Windows Vista BSOD few minutes after Bootup

Ken417 · Jul 23, 2014

My pc has been crashing few minutes after normal bootup. It works fine if I bootup in safe mode. I tried using blue screen view tool and tried updating a Realtek driver. But now I am getting another error related to atapi.sys driver. My pc specs are as follows:

Windows Vista SP2
4 GB Ram
6 years old

I used Norton 360, but after the crashes, Norton doesn't start nor am I able to uninstall it. Also, I am unable to restore to a prior restore point. Attached is a zip file containing the dump files. I am clueless. Any help is appreciated.

kemical · Jul 25, 2014

Hi Ken,
re the Bios updates, it's usual to just install the latest version as that should contain everything that came before. You can update drivers after the bios update and just go through each driver as it comes. Something I forgot to mention last time is after removing Norton install MSE as it's extremely stable:
Link Removed

Also please download and run Malwarebytes:
https://www.malwarebytes.org/

Josephur · Jul 23, 2014

I would first start by removing Norton completely using Symantec's Uninstall Tool which you can find here. Boot in to safe mode and launch the tool, be aware it may uninstall Symantec and Live Update components if they are still used by other Symantec programs on your computer!

Ken417 · Jul 23, 2014

Josephur said:
I would first start by removing Norton completely using Symantec's Uninstall Tool which you can find here. Boot in to safe mode and launch the tool, be aware it may uninstall Symantec and Live Update components if they are still used by other Symantec programs on your computer!

Thanks Josephur! I tried using the Norton uninstall Tool but it still crashed a few minutes later.

kemical · Jul 24, 2014

Code:

*******************************************************************************
*                                                                             *
*                        Bugcheck Analysis                                    *
*                                                                             *
*******************************************************************************

Use !analyze -v to get detailed debugging information.

BugCheck 24, {1904aa, fffffa600cc37678, fffffa600cc37050, fffffa60014e7309}

Probably caused by : Ntfs.sys ( Ntfs!NtfsExpandHashTable+79 )

Followup: MachineOwner

Hi,
this is your most common dump file out of those sent. The above and other dump files suggest you may have issues with either the Hard drive or RAM.
Please run a chkdsk:
Link Removed

I see that your machine is a NV80Vm Notebook and as such drivers and updates are supplied by the manufacturer. I also notice you have several Bios updates available:
Link Removed

Check your RAM
If after making the above changes you still get the bsod then you need to test your RAM.
Windows does have it's own memory testing app but it can often miss errors and the best app for the job is Memtest86. The latest version of which can be found here:
http://www.memtest.org/

To run Memtest86 you need to either burn a copy of it to disk or use a USB stick. If you look down the page you'll eventually find the latest version and it's associated downloads. If your burning to disk choose the pre-compiled iso zip. If your using a USB method then the corresponding download is the auto installer for a USB stick.
Once you have Memtest86 on the media you selected you'll then need to enter your bios and change the boot order so that the machine will boot from either the disk or stick you have Memtest86 on.
Try and run the test overnight if possible unless it becomes clear that there is a issue. If there is a problem with the RAM you'll see the errors pop up in red so you can't miss them.

Post any new dump files.

Ken417 · Jul 25, 2014

kemical said:
Code:

******************************************************************************* * * * Bugcheck Analysis * * * ******************************************************************************* Use !analyze -v to get detailed debugging information. BugCheck 24, {1904aa, fffffa600cc37678, fffffa600cc37050, fffffa60014e7309} Probably caused by : Ntfs.sys ( Ntfs!NtfsExpandHashTable+79 ) Followup: MachineOwner

Hi,
this is your most common dump file out of those sent. The above and other dump files suggest you may have issues with either the Hard drive or RAM.
Please run a chkdsk:
Link Removed

I see that your machine is a NV80Vm Notebook and as such drivers and updates are supplied by the manufacturer. I also notice you have several Bios updates available:
Link Removed

Check your RAM
If after making the above changes you still get the bsod then you need to test your RAM.
Windows does have it's own memory testing app but it can often miss errors and the best app for the job is Memtest86. The latest version of which can be found here:
http://www.memtest.org/

To run Memtest86 you need to either burn a copy of it to disk or use a USB stick. If you look down the page you'll eventually find the latest version and it's associated downloads. If your burning to disk choose the pre-compiled iso zip. If your using a USB method then the corresponding download is the auto installer for a USB stick.
Once you have Memtest86 on the media you selected you'll then need to enter your bios and change the boot order so that the machine will boot from either the disk or stick you have Memtest86 on.
Try and run the test overnight if possible unless it becomes clear that there is a issue. If there is a problem with the RAM you'll see the errors pop up in red so you can't miss them.

