Windows 8 Persistent BSOD Issues Despite Full System Rebuild and Multiple Fix Attempts

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Ehssan Shamoradi

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May 11, 2014
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I've had BSODS since last year. The laptop has been for three RMA's with PC Specialist, in the last one they said they did a full rebuild of the system. The BIOS has been updated, RAM replaced, I've done clean reinstalls of Windows in the past.

I had it back for 10 days and then yesterday it crashed again twice. I didn't fiddle with the drivers they had installed, just set Windows to install what it considered essential. I'm using Windows defender - installed the following programs - Premiere Pro, After Effects, VLC, Chrome, Open Office.

Can anyone find something abnormal in the dump files and help solve a problem that has been going on for half a year?

Specs are as follows -

It's a Vortex IV laptop with PC Specialist, Windows 8.1, CPU I7-4800MQ, 32GB RAM, Intel HD Graphics 4600, NVidia GTX 770m

Thanks for any help you can give,
 

Attachments

Solution
Code: 
*******************************************************************************
*                                                                             *
*                        Bugcheck Analysis                                    *
*                                                                             *
*******************************************************************************

Use !analyze -v to get detailed debugging information.

BugCheck A, {18, 2, 1, fffff8011d970181}

*** WARNING: Unable to verify timestamp for win32k.sys
*** ERROR: Module load completed but symbols could not be loaded for win32k.sys
Probably caused by : memory_corruption

Followup: memory_corruption
Hi,
out of the three dump files sent...
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Code: 
*******************************************************************************
*                                                                             *
*                        Bugcheck Analysis                                    *
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*******************************************************************************

Use !analyze -v to get detailed debugging information.

BugCheck 50, {ffffe001350b11fb, 1, fffff801434ce076, 2}


Could not read faulting driver name
Probably caused by : ntkrnlmp.exe ( nt!PoIdle+166 )

Followup: MachineOwner

Hi,
of the two dump files sent one was a bugcheck 3B sometimes seen with hardware faults and the above relates to invalid system memory accessed either by a driver or process.
Looking though your drivers most look ok apart from this one:

wdcsam64.sys Wed Apr 16 09:39:08 2008: Western Digital SCSI Arcitecture Model (SAM) WDM driver 2008 driver version has known BSOD issues in Windows. Please update this driver or if it isn't used remove it. Usually drivers come from the lappies manufacturer so if the link below doesn't work try the link mentioned below that.
Link Removed

I couldn't actually find the drivers for your model apart from this site:
Link Removed

See if changing that driver does anything but if not post the dump file and we'll go from there.
 
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Thanks for that, I'll remove it initially and see what happens. Is it best to just uninstall the driver from device manager or is there a cleaner method? It would've been installed by my 2Tb WD external HDD.

So how likely do you think a hardware fault is? I'd be pretty angry if that was the case considering they've (PC Specialist) done a full rebuild and had it back three times. To elaborate on the issue there is no trigger to the BSODs, they are pretty random, can occur when just browsing online for example. I sometimes go up to around 10 days without issue. The system is also otherwise stable and fast although I annoyingly can't do a system restore because of this error: - "an unspecified error occurred during system restore (0x80070005)". I've been told the most likely fix for this is to turn off antivirus but the problem persists even with Windows Defender turned off.

Thanks for your time
 
Upvote 0 Downvote

I'd try and see if there is at least an update first before removing it but in any case at least we have something that looks a probable cause. To be honest I'm not exactly sure there is a hardware fault without further testing. As I found an absolute culprit of a driver I thought I'd wait on advising you further regarding testing hardware as you may not need to do it.
System Restore might not be working for a number of reasons. This help page from MS may help:
http://answers.microsoft.com/en-us/...80070005/728b2420-739b-4c9b-8f50-99d0b66d9b19
 
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I ran driver verifier and then put the dump through WhoCrashed which suggests that nvlddmkm.sys needs updating. Do you agree and where is the best place to download an update? I do have two GPU's, the inbuilt Intel one and the Nvidia one, perhaps they're conflicting?
 

Attachments

Upvote 0 Downvote
Code: 
*******************************************************************************
*                                                                             *
*                        Bugcheck Analysis                                    *
*                                                                             *
*******************************************************************************

Use !analyze -v to get detailed debugging information.

BugCheck A, {18, 2, 1, fffff8011d970181}

*** WARNING: Unable to verify timestamp for win32k.sys
*** ERROR: Module load completed but symbols could not be loaded for win32k.sys
Probably caused by : memory_corruption

Followup: memory_corruption
Hi,
out of the three dump files sent two were like the above and one blamed the GPU driver for accessing freed memory. You may have a memory issue either with the RAM sticks, RAM slots or the compatibility of the RAM.
Please download the latest version of Memtest86 here:
http://www.memtest.org/
Although a little old this guide shows how best to run the above app:
http://www.techspot.com/community/topics/tutorial-how-to-use-memtest.62524/

Laptop and notebook drivers are almost always supplied by the manufacturer of the machine. I did try to find that particular page with google eventually leading me to this site:
Link Removed
Date wise your drivers don't look in bad shape but i would advise against using apps that find drivers for you or optimise your system as you lose a certain amount of control over what's being installed. Your much better off sourcing the drivers yourself. It might be difficult at first but once you've found them just pop the address in your favourites. You'll get to know your machine better and it can only help to keep your machine running as it should.

Your two GPU's are designed not to conflict. The Intel ideally is for 2D (desktop, browsing ect) and the Nvidia for 3D (gaming). Once you start a game, if it's configured right, then the machine should automatically start using the Nvidia chip. Plus your bsod is random and if it was gpu based then it would probably crash more when gaming.
Try running Memtest86 and see how you go. Post any new dump files.
 
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Solution
Here's the compressed folder with all the latest dumps. If you suspect a hardware issue then I'm tempted to just go directly to the manufacturer. I pay like £12 insurance on it and it's been for three RMAs and they've done a full rebuild. I feel like I'm entitled to either a replacement or money back if they haven't fixed the issue.
 

Attachments

Upvote 0 Downvote
Code: 
*******************************************************************************
*                                                                             *
*                        Bugcheck Analysis                                    *
*                                                                             *
*******************************************************************************

Use !analyze -v to get detailed debugging information.

BugCheck A, {18, 2, 1, fffff8011d970181}

*** WARNING: Unable to verify timestamp for win32k.sys
*** ERROR: Module load completed but symbols could not be loaded for win32k.sys
Probably caused by : memory_corruption

Followup: memory_corruption

Hi,
did you run the Memtest86 scan yet?

Can you also test your GPU stability by running this application here:
http://www.ozone3d.net/benchmarks/fur/

Please run a chkdsk:
Link Removed
I know the guide isn't for win 8 but it's almost the same process for both os.

You need to run the above tests including Memtest86 in order to verify whether this an actual hardware issue.
 
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