Solved BSOD error 0x000000f4, randomly

[olivert]

Had BSOD errors about 6 mo back, apparently it resolved with reseating HDD connectors.

New BSOD occurring frequently, at least daily. Often happens with any or no particular program running.

I have tried to follow steps in various other posts that include this error code, but after thinking it was resolved, got a BSOD with the same error again. Event ID 41 for all BSODs that I've been having.

I have run various diagnostics on the HDD and have found no errors or loss of integrity. Any help or creative ideas would be much appreciated.

 

[olivert]

Almost forgot. As an added bonus I can hear some kind of processing error from the inside of my case ~10-5 seconds before the computer crashes. Not certain if that can be used to troubleshoot anything else.

 

[olivert]

Had another BSOD but had a 7a code this time.

 

[axe0]

Please run Malwarebytes and scan your pc.
When the scan is finished, if something is found, click "Save Results" and choose "Copy to Clipboard" and paste it in your post.

 

[olivert]

Unfortunately couldn't just paste, so exported to .txt. I think maybe I should clean up some of these programs...

 

[axe0]

I noticed you have/had some PUP's (Potential Unwanted Programs) that are completely useless to many users and often provide unrealistic information, like in the case with Reimage which claims that a system has hundreds of errors even after it's clean installed.

I hope you haven't used programs like DriverToolkit too much, those programs are generally not recommended because, among other reasons, they often contribute to BSOD issues.
If you have, I recommend to reinstall all drivers on your system from the right source which would be either Windows Update or ASUS mainly.

 

[olivert]

Most of the freeware I've tried to install/use hasn't resulted in changes to drivers. That said, I have used https://www.solvusoft.com/en/driverdoc/ to try to update my drivers (as I was unable to update some of my hardware drivers on my own... computer didn't recognize them?).

I have not had a BSOD since yesterday, however in the interest of having no more, do you have any recommendations or instructions on how to safely update drivers via Windows Update or ASUS directly? I ask because I do not see any updates from Windows Update right now and I'm not sure how to force an update with that program :/

 

[axe0]

With Windows Update there are a few options:

• If Windows Update is configured to automatically install updates, it will install any drivers automatically.
• If Windows Update is configured so you control the update flow, simply select any drivers it may find in the list of updates that can be installed and download & install it. Depending on what drivers are installed, you may get some strange effects, like the mouse temporary not properly working or the screen flickering. After installing the drivers via Windows Update a reboot is what I would recommend.

Downloading drivers from ASUS:

1. Go to P8Z68-V PRO/GEN3 Driver & Tools | Motherboards | ASUS Global
   
2. Select Windows 7 64-bit at 'Please select OS'
3. Download the drivers you want/need
4. Extract the zip file
5. Double click 'Setup.exe' and give it permission if you get a prompt
6. Follow the instructions
7. After the installation process has finished, reboot the system and continue with the next

If you have issues, please don't hesitate to let me know

 

[olivert]

Wow. Thank you for that. I have Windows Update configured to update automatically, so that should be taken care of.

For the ASUS drivers, thank you for finding that page, it looks like it has everything I could need. Should I try to update my BIOS? I have never updated (~6 years). I have heard of bad things possibly happening but it seems that maybe it could help stabilize things as well.

 

[axe0]

A BIOS update could render your motherboard useless yes, but I have never seen that happen.
Only if there are power issues you shouldn't do it, as in a power source that's unreliable and you don't have the resources to change that, once again never seen that happen so don't worry

Updating the BIOS is a little tricky, I recommend to do it yourself once again. There's software that can do it for you, but manually is so much more trustworthy.
I looked up your motherboard manual for updating the BIOS, it's a little bit different from what I'm used to.
The manual: http://dlcdnet.asus.com/pub/ASUS/mb/LGA1155/P8Z68-V_PRO_GEN3/E6850_P8Z68-V_PRO_GEN3.pdf (no download link)
Go to chapter 3.10.4 and follow the instructions carefully. It's the part called ASUS BIOS Updater which is a process of backing up the current BIOS and updating the BIOS using DOS mode. I would understand if you prefer to use a different method for updating, but I do recommend to follow the ASUS BIOS Updater until at least the part for backing up the current BIOS.

 

[olivert]

Excellent, when I have time to update my BIOS I will.

In the meantime, I did attempt to download and install some of the drivers from the ASUS weblink, and when trying to run the setup I was told my machine does not meet the minimum requirements for the software. Perhaps because I do need to update BIOS first since they are ASUS drivers?

I also was attempting to push my computer and have it running games to see if I could create another BSOD or if it was stable enough. It lasted for ~3-4 hrs running various games, Chrome, Discord, etc. I did get a BSOD with a x7a bugcheck, details to be uploaded.

 

[axe0]

Which driver are you trying to install?
Does the message specify what requirement?

