[SOLVED] Referred here by Tom's Hardware Forums: BSOD Mystery!

Just a quick update. Turned on my TV this morning (what my MediaPC is connected to), and the memtest is at 265% with 0 errors. Going to let it run all day today while I'm out. Won't be back until about 10:30pm.

What's next if I get 6 whole passes (600%) on memtest with 0 errors?
 
If it passes all runs as I suspect it will at this point, just keep on running windows with verifier enabled lets get a look at a fresh dump.
 
Okay, sounds good. Should I not be using my computer while driver verifier is running in the background? Or should I just use it as normal or even try to get a BSOD to appear by watching YouTube/Netflix streaming?
 
Wow, a lot has happened since I last checked. . . Sorry, I've been at school!

You can run Driver Verifier at the same time as doing other stuff. Your computer will probably be slower since DV is stressing it out. Do whatever you normally do to cause a BSOD. If it crashes whilst DV is running, we will get a better change of catching an offending driver.

Regards,
Stephen
 
Tekno Venus said:
Wow, a lot has happened since I last checked. . . Sorry, I've been at school!

You can run Driver Verifier at the same time as doing other stuff. Your computer will probably be slower since DV is stressing it out. Do whatever you normally do to cause a BSOD. If it crashes whilst DV is running, we will get a better change of catching an offending driver.

Regards,
Stephen
Click to expand...

Alright! So, new fun developments.

I just stopped memtest, it was closing on 600% and there were still zero errors.

So, I started up Driver Verifier and then rebooted out of safe mode into regular mode. Now, anytime that I either enter my password upon login or start up Google Chrome in order to cause a blue screen, it just freezes up my whole system and produces a weird graphic glitch on the entire screen pictured below:

4TJBCYO.jpg


5o0Y996.jpg



So.. because this is just a complete system lock-up, the mini-dump is not created, thus I have no new information to give to you. In safe mode, I try to get a BSOD, but it isn't happening now. Usually watching a second of a YouTube video does it, but I just watched an entire video with no issues. And of course, in Safe Mode, the only drivers that are running are Microsoft signed so it's not going to find the culprit.

Maybe I'll try again tomorrow to see if I can't get around this above freezing issue. What do those screenshots suggest to you? Corrupted video drivers? Corrupted graphics hardware?

AUGHHH. Help? :)
 
Without verifier running it boot into normal mode with a readable screen correct?

If so in the verifier setup screen sort the only select 1/2 the drivers (A through M) and retry.
 
Hm, I'll try selecting only half the drivers to verify (A through M) including Microsoft drivers too?? Or just non-Microsoft drivers A-M? There's only about 8 of them...

Also, I should mention that when I start up my computer now (into Safe mode or not), a pop-up box appears that says 'Windows created a temporary paging file on your computer because of a problem that occurred with your paging file configuration when you started your computer. The total paging file size for all disc drivers may be somewhat larger than the size you specified."

When I click 'OK', it brings up a Performance Options window where I can change the Virtual memory. It's currently 589 MB Total paging file size for all drives. Should I change it?
 
How much space do you have available on your SSD?

Verifier - All Non-Microsoft drivers (A-M for 24 hours then N-Z for 24 hours).
 
Sounds good. I'll do that.

Again, do I really have to run it for 24 hours or can I try to cause the BSOD with all non Microsoft drivers A-M verifying? And then do the same for N-Z? Is there something advantageous about just letting my computer run idly for 24 hours?

I'm not sure off the top of my head how much space I have on it (I'm at work now.) I'll double check to make sure I have room.
 
Run idly no, the object is to use it as you normally would to cause the BSOD.

Since the screen issue happens right away on a normal boot if the A to M starts and runs fine then yes do N to Z.
 
Yes, as Wrench said, it is desirable for you to use the computer as much as possible during the time it is running.

Driver Verifier serves one purpose, to stress out all the 3rd party drivers on your machine and then to catch them if it BSODs. Therefore, if you do things that normally cause BSODs, Driver Verifier is likely to flag the driver that caused that BSOD and mark it in the dump file.

This makes it easier for us, since if it detects a 3rd party driver, we can uninstall it and hopefully make the system stable.

24 hours is a guideline for how long you should run it for. You can run it for less or more, but 24hrs is normally a good length of time for it to stress it and flag a driver
 
Perfect. Thanks guys for the explanation. I understand how that all works now. :)

I'll give it a shot tonight and hopefully can get that BSOD back!
 
