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blue screen of death

gothagotha Member UncommonPosts: 1,074
in Hardware

My computer boots up fine,  but after running for several minutes it freezes and eventually goes to blue screen of death.  Saying -A process crucial to your system opteration .......-

 

I have done memory check,  system restore points (but only 2 one from a few hours before so it does not really work) but i cannot seem to find the problem.   It does the same thing in safe mode.

 

I did install any recent hardware and have not updated any drivers recently.  There was a windows update early this morning.

Also the OS is on a separate ssd.  Which i am hoping is not corrupt.

 

Comments

  • gothagotha Member UncommonPosts: 1,074

    http://www.thehtpc.net/htpc-tips-and-tweaks/hardware-tips-and-tweaks/fix-your-windows-7-resume-issue-with-microcenter-ssd-drives/

     

    Ok firmware is updated according to the updater,  but the system is still freezing up.  The firmware also tends to crash onces its updated,  when i reboot though it says its the correct updated firmware now.  SO i am pretty sure it was successful.

     

    Also the computer does not just freeze up,  i can still move the mouse around and highlight icons but nothing will load or move.

  • XforsakerXXforsakerX Member UncommonPosts: 124

    Seem's like a file is corrupt or something, been awhile since ive seen an error like that :/

    AMD Phenom(tm) II X4 955 Processor (4 CPUs), ~3.2GHz
    6142MB RAM
    NVIDIA GeForce GTX 260
    Antec Gaming Phenom
    Windows Vista™ Home Premium

  • eye_meye_m Member UncommonPosts: 3,317

    Originally posted by gotha

    My computer boots up fine,  but after running for several minutes it freezes and eventually goes to blue screen of death.  Saying -A process crucial to your system opteration .......-

     

    I have done memory check,  system restore points (but only 2 one from a few hours before so it does not really work) but i cannot seem to find the problem.   It does the same thing in safe mode.

     

    I did install any recent hardware and have not updated any drivers recently.  There was a windows update early this morning.

    Also the OS is on a separate ssd.  Which i am hoping is not corrupt.

     

    I hear the same story every day. My computer messes up, and Windows tells me something about whats going on but I don't remember what it is. So, does anybody know what I should do to fix it?

    Start with reading. When the BSOD comes up, read the information, and relay the information to the people that you are asking for help. All the information. Information like (0x0000008A) 0x000000E etc are important and helpful. If it says that a process has failed, does it say what process? 

    You should check for drivers for your video, chipset, processor etc. Do you run a crap antivirus?  Is your system running hot?

    All of my posts are either intelligent, thought provoking, funny, satirical, sarcastic or intentionally disrespectful. Take your pick.

    I get banned in the forums for games I love, so lets see if I do better in the forums for games I hate.

    I enjoy the serenity of not caring what your opinion is.

    I don't hate much, but I hate Apple© with a passion. If Steve Jobs was alive, I would punch him in the face.

  • noquarternoquarter Member Posts: 1,170

    Hmm the SSD still sounds suspect. You could install the OS again to your mechanical drive and see if it still crashes, at least then you would know it's something else. Not sure how else to test that SSD for stability while the OS is on it. There's probably something you could do with an Ubuntu bootable CD then run some test on the SSD.

  • QuizzicalQuizzical Member LegendaryPosts: 25,499

    If you've got a second generation SandForce SSD, that has some weird glitch that causes frequent blue screens in <1% of systems.  Apparently it's a major pain to reproduce, so it has been "fixed" in a number of firmware updates, but some of the people afflicted with it insist that the fix didn't work.

  • sage3020sage3020 Member Posts: 23

    Did you do a memory check with only software or by physically removing the sticks? I would test the memory again by removing them one at a time and see if the problem persists, just to make sure you don't have any bad sticks. You could also try windows repair.

  • RidelynnRidelynn Member EpicPosts: 7,383

    If it BSOD's while in Safe Mode, then the problem is either a corrupt kernal file (which would probably be easier to just reinstall windows clean), or well and truly a hardware problem.

    Safe mode bypasses most all of the drivers and just loads generic, unoptimized drivers for most everything in an attempt to get the computer running, even if it's not optimal.

    So if it's BSODing even in safe mode, you either have a really low level Windows file that's bad, or it's hardware.

    You need to post (or better yet, Google yourself) the exact error message, that will get you pointed more towards the right direction.

