BSOD (Various types); unknown cause

[weechaca]

Hello,

Lately I've been experiencing many BSOD's while doing various things. For example, I could be playing a game and my PC will crash. I could be producing a song and the PC will crash. It happens at random- although one known warning sign of my crash coming is Google Chrome crashing and loading the "Aw Snap" page. Are there any solutions for this? Thank you in advance!

 

[koolkat77]

Welcome to SevenForums

Please upload your msinfo32.nfo file. To get this: Start Menu -> Type msinfo32 into the Search programs and files box -> When it opens, go to File, Save -> Save as msinfo32.nfo and save in a place you will remember -> Let it finish the process of gathering and saving the system info -> Right click the .nfo file, click send to compressed (zipped) folder -> Upload the .zip file here.

Please upload your msinfo32.txt file. To get this: Start Menu -> Type msinfo32 into the Search programs and files box -> When it opens, go to File, Export -> Save as msinfo32.txt and save in a place you will remember -> Let it finish the process of gathering and saving the system info -> Right click the .txt file, click send to compressed (zipped) folder -> Upload the .zip file here.

One of your recent .dmps show lot of NTFS errors.

If you have a SSD, update to the latest firmware for it.

Upload a screenshot of your hard disk using crystal disk info:

• CrystalDiskInfo - Software - Crystal Dew World
• http://www.sevenforums.com/tutorials/9733-screenshots-files-upload-post-seven-forums.html

Run Disk Check on your hard disk for file system errors and bad sectors on it:

• http://www.sevenforums.com/tutorials/433-disk-check.html

Hard drive test both short and long with:

• SeaTools for Windows

And the DOS version of seatools at last:

• SeaTools for DOS
• Here's a guide:
  SeaTools for DOS tutorial

Stop any sort of overclocking if you are.
Take memtest. Run for 8 passes and test each stick in a know good slot for an additional 6 passes.

• http://www.sevenforums.com/tutorials/105647-ram-test-memtest86.html
• Guide to using Memtest86+ - Geeks to Go Forums

The goal is to test all the RAM sticks and all the motherboard slots.

Check your motherboard manual to ensure the RAM sticks are in the recommended motherboard slots. Some motherboards have very specific slots required for the number of RAM sticks installed.

If you get errors, stop the test and continue with the next step.

1. Remove all but one stick of RAM from your computer (this will be RAM stick #1), and run Memtest86 again, for 7 passes.
Be sure to note the RAM stick, use a piece of tape with a number, and note the motherboard slot.
If this stick passes the test then go to step #3.

2. If RAM stick #1 has errors, repeat the test with RAM stick #2 in the same motherboard slot.
If RAM stick #2 passes, this indicates that RAM stick #1 may be bad. If you want to be absolutely sure, re-test RAM stick #1 in another known good slot.
If RAM stick #2 has errors, this indicates another possible bad RAM stick, a possible motherboard slot failure or inadequate settings.
3. Test the next stick of RAM (stick #2) in the next motherboard slot.
If this RAM stick has errors repeat step #2 using a known good stick if possible, or another stick.
If this RAM stick has no errors and both sticks failed in slot#1, test RAM stick #1 in this slot.
4. If you find a stick that passes the test, test it in all the other motherboard slots.

If Part 2 testing shows errors, and all tests in Part 3 show errors, you will need to test the RAM sticks in another computer and/or test other RAM in your computer to identify the problem.

In this way, you can identify whether it is a bad stick of RAM, a bad motherboard, or incompatibility between the sticks.

Let us know the results.

 

[weechaca]

Alright, here are the results.

I ran the chkdsk utility multiple times, and found no errors. I've uploaded the msinfo.txt file also. Everything seems normal- and there are no firmware updates for my SSD, which is where I run windows off of. Could it possible be a driver issue? There have been an onslaught of new driver updates, and I noticed it started happening around that time.

Thank you for your help.

