Solved Randomly crashing Windows 7

[TheMacca]

Hi all,

I have an intermittent crash happening on average once a night. When the crash occurs, it manifests in one of a few different ways.

1. Screen goes black, I see a blinking cursor (like on a command line) and then after a few seconds I see my post-BIOS loading screen.
2. The screen's graphics get corrupted and then it proceeds as in 1.
3. Sound cuts out, 5 seconds later it proceeds as in 1.
4. Full screen video (espn3.com or the like) playing. The Video freezes, sound continues playing. I can move the mouse cursor but not close any applications. When I hit ctrl-alt-delete, it goes to a blue windows background and gets stuck on "Preparing Security Options."

More info:
* Full retail version Windows 7 Home Premium 64 bit
* Recently (3 months?) installed this full retail version, where previously I was using an OEM version. I don't recall these issues with the OEM version. The install was on a new SSD.
* Computer was built by me about 2 years ago (ish). It has an AMD Phenom X4 p65 Processor (3.41 Ghz) and 8GB Ram

I've tried to do some trouble shooting myself. I looked in event logs and the only thing I could see was the computer telling me that it started up after not being shut down correctly. I looked for dump files but there didn't appear to be any there. I ran memtest86 and it didn't find anything wrong. I purchased Hot CPU Tester 4 Pro and ran that, no luck.

About 2 weeks ago I noticed that the CPU was running hot (around 78 degrees C). I took the heatsink off, cleaned the surface, put it back on and now the highest CPU temperatures I see are around 62C.

I've attached my perfmon /report results and would greatly appreciate any help the experts can offer.

Thanks for reading,
Macca.

 

[Golden]

Hi,

Some of the symptoms you describe could be graphics related.

Can you give us some detail about the graphics card? make & model, and is the driver up-too-date? Can you check how dusty the inside of the case is? maybe worth a clean, and a re-seat of the card in the MOBO slot?

Regards,
Golden

 

[TheMacca]

Hi Golden,

Thanks for the quick response.

I've attached a screen shot of the info you asked about. Also, at the same time I reseated the heatsink, I took out the graphics card and reseated it too. Didn't seem to help. Also, I downloaded FurMark and another graphics intensive "test" application and used those to stress the card, to no avail.

Please let me know what other info I can provide.

It happens frequently enough to be annoying.

Thanks man,
Macca.

 

[karlsnooks]

The Macca,


Before posting a BSOD thread, please read the instructions here: Blue Screen of Death (BSOD) Posting Instructions

 

[TheMacca]

Hi Karl, I did read that link. The only thing that I'm aware of that I didn't post was the zipped Windows_NT6_BSOD_jcgriff2 file. I didn't post that because I'm not actually getting a BSOD. If it's useful, I can post it along with anything else you identify as missing.

Thanks for reading,
M

 

[karlsnooks]

Before posting a BSOD thread, please read the instructions here: Blue Screen of Death (BSOD) Posting Instructions

 

[Golden]

Hi Macca,

Please go ahead and follow Karl's suggestions. You might also give us a bit more detail about your hardware (e.g. PSU etc.). The easiest thing is to follow this tutorial to get the information into your system specs:

http://www.sevenforums.com/tutorials/180324-system-info-see-your-system-specs.html

Lets take it from there.

Regards,
Golden

 

[TheMacca]

Okay Golden, thanks for sticking with this, I appreciate it.

Attached is the zip file containing the zipped, unmodified Windows_NT6_BSOD_jcgriff2 directory and the perfmon.html file.

I will follow the tutorial and update my profile with more information about my specs.

Thanks again,
Macca.

 

[karlsnooks]

The macca,

Please make sure that each and every step of these requirements are fulfilled.

​

[FONT=&quot]MEMORY DUMPS - REQUIREMENTS[/FONT]


Enable automatic management of the Paging file
WIN + PAUSE/BREAK key combo |
Advanced system settings (left-hand side) |
Advanced tab, Performance section, Settings |
Advanced tab, Virtual Memory section, Change |
checkmark Automatically manage paging file size for all drives |
OK | OK | OK



STARTUP AND RECOVERY SETTINGS
WIN + PAUSE/BREAK key combo |
Advanced system settings (left-hand side) |
Advanced tab, Startup and Recovery section, Settings |
in the System Failure section, checkmark Write an Event to the system log and uncheck Automatically restart|
Under Write debugging information, select Small memory dump |
in the Small dump directory: box, enter %SystemRoot%\Minidump | OK


If you get a crazy message from Win 7 about your paging file being too small, then just ignore the message since we have already made sure that the paging file is set to be managed by Win 7.

