Solved Persistent cold boot issues

[domfjbrown]

Alternatively, what software do I need to read the dump files (and hopefully work out what driver's causing the issue...)? It'd be very handy for future reference

 

[Night Hawk]

The MS page on that is seen at How to read the small memory dump files that Windows creates for debugging

Note that page was prepared when 7 was listed as "Windows 7 Beta". The Windows 7 SDK(Software Development Pack) is the download. Be sure to check off the debugging tools item when going to install. Driver Developer Resources: Debugging Tools for Windows

Open the dump file
To open the dump file after the installation is complete, follow these steps:

1. Click Start, click Run, type cmd, and then click OK.
2. Change to the Debugging Tools for Windows folder. To do this, type the following at the command prompt, and then press ENTER: cd c:\program files\debugging tools for windows
3. To load the dump file into a debugger, type one of the following commands, and then press ENTER: windbg -y SymbolPath -i ImagePath -z DumpFilePath
   kd -y SymbolPath -i ImagePath -z DumpFilePath

 

[domfjbrown]

Sorry to be as persistent as this mutha**^$^*£&*%$*&$&* cold-boot-bsoding machine but can anyone please have a look at the last dump files I uploaded? I can't make head or tail of them. In the interim have disabled all ATI graphics and sound drivers and disabled any drivers on bits I'm not using. Shall see if this POS does the same thing tomorrow.

 

[Jonathan_King]

Hello,

It appears that AVG is causing the problem. Please uninstall it, and then run this tool: http://download.avg.com/filedir/util/avg_arv_sup_____.dir/avgremoverx64.exe

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

You can now turn off driver verifier: http://www.sevenforums.com/tutorials/101379-driver-verifier-enable-disable.html

...Summary of the dumps:

[font=lucida console]
Built by: 7600.16617.amd64fre.win7_gdr.100618-1621
Debug session time: Mon Nov 29 15:03:56.518 2010 (UTC - 5:00)
System Uptime: 0 days 0:00:47.548
*** WARNING: Unable to verify timestamp for AVGIDSDriver.sys
*** ERROR: Module load completed but symbols could not be loaded for AVGIDSDriver.sys
Probably caused by : AVGIDSDriver.sys ( AVGIDSDriver+167d9 )
BUGCHECK_STR:  0xc4_f6
DEFAULT_BUCKET_ID:  VERIFIER_ENABLED_VISTA_MINIDUMP
PROCESS_NAME:  svchost.exe
FAILURE_BUCKET_ID:  X64_0xc4_f6_VRF_AVGIDSDriver+167d9
¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨``
Built by: 7600.16617.amd64fre.win7_gdr.100618-1621
Debug session time: Mon Nov 29 14:55:26.280 2010 (UTC - 5:00)
System Uptime: 0 days 0:00:50.685
*** WARNING: Unable to verify timestamp for avgfwd6a.sys
*** ERROR: Module load completed but symbols could not be loaded for avgfwd6a.sys
Probably caused by : avgfwd6a.sys ( avgfwd6a+2b3d )
BUGCHECK_STR:  0xc4_40
DEFAULT_BUCKET_ID:  VERIFIER_ENABLED_VISTA_MINIDUMP
PROCESS_NAME:  System
FAILURE_BUCKET_ID:  X64_0xc4_40_VRF_avgfwd6a+2b3d
¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨``
  
[/font]

 

[Night Hawk]

Or simply clean it off fully and see a fresh install following a full system restart. It does sound a bit odd like the AVG installation was corrupted somehow. I've run AVG for several years on XP, Vista, and 7 without ever running into booting problems as a result of it being on.

 

[domfjbrown]

You guys are LEGENDS I'll try this out later and see what happens! It was one of the first things I'd installed after installing Windows, so it's highly probable I should have done a couple of shutdown/restart processes!

Will keep you posted

 

[Jonathan_King]

Let us know, I suspect that AVG removal will do good.

 

[Night Hawk]

If you had a bad install and clean it off well and retry running AVG again without any further problems you've found the main problem. If it persists with a full clean install then you will need to find another suitable protection.

Several other here at SF run AVG without having any. But whenever any program is found to be unsuitable dump it regardless of what it is. You could be seeing a clash of some type if it wasn't from a bad install or some problematic files where you would need a substitute. See how it goes just the same.

