Windows 7 Weird Pixels that lead to random BSoD's

ShortnStubby · Nov 27, 2012

Hello, I have had this issue for a couple months now and I still cannot figure out the cause. I believe it to be hardware related but cannot get error returns from any program I've tested with, so is it software...?

I can play games that run direct x in full screen and never see an issue, never encounter a crash or BSoD, never see artifacts.

If I browse the net I can usually create the issue over some time, using a program such as premiere pro usually causes the issue and BSoD within 20-30 mins especially when rendering. If using vmware machines I can make the issue happen after some time as well. If I continue browsing the net when the issues begin to happen my browser will start to crash for no apparent reason as well. Windows Explorer will also crash randomly once it gets bad enough.

After I began to encounter issues I took the laptop apart and cleaned it out very well, how ever there was very little dust inside it and no vents were even partially clogged. I did do a re paste about 3 weeks ago both cpu and gpu.

Here is system specs:
ASUS G73JH-X2 Laptop
CPU i7-720QM Clarksfield
16GB 4GB*4 - PC3-10600 DDR3 SDRAM - CMSO8GX3M2A1333C9
ATI Mobility Radeon HD 5870 [ASUS] - 1GB DDR5
Hard Drive - Seagate ST9500420AS - 7200 RPM

I have Installed the Latest Bios on the Motherboard, Video Card, Hard drive

I have tried doing a system restore to factory settings, a full format and clean install using a windows 7 disk and all ends up with same issues, which is why I believe it to be a hardware issue. (Sorry I did not make backups of the dump files prior to the formats)

I have ran Memtest86 for over 3 hours, 3 full cycles. Prime95 for 2+ hours. Many hours of other various test programs such as BurnInTest. None have ever failed or returned an error message.

Link Removed

ShortnStubby · Nov 30, 2012

Sorry for the delayed response been super busy and well found out one set of the ram I just purchased the day I created this thread was bad so i returned that and got a replacement ran memtest86 all was good (I believe my old ram is still good for after a lot of memtest86 it never showed defective so it will be nice to have as spare, i like the 16gb I have now makes huge difference in vmware) then after beating my head off the wall for basically 2 days straight following all recommendations, I then decided to kind of venture off on my own and downgraded vbios, motherboard bios to stock, used a 2nd hard drive installed fresh copy of windows, installed only sp1, went and installed video drivers, opened browser and started to...

GeneralHiningII · Nov 28, 2012

You should run Memtest for AT LEAST 7 hours, and Prime95 for about 8 -9 hours.
Also try running Hdtune (link to download in my signature) for 2 to 3 days, and check that for any errors.

You have 101 updates installed - check Windows Update for more, there should be about 130 to 140 updates in your computer (for SP1).

ATIToolDriver has a problem with it - try getting the latest updates/driver installations for the specific device. ATITool is also an overclocker, so please return any overclocked parts to stock settings - feel free to reoverclock them once the problem is fixed.

Several problems relate to svchost.exe - Go to Start, and type in: Run.
In the Run box, type "msconfig" (no quotations).
in msconfig, under the services tab, disable all (except your antivirus).
Then, in the general tab, select "Selective Startup", and uncheck all boxes except "Load system services".
Reboot your computer again, and try to recreate the problem.
IF: You don't get a crash, we know that one of your installed programs is a problem
IF: You do get a crash, then we know that it's a driver/hardware problem.

Since the analyzer for minidumps I normally use is unavailable, I'll be using the Windows Debugger - looking at 2 of the minidumps (out of a total of 4), I can see that both blame svchost.exe

The 3rd points to TrustedInstaller.exe - this is a Windows program (name: Windows Modules Installer). TrustedInstaller has also been known to hog quite a bit of CPU memory (record was 29%, when I last saw it), so I suggest disabling it for now. The reason why I tell you to disable it is because, in the dump, it references memory (could be your CPU's memory) so I'm asking to disable it just as a precaution.

The 4th dump points to Vmware.exe - please uninstall vmware for now, but feel free to reinstall it once your problem is fixed.

Sorry for any grammar/spelling errors, I'm a bit tired at the moment. Hope you can try out the suggestions and post back!

ShortnStubby · Nov 28, 2012

GeneralHiningII said:
You should run Memtest for AT LEAST 7 hours, and Prime95 for about 8 -9 hours.
Also try running Hdtune (link to download in my signature) for 2 to 3 days, and check that for any errors.

Ok I will try doing so while sleeping, as for hdtune if i can keep the system stable for 3 days that would be amazing but i'll give that a shot as well and report my findings.

You have 101 updates installed - check Windows Update for more, there should be about 130 to 140 updates in your computer (for SP1).

I believe this is due to when I reinstalled windows for the 3rd time the other day I went stright to SP1 stand alone and did not install any updates prior to doing so

ATIToolDriver has a problem with it - try getting the latest updates/driver installations for the specific device. ATITool is also an overclocker, so please return any overclocked parts to stock settings - feel free to reoverclock them once the problem is fixed.

