Windows Memory Diagnostics Tool Reports Errors

[HellRider]

Ok, I will try to make a long story short. I've had issues with BSOD off and on for sometime now. They don't happen at any particular time and mostly occur in the middle of the night. They occur about every 3 to 4 months. I used Bluescreenview to look at the dump files. The driver it pointed to was ntoskernl.exe and the bug string mentioned in four different cases was reference_by_pointer, driver_irql_not_less_or_equal, memory_management and bad_pool_header. The other drive mentioned in one of the other dump files was fltmgr.sys with the bug check string of bad_pool_header.

Everything I could find on the web pointed to bad memory or bad mobo. I ran Windows Memory Diagnotcs Tool under the advanced setting. It took 9 hours to run and it failed. I took out all sticks of ram and put them in one at a time and ran the diagnostic tool with standard setting. That only took about 20 minutes each to run and all sticks of ram passed. I then put all sticks back in and ran it with the standard setting and all sticks passed again. I then took out one stick and left two sticks in and ran the test with the advanced setting and it failed. I'm now down to running one stick at a time with the advanced setting. The problem is it takes 9 hours to run on the advanced setting.

My question is do I conclude that if all sticks of ram put in one at a time fails that all my ram is bad or does that mean my mobo is bad? I plan to take a stick of ram from a machine that seems to work ok and try the test. I assume that if that fails that it's my mobo?

I've updated my drivers on my video card and sound card. I have not updated the BIOS and I'm not sure which version it's running as i forgot to look before running the test again. Is it possible that there is a conflict with the BIOS? My system is all stock no OC!

Anyone have thoughts on this?

Thanks,

 

[zigzag3143]

Ok, I will try to make a long story short. I've had issues with BSOD off and on for sometime now. They don't happen at any particular time and mostly occur in the middle of the night. They occur about every 3 to 4 months. I used Bluescreenview to look at the dump files. The driver it pointed to was ntoskernl.exe and the bug string mentioned in four different cases was reference_by_pointer, driver_irql_not_less_or_equal, memory_management and bad_pool_header. The other drive mentioned in one of the other dump files was fltmgr.sys with the bug check string of bad_pool_header.

Everything I could find on the web pointed to bad memory or bad mobo. I ran Windows Memory Diagnotcs Tool under the advanced setting. It took 9 hours to run and it failed. I took out all sticks of ram and put them in one at a time and ran the diagnostic tool with standard setting. That only took about 20 minutes each to run and all sticks of ram passed. I then put all sticks back in and ran it with the standard setting and all sticks passed again. I then took out one stick and left two sticks in and ran the test with the advanced setting and it failed. I'm now down to running one stick at a time with the advanced setting. The problem is it takes 9 hours to run on the advanced setting.

My question is do I conclude that if all sticks of ram put in one at a time fails that all my ram is bad or does that mean my mobo is bad? I plan to take a stick of ram from a machine that seems to work ok and try the test. I assume that if that fails that it's my mobo?

I've updated my drivers on my video card and sound card. I have not updated the BIOS and I'm not sure which version it's running as i forgot to look before running the test again. Is it possible that there is a conflict with the BIOS? My system is all stock no OC!

Anyone have thoughts on this?

Thanks,

Are you putting the single sticks of RAM in the same mobo slot? If so it may be the slot not the ram.

I would run memtest as it stresses the memory more.

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


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

 

[HellRider]

Zigzag,

Thank you for the reply.

I have tested each stick individually and I found one stick tested with errors twice. I haven't used Memtest86+ as pretty much everyone suggests. However, I think I will just buy new RAM as I've been told OZC memory has known issues with my mobo. Newegg doesn't even have OCZ listed anymore and I've heard OCZ is out of the memory game.

I went back and looked at my .dmp files and I have a total of eight since i've had my rig (built it Feburary 2010). There are two drivers listed by BlueScreenView as the cause of the crash and they are ntoskernl.exe and fltmgr.sys. When ntoskernl.exe is listed as the cause it is the only driver mentioned. When fltmgr.sys is listed it is in combination with ntoskernl.exe. Does anyone know the significance of this?

Thank you for your help.

 

[Layback Bear]

Welcome to the Windows 7 Forum.
Take a look in Device Manager for any driver problems.
My understanding is that ntoskernl.exe can also cause fltmgr.sys to happen.
Take a look in Resource Manager. See if Windows see the same amount of ram you have installed. I have basically the same motherboard you have. Their are many people with these boards having problems with window not seeing all the ram.
Windows doesn't see the first two slot close to the cpu on my system. Is their any new hardware been added?
Run from comd. prompt admin. sfc /scannow. If it finds a problem run it two more times booting between them.
Nice job filling out your specs.

 

[HellRider]

Thanks for the welcome Layback.

I don't see any problems in device manager as everything seems to be recognized. The resource manager is reporting the proper amount of RAM.

If I run sfc /scannow is it going to change my settings? I have the My Documents, Downloads, My Music and etc. defaulted to a different drive rather than my C: drive. Will running the sfc /scannow change that? If so, will i be able to change it back w/o incident? How do i make a copy of the system file just in case?

Thanks,

 

[zigzag3143]

Zigzag,

Thank you for the reply.

