Windows 7, Blue Screen of Death

[Laya Maheshwari]

Hello,

I have an original copy of Windows 7 Ultimate, 32-bit. I was using this since more than half a year, without any problems. But from last week, this computer has showed many, many errors.

I don't know how it started. I haven't updated any driver recently. I have updated a few softwares, but most of those changes, I've made on my laptop too and that hasn't shown any error so far. In all, this present config worked smoothly for a long time and has started giving problems only recently.

I ran the Reliability Monitor in the Action Center and it showed a drastic decrease in reliability recently, with the score dipping below 4. It lists "Windows Shut Down Unexpectedly" as the most common cause behind this BSOD and also "Application Failures" a couple of times.

Here are a links to a few screenshots I grabbed...

Post Crash Message 1

Post Crash Message 2

Post Crash Message 3

BSOD 1

This was the one that started it all. This comes up the most frequently.

BSOD 2 (Atapi)

I also received this one a couple of times, that pointed out "atapi.sys". I also received one that pointed to "ataport.sys" but I couldn't get a grab of that.

HW Monitor Results

These are the temperatures of my rig. Bear in mind that the HD temps are normally in the range of 52-54 C (while I'm playing games/watching movies) and the cores also stay in the ~60s if the PC has been on for a long time (which happens frequently)

Here are some minidumps, that might help you analyse the problem -

http://www.multiupload.com/6E8OX8BN93

I removed my hard disks and optical drives, cleaned them and put them back with new cables. Still, no improvement.

I ran Memory Test on both my Hard Disks (Thorough test on the the primary one and Quick Test on the secondary One), and they passed, showing no errors.

I ran Drive Fitness Test on both my Hard Disks (Full test on Primary, Quick Test on Secondary) and none of them showed any errors.

I ran the "Chkdsk /f" command on the partition with Windows, and even that showed no error.

I cannot view my update history, apply any hotfix, or run a Windows-based scan or checkup tool as my computer barely stays up for a minute before giving me a BSOD. This applies even to the Safe Mode. Doesn't stay up.

Tired of all this, I tried to reinstall Windows.

I tried to install Windows 7 x64 from my original DVD, the computer refused to boot from that.

So, I transferred the setup to a USB Pen drive and tried to install via that.

On the 1st try, the setup files were loaded and after that, I got this BSOD -

I restarted and tried to boot from the USB again. On the 2nd and 3rd try, the files loaded, the 4-coloured logo appeared but after that I get a blank, black screen. Not the welcome message or anything related to the setup.

Phew, that is all. I know it's a long post, but do read it carefully. I have been tying to combat this problem since a week and therefore have plenty of stuff to show you.

And please, please help me out here. What do I do?

[+allan MVC]

Go to System Properties - Advanced - Startup & Recovery Settings and uncheck "automatically restart" - then reboot. Next time, the blue screen should stay up. Post the entire blue screen message here.

[neufuse Veteran]

if you post the dump file, we can debug it to see what happened

[Japlabot]

If you turn off the Automatic Restart, the error text in the Blue Screen gives you the gist of the problem.For example, it will say something like "try removing any newly installed hard disks or controllers" if it is a hard disk problem.

It is most likely a hardware problem, I would run some hardware tests too on the memory, hard disk, graphics card, etc.

[Laya Maheshwari]

Go to System Properties - Advanced - Startup & Recovery Settings and uncheck "automatically restart" - then reboot. Next time, the blue screen should stay up. Post the entire blue screen message here.

I clicked a picture of the message when it was shown. I have attached it to this post. Maybe that'll help.

if you post the dump file, we can debug it to see what happened

I am unable to attach, copy or access the .dmp files. I get a message stating I don't have access. How do I remedy this problem?

[vincent]

IRQ lessor equal errors usually pertain to drivers. Have you recently added new hardware to your rig?

[+allan MVC]

Yes, that error is usually associated with bad or conflicting drivers. As a first step I'd suggest updating display and sound drivers to the latest versions (from the OEM websites, not from Microsoft Update) and checking for a bios flash.

[Panacik]

Windows update some hardware driver files that could now be causing the issues? I would check through the recent updates and rollback any that have recently been updated.

Since you said it happens more when playing videos, im guessing it will likely be more connected to audio or video, with my bet being on video...

[Tews]

It would be a lot easier for us to help if you would navigate to c:/windows/minidump and upload the .dmp file, otherwise we're just guessing... ;)

[giantpotato]

Try downloading and running the program WhoCrashed.

[Laya Maheshwari]

IRQ lessor equal errors usually pertain to drivers. Have you recently added new hardware to your rig?

No new hardware. Maybe the drivers. I'll check and tell.

Yes, that error is usually associated with bad or conflicting drivers. As a first step I'd suggest updating display and sound drivers to the latest versions (from the OEM websites, not from Microsoft Update) and checking for a bios flash.

Ok. I'll update the drivers and tell you how it goes.