ENABLE THE WINDOWS ERROR REPORTING SERVICE
WIN key | type SERVICES.MSC | ENTER |
Scroll down to Windows Error Reporting Service |
Rt-clk on Windows Error Reporting Service | Properties |
General tab | for Startup type, choose Automatic |
In Service status, Start button (unless grayed out) | OK

​

 

[TheMacca]

Okay, I changed the settings to comply with the above instructions.

Thanks,
M

 

[karlsnooks]

TheMacca,
Please visit following site and fetch latest driver for your graphics card:
AMD Graphics Drivers & Software

 

[karlsnooks]

Okay, I changed the settings to comply with the above instructions.

Thanks,
M

the NEXT time you have a crash, the post a new "jcgriff" file for us.

Thanks, karl

 

[TheMacca]

Okay, it crashed again. Attached is a new "jcgriff" file, a new perfmon.html and a picture of the BSOD.

This time it didn't automatically reboot. I was still able to move the mouse pointer around but was unable to close some applications. Then about four applications that I had clicked to close all closed at once. The screen got corrupted, then went black and the BSOD came up. It said "Collecting data for crash dump ..." followed by "Initializing disk for crash dump ..." then did nothing else.

Let me know what else would help.

Thanks,
Macca.

 

[karlsnooks]

TheMacca,
Will take a look at dmp file in just a few minutes.

However, you might be able to learn a little about what is occurring if the next time your computer hangs then:
WIN | type RESMON | ENTER | CPU tab

Your lookiing for a red-colored entry. Right-click on it an see what you can learn. You may need to tunnel further to get to the root of the problem.


Oh yes,
WIN is the key with the wavy Microsoft flag on top.

 

[karlsnooks]

TheMacca,
There is no .dmp file in your latest upload.

 

[TheMacca]

Okay, let me go back through those steps you listed before. Will report back.

 

[TheMacca]

Okay, I checked those three items (Automatic page file management for all drives, small dump files and the appropriate location and the Windows Error Reporting service is running currently and automatically started up). Everything appears to be as you requested.

What do I try next?

 

[karlsnooks]

Read back thru those instructions re requirements for a dmp file.

Read thru carfully because you should have a dmp file. Did you maybe change the default location/default name for the dmp file?

Clear out your event logs using the batch file that I'm including.

This is to make it easier for you the separate the wheat from the chaff when you look at your event logs.

When the next system hang occurs, use RESMON.EXE to see what is hung.

Afterwards look for critical errors in the event viewer (EVENTVWR.MSC)

CLEAR EVENT LOGS USING A BATCH FILE


To delete those event logs, you can:
Ø Copy and Paste following into Notepad.
Ø Save as ClrEventLogs.BAT (or another name but extension must be BAT)
Ø Navigate to ClrEventLogs.BAT using Windows Explorer
Ø Right-click on ClrEventLogs.BAT
Ø Click on Run as Administrator


@echo off
FOR /F "tokens=1,2*" %%V IN ('bcdedit') DO SET adminTest=%%V
IF (%adminTest%)==(Access) goto noAdmin
for /F "tokens=*" %%G in ('wevtutil.exe el') DO (call :do_clear "%%G")
echo.
echo goto theEnd
:do_clear
echo clearing %1
wevtutil.exe cl %1
goto :eof
:noAdmin
Exit

 

[TheMacca]

I cleared the event logs using the batch file you supplied. When it crashes next, I will use RESMON.EXE to diagnose during the hang and the EventViewer afterwards to see what happened.

Also, I've attached a zip file with images of the screens from your instructions. I think I've followed the instructions. If you have any ideas on why I'm not getting dump files, I'm all ears.

I still have my old Windows 7 hardrive hanging around. I took a look on it and there are some dump files on there (from earlier this year and late last year). However, on the current drive, there isn't even a C:/Windows/Minidump directory. Do I need to create one?

Thanks Karl,
M

 

[karlsnooks]

is the \windows\minidump directory presently empty?