I have tested each stick individually and I found one stick tested with errors twice. I haven't used Memtest86+ as pretty much everyone suggests. However, I think I will just buy new RAM as I've been told OZC memory has known issues with my mobo. Newegg doesn't even have OCZ listed anymore and I've heard OCZ is out of the memory game.

I went back and looked at my .dmp files and I have a total of eight since i've had my rig (built it Feburary 2010). There are two drivers listed by BlueScreenView as the cause of the crash and they are ntoskernl.exe and fltmgr.sys. When ntoskernl.exe is listed as the cause it is the only driver mentioned. When fltmgr.sys is listed it is in combination with ntoskernl.exe. Does anyone know the significance of this?

Thank you for your help.

Unfortunately Bluescreen view, and whocrashed, just arent always accurate. It is why we ask for the actual DMP file.

 

[Layback Bear]

To the best of my knowledge sfc /scannow can't hurt or change such things. It just checks and repairs Windows 7 system files the way they were when installed. It's doesn't change documents and such.

 

[HellRider]

Zigzag,

I will upload my two or three most recent .dmp files tonight or tomorrow. I'm very intrested in trying to get to the bottom of this issue. For now I'm purchasing some Kingston HyperX memory and then I will try the sfc/ scannow. I don't know what else to do at this point so I'm curious to know what the .dmp files say.

Thanks,

 

[HellRider]

Zigzag,

My .dmp files are attached as well as the System Health Report.

Please let me know what you conclude.

Thanks,

 

[HellRider]

To the best of my knowledge sfc /scannow can't hurt or change such things. It just checks and repairs Windows 7 system files the way they were when installed. It's doesn't change documents and such.

Layback,

This post http://www.sevenforums.com/tutorials/1538-sfc-scannow-command-system-file-checker.html says:

"Be aware that if you have modified your system files as in theming explorer/system files, running sfc /scannow will revert the system files such as explorer.exe back to it's default state. Make the appropriate backups of your system files that you have modified for theming if you wish to save them before running sfc /scannow."

Will that change my default locations for my folders? I changed all the My Documents, My Music, My Pictures and etc to a HDD rather than my SDD where the OS resides. Maybe it's not a big deal if does and I can just change it back if necessary?

Thanks,

 

[zigzag3143]

To the best of my knowledge sfc /scannow can't hurt or change such things. It just checks and repairs Windows 7 system files the way they were when installed. It's doesn't change documents and such.

Layback,

This post http://www.sevenforums.com/tutorials/1538-sfc-scannow-command-system-file-checker.html says:

"Be aware that if you have modified your system files as in theming explorer/system files, running sfc /scannow will revert the system files such as explorer.exe back to it's default state. Make the appropriate backups of your system files that you have modified for theming if you wish to save them before running sfc /scannow."

Will that change my default locations for my folders? I changed all the My Documents, My Music, My Pictures and etc to a HDD rather than my SDD where the OS resides. Maybe it's not a big deal if does and I can just change it back if necessary?

Thanks,

Since you updated to SP-1 the crashes are being caused by a driver. Now that we know there are modified files on the OS, the easiest way is to do a repair instal.

SFC (i dont believe) will change locations but it will remove any and all modifications.

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).

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.

 

[HellRider]

zigzag,

Just to make sure I'm on the same page. You're of the opinion by BSOD's are being caused by Win 7 SP1? I don't get frequent BSOD's and they usually occur when nobody is on the machine.

Should I run the sfc /scannow or use the Win 7 disk and go back to a restore point as referenced in the quote above? It seems drastic for what I'm experiencing. I assume if I go back to a restore point then all my driver updates for video and sound card roll back to the old ones?

Isn't the crash being caused by the driver ntoskrnl.exe?

 

[HellRider]

zigzag,

what do you see in the .dmp files that leads you to beleive the BSOD's are related to Win 7 SP1?

Thanks,

 

[HellRider]

Anyone,

Just curious what it is in the .dmp files that eludes to a problem by Win 7 SP1?

Much appreciated if anyone can shed some light on the subject. I must admint i'm a little intimidated by the driver verifier.

thanks,

 

[zigzag3143]

zigzag,

Just to make sure I'm on the same page. You're of the opinion by BSOD's are being caused by Win 7 SP1? I don't get frequent BSOD's and they usually occur when nobody is on the machine.

Should I run the sfc /scannow or use the Win 7 disk and go back to a restore point as referenced in the quote above? It seems drastic for what I'm experiencing. I assume if I go back to a restore point then all my driver updates for video and sound card roll back to the old ones?

Isn't the crash being caused by the driver ntoskrnl.exe?

NO


I said "Since you updated to SP-1 the crashes are being caused by a driver. Now that we know there are modified files on the OS, the easiest way is to do a repair install."

I meant before the update to SP-1 they may have been caused by something else.

As long as you folow the directions and have the instructed back ups and OS dvd's driver verifier is a tool just like any other. MS would not have built it into the OS if they didnt want you to use it.

 

[HellRider]

Ok, I've ran the driver verifier for about 72 hours now and no BSOD's. Does that mean I'm in the clear? I ran as prescribed in the directions above. Do I need to run it with Windows drivers enabled and all other drivers disabled?

Thanks,