Windows 7 Crashed on Boot. What The Heck is This?


Recommended Posts

Windows 7 crashed on me on boot. This is the second time it does that. Last time was about 3 months ago. Has anyone experienced this?

Problem signature:

Problem Event Name: BlueScreen

OS Version: 6.1.7601.2.1.0.768.3

Locale ID: 1033

Additional information about the problem:

BCCode: 4e

BCP1: 0000000000000099

BCP2: 00000000003E5A73

BCP3: 0000000000000000

BCP4: 0000000000003A73

OS Version: 6_1_7601

Service Pack: 1_0

Product: 768_1

Files that help describe the problem:

C:\Windows\Minidump\010213-12807-01.dmp

C:\Users\Scorbing\AppData\Local\Temp\WER-20794-0.sysdata.xml

Read our privacy statement online:

http://go.microsoft.com/fwlink/?linkid=104288&clcid=0x0409

If the online privacy statement is not available, please read our privacy statement offline:

C:\Windows\system32\en-US\erofflps.txt

A "4e" bugcheck equals "PFN_LIST_CORRUPT". According to Microsoft:

Cause

This error is typically caused by a driver passing a bad memory descriptor list. For example, the driver might have called MmUnlockPages twice with the same list.

If a kernel debugger is available, examine the stack trace.

In my experience, this is usually the case - a driver has caused some sort of memory list issue in the way it's freeing memory pages, and causes the crash. Without at least a kernel memory dump file of the issue, however, you now know everything that can be gleaned from the crash.

A "4e" bugcheck equals "PFN_LIST_CORRUPT". According to Microsoft:

In my experience, this is usually the case - a driver has caused some sort of memory list issue in the way it's freeing memory pages, and causes the crash. Without at least a kernel memory dump file of the issue, however, you now know everything that can be gleaned from the crash.

Video driver perhaps?

Who knows? Usually something loaded in nonpaged pool, but honestly it could be any driver that is accessing memory. The video driver isn't necessarily the only kind of driver that can do that ;). I usually suspect storage drivers, but I've seen video drivers do it, ramdisk drivers, etc.

http://msdn.microsof...2(v=VS.85).aspx

Who knows? Usually something loaded in nonpaged pool, but honestly it could be any driver that is accessing memory. The video driver isn't necessarily the only kind of driver that can do that ;). I usually suspect storage drivers, but I've seen video drivers do it, ramdisk drivers, etc.

http://msdn.microsof...2(v=VS.85).aspx

Mmmmmm...I wonder if its Skydrive?

OK I left Memtest86+ running all night and although its still not done yet, it found 5 errors. Now my question:

How do I know which memory chip is bad? Does Memtest86+ tell you which one is bad? Anyone knows?

Well the tests are done. Here's the results. I guess I'm screwed. My question is though, which module is bad? How can I tell from this result which one is faulty?

I have two 8GB modules installed for a total of 16GB.

acsD4TSQ.jpg

OK I left Memtest86+ running all night and although its still not done yet, it found 5 errors. Now my question:

How do I know which memory chip is bad? Does Memtest86+ tell you which one is bad? Anyone knows?

Just remove the sticks one by one and retest until you figure out which one is is. Can be a bit tedious, but it's the best way to know for sure which one is faulty.

Edit: Just saw your recent post with the screenshot. Well, at least you have a 50/50 chance of pulling the right one first! Based on your image, I would try the 2nd populated RAM slot first. The slots will be numbered on the mobo.

I feel you, scorbing! I woke up on Christmas day to a desktop that just won't power on. If it wasn't the one with all of my movies/mp3's on it, I wouldn't really care too much, but now I have to save up for a new power supply. Sorry that had to happen though, bro!

Well the tests are done. Here's the results. I guess I'm screwed. My question is though, which module is bad? How can I tell from this result which one is faulty?

I have two 8GB modules installed for a total of 16GB.

You're not screwed. 8gb should easily get you by until you replace it. Take one module out at a time (place it in DIMM 1), run the test, if it passes, that's a good stick. To make sure the other really is bad, take out the good one and put in the bad. Your computer should go "beeeeeeeppp". Shut it down, put the good one in. Windows should start up fine now. :)

I feel you, scorbing! I woke up on Christmas day to a desktop that just won't power on. If it wasn't the one with all of my movies/mp3's on it, I wouldn't really care too much, but now I have to save up for a new power supply. Sorry that had to happen though, bro!

