BSOD Ntoskrnl.exe

[Geotech]

BSOD ntkrnlmp.exe

-64 bit Win7 Home Premium
-Fresh install (9-17-10)
-Full Retail version
-System is about a year and a half old
-Two day old install.

I've been dealing with my win7 bsod for two months now and after reinstalling and changing various hardware out I'm all out of ideas. So far I've changed memory, power supply, reinstalled and messed with various bios settings dealing with ram timings and voltages. My most stable settings are memory set to EPP, voltage 2.075 and +.075 to the North bridge. However this is only stable enough to do light browsing and checking email. As soon as I fire up a game or try a stress test I'll get a bsod.

My system wasn't always like this. It only happened after I left my system off for about a week while I went on vacation. When I got back my system wouldn't even boot up. I had to reset the bios and put everything on auto. Every single time I get a bsod it's always from ntkrnlmp.exe or ntoskrnl.exe. I can get it while checking e-mail, right after a reboot, surfing the net, and just idle. It's just really random. I usually can't get an uptime of over four hours.

I thought it was my memory at first so I did a memtest86+ overnight and while at work for a total of 18 hours and not one error. I've tried various benchmarks and stess test programs but those always bsod after a few hours. I took the plunge and bought another set of 2x2gb memory which obviously didn't fix the problem.

The bsod only occurs while under Win7. I have XP 32bit dual booted and I can play games and do stess tests on that ALL day. I really don't want to go back to XP since I'm so comfortable with win7 but this is really bothering me.

All my various updates are current. Chipset, graphics, sound, etc etc. The only things I have installed after my fresh install are firefox, thunderbird, Steam and windows debugging tools + symbols. Even after a fresh install I got a bsod while downloading firefox...

I don't exactly know what to look for when looking into crash dumps so I'm asking for help. Any help would be greatly appreciated.

 

[Jonathan_King]

I wonder if hard drive is the cause. XP is on a different hard drive, which may explain why it does not get BSODs.

I notice in all BSODs from today, SearchIndexer was running. Granted, this is a fresh install, so it has much indexing to do. However, it is still worth noting...lots of hard drive activity!

Test your Western Digital hard drive with Data Lifeguard Tools: WD Support > Downloads > SATA & SAS > WD Caviar Black

...Summary of the Dumps:

[font=lucida console]
Built by: 7600.16617.amd64fre.win7_gdr.100618-1621
Debug session time: Sat Sep 18 21:43:29.536 2010 (UTC - 4:00)
System Uptime: 0 days 0:40:08.002
BugCheck A, {ffffda000e810160, 2, 0, fffff8000305ed5b}
Probably caused by : ntkrnlmp.exe ( nt!KeUnstackDetachProcess+13b )
BUGCHECK_STR:  0xA
PROCESS_NAME:  SearchIndexer.
¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨
Built by: 7600.16617.amd64fre.win7_gdr.100618-1621
Debug session time: Sat Sep 18 21:01:47.535 2010 (UTC - 4:00)
System Uptime: 0 days 0:49:10.000
BugCheck A, {ffffda000e9c0160, 2, 0, fffff8000304ed5b}
Probably caused by : ntkrnlmp.exe ( nt!KeUnstackDetachProcess+13b )
BUGCHECK_STR:  0xA
PROCESS_NAME:  SearchIndexer.
¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨
Built by: 7600.16617.amd64fre.win7_gdr.100618-1621
Debug session time: Sat Sep 18 18:18:57.848 2010 (UTC - 4:00)
System Uptime: 0 days 0:01:10.002
BugCheck A, {ffffda000e602160, 2, 0, fffff80002e50d5b}
Probably caused by : ntkrnlmp.exe ( nt!KeUnstackDetachProcess+13b )
BUGCHECK_STR:  0xA
PROCESS_NAME:  SearchIndexer.
¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨
Built by: 7600.16617.amd64fre.win7_gdr.100618-1621
Debug session time: Sat Sep 18 18:16:12.624 2010 (UTC - 4:00)
System Uptime: 0 days 0:02:29.012
BugCheck A, {ffffda000ee0e160, 2, 0, fffff80002c9cd5b}
Probably caused by : ntkrnlmp.exe ( nt!KeUnstackDetachProcess+13b )
BUGCHECK_STR:  0xA
PROCESS_NAME:  SearchIndexer.
¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨
Built by: 7600.16617.amd64fre.win7_gdr.100618-1621
Debug session time: Sat Sep 18 18:11:53.617 2010 (UTC - 4:00)
System Uptime: 0 days 0:01:06.004
BugCheck A, {ffffda000e61d160, 2, 0, fffff80002cabd5b}
Probably caused by : ntkrnlmp.exe ( nt!KeUnstackDetachProcess+13b )
BUGCHECK_STR:  0xA
PROCESS_NAME:  SearchIndexer.
¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨
Built by: 7600.16617.amd64fre.win7_gdr.100618-1621
Debug session time: Sat Sep 18 07:27:01.536 2010 (UTC - 4:00)
System Uptime: 0 days 2:50:56.001
BugCheck A, {ffffda000e61c160, 2, 0, fffff80002ca6d5b}
Probably caused by : ntkrnlmp.exe ( nt!KeUnstackDetachProcess+13b )
BUGCHECK_STR:  0xA
PROCESS_NAME:  SearchIndexer.
¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨
Built by: 7600.16617.amd64fre.win7_gdr.100618-1621
Debug session time: Sat Sep 18 04:17:45.035 2010 (UTC - 4:00)
System Uptime: 0 days 0:34:23.001
BugCheck A, {ffffda000566a160, 2, 0, fffff80002ca8d5b}
Probably caused by : ntkrnlmp.exe ( nt!KeUnstackDetachProcess+13b )
BUGCHECK_STR:  0xA
PROCESS_NAME:  SearchIndexer.
¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨[/font]

 

[Geotech]

Bah that never crossed my mind. I never did bother to check out the hard drive, I'll do that now and let you know the results.

