[SOLVED] BSOD after replacing motherboard twice. Potential driver issue?

[azpotato]

Hello,
Here is the original thread from a few months ago when the BSOD issues started occurring: https://forums.tomshardware.com/threads/40-blue-screens-in-the-past-6-hours.3594479/?view=date

After a faulty RMA motherboard from MSI (H110M gaming), my PC has started to boot and has run and performed normally for the past 2 weeks. We believe the original issue was due to faulty RAM slots or possibly drivers, thus leading me to switch to this Gigabyte H110M-A. However, it has begun blue screening once again, beginning with IQRL_NOT_LESS_OR_EQUAL errors into SYSTEM_THREAD_EXCEPTION_NOT_HANDLED into SYSTEM_SERVICE_EXCEPTION with FLTMGR.sys failing into DRIVER_IQRL_NOT_LESS_OR_EQUAL errors. My attempts at diagnosing these new BSOD have been, booting off of an older version of windows 10 off of my hard drive (I use a 128 GB SSD as my OS and boot drive with a 1TB hard drive for storage), which has still lead to blue screening, resetting windows from the advanced options boot screen, which has not worked and also has blue screened during the process, and also trying to install a fresh Windows 10 ISO using a USB drive, which has not worked either because it doesn't recognize my system's key or because of other storage issues. The PC continues to blue screen when trying to enter Windows recovery mode and when entering safe mode, and it can only run for around 10-15 seconds when booting normally until a blue screen. This is not enough time to view minidumps to look for errors.

Could anyone help me out? I am extremely desperate as this issue has detrimentally affected my life for the past 4 months. Any and all help is appreciated.

 

[cherry blossoms]

Can you please post a downloadable minidump? That might be helpful.

 

[azpotato]

Can you please post a downloadable minidump? That might be helpful.

I do have some minidumps from previous BSODs but I don't have the most recent set of BSODs recorded. These were from April.
https://www.dropbox.com/sh/194ti6e6ce6qbug/AABH054_ilnVDHMet48Nlpxna?dl=0

 

[Colif]

I thought name seemed familiar. April crashes? Were those when you had the old motherboard as if so, they aren't overly helpful identifying problems on the new one.

if you swapped from an MSI motherboard to a Gigabyte and didn't clean install between the actions, it could be the wrong drivers causing all the errors and best move is a clean install.

Do you have your win 10 key? You might need to contact MS and explain you had to swap motherboards and they should be able to fix activation. During install process, when you reach screen asking for a key, click "I don't have a key" and it will continue install. We can worry about activation after the fact.

or because of other storage issues.

what might these be?

 

[azpotato]

I thought name seemed familiar. April crashes? Were those when you had the old motherboard as if so, they aren't overly helpful identifying problems on the new one.

if you swapped from an MSI motherboard to a Gigabyte and didn't clean install between the actions, it could be the wrong drivers causing all the errors and best move is a clean install.

Do you have your win 10 key? You might need to contact MS and explain you had to swap motherboards and they should be able to fix activation. During install process, when you reach screen asking for a key, click "I don't have a key" and it will continue install. We can worry about activation after the fact.

Hello again! Yes, those minidumps were recovered when my system was working for the past week or so. However, I have unfortunately not been able to retrieve the new dumps which I should have done when I had the opportunity to. I may have a new windows key but I will try to contact windows about my motherboard switch and ask if I can receive any replacement.

One question that I have is that if I do perform a clean install, will it also reset the drivers and allow me to correct issues if there are any?

what might these be?

I think when I tried to reinstall windows after the windows reset failed twice that I attempted to use a USB drive with a windows ISO. I did not have a key at the time so I clicked "I don't have a key" since it reads that if I have an activated version on my motherboard that it should proceed without issues. However, when selecting the drive to install on, it read that I couldn't install onto partition 2 of my C drive (C: being my 128 GB SSD with my OS on it and D/E: , I forgot which one being my 1 TB Hard drive). I wasn't sure if it was because I only have around 19 GB left for storage on my SSD at the time of BSOD or because there was already an installation of windows, but I clicked on each drive and the next button was unable to be pressed for any selected drive.

Another question I have is if I reinstall windows if it deletes the previous installation or just uses the remain storage on the drive. I just want to conserve space on the SSD as it contains my OS etc.

The PC is currently at a shop and I will try to inform them of what you told me. Thank you so much for your help so far.

 

[Colif]

I may have a new windows key but I will try to contact windows about my motherboard switch and ask if I can receive any replacement.

replacement? All they should do is activate the current install for you. If you bought a new key since getting the new motherboard, I would just use it and not bother trying to recover your old one.

Clean install leaves windows in a brand new state, it doesn't have any 3rd party drivers until you set up a user and have logged into desktop and it can start collecting them from internet.

when you installed onto C on drive, you might have got an error about GPT drives? the answer to that is delete all the partitions on ssd and click next.
When you install onto ssd, only have it attached as well. win 10 can sometimes put its boot partition on another hdd and only having 1 attached at install stops it.

 

[azpotato]

replacement? All they should do is activate the current install for you. If you bought a new key since getting the new motherboard, I would just use it and not bother trying to recover your old one.