 

[olivert]

To start, VGA Graphics Accelerator, it just gives me this vague error. I checked the readme quoted below... and I am running an i7, I'm not sure what else could be holding it back.

https://imgur.com/bMpFe1Y

* 1. SYSTEM REQUIREMENTS
************************************************************

1. The system must contain one of the following Intel(R)
*** Processors:

2nd generation Intel(R) Core(TM) i3 processor
2nd generation Intel(R) Core(TM) i5 processor
2nd generation Intel(R) Core(TM) i5 vPro(TM) processor
2nd generation Intel(R) Core(TM) i7 processor
2nd generation Intel(R) Core(TM) i7 vPro(TM) processor
Intel(R) Core(TM) i3 Mobile Processor
Intel(R) Core(TM) i3 Processor
Intel(R) Core(TM) i5 Mobile Processor
Intel(R) Core(TM) i5 Processor
Intel(R) Core(TM) i7 Mobile Processor
Intel(R) Pentium(R) Processor



2. The software should be installed on systems with at
least 1 GB of system memory.

3. There should be sufficient hard disk space in the <TEMP>
directory on the system in order to install this
software.

The drivers included with this distribution package are
designed to function with all released 32-bit versions of
Microsoft Windows Vista* and Microsoft Windows* 7 operating Systems
available at the time of release of this package.

Please check with your system provider to determine the
operating system and Intel Chipset used in your system.

 

[axe0]

Assuming you're using your GTX 970 I wouldn't worry about that driver, you don't need it

 

[olivert]

Gotcha, I managed to update other drivers loaded on that page. I actually started having a different BSOD code(x1e, I think), which looks like it was caused by MSI Afterburner of all things. I don't have an issue with uninstalling that program, though if you have suggestions about any more stable GPU fan monitors I would gladly hear them.

 

[olivert]

After updating the BIOS (even though upon startup it says the same BIOS version even though the logo screen has changed slightly) things were running smoothly, but I decided to chkdsk. I had some read failures as well as at least one bad cluster. I'm wondering if this means the hard drive is about to go kaput.

Checking file system on C:
The type of the file system is NTFS.

A disk check has been scheduled.
Windows will now check the disk.

CHKDSK is verifying files (stage 1 of 5)...
832000 file records processed. File verification completed.
7049 large file records processed. 0 bad file records processed. 0 EA records processed. 74 reparse records processed. CHKDSK is verifying indexes (stage 2 of 5)...
1088632 index entries processed. Index verification completed.
0 unindexed files scanned. 0 unindexed files recovered. CHKDSK is verifying security descriptors (stage 3 of 5)...
832000 file SDs/SIDs processed. Cleaning up 70 unused index entries from index $SII of file 0x9.
Cleaning up 70 unused index entries from index $SDH of file 0x9.
Cleaning up 70 unused security descriptors.
Security descriptor verification completed.
128317 data files processed. CHKDSK is verifying Usn Journal...
37189648 USN bytes processed. Usn Journal verification completed.
CHKDSK is verifying file data (stage 4 of 5)...
Read failure with status 0xc00000b5 at offset 0x14b0829000 for 0x10000 bytes.
Read failure with status 0xc00000b5 at offset 0x14b082e000 for 0x1000 bytes.
Read failure with status 0xc00000b5 at offset 0x150190d000 for 0x10000 bytes.
Read failure with status 0xc00000b5 at offset 0x1501913000 for 0x1000 bytes.
Windows replaced bad clusters in file 78477
of name \pagefile.sys.
831984 files processed. File data verification completed.
CHKDSK is verifying free space (stage 5 of 5)...
54365264 free clusters processed. Free space verification is complete.
Adding 2 bad clusters to the Bad Clusters File.
CHKDSK discovered free space marked as allocated in the
master file table (MFT) bitmap.
CHKDSK discovered free space marked as allocated in the volume bitmap.
Windows has made corrections to the file system.

976657407 KB total disk space.
757845564 KB in 620940 files.
381412 KB in 128318 indexes.
8 KB in bad sectors.
969367 KB in use by the system.
65536 KB occupied by the log file.
217461056 KB available on disk.

4096 bytes in each allocation unit.
244164351 total allocation units on disk.
54365264 allocation units available on disk.

Internal Info:
00 b2 0c 00 d6 6e 0b 00 f7 b5 14 00 00 00 00 00 .....n..........
ea dd 00 00 4a 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 ....J...........
00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 ................

Windows has finished checking your disk.
Please wait while your computer restarts.

 

[axe0]

The read failures are because the drive didn't respond to the read request in time.

I would recommend to read the SMART and perform a benchmark, to see how many bad sectors the drive can handle and to see how well the drive's mechanism is performing.

Please do the following:

• Please download the BLUE and GREEN standard zip edition from CrystalMark to download CrystalDiskInfo and CrystalDiskMark
• Extract both zip files
• Continue below

CrystalDiskMark

• Open DiskInfo64.exe, if you get a message from User Account Control, click Yes
• Click All and wait until the test is finished
• If there ae multiple partitions belonging to the same drive, change the partition letter and click All
• Make screenshots of the results and upload the screenshots.

CrystalDiskInfo

• Open DiskMark64.exe, if you get a message from User Account Control, click Yes
• In the menu click Function, select Advanced Feature, select Raw Values and click 10[DEC]
• Below the menu you may see multiple blue orbs, these represent your hard drives, click on either of them to switch
• Make screenshots of each drive displayed in CrystalDiskInfo and upload the screenshots.

If you have any issues with either of these programs, please let me know.

 

[olivert]

I did as requested and the results are attached. Will something like SeaTools show more or different information?

 

[axe0]

The drive isn't about to fail, but as often is said, it will fail in a matter of time so prepare for it.

 

[olivert]

Awesome. I did wind up getting a 2TB hybrid drive so I think I'll restore from an image on there.

I haven't had a BSOD in a few days, so I think something must have worked. Thank you for all the feedback and help you've provided, hopefully I don't need to come back here with the same problem!