Help with crash, not sure if it's software or HW

[mudphud]

Built my own system and installed 64 bit version of Windows 7 Pro. It is a full retail version. It was installed over an XP install, but has since been reinstalled on a clean partition.

The system is only 2 months old. The OS resintallation was just a few days ago.

I built the machine and it worked well for a while. Then after playing Portal for a week, the machine started to freeze up. The next thing I noticed is that the machine would freeze when just browsing the web. Afterwards, the machine wouldn't start at all and I would get the BSOD. Thought it was the video card causing the problems and the folks at the video card manufacturer thought it might be too, so I bought a second video card to test it.

I replaced the video card with a similar model from a different manufacturer, but the same thing happened and got this current BSOD.

Oh, also ran memtest 86 and was able to get through 3+ cycles without errors.

I have enclosed the dmp file from my /windows/minidump folder.

I would appreciate any insight you can offer.

Thanks!

 

[Capt.Jack Sparrow]

Hello and Welcome !

Seems like the Dump files are ocrrupted please follow this article and run the Tool mentioned in the article http://www.sevenforums.com/crashes-debugging/96879-blue-screen-death-bsod-posting-instructions.html

- Captain

 

[mudphud]

Thanks for taking a look at that. I had a another crash and have posted both the minidump file and the BSOD zip from the posting instructions.

Please let me know if there's anything else that would help.

 

[Jonathan_King]

I wonder if Avast is the cause. Please remove it with this tool: http://files.avast.com/files/eng/aswclear5.exe

Replace it with MSE: http://www.microsoft.com/security_essentials

If the crashes persist, follow the BSOD Posting Instruction sticky again.

...Summary of the Dump:

[font=lucida console]
¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨
Built by: 7600.16617.amd64fre.win7_gdr.100618-1621
Debug session time: Sat Sep 18 09:29:42.794 2010 (GMT-4)
System Uptime: 0 days 0:00:18.871
BugCheck E3, {fffff8a000201bc0, fffffa8007c10b60, 0, 2}
Probably caused by : ntkrnlmp.exe ( nt! ?? ::FNODOBFM::`string'+1a5a8 )
BUGCHECK_STR:  0xE3
PROCESS_NAME:  AvastSvc.exe
¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨
[/font]

 

[mudphud]

Thanks for the help! It's working like a charm so far.

It also allowed me to determine that my original video card was faulty, so that's going back for an RMA. Hopefully with Avast gone, the sytem will remain stable.

Thanks!

 

[mudphud]

bizarre daily BSOD (only in the mornings...)

Sorry, apparently I spoke too soon. I replaced avast with the MS antivirus.

The crash seems to happen everytime I start up the computer in the morning. I've tried to wait a few hours and then start up the computer in the evening, no crash. I am wondering if it is somehow related to the clock resetting to a new day, as bizarre as that sounds. I have included the files again and would again be appreciative of any insight.

Thanks.

 

[Jonathan_King]

That is often a sign of bad RAM. Could you try testing it first thing in the morning, immediately upon starting up?

http://www.sevenforums.com/tutorials/105647-ram-test-memtest86.html

 

[mudphud]

Memtest

Thanks for your response. I ran memtest this morning and the first time I ran it, it showed multiple memory errors.

However, I rebooted and it ran 2 more times without errors. I have also run it multiple times prior to this morning and it didn't have any errors through about 12 cumulative hours of testing.

Just wanted to check if these inconsistent results still indicated defective RAM.

Thanks!

 

[Capt.Jack Sparrow]

Thanks for your response. I ran memtest this morning and the first time I ran it, it showed multiple memory errors.

However, I rebooted and it ran 2 more times without errors. I have also run it multiple times prior to this morning and it didn't have any errors through about 12 cumulative hours of testing.

Just wanted to check if these inconsistent results still indicated defective RAM.

Thanks!

It could be the RAM itself that's causing. Make sure it's seated properly. If it covers warranty send it for replacement.

- Captain

 

[mudphud]

Thanks for all your help! It is covered by the warranty and I will send it in for replacement.

 

[Jonathan_King]

That sounds like a great plan.

You may also try increasing the RAM voltage slightly in the BIOS, I have seen that fix this problem once or twice.