BSOD

[rmathiot]

Hello All... I've had a reoccurring problem with my system since I received it in Sept. '10. It will BSOD normally when I have it plugged into our samsung plasma and are watching iTunes tv shows. But other times it will crash when I'm just writing an email.

I'm running... Windows 7 x64 OEM, it's a Dell Studio 1558 laptop and I received it on Sept 16, 2010. I haven't reinstalled the OS, but I have updated all of the drivers, run diagnostics (no help there) and ran debugger. I assume that the debugger files are included with the jcgriff2 files I've attached, but let me know if you need them!

I'm thinking it might be a driver issue... but before I try to run Driver Verifier (it sounds a little scary and might be out of my league...) I would love to see what you guys thought!

Thanks for the help!

 

[zigzag3143]

Hello All... I've had a reoccurring problem with my system since I received it in Sept. '10. It will BSOD normally when I have it plugged into our samsung plasma and are watching iTunes tv shows. But other times it will crash when I'm just writing an email.

I'm running... Windows 7 x64 OEM, it's a Dell Studio 1558 laptop and I received it on Sept 16, 2010. I haven't reinstalled the OS, but I have updated all of the drivers, run diagnostics (no help there) and ran debugger. I assume that the debugger files are included with the jcgriff2 files I've attached, but let me know if you need them!

I'm thinking it might be a driver issue... but before I try to run Driver Verifier (it sounds a little scary and might be out of my league...) I would love to see what you guys thought!

Thanks for the help!

Two problems.

First Symantec. remove and replace with Microsoft Security Essentials and win 7 firewall

Download and run the Norton Removal Tool to uninstall your Norton product | Norton Support

http://www.microsoft.com/security_essentials/

Second--Almost all of the drivers are undated (and perhaps signed) did you get a win 7 dvd with the machine or a "recovery"dvd?


I would suggest a system file check

http://www.sevenforums.com/tutorials/1538-sfc-scannow-command-system-file-checker.html?ltr=S

Let us know if that doesn't fix the problem

ken J

 

[rmathiot]

Thank you zigzag for getting back to me so quickly! I'm crossing my fingers and hoping this solves the problem!

I have already removed Symantec and have installed the Microsoft Security Essentials and the win firewall is on. I've located the Dell 'drivers and utilities' disk that was sent with the computer... but I did not get a Win 7 DVD. What should I do at this point? (try to reinstall the drivers included on the disk, try to get a Win 7 DVD from Dell...??)

Right now, I'll do a system file check and see if everything is ok. I'll let you know if anything turns up!

Thanks again!

 

[rmathiot]

Good news... no 'integrity violations' during the system scan!

Let me know what I should do with those drivers... Thanks!

 

[rmathiot]

So I've waited a few days to see if the fixes have took... and I've had 2 BSOD so far. They are always when I'm watching recorded shows on iTunes. What's more frustrating is that the computer is not finishing the minidumps, so I have no records of the crashes. (I already have the automatic restart turned off.)

I'm wondering what I should do now? Should I move on to Driver Verifier? (I have already made a system recovery disk, since I don't have the Win7 DVD)

Thank you so much for your help!

Sidenote -- I uninstalled Symantec Internet Security before -- I assume it was just the wrong version, that's why I had to take it off? I'm a little nervous not having anything but Microsoft Security Essentials. I've heard Norton Antivirus 2011 plays nice with Win7... just wanting to make sure it's not all Symantec programs. Thanks again!

 

[Tews]

Go ahead and turn driver verifier on and lets see what it turns up..

- Go to Start and type in "verifier" (without the quotes) and press Enter
- Select "Create custom settings (for code developers)" and click "Next"
- Select "Select individual settings from a full list" and click "Next"
- Select everything EXCEPT FOR "Low Resource Simulation" and click "Next"
- Select "Select driver names from a list" and click "Next"
Then select all drivers NOT provided by Microsoft and click "Next"
- Select "Finish" on the next page.

Reboot the system and wait for it to crash to the Blue Screen. Continue to use your system normally, and if you know what causes the crash, do that repeatedly. The objective here is to get the system to crash because Driver Verifier is stressing the drivers out. If it doesn't crash for you, then let it run for at least 36 hours of continuous operation (an estimate on my part).

 

[rmathiot]

Thanks Tews for your advice!

So I ran Driver Verifier, and got it to crash, but there is no minidump file for the crash. Is there another file that Driver Verifier makes, or should I continue to crash the machine till it makes one?
BTW - The computer hasn't been able to make/finish a new minidump since mid-Oct... so I'm kinda doubtful it will make one anytime soon.

Does anyone have any more suggestions? I'm at a loss now...

 

[Tews]

Please do the following..

Click Start, point to Settings, and then click Control Panel.
Double-click System.
Click the Advanced tab, and then click Settings under Startup and Recovery.
In the Write debugging information list, click Small memory dump (64k).

To change the folder location for the small memory dump files, type a new path in the Dump File box (or in the Small dump directory box, depending on your version of Windows).

 

[rmathiot]

YAY! New minidump attached!

Thanks Tews!! Your suggestion worked!
I have attached a zip folder of the minidump file that Driver Verifier produced.
I don't know if I needed to... but I also re-ran the jcgriff2 app... and have attached the output. I'm hoping it picked up the new minidump file!

Thank you so much again for all the help!!