Solved Increasing Amount of BSOD & Freezes Of Late

[yesrushdt]

I have a self-built computer that's close to 4 years old. I used to get a BSOD every once in a great while, but lately BSOD and even more so freezes are happening happening at least 1-2 times a day if not more. I'm worried it may be my motherboard or a video card, but hopefully it's just something else that will be an easier fix. System specs are in my profile. I have also uploaded the DM Log Collector zip file.

The freezing seems to happen when I'm watching a video on an external drive or youtube and also while playing a flash game online. I disconnected my external drives today to see if one of those may be an issue, but I don't understand why it would happen while playing a flash game.

I had updated my video card driver a few weeks back, so I tried reinstalling the previous one but it didn't solve the problem. I turned off SLI and tried testing out using each card individually but the problem persisted.

I found another thread where someone configured their RAM to the motherboard manufacturer suggested configuration to try and troubleshoot freezes. I did this as well but I'm still getting the freezes and BSOD.

Any suggestions would be much appreciated. Thanks.

 

[Snick]

Hi yesrushdt,

Welcome to SevenForums!

Don't see any .dmp files in your attachment. Do you have it enabled?

BSOD - Configure Windows to Create Dump File

 

[yesrushdt]

Hi yesrushdt,

Welcome to SevenForums!

Don't see any .dmp files in your attachment. Do you have it enabled?

BSOD - Configure Windows to Create Dump File

Sorry, i didn't realize I had enable it. Which dump file do you recommend? Full, Kernel or Small?

 

[Snick]

No problem, lets go with the Kernel dump for now.

Have you run
chkdsk /r & sfc /scannow ?

Have you installed all Win Updates

Stress test the Graphics Card:
:ar: Video Card - Stress Test with Furmark

Is the computer hot? What temps are you getting after a couple of hours of normal usage.
Upload a screenshot of the summary tab of Speccy.

Nic

 

[yesrushdt]

No problem, lets go with the Kernel dump for now.

Have you run
chkdsk /r & sfc /scannow ?

Have you installed all Win Updates

Stress test the Graphics Card:
:ar: Video Card - Stress Test with Furmark

Is the computer hot? What temps are you getting after a couple of hours of normal usage.
Upload a screenshot of the summary tab of Speccy.

Nic

I ran the chkdsk/r a few weeks back and that came back ok as did the sfc/scannow I ran today ( no integrity violations found). I ran the video card stress test and didn't see any artifacts (1 video card was running hotter than the other- 88 degrees C tops). Speccy summary below:

The Kernel dump was already enabled. There haven't been any BSODs since before I ran the DM log collector. I'll run another one after the next BSOD. I haven't had any more freezes since yesterday morning when it froze 3 times.

Windows update performed today. I've been hesitant to keep Windows updated ever since it wiped everything from my hard drive around 13 years ago.

My PC has been running around 7 hours since with no more problems. I'll be sure to keep you updated.

 

[Snick]

I've been hesitant to keep Windows updated ever since it wiped everything from my hard drive around 13 years ago.

Do you backup your computer (system image and incremental/differential backups) to an External Hard Drive?

Nic

 

[yesrushdt]

Do you backup your computer (system image and incremental/differential backups) to an External Hard Drive?
Nic

Yep, I learned my lesson.

No more BSODs or freezes since last Friday. I'll give it a few more days and then mark this solved unless another issue rears it's ugly head.

 

[Snick]

Awesome, sincerely hope you don't experience any more BSODs.
If you have any additional question or concerns, we're here for you!
Nic

 

[yesrushdt]

I guess I spoke too soon. PC froze again after I had it on for about 1.5 hours today. I'm going to try hooking my monitor into the other video card again just in case.

One thing I forgot to mention was my audio. I had an issue for a few weeks where my audio would cut out a couple times a day as well. All I had to do was go into the sound properties for my playback devices, disable my default device, re-enable it and the audio would come back on. This hasn't occurred in the last two weeks but it's odd that it started happening out of blue. Audio card is built into my motherboard by the way. I have all the latest drivers for my motherboard including the BIOS.

 

[Snick]

Do you have any time when you do not use your computer? I'd like you to run

Driver Verifier - Enable and Disable - Windows 7 Help Forums for at least 24 hours.

It will cause your PC to BSOD on purpose. Check to make sure you are not using the dmp setting that dmp will overwrite the previous one. We want to collect a few dmps for comparison purposes, i.e. the same entries, or similar which hopefully will point us towards the cause. axe0 is the expert here, and if we can get a few dmps and not be able to pin down the root cause, we'll invoke his assistance.

Nic

 

[yesrushdt]

Thanks for all your help Snick. I've been hooked up to my second video card for well over a week now and I've only had one freeze. This one was different from the others as it hung on the audio as well and gave me one long high pitch tone until I reset the PC. If I get another freeze within the next couple weeks I'll try the driver verifier, otherwise I'll just mark this as solved.

 

[Snick]

Glad to hear it! I have had my desktop ps, while running Audacity, emit the same or similar tone. It only happened twice and that was months ago. Turned out to be a switch on a high intensity light I was using to illuminate my turntable plugged into my surge protector. Just add to experience list with computer issues.

Wish you the best! Have a GREAT ONE!

Nic