed ~2 years ago

Filled in my system info on my profile, hopefully it's there (first time posting here) otherwise I will update the thread.

Thanks for any help!

- Devin

 

[zigzag3143]

Your .dmp file shows a stop error of 0x124 which is a general hardware error .

A "stop 0x124" is fundamentally different to many other types of bluescreens because it stems from a hardware complaint.

Stop 0x124 minidumps contain very little practical information, and it is therefore necessary to approach the problem as a case of hardware in an unknown state of distress

Some generic advice.

If you are overclocking STOP. Return to the default settings at least for now.
If you are running a RAID update its driver.


You can read more on this error and what to try here... http://www.sevenforums.com/crash-lockup-debug-how/35349-stop-0x124-what-means-what-try.html

 

[bigak82]

New information: I followed the advice on Stop 0x124 - what it means and what to try but it has not fixed the problem. What I HAVE noticed is that I only get a BSOD if I'm running an audio file (so in itunes or playing a game). For example, today I was using the computer most of the day without issue, and then I opened itunes, and 30 seconds into a song I got a BSOD.

Does this mean there is a conflict with my sound card? As I said, all drivers are up to date. Pretty sure the card itself is integrated into the motherboard.

Thanks for any help.

 

[writhziden]

Sometimes in these instances, you can disable the display card's HD audio and it resolves the conflict. Another option is to re-install the audio driver and update the chipset driver for the sound card and the motherboard, respectively.

 

[bigak82]

So I disabled HD audio, and that solved the problem... for about a week. Then the problem came back. So I reinstalled the drivers, which also worked... for about another week. So then I stopped using itunes. Problems seems to be solved. Might try upgrading itunes, which I don't like doing, and don't see why itunes would suddenly start doing this, since I haven't upgraded it in a while. Also, the problem didn't only happen when running itunes, but also when gaming (this has also stopped). Thoughts? Thanks a lot for helping me through this even as far as we've gotten! Even if I'm using aweful WMP for now, I've at least stopped the BSODs :-D

 

[writhziden]

You're welcome.

It sounds like you may have had a combination of problems. Your drivers may have been corrupted. iTunes may have also been corrupted and required a re-install with the latest version. Run the computer for a couple weeks and see how the system responds. Then post back how things are going.

Thank you very much for posting your steps. It is very helpful to find out what troubleshooting has been done and what the results were.

 

[bigak82]

Unfortunately the problem persists: youtube still causes crashes. WMP still seems fine. Haven't been using itunes. I reinstalled the audio drivers again and the problem persists. Is it time to update the chipset driver for the sound card and motherboard? I have no idea what that means, but I see it in a previous suggestion

 

[bigak82]

Oh, other BSOD was using NPR media player

 

[writhziden]

Chipset drivers can be found on the support site for your computer through HP driver support. 24/7 Online support for HP's Home and Home Office Products - HP Customer Care (United States - English)

 

[bigak82]

Hello,
I haven't updated the chipset drivers yet, but I did have another BSOD just using Firefox, so without any audio going at all. Does this mean it's probably not an audio issue after all? This has only happened once. Also, the system will crash when WMP is running as well, even though it had seemed to be "safe."

 

[writhziden]

It is difficult to determine the problem without the crash reports. Can you please upload the crash reports? Those are the best information for trying to narrow down the problem. Audio and network drivers use similar resources, and browsing Firefox is network related, so your crashes still appear to be related to each other.

This latest chipset drivers can be found from AMD Chipset Drivers

Always create a system restore point before installing or uninstalling drivers.