Sporadic BSODs on various occasions

[Zelman]

So, I've been getting Blue Screens on what appears to be seemingly random occasions. Generally, when just browsing the web or doing miscellaneous things. Sometimes, it happens minutes after startup. Sometimes, I can have my laptop on for over a day with no problem.
Interestingly (to me), I often see people reporting error when preforming CPU-heavy tasks like playing a game, though I never really seem to get them when doing such like gaming, hosting skype calls, livestreaming, etc.. It tends to happen when just browsing the internet. As such, I suspect it's something to do with that, rather than an individual program, though what do I know.

Earlier on, to my memory, the message I was getting was:
DRIVER_IRQL_NOT_LESS_OR_EQUAL
Though recently, it's been:
WORKER_THREAD_RETURNED_AT_BAD_IRQL

Unsure if that's relevant.

Here's a link to my laptop model, if that helps any: qrs.ly/cs1tany

Thanks!
-Matt Zelman

 

[Pauly]

Hello Zelman, Welcome to SF

Had scan over your dumps and noticed a few things, most dumps are reporting 0xE1 errors (worker thread) this would suggest your problem is driver based although the specific driver is not singled out.

A couple of your earlier dumps complain about netio.sys driver which is windows provided so its probably a good idea to run an sfc scan to check your OS files for any missing/corrupted data
http://www.sevenforums.com/tutorials/1538-sfc-scannow-command-system-file-checker.html

Looking through your loaded drivers from a crash dump you have some very old drivers in there that really need updating as they predate win7
wdcsam64.sys 16/04/2008 Driver Reference Table - wdcsam64.sys
vcsvad.sys 16/11/2008 Driver Reference Table - vcsvad.sys
TVALZFL.sys 19/06/2009 Driver Reference Table - TVALZFL.sys
If you cant update them i would try removing them if only as a temporary test measure

And some other drivers that can be updated if poss but not critical
pgeffect.sys 17/01/2011 Driver Reference Table - pgeffect.sys
rtl8192Ce.sys 12/07/2011 Driver Reference Table - rtl8192Ce.sys
RtsUStor.sys 17/08/2011 Driver Reference Table - RtsUStor.sys
Rt64win7.sys 23/08/2011 Driver Reference Table - Rt64win7.sys
AtihdW76.sys 06/12/2011 Driver Reference Table - AtihdW76.sys

GFX drivers are also over a year old
atikmdag.sys 13/02/2012
atikmpag.sys 13/02/2012

If you want to try to force a more accurate dump file driver verifier may help, it can be used to stress out the system in the hope of causing a crash and reporting the faulting driver but if your are going to use it be sure to read up on it first as sometimes it can leave system unbootable and needs safe mode to disable it !!
http://www.sevenforums.com/crash-lo...-driver-verifier-identify-issues-drivers.html

You have a lot of crap in your startup as well i would try lightening the load a little especially as most of it is toshiba crapware holding backk the native performance of windows

 

[Zelman]

Hello Pauly, thanks for the response!
Yep, I suspected it was a driver-related problem... Though I'm fairly versed in computers compared to the average person (or so I believe), drivers were one of the those parts that always confused me a bit...

A couple of your earlier dumps complain about netio.sys driver which is windows provided so its probably a good idea to run an sfc scan to check your OS files for any missing/corrupted data
http://www.sevenforums.com/tutorials/1538-sfc-scannow-command-system-file-checker.html

Alright- ran sfc scan three times, resulted in no integrity violations found each time.

Looking through your loaded drivers from a crash dump you have some very old drivers in there that really need updating as they predate win7
wdcsam64.sys 16/04/2008 Driver Reference Table - wdcsam64.sys
vcsvad.sys 16/11/2008 Driver Reference Table - vcsvad.sys
TVALZFL.sys 19/06/2009 Driver Reference Table - TVALZFL.sys
If you cant update them i would try removing them if only as a temporary test measure

Old indeed...

The first one seems to be my external hard drive. I found what looks like an update on the website. Will download that. I don't think this is the root of the problem though, as I believe I've had crashes without the external hard drive plugged in.

The second is apparently for an audio device. The name "Avnex Ltd. Virtual Audio Device" that it seems to be for is familiar- it's been on my Speaker/Microphone device list for quite a while, even though I'm honestly not too sure what it is. I can't recall having any real care about this device, if I've ever used it (perhaps something a friend momentarily plugged in?), so I suppose I'd have no problem with just removing this one (especially since their website seems to be unhelpful about finding a driver update). However an issue I have is that I'm not entirely sure how I would go about doing this... Removing the driver.