Clean install leaves windows in a brand new state, it doesn't have any 3rd party drivers until you set up a user and have logged into desktop and it can start collecting them from internet.

when you installed onto C on drive, you might have got an error about GPT drives? the answer to that is delete all the partitions on ssd and click next.
When you install onto ssd, only have it attached as well. win 10 can sometimes put its boot partition on another hdd and only having 1 attached at install stops it.

I see, I meant in my previous reply that they would activate the current install. I also understand your statement about the drivers after the clean install.

I think I did receive an error regarding GPT error when using the installation tool, but I am not 100% sure. Is there any way I can still hold onto files on my drives if I perform this clean install?

 

[Colif]

Copy them onto the 1tb hdd before you clean install. I generally don't have anything apart from Windows + programs that need to be reinstalled on my ssd, as it makes it easier if i need to reinstall again. I may have gone overboard as it means ssd always has over 150gb free.

 

[Colif]

follow this guide: https://forums.tomshardware.com/faq/how-to-do-a-clean-installation-of-windows-10.3170366/

 

[azpotato]

Copy them onto the 1tb hdd before you clean install. I generally don't have anything apart from Windows + programs that need to be reinstalled on my ssd, as it makes it easier if i need to reinstall again. I may have gone overboard as it means ssd always has over 150gb free.

I see. How would I go about this if I cannot boot further than windows login and if I may not have access to a system where I can reattach my drives to perform data transfer? I also would assume if I successfully transfer data that I only attach the SSD during windows installation.

One last question, since I up my downloads destination onto my HDD I think I still may have drivers installed onto that drive. Would this create issues that carry over if I reinstall windows?

 

[azpotato]

follow this guide: https://forums.tomshardware.com/faq/how-to-do-a-clean-installation-of-windows-10.3170366/

Just a bump in case you didn’t see my last reply.

 

[Colif]

I see. How would I go about this if I cannot boot further than windows login and if I may not have access to a system where I can reattach my drives to perform data transfer? I also would assume if I successfully transfer data that I only attach the SSD during windows installation.

You have a win 10 installer disk now?
with both drives attached, boot from USB
on screen after languages, choose repair this pc, not install.
choose troubleshoot
choose advanced
choose command prompt
type notepad and press enter
in notepad, select file>open
Use file explorer to copy any files you need to save to USB or hdd

once everything copied over, turn off pc, unplug, remove the data cable from the hdd, and install win 10 on ssd.

One last question, since I up my downloads destination onto my HDD I think I still may have drivers installed onto that drive. Would this create issues that carry over if I reinstall windows?

no. A fresh install starts brand new, all its folder locations are set to defaults. It won't know about anything on the hdd until you take ownership of the folders.

 

[azpotato]

You have a win 10 installer disk now?
with both drives attached, boot from USB
on screen after languages, choose repair this pc, not install.
choose troubleshoot
choose advanced
choose command prompt
type notepad and press enter
in notepad, select file>open
Use file explorer to copy any files you need to save to USB or hdd

once everything copied over, turn off pc, unplug, remove the data cable from the hdd, and install win 10 on ssd.


no. A fresh install starts brand new, all its folder locations are set to defaults. It won't know about anything on the hdd until you take ownership of the folders.

I see, thank you for the instructions. I recently got a notification from the repair shop and they informed me that they had so far eliminated RAM/GPU/Wifi/Windows Corruption/Hard drive or SSD compatibility issues. He stated that they were down to CPU/Mobo issues. I will get back to you as soon with more information soon.

 

[Colif]

I see, thank you for the instructions. I recently got a notification from the repair shop and they informed me that they had so far eliminated RAM/GPU/Wifi/Windows Corruption/Hard drive or SSD compatibility issues. He stated that they were down to CPU/Mobo issues. I will get back to you as soon with more information soon.

i didn't know it was in being repaired? You should have asked them to reinstall win 10 for you while they had it. realistically, it would have been 1st place to start... clean slate and all. Good luck with troubleshooting

 

[azpotato]

i didn't know it was in being repaired? You should have asked them to reinstall win 10 for you while they had it. realistically, it would have been 1st place to start... clean slate and all. Good luck with troubleshooting

Yep, its been in the shop for a few days now. Thank you for the kind words and I will try to report back to this thread soon.

 

[Colif]

its your thread, reply if/when you want.

 

[azpotato]

Hey again,

The PC is back and it is currently running stable. The repair shop was able to identify that the CPU was causing the blue screening. I bought the i7 6700K that I was running previously used, and they stated that it was likely overclocked previously and fried. They supplied me with a replacement i5 6500 that I am currently running.

Part of his diagnosis message reads: "The reason the other place and other things seemed to indicate the RAM was the issue - is because the "north-bridge" or Memory controller is built into the CPU on your generation of CPU. So that component of the CPU being bad can make it appear as though the RAM is bad, even though it's not - because CPU's going bad is very rare... unless it's overlocked. Anytime anyone buys a "K" CPU - almost 100% of the time, it's to overclock it. Overclocking is fine if you are careful and know what you are doing, and are willing to accept that the processors life is likely to be shortened. So currently it's looking like all your hardware is fine except your CPU."

Apparently, Windows was also corrupted due to the CPU and Logitech Gaming Framework was also causing issues. However, those issues on the software side have also been handled and stress-tested over a period of almost 24 hours. Hopefully, this will be the end of my issues.