Are you sure the pins are on correctly? :)

A co-worker of mine saw the test results and he tells me that my memory timings are way off. Can you guys concur with that?

I have high speed Kingston gaming memory on that PC DD3 1333.

you might be screwed, with those memory addresses it looks like you have errors on the 1st card and errors on the 2nd card...

but do the single card test to be sure, just pull one, make sure the other remaining one is in the correct slow, reseat it just to be sure its in right... run the test again... if it fails swap them and repeat

you might be screwed, with those memory addresses it looks like you have errors on the 1st card and errors on the 2nd card...

Which is highly unlikely.

A co-worker of mine saw the test results and he tells me that my memory timings are way off. Can you guys concur with that?

I have high speed Kingston gaming memory on that PC DD3 1333.

If this is gaming memory the proper timing and speed should be written on the sticks.

Are you sure the pins are on correctly? :)

Yeah, I've taken it out and tested out a lower rated wattage power supply in place of it, and everything worked. In fact, it's been acting strange since July. See, in my area, we are prone to power outages....a few months back, one happened, and when I tried to power up the old beast, the power light would blink, then shut right off. To remedy, I'd unplug it for about 15 minutes, then plug it back in, which worked for quite a while...up until christmas morning, anyway...so I knew it was coming. This laptop blows that old thing out of the water spec wise anyway, so I'm in no major rush to get it fixed. It's an old P4 machine. If I could afford an upgrade, trust me, I would do that instead of pumping more money into such an ancient system, but it's all I've got desktop wise, and it does what I need it to do, runs 7 like a champ, streams video to my ps3, SOME...and I mean some gaming (It's got an ATI HD3650 512MB AGPx4 video card, lol), but mostly, I leave it on as sort of a NAS. Oh well.

It's kinda an odd pattern that the failures are showing. Have you tried blowing out the DIMM slots?

Good point, GreyWolf....could be some dust build up, perhaps? (I'd rather it be something simple like that than to see you have to fork over some hard earned cash to invest in new memory modules!)

A co-worker of mine saw the test results and he tells me that my memory timings are way off. Can you guys concur with that?

I have high speed Kingston gaming memory on that PC DD3 1333.

Maybe reset your bios to fail safe defaults and see if that fixes your timing issues?

Yeah, I've taken it out and tested out a lower rated wattage power supply in place of it, and everything worked. In fact, it's been acting strange since July. See, in my area, we are prone to power outages....a few months back, one happened, and when I tried to power up the old beast, the power light would blink, then shut right off. To remedy, I'd unplug it for about 15 minutes, then plug it back in, which worked for quite a while...up until christmas morning, anyway...so I knew it was coming. This laptop blows that old thing out of the water spec wise anyway, so I'm in no major rush to get it fixed. It's an old P4 machine. If I could afford an upgrade, trust me, I would do that instead of pumping more money into such an ancient system, but it's all I've got desktop wise, and it does what I need it to do, runs 7 like a champ, streams video to my ps3, SOME...and I mean some gaming (It's got an ATI HD3650 512MB AGPx4 video card, lol), but mostly, I leave it on as sort of a NAS. Oh well.

Oh, well that's too bad. You need to get a surge protector and a UPS for yourself. :p

Well I fixed the latency settings on the BIOS. I also deleted the partitions and re-installed Windows, but this time I installed Windows 8 Pro. So far, so good. Played BF3 for 2 hours and no blue screen of death. It is very weird.

I downloaded a utility that reads the blue screen errors and translates then into an understandable format and apparently the Windows 7 kernel was failing plus a bunch of other stuff. Maybe I caught a virus? I don't know.

Well I fixed the latency settings on the BIOS. I also deleted the partitions and re-installed Windows, but this time I installed Windows 8 Pro. So far, so good. Played BF3 for 2 hours and no blue screen of death. It is very weird.

I downloaded a utility that reads the blue screen errors and translates then into an understandable format and apparently the Windows 7 kernel was failing plus a bunch of other stuff. Maybe I caught a virus? I don't know.

You had memory that was faulting, you proved this, why would you think you had a virus? Have you ran memtest since you fixed the timings?