The last one seems to be a Toshiba-related driver. The support website, after I punch in my model, seems to list a whole BUNCH of Drivers and Updates, though I can't seem to find the specific one I need, or at the very least, I'm not sure which is which. A search of the driver lead me to a website that says it's quite recommended I DON'T remove it as it's used in various programs. A website I found with a propose update though seems somewhat sketchy... I can imagine this driver might be more closely related to my BSODs, bsed on the information I can see.

And some other drivers that can be updated if poss but not critical
pgeffect.sys 17/01/2011 Driver Reference Table - pgeffect.sys
rtl8192Ce.sys 12/07/2011 Driver Reference Table - rtl8192Ce.sys
RtsUStor.sys 17/08/2011 Driver Reference Table - RtsUStor.sys
Rt64win7.sys 23/08/2011 Driver Reference Table - Rt64win7.sys
AtihdW76.sys 06/12/2011 Driver Reference Table - AtihdW76.sys

GFX drivers are also over a year old
atikmdag.sys 13/02/2012
atikmpag.sys 13/02/2012

One of those seem to be for various Toshiba crapware I never use, the most of them seem related to Realtek, and the last seems to relate to AMD, which is my processor manufacturer (though the driver in question seems to relate to HD Audo playback...).
Realtek and AMD seem to both have plenty of driver downloads and such, though I again run the problem of having no idea how to navigate these lists and find precisely what I might need...
I did find a website that seems to relate to Realtek software, or at least, audio drivers, which is where I've seen that name most before (my built-in speakers & mic appear to be realtek). However some of the links you listed here appear to relate to "WiFi Adapter", etc... Things I'm not too familiar with. Not sure if that website then is verifiable, or if it will help me...
AMD's support website seems to have an "automatically detect and install" program though that I suppose I'll look into.

If you want to try to force a more accurate dump file driver verifier may help, it can be used to stress out the system in the hope of causing a crash and reporting the faulting driver but if your are going to use it be sure to read up on it first as sometimes it can leave system unbootable and needs safe mode to disable it !!
http://www.sevenforums.com/crash-lo...-driver-verifier-identify-issues-drivers.html

I'd rather not resort to this task just yet. I've had problems with System Restore not working right a couple times in the past... I think I might have fixed the problem (I've had a few viruses seemingly removed by my antivirus since), though I haven't been able to verify if it's working right now not...


...dang my computer is messed up.

You have a lot of crap in your startup as well i would try lightening the load a little especially as most of it is toshiba crapware holding backk the native performance of windows

Yeah, I've noticed this... Not entirely sure though which programs may or may not be needed or are entirely useful for my computer though, and at that, how exactly I might go about disabling them.


Excuse the wall of text...
Thank you very much for your help, and looking forward to a reply!

 

[Pauly]

As far as startup goes you can bin everything except your AV without problem

The amd bit your seeing is actuallt ATI which is the manufacturer of your gfx they have now merged with amd so gfx updates take you to amd site

If you want my advice stay away from all those crappy driver/we will scan your pc for free sites most of them are utter shite
I personally only install drivers from mobo manufacturers www or the manufacturers site for your specific hardware ie go to realtek site for your network drivers and punch in your hardware model No and it should offer you the appropriate driver
Heres the actual site http://www.realtek.com/downloads/

Anything else your not sure about ask back and am sure we can help

 

[Zelman]

I personally only install drivers from mobo manufacturers www or the manufacturers site for your specific hardware ie go to realtek site for your network drivers and punch in your hardware model No and it should offer you the appropriate driver
Heres the actual site Realtek

Anything else your not sure about ask back and am sure we can help

Alright so...

I went through the process of trying to update all the drivers I could manage. As of this moment...

I couldn't find anything considering "TVALZFL.sys", the "TVALZ Filter Driver - Toshiba" driver on the Toshiba website. Similarly, I'm not entirely sure how to navigate through the Realtek website as I'm not entirely sure what I need to get. The carrona website descriptions for the drivers and the links it provide don't seem to match up perfectly, or at least aren't explaining what exactly I might need to download.
At that, the AMD website was also confusing to navigate, the the auto-detect program they had on their website did nothing much...

So as of now, I'm not entirely sure if I fixed any of the problems causing my sporadic BSODs... Hrggm...

 

[Pauly]

Go here Satellite C875D-S7225 Support | Toshiba
Click drivers and updates tabs, click drivers on the left hand side list and most are there, scanned most of them and are less than 1 year old
Can see HD audio, realtek etc etc

Just noticed in your spec you are showing two AV programs (mcafee and mse) you should never ever ever have more than one AV installed can lead to many problems including possible BSODs ! !