 

[koolkat77]

Please uninstall the following software: (with Free Revo Uninstaller - Advanced mode)

[LIST]
[*]Start Menu\Programs\GIGABYTE	Public:Start Menu\Programs\GIGABYTE	Public	
[*]Start Menu\Programs\GIGABYTE\AutoGreen	Public:Start Menu\Programs\GIGABYTE\AutoGreen	Public	
[*]Start Menu\Programs\GIGABYTE\EnergySaver2	Public:Start Menu\Programs\GIGABYTE\EnergySaver2	Public	
[*]Start Menu\Programs\GIGABYTE\ET6	Public:Start Menu\Programs\GIGABYTE\ET6	Public	
[*]Start Menu\Programs\GIGABYTE\Smart 6	Public:Start Menu\Programs\GIGABYTE\Smart 6	Public
[/LIST]

Your other .dmp shows lot of errors with NVIDIA.

The latest drivers for NVIDIA are a little problematic as I've heard. Click on the Start rb: ► Control Panel ► Programs ► Uninstall a program ► Uninstall everything related to; NVIDIA Reboot the system. Now delete remnants of its drivers using Driver Fusion/Sweeper. Reboot if required

Download and install the drivers from the link of Filehippo bellow:

• Download NVIDIA Forceware 306.97 WHQL Vista 64 - FileHippo.com

Video Card - Stress Test with Furmark

• http://www.sevenforums.com/tutorials/100356-video-card-stress-test-furmark.html

Monitor your temps with Speccy during these tests

• Speccy - System Information - Free Download

Let us know the results.

 

[weechaca]

ALright, I uninstalled what you asked with the said programs you stated. I also re-installed all of the NVIDIA components, and did not update to the latest drivers since they seem to be buggy. Video stress tests came out excellent so no problems there. Since I've done these steps, I have experienced no new BSOD's and I've been testing my computer on various tasks from gaming, video editing, music production, word processing, web browsing- everything. Everything seems A ok. Thank you Koolkat77!

I think we can mark this as solved

 

[koolkat77]

Thanks for the update.

Let us know if there are any other problems

 

[koolkat77]

Are you still having problems with your pc? Let us know.

You should also take memtest as mentioned.

 

[weechaca]

Alright, I had issues with this a few months ago, and now the exact same issues are back! I've ran some memory tests and stress tests, and none of these results indicate that hardware is the issue-- I'm thinking my unknown BSOD's are due to a weird software driver error, as stated in the WhoCrashed results.

Thank you for your help in advance-- I hope I can solve this issue once and for all, and if not, well, there's always a clean install option!

 

[Vir Gnarus]

Can you run Driver Verifier and let it crash the system some, then send us the new crashdumps? Thanks. Remember to restart the system cleanly (at least shut down cleanly) otherwise the settings are lost.

 

[weechaca]

Hello,

I've been doing some troubleshooting since last night. I ran the startup repair utility which did nothing, and even BSOD's in safe mode when trying to test some other things. I also ran another memtest which came up with no errors, and a chkdsk which also had no errors.

I ran driver verifier, and it started crashing my computer before I even got to the Windows desktop. I have uploaded an updated copy of everything from the SF Diagnostic Tool, and have taken some extra precautions and backed up my files with Knoppix as my backup OS. Hopefully I won't have to do a fresh re-install, but at this point, the BSOD's are hindering my work (and also play) and I'm willing to re-install if it's strongly recommended!

I launched WhoCrashed and these are a few of the reports I have gotten in the past 24 hours:

On Mon 2/4/2013 5:41:25 PM GMT your computer crashed
crash dump file: C:\Windows\Minidump\020413-26941-01.dmp
This was probably caused by the following module: gdrv.sys (gdrv+0x1809)
Bugcheck code: 0xC4 (0xF6, 0xE0, 0xFFFFFA801AC3AB30, 0xFFFFF8800B794809)
Error: DRIVER_VERIFIER_DETECTED_VIOLATION
Bug check description: This is the general bug check code for fatal errors found by Driver Verifier.
A driver references a user-mode handle as kernel mode. This appears to be a typical software driver bug and is not likely to be caused by a hardware problem.
A third party driver was identified as the probable root cause of this system error. It is suggested you look for an update for the following driver: gdrv.sys .
Google query: gdrv.sys DRIVER_VERIFIER_DETECTED_VIOLATION




