Win 7 64bit BSOD/Freezes/Reboots

[uktetra2000]

Hi guys. I'm here with a massive, mind-boggling annoying Win 7 64bit problem that - to be honest - I'm at the end of my tether with.

I purchased a Dell Studio XPS8100 (yeah, I should know better) a few months back and from day one I've been getting BSOD / random reboots almost constantly with it. Sometimes it'll do it as I'm logging on the machine or even during a boot-up, just resetting itself and starting again.

It happens randomly, from working with large files in Photoshop, browsing the net, to the machine idling with no programs open/in use and nobody using it and it will just die/freeze/reboot itself.

Dell, being the nice chaps they are, didn't want to know at first, but after much shouting sent an engineer out and he couldn't find anything wrong with it! They basically ended up replacing 2x HDD's (linked together as 1 HDD), CPU, motherboard, fans, power supply (but not the 8gb of ram strangely). As he put in the new motherboard it became apparent that one of the slots was broken on it (!) so another one would need to be sent out. He said it would work, but with only 6gb in it. So I said fine.

That night & weekend the machine never once fell over. When he came back with the new board and with the full 8gb back in, and was out the door, it froze/rebooted again. How I didn't throw it out of the window I don't know.

Seeing as the ram wasn't replaced, I asked Dell (yeah, I covered myself by getting written permission) If I could take one of the sticks out to see if it would behave on 6gb like it did the previous weekend.

Once I'd done that, it worked fine and left it at that (glad that I could finally get some work done!).

Fast forward to this past week and its returned to its old ways of BSOD/freezing/rebooting almost 5-8 times a day randomly with the 6gb in.

Before I start shouting at Dell again and demanding new ram, I've been reading this forum and thought I'd try and see if anyone can help out.

A few notes from reading other posts here:

• I'm a noob when it comes to computers and stuff like this (hence I'm in this mess).
• I run MSE, no other virus scanners etc (the machine originally came with one but the engineer never replaced it during the reinstall of Win7).
• I've checked the Device Manger for yellow triangles (none) and tried updating all the drivers through it, but they all come back as 'Latest driver installed'.
• I ended turning Windows Update off as during before it was updated by the Dell engineer WinUpdate was set to download/install things by itself, but this only seemed to accelerate the number of times it would fall over. Once the reinstall was done I switched all updates off and it hasn't updated since. I know the patches are useful but it just seem to make the machine worse, not better.

Specs:
System Manufacturer/Model Number Dell Studio XPS 8100
OS Windows 7 Professional 64bit
CPU Intel Core i5 650 @ 3.20GHz
Motherboard Dell Inc. 0T568R (CPU 1)
Memory (8.0GB) 6.0GB Dual-Channel DDR3 @ 665MHz (9-9-9-24)
Graphics Card NVIDIA GeForce GTS 240
Sound Card Realtek High Definition Audio
Monitor(s) Displays DELL E228WFP @ 1680x1050
Screen Resolution 1680x1050
Keyboard Standard Dell unit
Mouse Standard Dell unit
Hard Drives 1954GB Volume0 (SCSI) - 2x 1TB HDD's

Hopefully there is an answer somewhere, that doesn't involve wrestling with Dell for weeks on end to get some new bits, or worse, the machine sent back whilst I twiddle my thumbs unable to do any work / borrow a spare machine.

Sorry for the long post too - thought best to try explaining everything upfront to save time going backwards/forwards on things.

Thanks in advance.
Daz.

 

[usasma]

Only one memory dump present in the upload - it's from today (13 Oct).
Please follow the directions here to check and see if the system is set for minidumps:Set MiniDump

I suggest starting all troubleshooting with the following diagnostic tests (in this case, to double check the previous work). They'll save you a lot of time and heartache if there is a hardware failure, and you'll have the disks on hand in case you need them in the future:

H/W Diagnostics:
Please start by running these bootable hardware diagnostics:
Memory Diagnostics (read the details at the link)
HD Diagnostic (read the details at the link)

Also, please run one of these free, independent online malware scans to ensure that your current protection hasn't been compromised: Malware (read the details at the link)

Here's a link to a brief description of the error message: BSOD Index
As this points at a driver, let's run Driver Verifier according to these instructions:

Using Driver Verifier is an iffy proposition. Most times it'll crash and it'll tell you what the driver is. But sometimes it'll crash and won't tell you the driver. Other times it'll crash before you can log in to Windows. If you can't get to Safe Mode, then you'll have to resort to offline editing of the registry to disable Driver Verifier.

So, I'd suggest that you first backup your stuff 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).