Just removed it, only installed it to run the artifact test. Was not installed in prior installs of windows.

Several problems relate to svchost.exe - Go to Start, and type in: Run.
In the Run box, type "msconfig" (no quotations).
in msconfig, under the services tab, disable all (except your antivirus).
Then, in the general tab, select "Selective Startup", and uncheck all boxes except "Load system services".
Reboot your computer again, and try to recreate the problem.
IF: You don't get a crash, we know that one of your installed programs is a problem
IF: You do get a crash, then we know that it's a driver/hardware problem.

Since the analyzer for minidumps I normally use is unavailable, I'll be using the Windows Debugger - looking at 2 of the minidumps (out of a total of 4), I can see that both blame svchost.exe

The 3rd points to TrustedInstaller.exe - this is a Windows program (name: Windows Modules Installer). TrustedInstaller has also been known to hog quite a bit of CPU memory (record was 29%, when I last saw it), so I suggest disabling it for now. The reason why I tell you to disable it is because, in the dump, it references memory (could be your CPU's memory) so I'm asking to disable it just as a precaution.

Will do this as soon as I am done typing this message. sucks that the problem can happen every 20-30 mins or once every 6-12 hrs

The 4th dump points to Vmware.exe - please uninstall vmware for now, but feel free to reinstall it once your problem is fixed.

Will uninstall as well, please note prior bsod's vmware was not installed

Sorry for any grammar/spelling errors, I'm a bit tired at the moment. Hope you can try out the suggestions and post back!

Thanks you for the help and dont worry about the spelling/grammer errors

one other thing to note, I noticed earlier on a reboot I left the login screen up for a while, when typing in my password it went to some thing saying that it couldnt authenticate me and seamed like it loged me on as a generic user, then i rebooted an just after that explorer would crash constantly until i rebooted, then in the bottom right the little speaker said sound service not started rebooted 3-4 times and its all working fine again....not sure if this information is useful.

I will attempt to make the issue happen a few times and try and get some more dumps.

ShortnStubby · Nov 28, 2012

ok with doing all that you have asked so far, I was able to get 1 more bsod out of the system this time it was after a fresh reboot and I was just browsing though looking for some files. I have attached a full report from the program, hope this will be a more of a clean report compared to the last one.

Link Removed

Thanks again.

GeneralHiningII · Nov 29, 2012

You have 101 updates installed - check Windows Update for more, there should be about 130 to 140 updates in your computer (for SP1).

Click to expand...

I believe this is due to when I reinstalled windows for the 3rd time the other day I went stright to SP1 stand alone and did not install any updates prior to doing so

Even if you go straight to SP1, the prior updates would still show. Could you still check Windows Update?

The 4th dump points to Link Removed.exe - please uninstall Link Removed for now, but feel free to reinstall it once your problem is fixed.

Will uninstall as well, please note prior bsod's vmware was not installed

Got that, just as a precaution because, as I said, one of the dumps pointed to VMWare.

the other dumps also point to svchost.exe, so continue with disabling the services.
Thats what I can do for you at the moment.

ShortnStubby · Nov 30, 2012

Sorry for the delayed response been super busy and well found out one set of the ram I just purchased the day I created this thread was bad so i returned that and got a replacement ran memtest86 all was good (I believe my old ram is still good for after a lot of memtest86 it never showed defective so it will be nice to have as spare, i like the 16gb I have now makes huge difference in vmware) then after beating my head off the wall for basically 2 days straight following all recommendations, I then decided to kind of venture off on my own and downgraded vbios, motherboard bios to stock, used a 2nd hard drive installed fresh copy of windows, installed only sp1, went and installed video drivers, opened browser and started to notice something that I could finally make happen every time. It can be seen here in this video Weird Blocks on mouse over links and text - YouTube. I did a search for archived video drivers and came to notice someone with a different model 5xxx series ati card said they had issues (never stated specifics) on a 12.6 driver and reverted back to 12.4 well I had nothing to loose so went and uninstalled my current driver which was the latest driver 12.10, ran ati crap cleaner, and installed 12.4 series driver and bam no more black block(could this be the resolution to my weird pixels as well? lets hope so), so now I have re updated the vbios and motherboard bios to current versions and in almost 24 hrs no bsod, no weird pixels, seams all is good now lets just hope it stays this way. Thanks for all the help and being inspirational for me to finally dig though this and resolve the issue.

The site I found the drivers on was An archive of AMD Mobility Catalyst Windows 7 x64 drivers – PCR's notepad

Thanks again.

I wont chalk this up as being solved yet due to I don't believe 24 hrs is really a good test, but when I have a week of up time I will definitely return and note as solved, or return with more dumps

GeneralHiningII · Dec 1, 2012

Alright then, hopefully there won't be any more dumps now!

ShortnStubby · Dec 10, 2012

Going to mark this issue as solved. 0 Issues since my last post.

Windows 7 Weird Pixels that lead to random BSoD's

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