This topic is now closed to further replies.
  • Posts

    • Helium Browser 0.13.4.1 by Razvan Serea Helium is a private, fast, and honest Chromium-based web browser — built for people, with love. It offers the best privacy by default, unbiased ad-blocking, and a clean experience free from bloat and noise. Proudly based on Ungoogled-Chromium, Helium removes Google’s clutter while keeping a fast, efficient development pipeline. With thoughtful touches like native !bangs and split view, Helium is a people-first, fully open-source browser that puts control back in your hands. Privacy, security, and control come first. Ads, trackers, and third-party cookies are blocked automatically, HTTPS is enforced everywhere, and all Chromium extensions work seamlessly — while Google can’t track your activity. Helium’s 13,000+ offline-ready !bangs let you jump straight to sites or AI tools like ChatGPT instantly. Open-source, people-first, and unbiased, Helium delivers a browsing experience that’s fast, secure, and free from noise, ads, and compromises. Helium Browser key features: Performance Fast, efficient, and lightweight — built on Chromium’s optimized engine. Energy-saving and consistent — stays fast over time without slowing down. No bloat — stripped of unnecessary components for maximum speed. Minimalist interface — compact, clean, and distraction-free. Customizable toolbar — hide elements you don’t need. Smooth and stable — no flicker, lag, or animation glitches. Comfort-focused experience — intuitive and unobtrusive. Privacy & Security Best privacy by default — blocks ads, trackers, phishing, and third-party cookies. Unbiased ad-blocking — powered by community filters and uBlock Origin. No telemetry or analytics — zero background web requests on first launch. Strict HTTPS enforcement — warns for insecure sites. Passkeys supported — modern authentication made simple. No built-in password manager or cloud sync — your data stays yours. Extension Compatibility Full Chromium extension support — including MV2 extensions. Anonymized Chrome Web Store requests — Google can’t track extension installs. Extended MV2 support — maintained for as long as possible. Smart Features Native !bangs — browse faster using 13,000+ offline-ready shortcuts. AI integration — use !chatgpt and others directly from the address bar. Offline functionality — bangs work without an Internet connection. Philosophy People-first design — open source, transparent, and community-driven. No ads, no noise, no bias — privacy and honesty over profit. Helium Browser 0.13.4.1 changelog: 0a4f1149 revision: bump to 4 (#1969) 4848de1f helium/core: enable the chromium screenshot feature (#1968) e0dec3f5 onboarding: integrate strings to i18n system (#1948) 417fa5bc i18n: fix newline parsing for onboarding 7a339b39 i18n: add foraged translations for onboarding 4f090cff i18n/generate: add handling for onboarding strings bfe48d58 i18n_apply: manually override parent grd logic for onboarding strings ab214e3c onboarding: bump in deps, wire up grdp afa6a059 helium/core: disable pdf infobar feature (#1965) eba585e7 helium/ui/vertical: fix new tab button alignment and icon size (#1964) 6ecfc9e0 helium/ui/tabs: fix horizontal tab hover background color (#1963) 3db87dc0 helium/ui/tabs: fix new tab button hover/press colors (#1962) 6bbdcc3e helium/ui: improve tab group UI in all layouts (#1961) 53deb314 helium/ui/tabs: enable tab group hover cards e93aece7 helium/ui/vertical: fix tab group appearance, prevent line overlap 629f5495 helium/ui/tabs: restore solid group header colors, enable new colors 961c962e helium/ui/tabs: move horiz tab group underline to bottom, make it thick c96deab6 merge: update to chromium 149.0.7827.155 (#1959) 36db56b4 i18n: update source.gen.json 5ce006ae patches: refresh for chromium 149.0.7827.155 b4c1ea62 merge: update ungoogled-chromium to 149.0.7827.155 4e5e8671 Update to Chromium 149.0.7827.155 08a3e7da helium/ui/layout: disable mute on collapsed vertical tabs (#1778) a0a5bbaf helium/core: simplify context menu and prevent huge widths (#1951) c4732aac devutils/i18n: add forage command (#1944) 11d16986 devutils/i18n: add an option to translate using local CLI tools (#1942) d820c3a2 i18n/prompt: tighten translation rules to prevent common errors (#1940) cf827007 Update to Chromium 149.0.7827.114 6e3d5164 Update to Chromium 149.0.7827.102 Download: Helium 64-bit | Portable 64-bit |~100.0 MB (Open Source) Download: Helium ARM64 | Portable ARM64 Links: Helium Home Page | macOS | Linux | Screenshot Get alerted to all of our Software updates on Twitter at @NeowinSoftware
