[SOLVED] Critical Process Died - Windows 10 fresh install!

Jimbo Mahoney

Jimbo Mahoney

Jimbo Mahoney

Soldato
Joined
18 Oct 2002
Posts
6,669
EDIT - I think I've solved it - https://forums.overclockers.co.uk/t...dows-10-fresh-install.18863384/#post-32968577

Hi all,

OK, I'm stumped with this one.

My Dell Inspiron 15R 5520, which is (was!) a lovely cheap video machine has started playing up.

As far as I can tell, it's perfectly fine hardware-wise.

It started throwing Critical Process Died (and some other BSODs, but this is by far the most common) after a Windows update.

This happens seemingly randomly, but typically a few minutes after booting. I can be doing anything - watching a movie / doing a Windows Update. There doesn't seem to be a specific cause.

It will also crash slowly - i.e. the movie carries on playing, but the cursor changes to the circle / loading animation. During this time, I can move the mouse, but cannot do things like open the Start menu. After ~30 seconds, it eventually gives up and throws a BSOD.

Even after a fresh install of the latest Windows 10 ISO, it's behaving the same way.

Here's what I've tried:

1) Windows memory test = all clear.
2) Update latest drivers (well, the only driver I can really find is the Intel website, which updates the graphics drivers, which is basically just a built-in HD4000.
3) Update BIOS - Dell had an update for it in 2018.
4) Using the original / latest drivers from the Dell website (~2015).
5) Checking Event Viewer - there is no clue in here. No specific event is shown at the time or immediately before the BSOD - only after when it (helpfully) tells me that it had an unexpected shutdown.

Any ideas?
 
Last edited:
Sounds like some application running in the background hanging. I'd do the same thing people do to identify allergies; elimination and reintroduction. Obviously it'll mean using your system without these applications to see if they're causing it. Start by going to the Startup tab in Task Manager and stop any of these applications from starting up with logon, and then use your system without any of those applications, but otherwise as usual. If the problem stops occurring, you are on the right track. It's then a simple case of slow reintroduction and waiting for the problem to rear its head again.
 
have something like process explorer running in a visible window showing cpu use graph to see if that reveals a culprit...
often, if you are quick you may be able to suspend the problem process to get some stack dumps.

presumably you have tried the dell recommended graphics drivers, not just the latest intel hd ones too,
make sure windows is not illicitly installing drivers that are overriding your choices.
 
Thanks all.

Will give all of these a go and see what turns up.

Thinking about the processes - it could well be that something I'm always running - SVP - could be the culprit.


I've also not checked for dust, and the laptop is mostly kept on the floor, so maybe it's just sucked up loads of stuff from the carpet!

:D
 
Sadly, it's none of these things (or seems to be none of them).

Fans are barely spinning - just on a little sometimes.

Safe mode crashes in exactly the same way.

Still no events in event viewer.

No indication of what the problem is when viewing Resource Monitor.

Happens within minutes of booting. Could be watching a movie, looking at Event Viewer or scanning the HD with HD tune to try and find bad sectors (it isn't able to complete before a BSOD, but a quick scan reveals no issues).

I'll head over the Dell forums and see if this is some sort of problem with this mode and the latest Win 10 update.

As I say, my suspicions are with the latest Win 10, as the laptop has been flawless until ~1 month ago (after a relatively large update) and now even a fresh install with the latest ISO from MS does the same thing.

I suppose I could try Win 7, but I'd rather not.
 
OK, I'm pretty optimistic that this is fixed, so marking the thread as solved.

After lots of Googling, I came across a lot of SSD-related posts.

This one in particular - SSD firmware.

I'm running a Samsung EVO 840 in this laptop, and the Samsung Magician software recommended a firmware upgrade, which was quick and easy.

So far, so good!
 
Keep an eye on the ssd. These ssds had issues where over time they would slow down a lot and the only way to get performance back was to secure erase the drive and starting over again until the same thing happened again.

I’m not sure if they ever fixed it as one of my ssds died and was replaced under warranty with a 850 and the other I took back because of this issue, there was a huge thread under the hdd section.

Edit, after a little searching I found the post here, as said though unsure if this ever got fixed in a firmware or not so may not be the issue

https://forums.overclockers.co.uk/threads/assistance-calling-all-samsung-evo-owners.18615995/
 
Last edited:
Thanks, that’s interesting and an epic thread!

In fairness, as you can imagine, this is a cheap laptop that I’ve slapped an old SSD in.

My main laptop is running an 850, so if the old one dies, I’ll probably throw the 850 into it and get something newer for the main laptop.
 
crikey thats a long thread ... couldn't find a synopsys of the problem there ! but guess it was this - suucinctly summarised on anantech
https://www.anandtech.com/show/8550...40-evo-read-performance-bug-fix-is-on-the-way
and just impacted 840's as you imply, not the 850 I have too .. which has been install and forget - 3 years ago

[
if the crashes persisted this was a rolls royce solution , I have used great gui
https://www.tenforums.com/performan...erformance-analyzer-vs-boot-phases-where.html
jpaul said:
you can run the windows performance analysis toolkit
this gives a timeline on what happens at startup, but using an elimination process as Semple says should equally solve it.
windows 10 update stuff might be responsible (for sure it can be on 7), so maybe set a metered connection to temporarily inhibit that.
Click to expand...
]
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top Bottom