If you see that Page File message again, please run the EXE below & paste output into next post -

Download the EXE file; save to Desktop. RIGHT-click on the EXE, "Run as Administrator" -

WMI - "Recoveros" and Page File Settings (TEXT)

It's from: https://www.sysnative.com/forums/bs...-information/325-bsods-but-no-dump-files.html

My output:
Code: 
AutoReboot=TRUE
Caption=
DebugFilePath=%SystemRoot%\MEMORY.DMP
DebugInfoType=2
Description=
ExpandedDebugFilePath=C:\Windows\MEMORY.DMP
ExpandedMiniDumpDirectory=C:\Windows\Minidump
KernelDumpOnly=FALSE
MiniDumpDirectory=%SystemRoot%\Minidump
Name=Microsoft Windows 7 Ultimate |C:\Windows|\Device\Harddisk0\Partition2
OverwriteExistingDebugFile=TRUE
SendAdminAlert=FALSE
SettingID=
WriteDebugInfo=TRUE
WriteToSystemLog=TRUE


AllocatedBaseSize=4062
Caption=C:\pagefile.sys
CurrentUsage=263
Description=C:\pagefile.sys
InstallDate=20100626093920.056423-240
Name=C:\pagefile.sys
PeakUsage=1402
Status=
TempPageFile=FALSE

Thanks,

jcgriff2

EDIT: The page file message is from your POST #27 -
Read More:
 
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Alright, tonight's update.

So, I checked my free hard drive space, turns out I only had like 250 MB left on my 32GB SSD. Ha! So, I deleted some excess stuff on there and now I have about 3 gigs free.

Now, I have 7 drivers that are not signed by Microsoft. I turned on the first 4 in Driver Verifier in safe mode and then booted into normal mode. The best that I'm getting there is a hard lock upon signing in, or loading up Chrome. I do get a couple blue screens but only right after entering in my password and hitting enter. Unfortunately, for some reason, it's not creating any dump files in the Minidumps folder! Is it because it's happening before Windows is fully loaded up?

When I go back to Safe Mode and turn on the last 3 drivers in Driver Verifier, I get a hard lock upon entering my password in normal mode Windows boot up. Again, no dump files of course.

I'm doing my best here to get you guys a dump file so you can see which driver is causing this mess. Should I just delete every single driver that wasn't signed by Windows and boot into normal mode to see if I still get hard locks/blue screens? Then, I can slowly reintroduce all my necessary drivers and see which one is the culprit?

Any ideas?
 
themagpieswarble said:
So, I checked my free hard drive space, turns out I only had like 250 MB left on my 32GB SSD. Ha! So, I deleted some excess stuff on there and now I have about 3 gigs free.
Click to expand...
That is a big problem. Even 3 GB free (~10.3% in your case) is not enough for Windows to function in an optimal state.

In 2009, I tested Windows (either Vista SP2 or Windows 7 - don't recall which ATM) for about 30 days running with extreme low space (just a few GB free space - similar to the amount that you currently have free) and watched as Windows applied space conservation measures such as deletion, movement, compression of files deemed non OS-critical & much more. There is a Microsoft KB on this; if I locate it, I'll post a link to it.

More free space is needed - please look through these KBs; run cleanmgr -
Strategies for freeing disk space
Delete files using Disk Cleanup

Is Windows System Restore running? Are there restore points?

Run this batch script, please. Extract batch script from the zip; save to Documents. RIGHT-click on the batch script, "Run as Administrator"

https://www.sysnative.com/apps/jcgriff2/VSS_System_Restore_W8-7-V_jcgriff2_.bat.zip

A CMD screen will appear with status; upon completion, a Notepad will open. Attach the Notepad to your next post.

The restore points may already be gone -
Microsoft kb301224 said:
The deletion of restore points may be caused by any one of the following by-design conditions:

• You run out of disk space on the system drive or on any one of the available non-system drives, and System Restore stops responding and stops monitoring your system.

This behavior causes the system to delete all restore points in an attempt to free up disk space. However, you have probably already received a warning about running low in disk space prior to this point. In this case, when sufficient disk space is freed, System Restore starts to monitor the system again. At this point, it creates an automatic System Checkpoint.

--> System Restore "restore points" are missing or deleted
Click to expand...
Where did you get the 3 GB free number from? Check Disk management -
START | type diskmgmt.msc
  1. What is the total size of the SSD?
  2. What is the current free space?