    • Glow 26.10 by Razvan Serea Glow provides detailed reporting on every hardware component in your computer, saving you valuable time typically spent searching for CPU, motherboard, RAM, graphics card, and other stats. With Glow, all the information is conveniently presented in one clean interface, allowing you to easily access and review the comprehensive hardware details of your system. Glow provides detailed information on various system aspects, including OS, motherboard, processor, memory, graphics card, storage, network, battery, drivers, and services. The well-organized format ensures easy access to the required information. You can export all the gathered data to a plain text file, facilitating sharing with others for troubleshooting purposes. No installation needed. Just decompress the archive, launch the executable, and access computer-related information. Glow runs on Windows 11 and Windows 10 64-bit versions. Glow 26.10 changelog: New Features The bootstrapping algorithm has been completely redesigned. The software can now launch directly without requiring TS Preloader. As part of this change, the startup splash screen displayed during initialization has been removed. In addition, spikes in CPU usage have been eliminated, resulting in a more stable architecture with significantly lower memory consumption. The Microsoft Office detection infrastructure within the Operating System section has been enhanced. Additional detection support has been added for Office C2R (Click-to-Run) installations. Furthermore, the license status evaluation system has been improved, and the priority order has been revised as follows: Licensed > Grace Period > Other (NOTIFICATIONS, EVALUATION, etc.). Glow now includes preliminary support for Wi-Fi 8 technology, allowing more detailed information to be displayed for Wi-Fi 8-compatible network adapters. Glow now provides full support for Bluetooth 6.2. Adapters supporting Bluetooth 6.2 can be analyzed in greater detail and with improved accuracy. The disk distribution view in the Disk section has been modernized, replacing the traditional table layout with a new 2×2 card-based design. The TS Custom Controls module has been updated to v26.7. Thanks to the new custom controls, all Türkaysoft applications now offer a more modern and consistent user interface aligned with Windows 11 design standards. Bug Fixes Potential line-ending handling issues in the Office detection code within the Operating System section have been resolved. Additionally, the output format has been standardized to UTF-8 to prevent character encoding issues and ensure consistent data processing. Several stability and file management issues within the Debugging infrastructure have been addressed. Problems that prevented new log files from being created after Debugging was disabled, as well as issues causing debug records to be lost, have been fixed. File deletion and reaccess issues that occurred after file locks were released have also been resolved. In addition, a bug that caused newly recreated log files to remain locked after deletion has been eliminated. Unnecessary blank lines within debug logs and the extra empty line that could appear at the end of log files have also been corrected. A shortcut key conflict caused by assigning identical hotkeys to both the DNS Test Tool and the Donation page has been fixed. The DNS Test Tool can now be accessed using CTRL + Shift + D, while the Donation page is available via CTRL + Alt + D. Changes The service responsible for providing the Public IP Address and Internet Service Provider information in the Network section has been updated to use the ipinfo.io infrastructure. This change improves the accuracy and consistency of the displayed data. (No external requests are made while Hiding Mode is enabled.) Some terms in the Dutch and Korean language files have been updated to make them clearer and more user-friendly. [TS Updater] Before the update process begins, users are now prompted to choose whether they would like to view the release notes. Note: Always unzip the program before using it. Otherwise you may get an error. Download: Glow 26.10 | 1.8 MB (Open Source) Links: Glow Homepage | Screenshot | Github Get alerted to all of our Software updates on Twitter at @NeowinSoftware
    • Maradona if hydration breaks had existed in Mexico 86.
    • The quantum search for Time's origin had an equally mind-boggling conclusion by Sayan Sen Image by Steve Johnson via Pexels A theoretical study from researchers at the University of Surrey suggested that the direction of time may not be fundamentally fixed in certain quantum systems. The work, published in Scientific Reports, examined how the “arrow of time” could emerge from microscopic physics and found that time-reversal symmetry can remain intact even in models used to describe processes such as energy loss and thermalisation. The arrow of time refers to the observed one-way direction from past to future in everyday life. In macroscopic processes, this is easy to see. Spilled milk spreads across a table and does not gather back into a glass, and heat flows from hotter objects to colder ones. These processes shape the common sense idea that time moves in a single direction. However, at the level of fundamental physics, many equations do not prefer a direction of time. Time-reversal symmetry means that the same physical laws can describe a system whether time moves forward or backward. This has made it difficult to explain why irreversible behaviour appears in the large-scale world even when the underlying rules do not require it. Dr Andrea Rocco, Associate Professor in Physics and Mathematical Biology at the University of Surrey, described this contrast: "One way to explain this is when you look at a process like spilt milk spreading across a table, it's clear that time is moving forward. But if you were to play that in reverse, like a movie, you'd immediately know something was wrong – it would be hard to believe milk could just gather back into a glass. However, there