    And it would be a good idea if you had a spare hard drive you could throw in there and just try installing Windows on, if you make it through the install process on the spare drive. If it works and boots on the spare drive, then you can at least access your SSD and make backups and such before reinstalling on it. And if it doesn't work, you can be 99.8% certain it's hardware (other than the Sandforce bug).

    I would especially check the motherboard heatsinks, power supply failing, memory seated properly, all power cords seated properly, CPU fan is spinning properly and heatsink is mounted well, and all the PCI cards are firmly installed and screwed to the chassis. In fact, I would probably remove all of the above and remount it just to be sure, as just looking at it or wiggling it you often can't tell.

  • gothagotha Member UncommonPosts: 1,074

     I decided to go for a clean wipe,  sadly that does not seem to be going well either.   I try to install windows but it keeps getting stuck at certain points.  It took me quite a few drives to get it to delete partitions i made from prior failed attempts.  I tested my ram off of UBCD on my ram and their does not seem to be a problem.  I am pretty sures it my ssd drive so i update the firmware before i wiped windows but that did not help.    

     

    Right now windows seems to get stuck on expanding windows section of installation.  I am thinking of just just ditching it buying a new ssd.  

     

    Ubunto will not install either,  i get input/output error during read....

     

    OK

    http://www.amazon.co.jp/gp/search/ref=sr_in_-2_p_4_2?rh=n%3A2127209051%2Cn%3A%212127210051%2Cn%3A2151901051%2Cn%3A2151936051%2Ck%3Assd%2Cp_4%3ACORSAIR&bbn=2151936051&keywords=ssd&ie=UTF8&qid=1322496287&rnid=2150383051#/ref=sr_ex_p_4_0?rh=n%3A2127209051%2Cn%3A%212127210051%2Cn%3A2151901051%2Cn%3A2151936051%2Ck%3Assd&bbn=2151936051&keywords=ssd&ie=UTF8&qid=1322496340

    Out of those which brand is good for stability and compatability?

    I am currently in Japan so driving down to microcenter and exchanging the drive is not possible.  I have a year warranty, so i will exchange it later down the road when i fly home again in a few months.  But for now.

  • QuizzicalQuizzical Member LegendaryPosts: 25,499

    What SSD do you have now?

  • gothagotha Member UncommonPosts: 1,074

    http://www.microcenter.com/single_product_results.phtml?product_id=0351760

  • QuizzicalQuizzical Member LegendaryPosts: 25,499

    That's a first generation SandForce drive, so it won't have the blue screen issues of the second generation one.

    What does Windows say the total capacity of the drive is?

  • gothagotha Member UncommonPosts: 1,074

    Ubunto says 60gb,  while windows says 55.9.  Also it seems a lot of other people were plague with similar issues according to the comment posts.

  • QuizzicalQuizzical Member LegendaryPosts: 25,499

    Originally posted by gotha

    Ubunto says 60gb,  while windows says 55.9.  Also it seems a lot of other people were plague with similar issues it seems according to the comment posts.

    All right, then.  It's the standard SandForce firmware, and the "64 GB" claim is just deceptive marketing.

    I'd try reseating connections, and swapping out parts if you can.  For example, if you can install Windows to a different hard drive instead of the SSD and it has the same problem, then the SSD isn't the problem.  Unfortunately, you probably don't have that many spare parts nearby.

    For memory, it's pretty easy, though.  Pull out one memory module and see if the problem persists.  If it does, then put it back and pull out the other.

  • Loke666Loke666 Member EpicPosts: 21,441

    You did try a different SATA cable for the system drive, right?

    And with checking the memory, did you let it run a similar system to memcheck 86 or something for hours?

    What did the crash log say?

    To me it still seems like a memory that isn't working as it should, could be ram, GFX memory or even the processor cash (seen it happen).

    another possible cause could be overheating, or a PSU that delivers too little power or is unreliable.

  • gothagotha Member UncommonPosts: 1,074

    Actually i did not,  i unplugged and replugged it in a few times but did not change it.

    I do not think its heat,  i ranspeedfan and core tempts before it froze up,  and they continued to work after the rest of the system remained unresponsive.  

     

    crash log said 

    problem has been detected.  windows shut down.....

    a process or thread crucial to your systems operation unexpectly shutdown.....

    if this is the first time....

    check new hardware....

     

     

    stop:0x000000F4 (0x0000000000000003, 0xfffffa8008363b30, 0xffffffa8008363....