A 32 GB SSD is seen by Windows as ~29 GB -
Microsoft Support said:
The advertised local disk size is shown using the decimal system, while Windows displays the disk size using the binary system. As a result, 1 GB (in decimal) appears as about 0.93 GB (in binary). The storage capacity is the same, it's just shown differently depending on the how you measure a GB (decimal or binary).
Click to expand...
- Binary is used by the hard drive manufacturers; 1 GB = 1024 MB
- Decimal is used by Windows; 1 GB = 1000 MB


Please run the WMI EXE I mentioned in POST #33 -

Download & save to Desktop. RIGHT-click on EXE, "Run as Administrator" -

https://www.sysnative.com/0x8/WMI_recoveros_pagefile_jcgriff2_com_.exe


themagpieswarble said:
..Now, I have 7 drivers that are not signed by Microsoft. I turned on the first 4 in Driver Verifier in safe mode and then booted into normal mode. The best that I'm getting there is a hard lock upon signing in, or loading up Chrome. I do get a couple blue screens but only right after entering in my password and hitting enter. Unfortunately, for some reason, it's not creating any dump files in the Minidumps folder! Is it because it's happening before Windows is fully loaded up?
Click to expand...
7 unsigned drivers? What are they?

If you have gotten to logon screen, Windows has in fact loaded and should be able to produce a dump file. At this point, two reasons come to mind for "no dump" condition -
  1. Catastrophic hardware failure brings the system down so fast there is no time for a dump (tantamount to pulling the plug)
  2. Conditions are not right - Page File, WERCON, etc...

#2 - https://www.sysnative.com/forums/bs...-information/325-bsods-but-no-dump-files.html


themagpieswarble said:
When I go back to Safe Mode and turn on the last 3 drivers in Driver Verifier, I get a hard lock upon entering my password in normal mode Windows boot up. Again, no dump files of course.
Click to expand...
A long shot, but let's make sure the user account is not corrupted.

Get into Windows - normal or safe mode & activate the Hidden Administrator user account -

https://www.sysnative.com/forums/wi...tor-user-account-windows-7-windows-vista.html

Try and log on to it & see if same result - freezing.

themagpieswarble said:
I'm doing my best here to get you guys a dump file so you can see which driver is causing this mess. Should I just delete every single driver that wasn't signed by Windows and boot into normal mode to see if I still get hard locks/blue screens? Then, I can slowly reintroduce all my necessary drivers and see which one is the culprit?

Any ideas?
Click to expand...

NO -- Please do not delete any drivers!! We need to know which drivers are involved.

Regards. . .

jcgriff2
 
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As an FYI: The less free space you have available on your SSD, the more the SSD is in use and its sectors are active. That vastly decreases the lifespan of the SSD. SSD technology utilizes free space differently than HDD technology; data is moved around to new sectors on a regular basis to minimize the sector read/writes on used sectors and increase the lifespan of the drive. If there is little free space available for data remapping, sector read/writes increase, and the drive fails sooner. A 32 GB drive will likely live a year or two less than a 64 GB drive that has the same space used, e.g. ~26 GB used.
 
Thanks for the additional info, Mike.

So.... SSDs continuously defrag themselves (not sure if that is the correct terminology for SSDs or not)?



@ themagpieswarble - disable hibernation for now -

http://support.microsoft.com/kb/920730

On a 4 GB RAM system, it should free up ~ 3.2 GB

See if Windows has already taken this space-saving measure yet or not -- does c:\hiberfile.sys exist?

Bring up Admin CMD prompt; paste -
Code: 
[FONT=Lucida Console]dir /a c:\hiberfil.sys[/FONT]

My system output:
Code: 
Microsoft Windows [Version 6.1.7601]
Copyright (c) 2009 Microsoft Corporation.  All rights reserved.

C:\Windows\system32>[B]dir /a c:\hiberfil.sys[/B]
 Volume in drive C is Windows7 x64
 Volume Serial Number is 289F-AF69

 Directory of c:\

[COLOR="#FF0000"]03/21/2013  20:49     3,195,236,352 [B]hiberfil.sys[/B][/COLOR]
               1 File(s)  3,195,236,352 bytes
               0 Dir(s)  13,815,558,144 bytes free

C:\Windows\system32>

You can see my hibernation file is ~3.2 GB.

Regards. . .

jcgriff2
 
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I meant "defrag" as a figure of speech based on Mike's post -
writhziden said:
...data is moved around to new sectors on a regular basis to minimize the sector read/writes on used sectors and increase the lifespan of the drive.
Click to expand...

That sounded somewhat like defrag'ing to me, i.e., constantly reassembling files.

But I'm not sure whether a fragmented file matters on an SSD or not, given the seek speed of an SSD v. that of an HDD.
 

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