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"
NOTE: You can use Low Resource Simulation if you'd like. From my limited experimentation it makes the BSOD's come faster.
- 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).

Reboot into Windows (after the crash) and turn off Driver Verifier by going back in and selecting "Delete existing settings" on the first page, then locate and zip up the memory dump file and upload it with your next post.

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.

If that doesn't work, post back and we'll have to see about fixing the registry entry off-line:

Delete these registry keys (works in XP, Vista, Win7):
        HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Control\Session Manager\Memory Management\VerifyDrivers
        HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Control\Session Manager\Memory Management\VerifyDriverLevel

More info on this at this link: Using Driver Verifier to identify issues with Windows drivers for advanced users

BSOD BUGCHECK SUMMARY

[font=lucida console]
Built by: 7600.16385.amd64fre.win7_rtm.090713-1255
Debug session time: Wed Oct 13 08:17:08.056 2010 (UTC - 4:00)
System Uptime: 0 days 0:01:36.664
BugCheck DE, {2, fffff8a000f0e390, fffff8a000f0e3c1, 14d3588c0}
Probably caused by : ntkrnlmp.exe ( nt! ?? ::FNODOBFM::`string'+2d2e0 )
DEFAULT_BUCKET_ID:  VISTA_DRIVER_FAULT
BUGCHECK_STR:  0xDE
PROCESS_NAME:  System
Bugcheck code 000000DE
Arguments 00000000`00000002 fffff8a0`00f0e390 fffff8a0`00f0e3c1 00000001`4d3588c0
¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨``
  
  [/font]

 

[uktetra2000]

Thanks usasma - I'm going to work on this today so will report back when I've gone through it all.

Daz.

 

[uktetra2000]

Hi,

I've run through all the suggestions and this is the outcome:

• Set Minidumps - OK and working.
• Memory Diagnostics - OK & no errors - 7 passes over 9.5 hours.
• HD Diagnostics - OK - No errors
  
• Set up Driver Verifier - OK - Reboots okay and was collecting info between crashes.
• Malware Check - OK - Used saftey.live.com

I've attached the latest dumps & a new health report. I'm not sure how many dumps there are or how many you want so if there isn't enough I can do more.

Thanks in advance.
Daz

 

[usasma]

OK, the latest dumps aren't Driver Verifier Enabled memory dumps.

So, please run Driver Verifier again - this time selecting ONLY the Microsoft drivers (since Driver Verifier didn't fault on the 3rd party drivers we have to check and see if it faults on the Windows drivers).

BSOD BUGCHECK SUMMARY

[font=lucida console]
Built by: 7600.16385.amd64fre.win7_rtm.090713-1255
Debug session time: Thu Oct 14 08:26:09.582 2010 (UTC - 4:00)
System Uptime: 0 days 0:20:06.189
Probably caused by : dxgmms1.sys ( dxgmms1!VIDMM_GLOBAL::ReferenceAllocationForPreparation+79 )
PROCESS_NAME:  System
BUGCHECK_STR:  0x7E
DEFAULT_BUCKET_ID:  NULL_CLASS_PTR_DEREFERENCE
Bugcheck code 1000007E
Arguments ffffffff`c0000005 fffff880`05362d45 fffff880`05b896a8 fffff880`05b88f00
¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨``
Built by: 7600.16385.amd64fre.win7_rtm.090713-1255
Debug session time: Thu Oct 14 08:02:45.773 2010 (UTC - 4:00)
System Uptime: 0 days 0:00:41.380
Probably caused by : memory_corruption
DEFAULT_BUCKET_ID:  CODE_CORRUPTION
BUGCHECK_STR:  0x3B
PROCESS_NAME:  baspin.exe
Bugcheck code 0000003B
Arguments 00000000`c0000005 fffff800`02cc0e0e fffff880`08161150 00000000`00000000
¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨``
Built by: 7600.16385.amd64fre.win7_rtm.090713-1255
Debug session time: Thu Oct 14 06:41:29.501 2010 (UTC - 4:00)
System Uptime: 0 days 0:35:13.109
Probably caused by : Ntfs.sys ( Ntfs!NtfsCommonWrite+da0 )
DEFAULT_BUCKET_ID:  VISTA_DRIVER_FAULT
PROCESS_NAME:  Photoshop.exe
BUGCHECK_STR:  0x24
Bugcheck code 00000024
Arguments 00000000`001904fb fffff880`0a1ff118 fffff880`0a1fe970 fffff800`02cc6105
¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨``
  
  [/font]

 

[uktetra2000]

Hi,
I've tried rerunning the Driver tests with only MS drivers selected and now the machine wont even boot up. It also looked like it wouldn't create any dumps when it BSOD'd but upon creating the latest pull it added 2 from the 16th (today) so I've added them anyway but I don't think they are from when the verifier was running with the MS drivers on.