On Mon 2/4/2013 5:40:13 PM GMT your computer crashed
crash dump file: C:\Windows\Minidump\020413-33212-01.dmp
This was probably caused by the following module: gdrv.sys (gdrv+0x1809)
Bugcheck code: 0xC4 (0xF6, 0xE0, 0xFFFFFA801B446640, 0xFFFFF8800A55F809)
Error: DRIVER_VERIFIER_DETECTED_VIOLATION
Bug check description: This is the general bug check code for fatal errors found by Driver Verifier.
A driver references a user-mode handle as kernel mode. This appears to be a typical software driver bug and is not likely to be caused by a hardware problem.
A third party driver was identified as the probable root cause of this system error. It is suggested you look for an update for the following driver: gdrv.sys .
Google query: gdrv.sys DRIVER_VERIFIER_DETECTED_VIOLATION




On Mon 2/4/2013 8:41:19 AM GMT your computer crashed
crash dump file: C:\Windows\Minidump\020413-20888-01.dmp
This was probably caused by the following module: dxgmms1.sys (dxgmms1+0x3284F)
Bugcheck code: 0x1000007E (0xFFFFFFFFC0000005, 0xFFFFF880059CE84F, 0xFFFFF88002B464F8, 0xFFFFF88002B45D50)
Error: SYSTEM_THREAD_EXCEPTION_NOT_HANDLED_M
file path: C:\Windows\system32\drivers\dxgmms1.sys
product: Microsoft® Windows® Operating System
company: Microsoft Corporation
description: DirectX Graphics MMS
Bug check description: This indicates that a system thread generated an exception which the error handler did not catch.
This appears to be a typical software driver bug and is not likely to be caused by a hardware problem.
The crash took place in a standard Microsoft module. Your system configuration may be incorrect. Possibly this problem is caused by another driver on your system which cannot be identified at this time.
Google query: dxgmms1.sys Microsoft Corporation SYSTEM_THREAD_EXCEPTION_NOT_HANDLED_M




On Mon 2/4/2013 8:37:17 AM GMT your computer crashed
crash dump file: C:\Windows\Minidump\020413-20592-01.dmp
This was probably caused by the following module: fastfat.sys (fastfat+0x1D82)
Bugcheck code: 0x23 (0xE0107, 0xFFFFF88004DA5038, 0xFFFFF88004DA4890, 0xFFFFF800025116B5)
Error: FAT_FILE_SYSTEM
file path: C:\Windows\system32\drivers\fastfat.sys
product: Microsoft® Windows® Operating System
company: Microsoft Corporation
description: Fast FAT File System Driver
Bug check description: This indicates that a problem occurred in the FAT file system.
The crash took place in a standard Microsoft module. Your system configuration may be incorrect. Possibly this problem is caused by another driver on your system which cannot be identified at this time.
Google query: fastfat.sys Microsoft Corporation FAT_FILE_SYSTEM




On Mon 2/4/2013 7:44:36 AM GMT your computer crashed
crash dump file: C:\Windows\Minidump\020313-28017-01.dmp
This was probably caused by the following module: ntoskrnl.exe (nt+0x7F1C0)
Bugcheck code: 0x50 (0xFFFF918019853D80, 0x0, 0xFFFFF800024B76B5, 0x7)
Error: PAGE_FAULT_IN_NONPAGED_AREA
file path: C:\Windows\system32\ntoskrnl.exe
product: Microsoft® Windows® Operating System
company: Microsoft Corporation
description: NT Kernel & System
Bug check description: This indicates that invalid system memory has been referenced.
This appears to be a typical software driver bug and is not likely to be caused by a hardware problem.
The crash took place in the Windows kernel. Possibly this problem is caused by another driver which cannot be identified at this time.


On Mon 2/4/2013 6:50:17 AM GMT your computer crashed
crash dump file: C:\Windows\Minidump\020313-10280-01.dmp
This was probably caused by the following module: ntfs.sys (Ntfs+0x48D8)
Bugcheck code: 0x24 (0x1904FB, 0xFFFFF8800AEF4BF8, 0xFFFFF8800AEF4450, 0xFFFFF880018FCC91)
Error: NTFS_FILE_SYSTEM
file path: C:\Windows\system32\drivers\ntfs.sys
product: Microsoft® Windows® Operating System
company: Microsoft Corporation
description: NT File System Driver
Bug check description: This indicates a problem occurred in the NTFS file system.
The crash took place in a standard Microsoft module. Your system configuration may be incorrect. Possibly this problem is caused by another driver on your system which cannot be identified at this time.