Post any new dump files.

Thanks for your response Kemical! I ran chkdsk /f and it was clean. I have the following questions:

1. There are several bios updates available, do I apply all of them or just the most recent one?
2. Also, I am unable to check the bios version on my pc. It doesn't show me anything when I execute msinfo32. Is there another way I can check the bios version on my pc?
3. Should I apply updates to the drivers as well? If yes, is there an order I have to follow? For eg. do I apply the bios updates first and then the drivers? Do I apply some driver updates prior to others? How should I go about it?

Thanks so much for your help!

kemical · Jul 25, 2014

Hi Ken,
re the Bios updates, it's usual to just install the latest version as that should contain everything that came before. You can update drivers after the bios update and just go through each driver as it comes. Something I forgot to mention last time is after removing Norton install MSE as it's extremely stable:
Link Removed

Also please download and run Malwarebytes:
https://www.malwarebytes.org/

Ken417 · Jul 25, 2014

kemical said:
Hi Ken,
re the Bios updates, it's usual to just install the latest version as that should contain everything that came before. You can update drivers after the bios update and just go through each driver as it comes. Something I forgot to mention last time is after removing Norton install MSE as it's extremely stable:
Link Removed

Also please download and run Malwarebytes:
https://www.malwarebytes.org/

Hi Kemical,

Thanks for the response. I have noticed that if I boot up in safe mode without networking, I don't get the bsod and it doesn't crash. It only crashes if I boot up in safe mode with networking or if I boot up normally. Does that mean something? Also, can I apply the bios and driver updates in safe mode without networking? Because in other modes, I get the bsod within five or so minutes. Thanks

kemical · Jul 25, 2014

If you have new dump files then please post them as they all help.
Thanks for posting the info regarding safe mode. If like you say it crashes when either safe mode with networking or normal operation is applied and doesn't crash when just safe mode is entered then one could surmise that the networking driver might have something to do with the crash. Try and update the networking driver in safe mode.
Don't forget about the above regarding MSE and Malwarebytes once you reach some stability.

Josephur · Jul 25, 2014

My favorite way to get BIOS version at an Administrative command prompt:

wmic bios list brief

Also gives you serial number for the machine 🙂

Ken417 · Jul 25, 2014

Josephur said:
My favorite way to get BIOS version at an Administrative command prompt:

wmic bios list brief

Also gives you serial number for the machine 🙂

Hi Josephur,

Thanks for the command. But when I try it, I get a message saying "bios - Alias not found".

kemical · Jul 26, 2014

Sorry I forgot about your question. If you download this app it should tell you which bios you currently have:
http://www.cpuid.com/softwares/cpu-z.html
Look under 'mainboard' which is a tab along the top.

Ken417 · Jul 28, 2014

kemical said:
Sorry I forgot about your question. If you download this app it should tell you which bios you currently have:
http://www.cpuid.com/softwares/cpu-z.html
Look under 'mainboard' which is a tab along the top.

Thanks. This did help me to see my current bios version. So here's what I did:

1. I was at version 207. Of the 2 updates(208 and 209), 209 was related to windows 7, so I only applied bios update 208.

2. To update the drivers, I used a software called driverdoc. It did update a lot of the drivers backing up the prior versions.

3. I ran chkdsk and it was clean.

4. I ran memtest86 for 19 hrs letting it run for 17 passes. There was no error.

I am still getting bsod, sometimes with ntfs.sys and sometime with service_exception_error. Attached is a zip file of the minidump folder.

I also ran sfc /scannow When I ran this, I did get a message saying some files were fixed. I think the log for this is called CBS.log. I am attaching that as well.

I don't understand how to proceed from here. Please help! Thanks

kemical · Jul 28, 2014

Code:

*******************************************************************************
*                                                                             *
*                        Bugcheck Analysis                                    *
*                                                                             *
*******************************************************************************

Use !analyze -v to get detailed debugging information.

