Crashes with no dump file.

[MrB4D]

Hello, my computer has been randomly crashing, I have tried everything to get a dump file, so that i could analyze it and then try to fix it, but Windows 7 will not leave one. Does anyone have any ideas what might be the problem? (I am running Windows 7 Professional)

 

[usasma]

Have you checked in C:\Windows\Minidump for files?
Have you checked in C:\Windows for a file named MEMORY.DMP?
Have you checked to be sure that your pagefile is at least 400 mb larger than your installed RAM?
Have you checked to be sure that your pagefile is located on the same drive as your OS?
Have you checked to be sure that you have at least 15% free space on the drive that holds your OS and pagefile?

 

[MrB4D]

Have you checked in C:\Windows\Minidump for files?

I have, and that folder does not exist

Have you checked in C:\Windows for a file named MEMORY.DMP?

I have, and I cannot find that file at all. I even did a full system search for it with no luck.

Have you checked to be sure that your pagefile is at least 400 mb larger than your installed RAM?

It was the same, so i upped it, i will tell you how it works.

Have you checked to be sure that your pagefile is located on the same drive as your OS?

I did, and it is

Have you checked to be sure that you have at least 15% free space on the drive that holds your OS and pagefile?

Yes, i have more then ample space

Thank you very for your fast response.


EDIT: Unfortunately that did not work.

 

[H2SO4]

What exactly does your "crash" look like? Is there an obvious BSOD (white text on a blue background), or does the machine simply reboot, or something else altogether?

If you check the event log (run EVENTVWR) is there anything significant-looking just before or just after the crash?

 

[usasma]

Also, please go to Start and type in "msinfo32.exe" (without the quotes) and press Enter
Save the report as an .nfo file
Then zip it up and upload/attach the .zip file with your next post.

 

[MrB4D]

H2SO4: I will be doing something, and then its as if someone pulled the power cord because the screen turns black and everything turns off. Thank you for the Event viewer advice, that showed me a few things

• Critical - Kernel-Power --The system has rebooted without cleanly shutting down first. This error could be caused if the system stopped responding, crashed, or lost power unexpectedly.

Right after that, Got this one -

• Error - EventLog -- The previous system shutdown at 12:31:20 PM on ‎10/‎25/‎2009 was unexpected.

Possibly a dieing power supply? I've only had mine about a year, but i wont rule that out.

usasma: Here you go, that is a very useful, I wish i knew about that sooner.

 

[usasma]

Many networking type errors in the msinfo32 report (winpcap, ssh, etc)
Wasn't able to spot any traces of a BSOD tho'

 

[H2SO4]

In addition to what Usasma said...

Memory dumps are produced only as a result of an instance of a class of crash known as a "bugcheck" (a BSOD). If the machine is suddenly powering off or mysteriously spontaneously rebooting without a bugcheck, then not only will there be no memory dump, but the troubleshooting approach has to be completely different.

The events you've noted are side-effects of the fact that the machine had just powered down "ungracefully" - they are not causal. Once the problem is rectified, those events will go away.

In the majority of cases, that "sudden power down" symptom is caused by hardware issues: bad or inadequate power supply, borked motherboard, over-clocked processor being unable to cope... the list of possibilities is very broad.

Unfortunately, the event log is rarely useful in these cases because the sorts of root causes capable of completely powering down everything without much ceremony also tend to preclude the logging of events. In other words, there's none of this business: "oh, wait, I know you wanted to die miserably because the PSU +12V rail just dropped to 2V, but I'd really like to spend a second or so first logging an event to say how sorry I am that this is about to occur."

Suggestions:

• Try running hardware diagnostics, especially if the hardware is relatively new and untested. Memory diags and CHKDSK /R in particular.
• Make sure you're on the latest BIOS for that motherboard.
• Update all the NIC, chipset, video... drivers.
• Don't overclock
• Open up the side of the case and test whether pointing a large mains fan on "full blast" squarely at the motherboard makes a difference to the frequency of the power-down symptom, in which case it's related to (too much) heat.
• Boot to safe mode (press F8 at startup) and leave/use the machine there long enough to form an opinion as to whether the power-downs still occur.
• Test what happens if you leave the machine in the BIOS config menu for many hours - over the weekend if necessary. If it still produces the same symptom and powers itself off... something's badly broken and it has nothing to do with the software.

 

[MrB4D]

Actually, thats a good idea, i will leave in in BIOS for a day or two to see if i get a crash, then i will put in a live CD see if it crashes, and then if i dont get a crash, i will do a memory test for a day, after that i will check the cooling and all the other things. Thank you everyone for all your help... I will post what happens after each test.

 

[PongoBongo]

Hello, my computer has been randomly crashing, I have tried everything to get a dump file, so that i could analyze it and then try to fix it, but Windows 7 will not leave one. Does anyone have any ideas what might be the problem? (I am running Windows 7 Professional)

Just to let you know, I have been having exactly the same problem.

Im running WIN 7 Pro 64 bit full edition. Its happend twice so far (Event 41, Kernel power)

As with you no dump file produced. Looking around the net, i see a number of people with the same issue.

Hard to know exactly what it could be.

If I find a solution I will let you know. Good luck!!

 

[MrB4D]

Ahh, i see. So i am not the only one. Something i did notice about my condition is that my computer will randomly crash when i have a Live CD in it. So I checked the power supply, to see if that was the problem. Some of the comments on newegg say that it randomly turns off, as was happening with me. Currently I am RMAing (if thats a word) My power supply. (the model for any who are curious its Rosewill: RX950-D-B)

 

[PongoBongo]

Ahh, i see. So i am not the only one. Something i did notice about my condition is that my computer will randomly crash when i have a Live CD in it. So I checked the power supply, to see if that was the problem. Some of the comments on newegg say that it randomly turns off, as was happening with me. Currently I am RMAing (if thats a word) My power supply. (the model for any who are curious its Rosewill: RX950-D-B)

Yes it is a weird problem.

Before I had the retail copy of WIN 7 64 bit, I was trying the 32 bit RC download. It used to crash almost every day.

However this 64 bit version, has only crashed twice. Once 4 days ago, and today.

It made me think its a software issue, but it could also be a hardware fault. Thing is it can get expensive. If its not the power suppy, maybe the processor, GFX card etc.

Ive tested my memory with Memtest86.com - Memory Diagnostic and it checks out fine. Also the system runs all the modern games without locking up.

I thought it might be to do with power management/AMD cool and quiet, but the problem is occuring in different hardware systems.

Oh well, onwards and upwards

 

[MrB4D]

Well, this is rather embarrassing. Before i sent out my power supply, i remembered my Hardware/Software Troubleshooting teacher tell me that dust can sometimes short out a system... I decided to blow out my computer, and it works perfectly. I want to thank everyone for their help, and hopefully this helps some other people.