Let me know if you need any other information.

Note: At the time of the FAT.sys crash, I had an external hard-drive plugged in that is in FAT32.

 

[Vir Gnarus]

I'm sorry, I don't see the uploaded files you mentioned in your latest post. Can you confirm that you've uploaded it?

 

[weechaca]

Oh my, I forgot to attach the files! Whoops! Here is the updated zipped folder.

 

[Vir Gnarus]

Driver Verifier has detected Gigabyte Easy Saver driver doing something inappropriate. The driver itself is pre Windows-7 (dated March 2009), but I would not recommend you update it. Rather, uninstall it. In fact, go to the Gigabyte website and look for the downloads page specific for your motherboard and note all the utilities, software, etc., anything except drivers that are needed to give functionality to a component (e.g. an audio driver to hear audio, but not some USB enhanced charging driver) and go into Programs & Features in your Control Panel and start uninstalling anything that's listed. You will want your system clean of all software and utilities that came with your motherboard. Again, only drivers required to give a device functionality, like audio drivers for audio and LAN drivers for LAN, should both stay and be updated. Motherboard software, gimmick drivers, and utilities are notorious for being very buggy, so it's good to never install them and keep the system clean of them.

I am not entirely confident this is what is actually causing your regular crashes, nor can I ascertain that from the minidumps, but this is definitely a good starting point. Repeat using Driver Verifier after you have successfully cleaned everything so we can proceed in finding any other driver bugs that may be present in the system.

 

[weechaca]

Thanks for the information. Unfortunately, for some reason, I can't find anything related to GIGABYTE installed on my computer. I un-installed these features a long time ago and things were fine for awhile-- however, I am currently unsure of how these uninstalled drivers could be affecting my PC from beyond the grave-- motherboard ghosts?! Who knows

Anywho, I'm going to keep on tracking them down. Thank you for the information and yes, this is an excellent place to start!

Edit: I lied, I opened the Command Prompt window and had the Device Manager reveal the option to show hidden drivers and removed the gdrv.sys driver from my system. Now for the driver verifier test...

Double Edit: I don't know if this is significant, but a sign that a BSOD is coming is that sometimes when I click on a program, it'll tell me that the path is inconsistent, OR, when running Google Chrome, my pages will consistently crash. Also, I have a NetGear Wireless Broadband adapter (instead of an on-board PCI card for wireless internet), and everytime I BSOD and Windows restarts, that USB device isn't detected and I have to unplug and plug it in again. When I tried checking for an update for that driver, I BSOD'd AGAIN. Let me know if you would like updated .dmp files.

This is the adapter I have: http://www.netgear.com/home/products/wireless-adapters/high-performance/wnda3100.aspx

Also ran memtest86 and chkdsk utilities but they showed nothing wrong with my hardware.

TRIPLE EDIT: I read some other posts on other forums and some articles and found that this is actually a big issue with USB network adapters like this. I think I have a corrupted driver file so I'm going to try and obtain a new one to replace the old one. My system has been stable for a little while, so maybe a few more tests should hopefully do the trick. Also, gdrv.sys kept re-installing itself and I didn't really know what to do there (and still don't). Someone suggested changing the registry hexadecimal value to 4 from 3 (so that it wouldn't turn on if any application tried accessing it). Thank you for your support and I will keep you updated!

 

[Vir Gnarus]

Mobo driver uninstallers have a tendency to be just as buggy as the software they install, in that they usually do a poor job and leave trace objects behind, such as the driver components. I know Driver Fusion (free) is an app that's commonly used to make sure there's nothing left behind, and that includes the Gigabyte Easy Saver driver. Understand that the driver is part of the Gigabyte Smart Recovery (or XPress2) software package, so if that's still around it may be rejuvenating it back to life.

There may indeed be an issue with your USB net adapter, but so far the crashes are not pointing in that direction, at least not what Driver Verifier has to say. If there's any bugs, DV will indeed sniff it out, but if there's more than one driver bug present, we'll have to work with what it finds first before we can address other ones.

The dump files so far haven't been of much help unless Driver Verifier was the one that caused them. If you'd like to provide more for us, DV will have to be on to make them count.

