Random BSOD when not even using laptop.

[FrenziedGopher]

Hi there!

I bought this laptop (ASUS 1215b) in August. After about a week or two, I started getting what appeared to be completely random BSODs.
Sometimes it would happen while I was reading a PDF document, other times it would happen if I was watching videos on Youtube; but what really puzzled me was that it also happened when I left the laptop unattended, and even then, I couldn't really see a pattern to nail down the cause (it could happen anywhere from seconds to hours after me going AFK, and sometimes when I brought it out of Sleep).

I went back to the store with it to have it repaired. About two weeks later, I got the laptop back.
Now, I'm pretty interested in computers and often want to try to solve things myself before asking for help, but I didn't want to go too far with this laptop because I didn't want to make my warrant obsolete from having messed up something.
Having said that, I was pretty disappointed when the papers I got from the folks who "repaired" my laptop only said that they had "modified the touchpad and ordered parts". I really would like specifics, but oh well!

So when I got home, I started up my laptop and just left it alone, to make sure that I wouldn't get anymore random BSODs.
Sure enough, after only about an hour, I'm back at square one.

I've been trying to find things out by googling stuff that I have found out through Nirnsoft's BlueScreenView, but I'm pretty stuck right now, which is why I am here.

The OS is Windows 7 Home Premium 64-bit OEM.

If it's any helpful information, I'm on wireless network with the laptop.


Thanks a bunch in advance for any assistance with this, it's driving me nuts, but at the same time I really want to find out what's going on.

Basics:
Manufacturer: ASUSTeK Computer Inc.
Model: 1215b
OS: Windows 7 Home Premium 64-bit
CPU: AMD E-350 1.60 GHz
Memory: 4096
GFX Card: AMD Radeon HD 6310 Graphics
Sound: Realtek High Definition Audio

 

[zigzag3143]

These crashes were caused by memory corruption. Please run these two tests to verify your memory and find which driver is causing the problem.


1-Memtest.

*Download a copy of Memtest86 and burn the ISO to a CD using Iso Recorder or another ISO burning program. Memtest86+ - Advanced Memory Diagnostic Tool

*Boot from the CD, and leave it running for at least 5 or 6 passes.

Just remember, any time Memtest reports errors, it can be either bad RAM or a bad motherboard slot.

Test the sticks individually, and if you find a good one, test it in all slots.

Any errors are indicative of a memory problem.

If a known good stick fails in a motherboard slot it is probably the slot.

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



2-Driver verifier

I'd suggest that you first backup your data and then make sure you've got access to another computer so you can contact us if problems arise. Then make a System Restore point (so you can restore the system using the Vista/Win7 Startup Repair feature).

In Windows 7 you can make a Startup Repair disk by going to Start....All Programs...Maintenance...Create a System Repair Disc - with Windows Vista you'll have to use your installation disk or the "Repair your computer" option at the top of the Safe Mode menu .

Then, here's the procedure:
- Go to Start and type in "verifier" (without the quotes) and press Enter
- Select "Create custom settings (for code developers)" and click "Next"
- Select "Select individual settings from a full list" and click "Next"
- Select everything EXCEPT FOR "Low Resource Simulation" and click "Next"
- Select "Select driver names from a list" and click "Next"
Then select all drivers NOT provided by Microsoft and click "Next"
- Select "Finish" on the next page.

Reboot the system and wait for it to crash to the Blue Screen. Continue to use your system normally, and if you know what causes the crash, do that repeatedly. The objective here is to get the system to crash because Driver Verifier is stressing the drivers out. If it doesn't crash for you, then let it run for at least 36 hours of continuous operation (an estimate on my part).

If you can't get into Windows because it crashes too soon, try it in Safe Mode.
If you can't get into Safe Mode, try using System Restore from your installation DVD to set the system back to the previous restore point that you created.

http://www.sevenforums.com/tutorials/101379-driver-verifier-enable-disable.html

 

[FrenziedGopher]

Hi, zigzag!

Cheers for the reply!
I will try this out ASAP (probably tomorrow, since it is pretty late here now), and I will post again once I can tell you more about the result.

Again, thanks a lot for the assistance, I appreciate it.

 

[zigzag3143]

Hi, zigzag!

Cheers for the reply!
I will try this out ASAP (probably tomorrow, since it is pretty late here now), and I will post again once I can tell you more about the result.

Again, thanks a lot for the assistance, I appreciate it.

My pleasure, glad to help. Good luck

 

[FrenziedGopher]

I have a question regarding the first step, which is the memtest. I don't actually have a DVD / CD-ROM drive on the laptop, so is there an alternative way?
Is it possible to boot from a USB memory stick or an SD card?

 

[zigzag3143]

I have a question regarding the first step, which is the memtest. I don't actually have a DVD / CD-ROM drive on the laptop, so is there an alternative way?
Is it possible to boot from a USB memory stick or an SD card?

All you need to do is make a bootable USB stick and put memtest on it.

