BSOD on startup 0xF4, 0x3

[vv211]

Stop code: 0xF4
with the first argument 0x3
The next two arguments change when it blue screens, but the ones I wrote down are:
0xFFFFFA801E1E1E10
0xFFFFF80003585270

So, for the longest time I never shut down (or put to sleep, or hibernated) my computer.

Starting a few weeks, maybe a month, ago I started shutting down every night.
Every time I've started it up since then, save a very few times, it blue screens on the first attempt, either during the phase where the W7 orbs circle around start glowing, or within about 10 seconds after getting to the desktop (no password, so it logs right in). It usually takes another couple of attempts to boot up with out a blue screen.
Once it IS booted, and hasn't BSOD'd after logging in, it's all good. It never blue screens if it gets past that short period after it first logs in.

Now, however, no matter how many times I try to restart it always blue screens before it reaches the point where it logs in.

I thought maybe it was the hard drive, so I cloned the drive and it still happens. Startup repair isn't able to solve the issue, and I have no restore points that go back to before it started.

It's never created a dump file for these blue screens. When it was first happening I checked the settings, and Windows was set to "Write an event to the system log" and had Kernel memory dump selected. When that wasn't producing dump files I tried changing it to small memory dump (256 KB) and still it didn't produce a dump file. Dump file directory was always set to the default.

Another odd, possibly related thing:
When I try to access the bios, the "page" doesn't completely show up, and when I try and choose to boot from a different device, it shows the list of possible boot devices but my mouse and keyboard stop working so I can't select to boot from something else. I do use a BIOS boot password, and have always been able to type that in just fine.

Could this maybe be an issue with the motherboard then?

My drivers are up to date within a year, but I can't really access my PC to make sure that everything is fully up to date.

I don't overclock the CPU or GPU, and while the GPU stays cool even under load, the CPU will hit 105C under load (probably from me doing a lousy job of applying the thermal paste)

Full hardware specs are on my profile, but a quick overview:
MOBO: Gigabyte GA Z77 D3H
RAM: 32GB DDR3 1600MHz Corsair brand
CPU: i7-3770 (non-K)
Boot Disk: OCZ Vertex 4 (cloned to a Kingston HyperX)
PSU: 600W

 

[Laith]

This sounds like a bad harddrive. Run SeaTools for DOS and Windows.
http://www.sevenforums.com/tutorials/313457-seatools-dos-windows-how-use.html

 

[vv211]

This sounds like a bad harddrive. Run SeaTools for DOS and Windows.
http://www.sevenforums.com/tutorials/313457-seatools-dos-windows-how-use.html

I tried already cloning the old drive to a new one, and that didn't work

I believe I've found the cause though. I was about to start testing each ram stick and slot individually, and out of the blue it occurred to me that perhaps the issue was my mouse. I did get a new mouse a few weeks, maybe a month, before I started shutting down each night so I wouldn't have noticed anything right away.

I unplugged the mouse and the OS was able to boot without issues, and I was able to enter the BIOS without any issues.
So I guess I just have to leave the mouse unplugged whenever I boot.

 

[Laith]

Good you found a soultion.