I had to use the system restore option to get the machine to boot up again.

What do I do now? I cant run windows / create dumps properly with MS drivers selected, and the other drivers throw no errors, even though it crashes.

I'm starting to think of just sending this crapbox back to Dell to get them to figure it out - or give me a new machine.



Thanks,
Daz

 

[Jonathan_King]

Looks like Roxio is at fault here. Try removing it and see what happens.

...Summary of the Dumps:

[font=lucida console]
Built by: 7600.16385.amd64fre.win7_rtm.090713-1255
Debug session time: Sat Oct 16 07:54:38.703 2010 (UTC - 4:00)
System Uptime: 0 days 0:02:17.327
BugCheck C9, {228, fffff88001062f74, fffff9800b712e10, 0}
*** WARNING: Unable to verify timestamp for iaStorV.sys
*** ERROR: Module load completed but symbols could not be loaded for iaStorV.sys
*** WARNING: Unable to verify timestamp for PxHlpa64.sys
*** ERROR: Module load completed but symbols could not be loaded for PxHlpa64.sys
Probably caused by : PxHlpa64.sys ( PxHlpa64+2f74 )
BUGCHECK_STR:  0xc9_228
DEFAULT_BUCKET_ID:  VERIFIER_ENABLED_VISTA_MINIDUMP
PROCESS_NAME:  System
¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨
[/font]

 

[uktetra2000]

Hi,

Thanks Jonathan. I've un-installed Roxio now and will keep using the machine this morning to see if it falls over.

Roxio came pre-installed with the PC so, if it is the cause, its caused it to fail from day one and after the rebuilds too.

I'll report back soon. Thanks again.

Daz.

 

[uktetra2000]

Jonathan, in little over an hour of use (slightly more than normal) the machine has froze then rebooted. The only thing that was open was Firefox.

Any more ideas?

Daz.

 

[usasma]

Since running Driver Verifier with the Windows files gave problems, let's focus on the Windows installation:

- first run SFC.EXE /SCANNOW

SFC.EXE /SCANNOW
Go to Start and type in "cmd.exe" (without the quotes)
At the top of the search box, right click on the cmd.exe and select "Run as adminstrator"
In the black window that opens, type "SFC.EXE /SCANNOW" (without the quotes) and press Enter.
Let the program run and post back what it says when it's done.

If that doesn't fix it, then try a repair install of Win7: http://www.sevenforums.com/tutorials/3413-repair-install.html

If that doesn't fix it, then backup your stuff and try a clean install of Windows 7: http://www.sevenforums.com/tutorials/1649-clean-install-windows-7-a.html
Don't install anything extra (except for an antivirus) to see if that fixes things.
Make sure you have all Windows Updates.
Check Device Manager to ensure that all devices are recognized. If not, then post back here for advice.

If that doesn't fix it, then we've gotta assume that there's a hardware problem. I wonder if disconnecting the CD/DVD drives will help (both the power and data cables)? I also wonder about the rest of the storage sub-system due to the presence of iaStorV.sys in the dump file above.

 

[uktetra2000]

I've tried the SFC.EXE /SCANNOW option - and that did nothing.

I'm going to try the Win7 repair, although I don't hold much hope as this issue started within the first 15mins of having the machine, and also when it was rebuilt by the Dell engineer - both time NOTHING was installed / plugged into it. As fresh install as you could get.

If the Win7 repair doesn't work, I'll do a fresh install, but I'm convinced it'll be waste of time. If that's the case I'm gonna give in a give it back to Dell. Or throw it out of the window - which ever comes first.

Here goes...

 

[uktetra2000]

Ok, The repair install of Win 7 just crapped out with the following error and stopped:

0xc0000005



(Update: I just opened the MS Action Centre and was shown a message that told me the computer has failed 4 times because of 1 problem, I click through for more info and it tells me it is RAM related and possibly failing. I don't know how acurate this bit of software is - but the only component that was not replaced was the RAM - and the issue went away when I removed one of the 2gb sticks - 8gb>6gb. I think before doing any repairs/fresh installs is to talk to Dell about 4 new sticks of RAM to see if that will solve the problems).

 

[uktetra2000]

Going off on another tangent again here - I've uninstalled all software and unplugged all external items and dropped the machine back to 6gb again... and so far so good - no crashes in around 4 hours of use.

Whether this will last or not (and its just tricking me) I don't know. I'm going to try putting a few things back in and see at what point it starts to go again (although not the extra 2gb stick of RAM though - only software).