are processes, such as the motion of a pendulum, that look just as believable in reverse. The puzzle is that, at the most fundamental level, the laws of physics resemble the pendulum; they do not account for irreversible processes. Our findings suggest that while our common experience tells us that time only moves one way, we are just unaware that the opposite direction would have been equally possible." The study focused on open quantum systems, which are quantum systems that interact with a surrounding environment. This environment, often described as a heat bath, can exchange energy and information with the system. The researchers used this framework to study how a direction of time might appear even when the underlying physics does not enforce one. A key part of the analysis involved the Markov approximation. This is a simplification used in many models where the system is assumed not to retain memory of its past states. The idea is that changes depend only on the current state, not on earlier history. This is commonly used when studying thermalisation, which is the process where a system settles into equilibrium with its environment. The study also used concepts such as master equations, including the Lindblad and Pauli equations, which describe how probabilities of different quantum states change over time. Another related model discussed was quantum Brownian motion, which describes the random-like movement of a quantum particle interacting continuously with its environment. In these descriptions, a “memory kernel” can appear, which is a mathematical term that accounts for how past states influence current behaviour. The researchers found that applying the Markov approximation did not break time-reversal symmetry. Even when the system interacted with an effectively infinite heat bath, the resulting equations of motion remained symmetric in time. This meant that the same mathematical description could, in principle, run forward or backward in time without contradiction. The study further showed that standard frameworks used in open quantum systems, including quantum Brownian motion and master equations like the Lindblad and Pauli forms, could be written in a time-symmetric way. These equations are typically used to describe processes that look irreversible, such as dissipation and thermalisation, but the results suggested they can also be interpreted as allowing evolution in both time directions. Thomas Guff, Research Fellow in Quantum Thermodynamics, said: "The surprising part of this project was that even after making the standard simplifying assumption to our equations describing open quantum systems, the equations still behaved the same way whether the system was moving forwards or backwards in time. When we carefully worked through the maths, we found that this behaviour had to be the case because a key part of the equation, the "memory kernel," is symmetrical in time. We also found a small but important detail which is usually overlooked – a time discontinuous factor emerged that kept the time-symmetry property intact. It’s unusual to see such a mathematical mechanism in a physics equation because it's not continuous, and it was very surprising to see it appear so naturally." The researchers also noted that deriving a one-way arrow of time from time-reversal symmetric microscopic dynamics remains an open problem across fields such as thermodynamics, statistical mechanics, particle physics, and cosmology. Their results suggested that some standard descriptions of irreversible behaviour in open quantum systems may be better understood using a time-symmetric formulation of Markovianity. According to the study, processes such as thermalisation, which are usually treated as irreversible, could in theory be described in a way that allows evolution in either time direction under the same rules. This does not imply that time reversal occurs in everyday life, but rather that the underlying equations do not strictly enforce a single direction. Overall, the findings suggested that the perceived direction of time may emerge from how physical systems are modelled and approximated, rather than from a fundamental asymmetry in the laws themselves. The researchers noted that this perspective could have implications for ongoing work in quantum mechanics, thermodynamics, and cosmology on the origin of time’s arrow. Source: University of Surrey, Nature This article was generated with some help from AI and reviewed by an editor. Under Section 107 of the Copyright Act 1976, this material is used for the purpose of news reporting. Fair use is a use permitted by copyright statute that might otherwise be infringing
  • Recent Achievements

    • Reacting Well
      BizSAR earned a badge
      Reacting Well
    • First Post
      AndreaB earned a badge
      First Post
    • Week One Done
      Huge Trailer earned a badge
      Week One Done
    • Week One Done
      Classifyskilleducation earned a badge
      Week One Done
    • One Month Later
      eurospharma62 earned a badge
      One Month Later
  • Popular Contributors

    1. 1
      +primortal
      581
    2. 2
      +Edouard
      183
    3. 3
      PsYcHoKiLLa
      75
    4. 4
      Michael Scrip
      73
    5. 5
      neufuse
      64
  • Tell a friend

    Love Neowin? Tell a friend!