BSOD during general use

[denbysweeting]

Hi.

I hope you can help me.

My machine is a self-build:

Asus M4A785TD-V EVO m/b
AMD Phenom II x2 555 BE cpu
Crucial Ballisitix Tactical DDR3 4GB 1333MHz CL7 (7-7-7-24) ram
2x Samsung HD103SJ Spinpoint F3 1TB Hard Drive (SATAII 7200rpm 32MB Cache) (1x OS/apps/data, 1x backup)
Windows 7 Home Premium 32

I've ben getting BSODs during general use for a few months now. I tried replacing the RAM on 10/09/13 (was 2x 2GB Crucial DDR3 1333MHz CL9 ct25664ba1339, now as listed above) but still blue-screening.

The machine is used for accessing email/web via AOL client, managing/storing a fairly sizable photo library, document editing, no games.

I've attached data bundle (plus speccy and hwmonitor screen shots) as per posting instructions.

Many thanks.

 

[Vir Gnarus]

Not getting anything consistent or stands out. What you can do is first go into your BIOS and make sure your settings are set to safe levels (not necessarily normal levels) such as voltage - there may be safe defaults present. Next thing would be to update all your drivers for all your component parts - especially everything related to your motherboard such as audio, BIOS, etc. - and then follow up by turning on Driver Verifier, let it crash the system some, then provide us the resulting crashdumps. If it causes a boot loop, the article will explain how to get out (just go into Safe Mode and disable DV). Make sure to do the BIOS/driver update first, as DV may end up catching some irrelevant driver bugs that could very well be resolved by driver updates.

If you wanna run through a couple of hardware tests as well, you can start off with these:

RAM: Memtest86+ - 7+ passes (1 pass = all tests 1x)
CPU: Prime95 - Torture Test; Blend; overnight (9+ hours)
Drives: Seatools - All basic tests aside from the Fix all, Long generic or the advanced ones. Also provide us a screenshot of CrystalDiskInfo output.

All of these are included in the UBCD if you prefer a Live CD environment (which is the best environment to test hardware on). Also, please provide us temps/voltages using HWInfo with Sensors only option checked. Log two 30-minute instances: one for idle, and one for high load. If you can get the system to crash during high load logging, that's even better. Last, make sure that when running Prime95 that you check temps during first 30minutes or so to see if temps are stable. Prime95 runs very hot so be sure your cooling can handle it before letting it run extensively.

 

[denbysweeting]

Hi, and thanks for your prompt response!

I've run the Driver Verifier, attached is the file bundle.

BIOS only has 'Reset to Defaults', no SAFE, NORMAL, etc. I'd 'reset to defaults' about 6 weeks ago trying to trace the problem. (BIOS is up to date, by the way.)

I'd run a RAM test on the old RAM about 6 weeks ago, no fault found (only 1 pass to check for a critical fault.) I replaced the RAM with a part as-close-as-possible to manufacturer recommendations (same model, lower capacity due to 32 bit OS 3Gb limit.) Apparently these Phenoms are quite picky about RAM (to do with an on-die memory controller) so though it a good call. (In the absence of a repeatable fault condition, just a case of ticking boxes until something sticks...)

I've also reseated all hardware components and replenished CPU heatsink compound.

Thanks for your help.
Denby.

 

[Vir Gnarus]

I do see that one of these crashes was triggered by DV. It's detected AODDriver.sys not freeing memory when it's unloading itself. This driver is part of the AMD Overdrive. You'll want to uninstall this software as it has been alerted in the driver database I use that it has a propensity to cause BSODs on Windows 7 systems. In fact, any software that came with your motherboard should be removed. That means anything not designed to have the parts of the mobo function. All device drivers for the mobo (e.g. audio, lan) should be updated as well, including the BIOS.

I also saw in a few of your latest (non-DV) crashes the cause being ATMHelpr.sys, an ancient driver (dated 1997!!!) for an old Adobe software called Adobe Type Manager Deluxe. I don't know why or how you installed this software on a Win7 platform since it predates even Windows Vista I believe, but you'll want to get rid of it.