Windows update some hardware driver files that could now be causing the issues? I would check through the recent updates and rollback any that have recently been updated.

Since you said it happens more when playing videos, im guessing it will likely be more connected to audio or video, with my bet being on video...

I'll go through the update history and report back any things that jump out.

UPDATE - I get a BSOD as soon as I open the Update History tab in Windows Update. Every time. I also get a BSOD every time I try to scan my HDD for errors. What do I do?

It would be a lot easier for us to help if you would navigate to c:/windows/minidump and upload the .dmp file, otherwise we're just guessing... ;)

I have attached a zip file which contains the 3 minidump files for today's crahes. Maybe they'll help you.

---------------------------

Also, I am attaching a new message screen I got. This one's message was different from the ones before and it came up when Windows was trying the Repair Tool (before starting, it showed the error "Windows Couldn't Start Normally").

Also, attaching a screengrab of my HWMonitor results. Could the temperatures be causing this? Bear in mind that my CPU temperatures rise even above this when I'm playing a game or seeing a movie.

Minidump.zip

[Buendia]

I suspect RAM is at fault here.

[vincent]

I suspect RAM is at fault here.

the last bsod screen show atapi.sys, his optical drive or HDD could be bad. cable replacement would be a logical first step

[Laya Maheshwari]

I suspect RAM is at fault here.

Could you please elaborate HOW you reached this conclusion? Did the minidump files clue you in? Or was it the BSOD message? Apart from buying new RAM, anything I can do?

[vincent]

Heres a good link

[Laya Maheshwari]

the last bsod screen show atapi.sys, his optical drive or HDD could be bad. cable replacement would be a logical first step

I haven't attached an optical drive to the PC. Only 2 HDDs. Although, the HDDs do touch 55 degree C whenever I play a game or see a movie. Could they have failed? Anything I can do?

[vincent]

I haven't attached an optical drive to the PC. Only 2 HDDs. Although, the HDDs do touch 55 degree C whenever I play a game or see a movie. Could they have failed? Anything I can do?

move them further apart, they might be cooking themselves, HDD generate alot of heat due to moving parts inside. Replace cables too just to ensure a thorough troubleshooting job.

[Grinch]

Try doing what Vincent said above, as another precaution please try reinstalling your chipset drivers. If you still get BSOD's after that then you should make a partition and install Windows to it, if you continue to get bluescreens then you have a hardware problem. If you do not get any then its a problem with your installation.

Do NOT install any drivers from Windows update on the new windows installation.

[kaborka]

Try reseating your RAM sticks and PCI/e cards. Thermal cycling can cause movement that degrades connections over time. Reinserting things in their sockets has cleared up many reliability problems for me. If reseating RAM and perifs doesn't clear it, do the same for the CPU (be sure to replace your thermal grease).

[Buendia]

Could you please elaborate HOW you reached this conclusion? Did the minidump files clue you in? Or was it the BSOD message? Apart from buying new RAM, anything I can do?

Faulty RAM usually gives random BSODs (random error codes) but I realized that you experienced multiple BSODs giving the same error code (0x0000000A).

If you happen to get more BSODs with random error messages, I might be on the right path.

[Circaflex]

first i would run memtest to verify memory is fine, if that passes run Drive Fitness Test for the HDD or if you can use the MFG provided diagnostics tools for the HDD. Judging by your SS i think you have Seagate brand Harddrive

memtest

Drive Fitness Test

Seagate Diagnostics

If your hardware checks out fine, I would see if safemode works. Uninstall all chipset drivers and use driver sweeper from guru3d.com and update to the newest. if you still have issues you might have a rootkit embeded within the driver causing issues. I have seen this more recently usually with BSOD stop7B but atapi.sys could be effected. I would recommend if you can getting a copy of the Kaspkersy Rescue Disk 10, here, and boot into the prewindows environment. Make a backup of everything you need. Then run the full scanner.

[Laya Maheshwari]

Guys, you have to remember that my PC has become so crash-prone now that it crashes as SOON as I start it. The desktop loads but even before I can open the Start Menu, I get the BSOD. So, running any diagnostics and checks is out of the question as of now. I guess I'll have to move my HDDs a bit apart, reseat the RAM and apply an extra fan and see how that goes... before trying anything else.

[xendrome]

Run CrystalDiskInfo on it, see what it says about the status of the HDD if you can get that far.

[JonathanVP]

In addition to what everyone has stated, run the following just in case:

1.) CHKDSK C: /F /V /R /X

2.) SFC /SCANNOW

[kaborka]

Guys, you have to remember that my PC has become so crash-prone now that it crashes as SOON as I start it. The desktop loads but even before I can open the Start Menu, I get the BSOD. So, running any diagnostics and checks is out of the question as of now. I guess I'll have to move my HDDs a bit apart, reseat the RAM and apply an extra fan and see how that goes... before trying anything else.

First run Memtest as Circaflex suggested. Use your working system (the one you're using for your forum posts) to create a bootable USB thumbdrive with Memtest on it.