 

[Geotech]

Both hard drives passed the Data lifeguard tools hard drive test. Forgot to mention XP and Win7 are on the same physical hard drive just different partitions. I'm posting this from XP since Win7 just bsods after logging on now. I have an older sata hard drive to test Win7 out on, but I'm a bit pessimistic about it.

Indexing service is running under XP. Same hardware, bios settings. I just don't get it.

 

[Jonathan_King]

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

 

[Geotech]

Going to make a backup and a restore disk and try out the driver verifier on Monday. I have a long day tomorrow so I won't have a chance to work on my pc. Thanks for all the help so far.

 

[Jonathan_King]

Good luck, keep us posted!

 

[Geotech]

I enabled driver verifier, rebooted and did a "verifier /query" but I'm not exactly sure what it's supposed to do. Win7 crashed again while I opened up windows debugging tools.

 

[Geotech]

I got a new bsod from ctaud2k.sys so I've uninstalled my sound blaster. I've also uninstalled Nod32. I'll leave the pc running PCmark while I'm out for the day. I hope it holds up.

 

[Geotech]

Came back and my pc had restarted from a bsod with driver verifier running, another ntkrnlmp.exe.

 

[Jonathan_King]

Very strange.

All dumps to date, even verifier_enabled ones, have searchindexer as the running process.

Honestly, the dumps point toward a software problem.

Where did you get your copy of Windows 7?

Try disabling Search. Search for "features" in the start menu, and select "Turn Windows features on or off".

Make sure the highlighted box is Clear:

View attachment 99147

 

[Geotech]

I just don't get how it can pass hardware stress tests, run xp perfectly, but crash with win7 in a matter of minutes.

I'll try turning off windows search and I'll keep you updated.

I got my copy of win7 from newegg.

 

[Geotech]

Well ran some typical apps that would always make win7 crash and it's still up... However it just seems like a band-aid fix. Turning off the indexing service won't affect me in the least, but knowing there is something wrong is a bit worrying.

I'll leave a benchmark running overnight and while I'm at work, but I'm pretty confident that you've solved the problem. I asked a friend if I could borrow his motherboard (Same board different revision) to ease my curiosity so I'll do another install sometime this week.

 

[reventon]

Yes - it is a bit of a stop-gap fix.

Try running the System File Checker (SFC) and Check Disk.

START -> type cmd.exe -> Right-click -> run as admin -> type sfc /scanonce -> restart computer.

Then, after the reboot

START -> type cmd.exe -> Right-click -> run as admin -> type chkdsk /r /f -> Press Y at prompt -> restart computer.

Then please follow these instructions and then upload the sfcdetails.txt file (this has the details about the SFC scan, but not the chkdsk).

How to analyze the log file entries that the Microsoft Windows Resource Checker (SFC.exe) program generates in Windows Vista

 

[Geotech]

I was able to run the chkdsk but there weren't any errors.

I'm having some problems with sfc though. I can't seem to get the command prompt to open to an elevated level. I'm doing: Start > All Programs > Accessories > Right click on Command Prompt > Run as administrator.

Cmd still opens to Users\<username>. There isn't any option to do sfc /scanonce but I can do a sfc /scannow and that didn't have any errors after completing. Or I just did it completely wrong.

When I did the findstr /c:"[SR]" %windir%\logs\cbs\cbs.log >sfcdetails.txt it doesn't look like it does anything. I obviously cannot search for the file manually I'll try doing the sfc in safe mode.

 

[reventon]

Yeah - try SFC in safe mode with sfc /scannow

 

[Geotech]

Gah, so I couldn't open an elevated cmd because I had UAC turned off. Running that sfc now.

 

[reventon]

That SFC log looks fine.

Run that chkdsk?

 

[Geotech]

Yup, chkdsk was also error free. I found the culprit though. I was able to test another motherboard and did a fresh install. With Windows Search enabled there hasn't been a single crash at all. Before a fresh install crashed even before doing windows or driver updates.

Everything in the bios is exactly the same as my old motherboard so it wasn't my memory timing or voltage. We stuck my old motherboard in my friends system and bam Ntkrnlmp.exe. As I was swapping out motherboards I noticed the northbridge heatsink from my motherboard would rock back and fourth AS you moved the board. Sadly even after artic silver and reseating the heatsink the problem still persisted. I guess after overheating numerous times something screwed up, yet mysteriously only affected Win7 haha.

I'd like to thank you wonderful people for volunteering your free time to help me out. Very reassuring there are experienced and helpful people like you guys around.

PS. Is there a way to change the thread title to "BSOD ntkrnlmp.exe"?

 

[reventon]

I'd like to thank you wonderful people for volunteering your free time to help me out. Very reassuring there are experienced and helpful people like you guys around.

PS. Is there a way to change the thread title to "BSOD ntkrnlmp.exe"?

No problem, we are here to help in any way possible.

The thread title change? Not without Admin involvement - and they already have plenty to do.

Anyway - the name doesn't really matter as there are literally hundreds of possible causes if ntkrnlmp.exe is blamed, it is better for anyone else looking for help to create a new thread so we can have a look at the info.