 

[domfjbrown]

Well, tee hee, I uninstalled, rebooted, reinstated other drivers, and have now installed AVG2011 (my licence key for AVG9 was kaput, as installing newer version, so have installed the FREE version of AVG2011... Watch this space LOL!

Thanks again guys!

 

[Night Hawk]

Sorry to hear about the license part but at least this seems to be solved for you there. You can thank Jonathan_King for going over the dump file for you and finding the cause.

You may want to contact the Grisoft support some time to let them know what happened to you however. You may still be able to get some credit.

 

[domfjbrown]

Well, I suspect the licence key didn't work because I installed the latest version of AVG (which isn't, err, version 9 which I was licenced for). Durrrr

Anyway, I'm hoping when I switch my PC on again when I get home, it'll boot nicely-nice We shall see (and thanks, Jonathan_King - I definitely owe you one

 

[domfjbrown]

With AVG 2011 it still BSODs...

Bloody POS. Uninstalling now, and won't be near this PC until Saturday. I still don't see how AVG can cause a cold boot crash - can it be something else AS WELL as AVG causing the crash with driver verifier?

Watch this space

 

[Night Hawk]

That's something else for sure! As suspected the most AVG would cause would at the worst stall Windows when already having reached the desktop. With BSODs you want to uncheck the automatic restart in the advanced system settings if needed to jot down the actual error code.

You could be looking at a hardware issue resulting in software errors being tacked on as well or some device driver is loading sideways on you. But the actual error message on the blue screen is what you will want to pass along here since that will be pointing at the likely source of your problems.

 

[Jonathan_King]

The only other thing that I can see causing AVG to crash would be your old Realtek Ethernet drivers:

Rt64win7.sys        Thu Aug 20 12:05:06 2009 (4A8D7432)

Install these updated ones: Realtek

In my experience, cold boot BSODs are usually caused by RAM. Try running Memtest86, after your machine is cold.

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

 

[Night Hawk]

Agreed! Bad ram will cause a lengthy list of issues to begin with. A good run of memtest certainly won't hurt.

You may want to run a hard drive diagnostics tool as well to see any if problems like bad sectors are being seen with the drive. Meanwhile try to grab any further blue screen error information since that will be the largest clue pointing to hardware or software in most cases.

 

[domfjbrown]

Thanks guys - that's food for thought! At work we have a free licence for Sophos, so am installing that tonight BEFORE going online again first...

I've run Memtest86 overnight from a cold boot with no errors, and have chkdsk'd the hard drive a couple of times, though will retry that later as well.

The Realtek ethernet drivers are supposedly the latest ones from Gigabyte for my board, but I'll also try installing those too. Will definitely be back soon with more info - thanks for this, guys

Mind you, will have a good look inside my case first - I kicked the computer HARD several times on Saturday (yes, the HDD was powered down ). Made me feel a lot better, but made the case look rather scuffed

 

[domfjbrown]

Well, that was a new one; got this in SAFE MODE (with networking) before putting AVG9 back on and trying those new drivers:
irql_not_less_or_equal windows 7 0x0000000a 0x000005ab00007b370 0x00000000000000002 0x0000000000000001 0xfffff800020c6419

I think that those codes are correct... Anyhow, the computer's up for now, and I've got Memtest in my CD drive for trying from cold tomorrow morning.

Interestingly, this last BSOD didn't create a minidump file... D'oh.

At least I've not kicked the computer this time

 

[Night Hawk]

The irql_not_less_or_equal part of that points to a kernel mode driver issue of some type. At least that part is software not a hardware fault. A look at the Event Viewer logs would be an idea to see what manufacturers names are seen there.

 

[domfjbrown]

<wipes egg off face>
Ohmygod - this gets weirder and weirder (thanks by the way, Night Hawk - will try to suss that one out later)... Cold booted straight into Memtest86 this morning, and errors all over the shop - a whole wall of red! Have left it running while at work, but looks like it is mainly down to memory after all!

So - what's the likeliest cause (as it's fine after a power cycle)? Should I meddle with the memory voltages, buy some new RAM (not a happy option ) or send the Corsair RAM back and get it exchanged?...

Curiouser and curiouser...

 

[Jonathan_King]

I suggest you send the RAM back for an exchange.

Out of the 100+ cold-boot BSODs I have seen, perhaps a couple of them were solved by increasing the RAM voltage slightly. Not a great success rate, but perhaps worth a shot.