BSOD Frequently while gaming or watching videos

[Sidaithe]

Okay, well after this semester is over of school, I'm going to do a full clean wipe and reinstall on both drives so it should be good after that. Thank you. I'll keep that link for reinstalling win7 handy. Until then, was that bsod I got video card related? Do I need a new video card? I was thinking about starting streaming and making youtube videos this summer. Maybe some 3d animation and rendering involved. I know that I need a new card, but I thought this one could handle most of the stuff til it died out. Is this it dying out?

 

[Boozad]

Yes it was down to your GPU.

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*                        Bugcheck Analysis                                    *
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Use !analyze -v to get detailed debugging information.

BugCheck 3B, {80000003, fffff88004971b7f, fffff88008966110, 0}

[COLOR=Red]*** WARNING: Unable to verify timestamp for nvlddmkm.sys
*** ERROR: Module load completed but symbols could not be loaded for nvlddmkm.sys[/COLOR]
Probably caused by : nvlddmkm.sys ( nvlddmkm+c9b7f )

I'd highly recommend following Greg's advice sooner rather than later.

 

[gregrocker]

Gavin, could the crash be related to Nvidia bloatware which starts with Windows unnecessarily when only the driver is needed?

I uninstall in Control Panel>Programs all of this (except the driver), turn it off in msconfig>Startup and >Services (after Hiding all MS Services) and disable all of it in services.msc. These are not needed at all unless there are special settings needed from the actual Nvidia software and not the superior Win7 settings.

 

[Boozad]

It's possible Greg, I certainly wouldn't go as far as saying it's not. Normally when I recommend nVidia driver updates I ask people to follow http://www.sevenforums.com/tutorials/327414-nvidia-drivers-avoid-problems.html for the cleanest possible install, only the graphics driver and PhysX driver are completely necessary and it's the best way of installing, especially when trying to resolve BSOD issues.
Having said that, I don't think I've ever personally seen nvlddmkm.sys be anything other than the GPU driver itself. I don't know if, say, GeForce Experience or nVidia Control Panel for example will use the same driver or have their own individual drivers. I've seen separate drivers for other nVidia applications so that may be the case but I can't make a 100% certain claim.

In the case of the 0x3B the OP received it's basically blaming the driver for passing bad code from User Mode to Kernel Mode, hence the bugcheck. If the OP had installed the driver as instructed in post #7 that would only leave the PhysX driver or graphics driver itself as possible culprits.

 

[gregrocker]

That's interesting, thanks Gav. I can see there's some real science to the BSOD analysis so I'll continue to stay out of it and sticking with doing the cleanest possible installs and their upkeep.

I was only commenting from a bloatware point of view, as I really hate the stuff since almost none of it can compete with Win7's own features.

 

[Boozad]

You're spot on Greg, bloatware has been the cause of many a BSOD and it's never wise to discount it and always wise to question it. Take this one as a case in point, a 0x124 (almost always a hardware error) caused by Gigabyte bloatware.

http://www.sevenforums.com/bsod-help-support/347734-bsod-while-watching-videos-online.html

 

[Sidaithe]

So I should be good as long as I do a better clean boot using those instructions and install my gpu using NVIDIA Drivers - Avoid Problems that?

Thanks for the replies guys. And sorry for not responding for a day. I didn't get an email telling me people responded to the post. So I just assumed there hadn't been any responses yet. Turns out there was a ton. Good thing I checked.

Also, about the general software recommendations? What do you recommend?

And my gpu is pretty dated. Should I upgrade regardless of this problem being fixed or is it still good for now? For general gaming/3D animation and possibly some streaming.

 

[Boozad]

So I should be good as long as I do a better clean boot using those instructions and install my gpu using NVIDIA Drivers - Avoid Problems that?

Yes, follow those tutorials to the letter for the best possible install for both Windows and your GPU drivers.

   Information

Be sure you follow Greg's instructions to sort your drive issues out first before reinstalling Windows.

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Thanks for the replies guys. And sorry for not responding for a day. I didn't get an email telling me people responded to the post. So I just assumed there hadn't been any responses yet. Turns out there was a ton. Good thing I checked.

Not a problem.

Also, about the general software recommendations? What do you recommend?

Give me a while and I'll detail my personal routine preventative maintenance schedule. That will be my recommendation, Greg may possibly also add some of his recommendations.

And my gpu is pretty dated. Should I upgrade regardless of this problem being fixed or is it still good for now? For general gaming/3D animation and possibly some streaming.

If the GPU is causing issues and/or holding you back performance wise then it would be a good idea to upgrade.

 

[Sidaithe]

Cool thank you!

I'll be looking forward to your recommendations Thanks for all of your help.

I'm not sure if it is causing the issues. Because afaik we are fixing the issues now. I'll fix the issues and clean boot and install then run the gpu test you gave me. Will that check if the issues are gone?

 

[Boozad]

Possibly. I think the Double Fault STOP listed in post #7 was pointing towards the graphics card but we need to either prove it or rule it out. Given what happened with your Windows install I'm not ruling anything out at the moment so once your disk issues are corrected and Windows and your GPU driver has been reinstalled afresh we'll have a much better platform to work with.

 

[gregrocker]

As to "software recommendations" everything that works best based on tens of thousands of installs we've helped with here is compiled in Clean Reinstall Windows 7. So be sure to read it over and ask back any questions.