Is my RAM faulty? Various BSOD

[Golden]

Is that linked directly to the BSOD I had today at 12:11 GMT?

Yes it is.

PCTools Firewall is no longer developed but i've been comfortable using this version for years without any problems / crashes. I don't know enough to know exactly what that analysis is telling me.

PCTools is conflicting with Windows - uninstall it and use Windows Firewall instead. Windows 7 never stays the same, since you regularly update it, any one of those updates are enough to conflict with PCTools.

 

[MrJWilson]

Hi,

I hope i'm not exhausting everyone with all these posts / questions.

There seems to be multiple things going wrong with my PC. Its dissapointing, given the time I spent getting it the way I like for my work (lots of audio programs to install)

I'm told that PC tools firewall triggered a BSOD. The ATI driver did too. I had a new one related to Esset Nod32 today.

I ran Driver verifier, following the tutorial from here and it caused a BSOD by Pxhlpa64.sys - relates to SONIC software? It also froze my pc alot but didnt always BSOD....not very useful

I appreciate the help guys but I'm not sure i'm quite satisfied with the solution to just uninstall software that I require, and never had problems with before.

I have never known my PC be as unstable as this, with same hardware and software installed.

Might I be better starting from scratch with a reformat? Hopefully this will sort out everything, including the CPU temp reading issues too.

I had tried to create a stable OS with all my audio related software installed, so I'd have a decent stable Macrium backup to go back to at any time, but this is the most unstable i've known and I can't pinpoint the one thing causing it.

I want to try again from fresh install and do the LEAST changes to the system this time, get a decent macrium backup of it with all the regular software I use.

Do you have any recommendations for things I should avoid installing or changing, atleast until i've made a decent backup? I read on here about some "law" where the more changes are made to the system from default install, the increase in potential for instability / BSOD issues, which seems to be true in this case.

Would I be better installing all software first and backup os before adding drivers?

PC Tools Firewall is one thing i'll leave out, but obviously I need my graphics drivers (ATI and Intel), Esset Nod32.

Sorry to ramble but i'm totally lost with all this now, and really need to sort it out soon as i'm more or less unable to do work on this system.

 

[MrJWilson]

Perhaps I may need to move this topic to another place on this board. Hard to tell if i'm going on a tangent with this, more towards backing up advice.

I apologise if this is now unrelated to hardware / device issues

 

[Golden]

Update Windows fully first, before installing the software you need.

Concerning the BSOD'S, all we can do is identify the drivets that are causing the trouble...and either recommend updating or uninstslling. Can you advise how many anti-virus software you have installed?

 

[MrJWilson]

I just have Esset Nod32 (latest). Nothing else AV / anti-spyware wise.
Latest Windows updates too.

I do wonder if the SSD is on its way out. Would this explain the multiple failings of different software / drivers that once worked under the same hardware? Anyway to test an SSD?

I have PC Tools FW which I was alerted to as being a cause of one of the bsod. Shame as I liked this for the control and simplificty it provided.

I appreciate that really the only thing that can be advised is to uninstall the software shown to trigger bsod, which is fair, but It somehow seems a deeper problem than just one isolated program that has always worked fine, crippling my system.
This is why i'm considering starting again from a fresh install and being cautious as I proceed with it.

Would it be a strange idea to do the following?:

1. Install Windows 7
2. Update to SP1 and all updates
3. Check nothing is wrong at this point
4. Install all the software I trust
5. Backup system image via Macrium
6. Install Drivers
7. Install anti virus
8. New Macrium image

I absolutley need an image I can restore to anytime, should anything go wrong (like now), one that I am assured is stable and not compromised by bad drivers or software.

 

[Golden]

Those steps are fine -do it

 

[MrJWilson]

Cheers, will do.

Could I be a bit cheeky and just ask you guys to look over the last two dump files from two BSOD I had today, to see if you spot anything causing it, not related to PC Tools FW or ATI?

I had ACPI.Sys mentioned in one

View attachment PC-25_09_2014_135300_52.zip

I promise this will be the last time I ask in this thread. I don't want to reinstall anything bad again on the new Windows installation.

Am I correct to assume it is safe to run Windows for a bit (while installing software, updates), without having all latest drivers installed e.g. ATI GFX driver. This, just untill I have created a successful image of my OS?

 

[Golden]

Am I correct to assume it is safe to run Windows for a bit (while installing software, updates), without having all latest drivers installed e.g. ATI GFX driver. This, just untill I have created a successful image of my OS?

Yes its fine.

You only had 1 BSOD today that I can see (25th), but its inconclusive as to the cause.