Network driver error causing crashes?

[SirWeegee]

I just got a new computer in April (the one I'm using now), and since then it's crashed twice. First time was on the 19th of April, second time was on the 17th of June.

The first time it crashed, it just randomly got the blue screen. I had just restarted my computer because of McAfee updating itself, and was looking for icons for a folder of mine in the System32 files, and I thought that that might've caused it, but according to one of my friends who's pretty good with computers, that wouldn't have made it crash. Click this to download the Minidump of the crash.

The second time it crashed, I again thought it was my fault due to me accidentally deleting one of the wrong files in my "The Sims 3" folder, but I'm not sure that that would've caused this. It was at night when I was randomly playing some games on a virus-free site, and my screen randomly went black and booted up with the whole "Your computer has shutdown unexpectedly" deal. I booted it back up normally and it ran fine. Oddly enough, I can't find the Minidump for this crash...

The reason I thought it was a network error was because me and my friend were talking for quite a little while, and he was saying that my problem was extremely rare and that it had to do with something about the network driver. He didn't exactly know what happened, but he thought that my network driver might've been caught in a memory loop.

Anyway, sorry for this being a huge post. Any help would be greatly appreciated.

 

[reventon]

Hi,

Your BSOD is most likely caused by McAfee - all 3rd Party Anti-viruses cause havoc on Windows 7 systems.

[font=lucida console]
Built by: 7600.16539.amd64fre.win7_gdr.100226-1909
Debug session time: Wed May 19 17:24:30.611 2010 (GMT+12)
System Uptime: 0 days 0:02:38.484
BugCheck 1E, {0, 0, 0, 0}
Probably caused by : ntkrnlmp.exe ( nt!KiKernelCalloutExceptionHandler+e )
BUGCHECK_STR:  0x1E
PROCESS_NAME:  [COLOR=Red][B]mcagent.exe[/B][/COLOR]
¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨
[/font]

Remove McAfee using the McAfee Removal Tool (MRT) -

MRT --> http://download.mcafee.com/products/licensed/cust_support_patches/MCPR.exe

Download the MRT & save to desktop. Boot into SAFEMODE (NO Networking) - tap F8 key during boot-up. Then go to desktop, RIGHT-click on the MRT icon and select Run as Administrator.

When complete - re-boot.

Install MS Security Essentials --> http://www.microsoft.com/Security_Essentials/

Then reset the Windows Firewall to its default settings -
START -> type cmd.exe -> right-click -> run as administrator -> type netsh advfirewall reset press enter

Regards,
Reventon

 

[SirWeegee]

So...both of the crashes were caused by McAfee? Will removing McAfee prevent this from happening in the future (one would think so, but I'm just making sure)?

Edit: Also, would Norton cause any problems if I installed that to replace McAfee?

 

[reventon]

So...both of the crashed were caused by McAfee? Will removing McAfee prevent this from happening in the future?

I do not know 100% that they were caused by McAfee. What I do know is that we see a lot of crashes that are caused by 3rd party antiviruses - so as soon as we see one mentioned as a probable cause in a dump file we immediately suspect it.

It is also good troubleshooting procedure to eliminate all possibilities - no matter how far fetched they seem. And given what we have seen before; McAfee causing BSODs does not seem far-fetched at all.

So remove it for now - and if you still get BSODs it is obviously not the cause.

And it if it is the cause - you will not get BSODs and your problem will be solved

Regards,
Reventon

 

[reventon]

Edit: Also, would Norton cause any problems if I installed that to replace McAfee?

Yes - ALL 3rd party AV's have caused BSODs on some systems. The only one that I trust 100% is Microsoft Security Essentials.

 

[SirWeegee]

Is that a good virus program, though? Or...do you know?

Either way, I really appreciate the help.

 

[Corrine]

Hi, SirWeegee.

From the information provided by Reventon from your crash dump, it does indeed appear that McAfee has caused the problems. Although it is possible that there is a conflict between McAfee and another software on your computer, considering that the problems appear to be caused by McAfee, I would consider a different antivirus solution.

The following antivirus software programs are free for personal use.

avast! 5 Home Edition
Avira AntiVir PersonalEdition Classic
Microsoft Security Essentials

For licensed programs, both ESET and Kaspersky have an excellent reputation. ESET is my favorite licensed antivirus software and MSE my favorite free for person use. I use both (on different computers). You can find a lot of other opinions in http://www.sevenforums.com/system-security/72070-whats-best-anti-virus.html.

 

[SirWeegee]

Sorry to bump this, but I was a little busy, and I wanted to ask if disabling McAfee would fix the problem, or if I'd have to completely remove it from my computer...?

 

[reventon]

Disabling it should theoretically work. I prefer to remove it so I can ensure it is no longer running.

Uninstallation instructions:

Remove McAfee using the McAfee Removal Tool (MRT) -

MRT --> http://download.mcafee.com/products/licensed/cust_support_patches/MCPR.exe

Download the MRT & save to desktop. Boot into SAFEMODE (NO Networking) - tap F8 key during boot-up. Then go to desktop, RIGHT-click on the MRT icon and select Run as Administrator.

When complete - re-boot.

Install MS Security Essentials --> http://www.microsoft.com/Security_Essentials/

Then reset the Windows Firewall to its default settings -
START -> type cmd.exe -> right-click -> run as administrator -> type netsh advfirewall reset press enter

 

[CarlTR6]

Sorry to bump this, but I was a little busy, and I wanted to ask if disabling McAfee would fix the problem, or if I'd have to completely remove it from my computer...?

I recommend removing it completely using this removal tool > Info > Tool

 

[SirWeegee]

I just finished doing everything you (Edit: You being reventon) told me to (well, I downloaded the removal tool and ran it without realizing that I should've been in safe mode and it should run as an administrator, but it only completed about a quarter of it before I checked the instructions again and noticed I was doing something wrong. I then quickly interrupted it by rebooting my computer (sorry about that, I really need to pay better attention next time...)), and it seems to be running good, except for two things. One being that, while in safe mode, running the McAfee removal tool as an administrator, it told me that it was unable to gain permission to remove everything and that it may be unsuccessful in removing everything (or something along the lines of that (I had the exact message in my mind but I somehow forgot a bit of it, sorry...)), and two being that the icon for "McAfee Antivirus Plus" (located in a custom folder of mine, if that makes any difference), is still there. Either way, I really appreciate the help from all of you.

 

[reventon]

Lets just see if McAfee appears again, if not we do not need to worry about it.