BugCheck 24, {1904aa, fffffa600cc09708, fffffa600cc090e0, fffffa60012e71a2}

Probably caused by : Ntfs.sys ( Ntfs!NtfsFindPrefixHashEntry+202 )

Followup: MachineOwner

Hi,
using third party apps to update your drivers is a real no no and possibly why you still have a bsod issue. It's a pain I know but you have to use the drivers supplied by the manufacturer and I would go back and re-install the drivers posted on the support section of your machines webpage:
Link Removed

{9edd0ea8-2819-47c2-8320-b007d5996f8a}Gt64.sys Fri Jan 31 00:46:41 2014: The file {9edd0ea8-2819-47c2-8320-b007d5996f8a}gt64.sys by webget has been detected as adware by 10 anti-malware scanners. It runs as a Windows 64-bit kernel mode device driver named “{9edd0ea8-2819-47c2-8320-b007d5996f8a}Gt64”. It is part of the Yontoo branded browser-extension.
Please run Malwarebytes:
https://www.malwarebytes.org/

When you ran the chkdsk did you check the boxes to repair sectors? If not run chkdsk again but this time make it chkdsk /f /r C: or if your doing it the GUI way make sure both boxes are ticked.
Another thing to check is the SMART data on the drive itself. You might have to enable it in the Bios. This web page has more info:
http://superuser.com/questions/29240/how-can-i-read-my-hard-drives-smart-status-in-windows-7

Ken417 · Aug 4, 2014

kemical said:
Code:

******************************************************************************* * * * Bugcheck Analysis * * * ******************************************************************************* Use !analyze -v to get detailed debugging information. BugCheck 24, {1904aa, fffffa600cc09708, fffffa600cc090e0, fffffa60012e71a2} Probably caused by : Ntfs.sys ( Ntfs!NtfsFindPrefixHashEntry+202 ) Followup: MachineOwner

Hi,
using third party apps to update your drivers is a real no no and possibly why you still have a bsod issue. It's a pain I know but you have to use the drivers supplied by the manufacturer and I would go back and re-install the drivers posted on the support section of your machines webpage:
Link Removed

{9edd0ea8-2819-47c2-8320-b007d5996f8a}Gt64.sys Fri Jan 31 00:46:41 2014: The file {9edd0ea8-2819-47c2-8320-b007d5996f8a}gt64.sys by webget has been detected as adware by 10 anti-malware scanners. It runs as a Windows 64-bit kernel mode device driver named “{9edd0ea8-2819-47c2-8320-b007d5996f8a}Gt64”. It is part of the Yontoo branded browser-extension.
Please run Malwarebytes:
https://www.malwarebytes.org/

When you ran the chkdsk did you check the boxes to repair sectors? If not run chkdsk again but this time make it chkdsk /f /r C: or if your doing it the GUI way make sure both boxes are ticked.
Another thing to check is the SMART data on the drive itself. You might have to enable it in the Bios. This web page has more info:
http://superuser.com/questions/29240/how-can-i-read-my-hard-drives-smart-status-in-windows-7

Hi Kemical,

Thank you so much for your help. I appreciate it. I did run chkdsk /f /r C: and it was clean. I also reapplied all the drivers from Asus's website. It wasn't until I applied the webcam driver that it stopped crashing. This driver was the last one I applied. I did install Microsoft Security essentials. Is Microsoft Security Essentials as robust as Norton 360 or should I try installing Norton 360?

Thanks

kemical · Aug 4, 2014

Hi Ken,
that's great to hear and as for Norton... Well I guess ultimately it's up to you but Norton nowadays isn't well liked by the enthusiast community as it really takes over your machine and more often than not causes issues. I used to run Norton back in 2002 when it was still a great anti-virus app but over the years it's become ever more complex and invades the machine on such a scale a driver stack with norton included has to be seen to be believed. It has it's tentacles into everything which is probably why it ends up causing issues but anyway I'm starting to ramble.. 🙂
I currently use Defender (same as MSE but a windows 8.1 version) and Malwarebytes as neither conflicts nor causes issues.

Ken417 · Aug 4, 2014

kemical said:
Hi Ken,
that's great to hear and as for Norton... Well I guess ultimately it's up to you but Norton nowadays isn't well liked by the enthusiast community as it really takes over your machine and more often than not causes issues. I used to run Norton back in 2002 when it was still a great anti-virus app but over the years it's become ever more complex and invades the machine on such a scale a driver stack with norton included has to be seen to be believed. It has it's tentacles into everything which is probably why it ends up causing issues but anyway I'm starting to ramble.. 🙂
I currently use Defender (same as MSE but a windows 8.1 version) and Malwarebytes as neither conflicts nor causes issues.

Hi Ken - Thanks again for all your help! I would not have been able to resolve the bsod without your help.

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Windows Vista BSOD few minutes after Bootup

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