Install Windows 7 Or Windows 8 From USB

 

[FrenziedGopher]

Thank you, and I apologise I didn't thoroughly check the links before I asked my previous question; it was well explained right in front of my nose.

I have now left Memtest on for roughly 20 hours, and it has gone through 8 passes, and I'm seeing 9 errors on the screen right now.

The issue now is that I am not really comfortable with removing the memory cover to be able to try the memory sticks individually, as this might void my warranty (there is no warranty seal on top of the screw, however, so perhaps it is safe?)

Would you suggest I move on to the driver stress test for now?


Thanks in advance!

 

[zigzag3143]

Thank you, and I apologise I didn't thoroughly check the links before I asked my previous question; it was well explained right in front of my nose.

I have now left Memtest on for roughly 20 hours, and it has gone through 8 passes, and I'm seeing 9 errors on the screen right now.

The issue now is that I am not really comfortable with removing the memory cover to be able to try the memory sticks individually, as this might void my warranty (there is no warranty seal on top of the screw, however, so perhaps it is safe?)

Would you suggest I move on to the driver stress test for now?


Thanks in advance!

If it is under warranty dont pull the ram. If memtest only kicked 8 errors in 20 hours move onto driver verifier.

If you are at all uncomfortable with doing any of this you should have the mfr do it for you,

 

[FrenziedGopher]

While I was going through the "select all drivers NOT provided by Microsoft"-part of the driver verifier step, I noticed the driver "ntoskrnl.exe" in the list, which is a Microsoft driver.

I am fairly sure that that driver has been pointed out to be the cause of many BSODs when I used BlueScreenView to try to fix things on my own.
I don't know if this changes anything, nor if you already knew that this was the case, but I wanted to throw that in there, just in case.
Sorry if I should have mentioned this before, I've just assumed that the mini dumps pretty much provided all the information that I knew.

Oh, and upon rebooting after performing the driver verifier steps, the system crashed before I got into Windows, and was apparently caused by dtsoftbus01.sys, something related to Daemon Tools. I've uninstalled the program in Safe Mode now, however, and there was no problem rebooting the second time.

 

[zigzag3143]

While I was going through the "select all drivers NOT provided by Microsoft"-part of the driver verifier step, I noticed the driver "ntoskrnl.exe" in the list, which is a Microsoft driver.

I am fairly sure that that driver has been pointed out to be the cause of many BSODs when I used BlueScreenView to try to fix things on my own.
I don't know if this changes anything, nor if you already knew that this was the case, but I wanted to throw that in there, just in case.
Sorry if I should have mentioned this before, I've just assumed that the mini dumps pretty much provided all the information that I knew.

Oh, and upon rebooting after performing the driver verifier steps, the system crashed before I got into Windows, and was apparently caused by dtsoftbus01.sys, something related to Daemon Tools. I've uninstalled the program in Safe Mode now, however, and there was no problem rebooting the second time.

Blue screen view often erroniously blames the OS when the true underlying problem is something else.


Removing daemon tools was a good idea. Major cause of BSOD's


If the computer has crashed with verifier running we need the dmp files

 

[FrenziedGopher]

Ah, I see.

After removing Daemon Tools, I didn't have to start in Safe Mode, and so far there has been no BSOD, but it's only been running for about an hour. I will keep the laptop running for as long as is needed, and if there has been any crashes within 24 hours, I will post the dmp's here.

 

[zigzag3143]

Ah, I see.

After removing Daemon Tools, I didn't have to start in Safe Mode, and so far there has been no BSOD, but it's only been running for about an hour. I will keep the laptop running for as long as is needed, and if there has been any crashes within 24 hours, I will post the dmp's here.

Glad to see you working and let us know if you need help

 

[FrenziedGopher]

I have now kept the laptop running for about 24 hours with the Driver Verifier enabled, and I have encountered a few more BSODs. Please note that I haven't actually been working on the laptop during the time the verifier has been enabled.

One was encountered early on as I was shutting down the laptop (this was due to me having to leave home, so I haven't had the laptop running for 24 hours straight, but I did left it on over night after that).

The most recent one happened when I was about to disable the verifier. I had to check the verifier guide that you linked in an earlier post to make sure I disabled it correctly, but as I was opening my browser, it stopped responding and I couldn't do anything, in which case I tried to Ctrl - Alt - Del; as I did that, my screen just went black, and all I could see was the cursor (this has happened several times before).
I tried shutting down the laptop by pressing the Windows key, right arrow key and Enter (I think that normally takes you to the shut down button, anyways), and that's when I got the BSOD.

I've attached the dmps, among them is also the dmp from when I got a BSOD caused by what I believe was Daemon Tools, as I mentioned in an earlier post, just in case you wanted to see that one as well.


Thanks in advance for the assistance!

Edit: Ah, I don't know if this is of any significance, but I forgot to mention that I got a warning window pop up yesterday (this was while the verifier was enabled) saying something along the lines of "Windows has encountered a critical problem and will automatically restart in one minute".

Edit 2: Two more BSODs have occurred after disabling the verifier. I've attached the two new dmps in the Minidumps_2 zipfile.