 

[weechaca]

I tried using Driver Fusion to erase any trace of the Gigabyte Smart Recovery but it didn't find anymore traces of it after I did a complete removal of the software with Revo Uninstall. If this is significant, one of my recent (last night) BSOD's pointed to...

On Tue 2/5/2013 6:53:50 AM GMT your computer crashed
crash dump file: C:\Windows\Minidump\020413-23946-01.dmp
This was probably caused by the following module: bcmwlhigh664.sys (bcmwlhigh664+0x1BBA3)
Bugcheck code: 0x24 (0x1904FB, 0xFFFFF8800D4B7FF8, 0xFFFFF8800D4B7850, 0xFFFFF800030AC6B5)
Error: NTFS_FILE_SYSTEM
file path: C:\Windows\system32\drivers\bcmwlhigh664.sys
product: Broadcom 802.11 Network Adapter wireless driver
company: Broadcom Corporation
description: Broadcom 802.11 Network Adapter wireless driver
Bug check description: This indicates a problem occurred in the NTFS file system.
A third party driver was identified as the probable root cause of this system error. It is suggested you look for an update for the following driver: bcmwlhigh664.sys (Broadcom 802.11 Network Adapter wireless driver, Broadcom Corporation).
Google query: bcmwlhigh664.sys Broadcom Corporation NTFS_FILE_SYSTEM

...a netgear driver file! bcmwlhigh664.sys. Again, I'm not sure if this is completely significant, but let me go ahead and re-do the driver verifier test, since I've since taken care of this broadcom issue and would like to bugcheck even more. Thank you for your help!

 

[weechaca]

Just BSOD'd once again. I'm going to upload a new copy of the updated files that the SF Diagnostic tool grabs. Once again, after I BSOD my device driver for Netgear stops working and cannot start. It's...unusual. Perhaps I should just buy an on-board PCI card?

Anywho, if I cannot resolve this issue, I am going to just re-install windows fresh from the CD. Quick question before I do this though: what's the best way to ensure that I don't install buggy drivers from Gigabyte and other third party softwares and drivers? And should I continue with my current set-up of booting Windows from an SSD and putting other things on my HDD? Thanks for your assistance.

 

[Vir Gnarus]

If you plan on doing a re-install, just make sure to only download separate drivers specifically for the components that needs it and use those. Do not use any CD that came with your motherboard.

I personally recommend giving Driver Verifier one more shot before resorting to a reinstall.

Oh, btw, have you updated the BIOS for your mobo? Wanna make sure to take care of that, since BIOS patches often fix compatibility issues with SSDs.

 

[weechaca]

I have not checked for updates to my BIOS, nor have I ever really done it myself before. I'll give that a quick look.

On another note, my computer keeps BSOD-ing now on something with ____filter.sys (I forget what the first part is and I'm on my other laptop). It then also once again crashed on the Broadcom system file which belongs to the Netgear driver. I think I'm going to go ahead and just re-install everything, as I've already backed up my files anyway. Although I do have a quick question--

You mentioned to not install anything from a CD, however, I'm having a bit of trouble finding which motherboard drivers are "essential" and which ones are not. I know which basic categories to download from (Chipset, Network, Audio etc.,) but Gigabyte has this list here: GIGABYTE - Motherboard - Socket 1155 - GA-Z68XP-UD3 (rev. 1.0) and I have no idea which ones to select from that.

Thank you once again for all of your help, and I greatly appreciate it.

 

[Vir Gnarus]

Honestly it does sound like there's an issue with that Netgear network controller if it's consistent like this. If it's a separate card, it probably should be replaced, and if it is embedded on the mobo, it is probably conducive of a bad mobo altogether. I have also witnessed the rare occasion of some incompatibility with certain router features like UPnP.

The drivers that are essential are the ones that are needed to get things working. Are you not getting internet connection? Get the LAN drivers. No audio? Get the audio drivers. Only get the ones that are required to make things happen on your system. Anything else are to be deemed superfluous and/or unstable.

Updating the BIOS on a system is a fairly simple process nowadays. Just make sure the system is in a relatively stable state at the time. If your BSODs have typically been infrequent, it should be rather safe to run the BIOS flash utility, just make sure no other programs are running at the time.