Occasional BSOD on Dell Studio XPS 8100

[TwoBird]

Hello!

I've been getting these crashes from time to time beginning the day after I received my new Dell PC. They seem to happen when I'm watching videos on the web or playing games, although that could be a coincidence, as I do a lot of both those things.

I spoke to Dell support today, but I'm not totally confident in the resolution they gave me (which was to reinstall windows after they send me my drivers disk, but from what I understand, Bluescreens caused by ntoskrnl.exe are hardware-related).

Basic information:

- x86 (32-bit) or x64?
x64 (Home Premium)

- the original installed OS on the system?
Original

- an OEM or full retail version?
OEM

- What is the age of system (hardware)?
2 weeks old (refurbished)

- What is the age of OS installation
2 weeks (original installation)

Thank you for any help you can provide. I'll be monitoring the thread to answer any questions you helpful folks might have.

 

[yowanvista]

Dumps blame a hardware error triggered by win32k.sys, you have probably a defective RAM or GPU
http://www.sevenforums.com/crash-lockup-debug-how/35349-stop-0x124-what-means-what-try.html
http://www.sevenforums.com/tutorials/105647-ram-test-memtest86.html

BugCheck 124, {0, fffffa800661d028, fa000000, 400405}

Unable to load image \SystemRoot\System32\win32k.sys, Win32 error 0n2
*** WARNING: Unable to verify timestamp for win32k.sys
*** ERROR: Module load completed but symbols could not be loaded for win32k.sys
Probably caused by : hardware

 

[TwoBird]

I've already taken all of the steps in your link (short of a windows repair or a full re-installation, which I can't complete until Dell sends me the drivers disc).

Is there a way to try and narrow down which piece of hardware is faulty? I've run memory tests both in Windows and from the BIOS, with neither returning any errors.

EDIT: Oh, wait. It looks like you added a link. I'll take a look at it.

 

[yowanvista]

I've already taken all of the steps in your link (short of a windows repair or a full re-installation, which I can't complete until Dell sends me the drivers disc).

Is there a way to try and narrow down which piece of hardware is faulty? I've run memory tests both in Windows and from the BIOS, with neither returning any errors.

Unfortunately you have to test each component individually to identify the culprits
However you can test your components with OCCT OCCT (OverClock Checking Tool) 3.0.0 download from Guru3D.com

 

[TwoBird]

yowanvista,

I tried to run your OCCT application, but it gives me an error at the splash screen:

"Operation en virgule flottante incorrecte."

What the heck does that even mean? :/

 

[TwoBird]

Okay, I got OCCT to run (it needed a reboot). I did the first test, CPU: OCCT with a large data set. It crashed my machine and caused a bluescreen.

What's my next step?

 

[yowanvista]

Okay, I got OCCT to run (it needed a reboot). I did the first test, CPU: OCCT with a large data set. It crashed my machine and caused a bluescreen.

What's my next step?

Upload this dump file for analysis

 

[TwoBird]

Alright, here they are.

The two most recent dump files are from the OCCT tests. I ran it twice to make sure the crash could be recreated.

Thanks for your help so far, yowanvista!

 

[yowanvista]

It is still BC 0x124 which is a bad hardware, did you test the RAM with memtest86+?
Test the CPU
http://www.sevenforums.com/tutorials/100352-cpu-stress-test-prime95.html

 

[TwoBird]

I'm not sure if I did these tests right. The Prime95 test didn't do anything -- it seemed to run, then just stopped and didn't give any results (or cause a bluescreen).

I ran memtest86+ this morning before I left for work. I came back to see windows on my screen, so I'm assuming that means there were no errors, although I could be wrong.

Am I missing anything here?

 

[TwoBird]

Opened the case, reseated the ram and video card. No change. Reinstalled windows from scratch. No change.

 

[yowanvista]

Opened the case, reseated the ram and video card. No change. Reinstalled windows from scratch. No change.

Since defective hardware is the definitive cause, RMA the computer if it is still under warranty, refurbished computers tend to have hardware defects btw

 

[TwoBird]

Phone support seems to think it's a problem with the factory partition on the hard drive (wtf? lol)

They're sending a tech out to replace the hard drive sometime in the next week. We'll see if it does the trick, but I'm not hopeful. Seven beeps after a reboot apparently means a processor failure, and I'm not sure I believe this myth that a buggy Windows 7 file is causing all this mayhem.

 

[yowanvista]

Phone support seems to think it's a problem with the factory partition on the hard drive (wtf? lol)

They're sending a tech out to replace the hard drive sometime in the next week. We'll see if it does the trick, but I'm not hopeful. Seven beeps after a reboot apparently means a processor failure, and I'm not sure I believe this myth that a buggy Windows 7 file is causing all this mayhem.

Windows 7 files won't cause any problems, the defective hardware will