Will post back if/when something happens.

Daz.

 

[usasma]

You've done great work troubleshooting this yourself! Thanks for keeping us informed.

 

[uktetra2000]

Thanks usasma - but I think I spoke too soon!

All was running well, got some programs back in and working overnight too - almost 24 hours without it failing.

But, had a power cut a few hours ago and now the machine is doing it again. Now I'm struggling to boot it up. Sometimes I can get to the desktop, others not. I'm trying to get into it to see if the driver verifier has been turned on again or whether its something else. Something is killing it on/just after login.

Knew I shouldn't of got hopeful! Will post back soon.

Daz.

 

[usasma]

Can you get into Safe Mode? Safe Mode with Networking?
Can you upload some of the minidumps (from C:\Windows\Minidump) so we can see if they give any info?

 

[uktetra2000]

Hi,

It seems to have calmed down slightly and only crashing once every 60 mins rather than 60 seconds.

I've grabbed the latest minidumps but there are only 2 and they are from yesterday (when it hangs now its not BSOD'ing - just freezing and rebooting) so its not creating them, even thought it is set to.

:sarc:

Daz.

(Update: OK, its now spit out 2 minidumps right after each other - 2010-10-20 - and they are attached).

 

[usasma]

4 memory dumps,
3 different BSOD errors
2 different causes specified.

Most likely this is a hardware issue - but it's not 100%
IMO hardware is most likely, with Windows issues being a possibility.

So, I'd suggest backing up your stuff and reinstalling Windows "clean"
- wipe the hard drive with DBAN or KillDisk (free on the web)
- only install an antivirus - no other programs (for now)
- get ALL Windows Updates
- check Device Manager for any devices missing drivers - then only install the Dell drivers for that device.

Then test and see if it continues to give errors.
If it does, then it's gotta be hardware.

BSOD BUGCHECK SUMMARY

[font=lucida console]
Built by: 7600.16385.amd64fre.win7_rtm.090713-1255
Debug session time: Wed Oct 20 13:11:40.173 2010 (UTC - 4:00)
System Uptime: 0 days 0:01:32.780
Probably caused by : memory_corruption
DEFAULT_BUCKET_ID:  CODE_CORRUPTION
PROCESS_NAME:  csrss.exe
BUGCHECK_STR:  0x24
Bugcheck code 00000024
Arguments 00000000`001904fb fffff880`04d6a038 fffff880`04d69890 fffff800`02d0267e
¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨``
Built by: 7600.16385.amd64fre.win7_rtm.090713-1255
Debug session time: Wed Oct 20 13:07:53.564 2010 (UTC - 4:00)
System Uptime: 0 days 1:06:51.782
Probably caused by : memory_corruption
DEFAULT_BUCKET_ID:  CODE_CORRUPTION
BUGCHECK_STR:  0x3B
PROCESS_NAME:  explorer.exe
Bugcheck code 0000003B
Arguments 00000000`c0000005 fffff880`0118fb10 fffff880`07a4af70 00000000`00000000
¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨``
Built by: 7600.16385.amd64fre.win7_rtm.090713-1255
Debug session time: Tue Oct 19 11:41:50.879 2010 (UTC - 4:00)
System Uptime: 0 days 3:47:44.471
Probably caused by : ntkrnlmp.exe ( nt!KiPageFault+260 )
DEFAULT_BUCKET_ID:  VISTA_DRIVER_FAULT
BUGCHECK_STR:  0xA
PROCESS_NAME:  System
Bugcheck code 0000000A
Arguments 00000000`00000002 00000000`0000000d 00000000`00000000 fffff800`031fb39a
¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨``
Built by: 7600.16385.amd64fre.win7_rtm.090713-1255
Debug session time: Tue Oct 19 07:31:10.340 2010 (UTC - 4:00)
System Uptime: 0 days 0:00:58.948
Probably caused by : memory_corruption ( nt!MiReplenishPageSlist+100 )
DEFAULT_BUCKET_ID:  VISTA_DRIVER_FAULT
BUGCHECK_STR:  0xA
PROCESS_NAME:  System
Bugcheck code 0000000A
Arguments fffffa80`2e51b5e0 00000000`00000002 00000000`00000001 fffff800`02ce335f
¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨``
  
  [/font]

 

[uktetra2000]

Thanks usasma,

Its really mind-bogglingly bizzare as to what it is as its so random. I've got work to do over the next few days so I'm going to have to muddle through until the weekend when I will have enough time to look at this.

The only thing I'm unsure of is the wiping the HDD and putting a fresh windows on. As I said I'm not too hot with tech stuff.

Daz.