    (ffffff80003383f8bo)

  • QuizzicalQuizzical Member LegendaryPosts: 25,499

    If that's crashing at idle, then that's not likely a heat or power issue.  A spectacularly awful "500 W" power supply might explode if you pull 400 W from it, but even the worst aren't likely to malfunction at 100 W.

    Though it would probably be good to list exactly what components you have.

    And yes, do try plugging things in differently.  Use a different SATA port, a different SATA cable if available, different power connectors from the power supply if available, and so forth.

  • CatamountCatamount Member Posts: 773

    SSDs produce next to zero heat, and flash memory operates in pretty adverse conditions, thermally, in my experience (cold or hot), so that's almost certainly not the problem.

     

    That said, broken SATA cables are not at all unheard of. That could absolutely be the problem. Of course, I can't help but wonder if you might have corrupted firmware if you tried to update it over a buster cable, but one step at a time. I'd try just switching the cable.

     

    I've never personally encountered a single broken SATA port, but I've heard of it happening, and for the sake of troubleshooting, there's no reason to not eliminate that as a variable as well, so you might as well try the different port as well.

  • RidelynnRidelynn Member EpicPosts: 7,383

    Originally posted by gotha

    stop:0x000000F4 (0x0000000000000003, 0xfffffa8008363b30, 0xffffffa8008363....
    (ffffff80003383f8bo)

    I've seen mixed results from this.

    Most people report a failing hard drive, hard drive controller, bad cable, misconfigured hard drive controller, or other hard drive related issue (try using a new cable on a different SATA port, as suggested above). A few people report it being corrupt BIOS values, and a factory reset of the BIOS working. A few people report it being a bad BIOS battery (which may be the same as the corrupt BIOS values, and the changing of the battery just forced a reset).

    http://support.microsoft.com/search/default.aspx?query=stop+0x000000f4&amp;catalog=LCID=1033&amp;spid=&amp;mode=r&amp;lsc=0

  • gothagotha Member UncommonPosts: 1,074

     




    This is what is in the computer,  plus the SSD listed above which has the OS installed on it.



    $60.99


     


     















































































     




  • RidelynnRidelynn Member EpicPosts: 7,383

    I don't see any smoking guns in the hardware list - I think you either need to take it into a shop (where they have spare equipment to swap in and out to find the problem), or find a buddy (or two or three) who has spare parts you can swap in and out to find the problem.

    I'd start with a spare hard drive, on a new cable, in a different SATA port, and then just keep swapping one thing at a time until it starts working well again.

    Then keep the last part you replaced (the probably bad one), start replacing parts with your original parts one piece at a time, make sure it stays working, and by the end of it you'll hopefully have zeroed in on the problem.

    The only bad part about that is, you need spare parts - not everyone has nearly an entire second computer just laying around. Hence, you may have to actually take it into a shop and pay the labor rate for them to diagnose it.

    Stay far away from Geek Squad and other major retailers that have "PC Repair" -

    If you don't have enough geek friends with enough spare hardware for you (or your geek friends) to troubleshoot the problem, try to find a reputable Mom&Pop shop - they are your next best resource, but finding a good one can be tricky.

    The good news is, looking at your hardware list, most all of that hardware is covered by at least a 1 year warranty - you just need to find out what is broke, and replacement should be covered (although warranty repairs can take several weeks, at least it won't cost anything).

  • gothagotha Member UncommonPosts: 1,074

    Well it turns out my laptop has an SSD slot,  so i plugged it in and my laptop keeps freezing up shortly after launch.  It freezes differently though,  fully locks up.  I did not install anything on the drive or copy anything over.  I take the SSd out and my laptop works fine (at least while i am typing this it is).

  • RidelynnRidelynn Member EpicPosts: 7,383

    Originally posted by gotha
    Well it turns out my laptop has an SSD slot,  so i plugged it in and my laptop keeps freezing up shortly after launch.  It freezes differently though,  fully locks up.  I did not install anything on the drive or copy anything over.  I take the SSd out and my laptop works fine (at least while i am typing this it is).

    That's a good sign for finding the problem; however I know it sucks to lose an important piece of hardware like an SSD. It should still be under warranty, but I'd try to get all the data off of it that you can (maybe stick it in an external USB enclosure and plug it into your laptop to copy the data - the encloses are cheap and very handy to have around).

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