Infuriating Windows 7 BSOD Problem

scoobyrichuk

scoobyrichuk

scoobyrichuk

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Joined
18 Oct 2002
Posts
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Worcestershire
I recently built a PC for a friend with the following specs:
Core i5 750
Asus P7P55D Pro
4GB OCZ PC3-12800
64GB Kingston SSD
2 x 1GB Samsung F3
Ati Radeon HD3450
Be Quiet Dark Power Pro 450w

Initally I built the machine with 2 x 2GB of G.Skill RAM then installed Windows 7 Home Premium and immediately ran into stability problems. I tested the RAM using WinDiag and it showed both sticks to be faulty. They've been successfully RMA'ed with OcUK and so I ordered 4GB of OCZ PC3-12800 as a replacement. I have installed this RAM and ran Windiag again (finding no problems after running 100 passes on each stick individually.) I assumed this would solve my problems...unfortunately it hasn't! Everytime I boot into Windows 7 if I don't leave the machine idleing it freezes up and I have a Blue Screen Of Death within a few seconds. It runs fine in safe mode. I have tried running with one stick of RAM, updating the MB Bios to the latest version, using system restore to restore Win 7 to its pre-update state, I've installed all the latest device drivers, I've tried severely underclocking the cpu/ram, I've manually set the RAM voltage to 1.65v and still it locks up everytime!! It's driving me insane now, the only other possible problem could be the RAM timings, however I am confused by the wealth of options in the Bios (seems to be a lot more than any non-ddr3 PC I've built in the past) and so I'm not sure what to be setting exactly. The OCZ RAM has OCZ3G1600LV4GK written on the side, could anyone tell me what settings I should be modifying in the Bios for this RAM?
 
Reinstall if the ram was faulty when the OS was copying the files over it has the potential to have corrupted files there.


M.
 
Could try a windows repair, also could try scanning the HD although it's doubtful that this is the problem.

Can you view the error on the BSOD? Might give some clues as to what isn't working correctly. Could be a driver issue for one of your components
 
If he had broken RAM during install and he hasn't reinstalled Windows since replacing it, then I can see only one problem.

Rather than waste your time diagnosing everything, just reinstall Windows. It doesn't take long and it will tell you right away if you still have an issue.
 
He installed Windows on a system with unstable RAM. This could cause an error anywhere in the OS and he could waste lots of his time tracking down a problem that he probably wont be able to fix. There could be other problems too.

He should only bother with the BSODs and Event reports if he gets them after a fresh Windows install. It takes an hour tops to install Windows 7, much less on a fast machine. If the problems still exist he knows he has a hardware issue. If they go away he has fixed the problem.
 
I installed a fresh copy of Windows with the new error-free RAM. During the actual BSOD itself (which dissapears after a few seconds then the pc automatically reboots) the error message states that a device has become stuck in an infinite loop...could this suggest a driver issue? When Windows does load the following message is displayed:

Problem Signature:
Problem Event Name: BlueScreen
OS Version: 6.1.7600.2.0.0.768.3
Locale ID:2057

Additional Information About The Problem:
BCCode: 10000ea
BCP1: FFFFFA8003301210
BCP2: 0000000000000000
BCP3: 0000000000000000
BCP4: 0000000000000000
OS Version: 6_1_7600
Product: 768_1

I changed the IMC voltage in the Bios to 1.35v (as reccomended on the OCZ forums) and to my surprise the PC seemed stable, I was able to run Prime 95 and browse the net at the same time without a BSOD...until about 20 minutes later when it crashed again :mad: Every attempt to boot after this resulted in an instant BSOD :( During the time it was working a message appeared telling me that the previous BSOD was caused by the HD3450 stopping responding. I booted into safe mode, disabled the gfx card and re-booted normally. It hasn't crashed yet and has been running Prime95 for 20 mins, I am going to leave it for another couple of hours to see if it BSODs again. If it doesn't then I'm guessing the gfx card could be to blame?
 
I was using the latest win7 drivers before I used system restore. Prime is still running stable (2 hours now) with the gfx card 'disabled' in device manager. I'm going to try installing the ati drivers again and see what happens...
 
I've tried installing the latest ATI drivers and now I'm back to BSOD's after every startup. Now the BSOD mentions that a file in the ATI drivers as causing the PC to crash. I have tried installing these drivers through the ati install utility and through device manager with the same result. I'm going to try another 3450 and an old x1800xt tommorow to see if the card is causing the problem otherwise I'm thinking I may have to buy an Nvidia card and see if that works :(
 
McHaMmEr,

Microsoft does have an official Windows 7 Support Forum. It is supported by product specialists as well as engineers and support teams. You may want to also check the threads available there for additional assistance and feedback.

Jessica
Microsoft Windows Client Team
 
Look in c:\windows\minidump for files created at the times of your crashes and either post it or email it to me (sig) and I can tell you what caused the crashes.
 
I haven't got access to the PC at the moment (it is now at my friends house) but it's started randomly BSOD'ing again. It will run prime 95 for hours with no problem but it will crash when browsing a music library in Media Monkey. The BSOD always mentions the file atikmdag.sys as being the cause of the problem. I've tried a new gfx card, removed drivers (using driver sweeper) and installed again, re-installed Windows yet still this problem remains. I suspected the PSU could be causing the problem but then I'm sure running Prime 95 would cause it to crash! Other than perhaps buying an Nvidia card and trying that I'm pretty confused as to what I should try next...?
 
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