BSoD - now programs deleted and can't reinstall

[pedrom90]

Hello all
I felt the full wrath of a BSoD earlier. When it restarted and asked if I wanted to start Windows normally, it froze. I then restarted and it booted up. All the desktop icons were moved back along one side and all task bar short cuts were gone. Outlook and multiple other Office software was deleted, as well as some of my other software (Adobe CC whatnots and Nuke) - pretty much everything that was open at the time of the blue screen has now gone (as well as the BSoD minidump).
I then try to reinstall the all lovelies that had gone, but Office errors and fails. Every time I restart, it resets again (desktop icons move back etc.). Any software that I have managed to reinstall has (thankfully) stayed on reboot.
As far as I could see the BSoD was memory related and no, there aren't any viruses.
Had memory BSoD's in the past but was fixed with memory timing adjustments.

Any help would be much appreciated!
Ped


Specs:
Gigabyte GA-Z87-HD3
4770K (stock speed)
24GB RAM
GTX 480
Windows 7 Pro 64bit

 

[alyoshka]

Have you by chance put three 8GB sticks into that rig???
If so, then that's a No No.....
Just leave 2 in , ones which haven't got spoilt by now....
That should get everything back to normal.

 

[pedrom90]

Have you by chance put three 8GB sticks into that rig???
If so, then that's a No No.....
Just leave 2 in , ones which haven't got spoilt by now....
That should get everything back to normal.

Thanks for the reply
Could you please explain more on why? I have a lot to understand still.
Once I sorted the timings out ages ago, there were no problems.
Also, I've never heard that having 3 sticks is an issue other than a slight loss of overall performance. But as I need the exrta GBs, that performance loss it worth it.

 

[alyoshka]

The Board supports Dual Channel RAM, what you have with you is Triple Channel, the problem or conflict is arising that the Processor supports Triple Channel RAM.
The set of RAMs you bought is a triple channel set.....
You can set the things right by either putting in another ditto same RAM stick into the board or then by pulling one out.

 

[pedrom90]

Just leave 2 in , ones which haven't got spoilt by now....

The Board supports Dual Channel RAM, what you have with you is Triple Channel, the problem or conflict is arising that the Processor supports Triple Channel RAM.
The set of RAMs you bought is a triple channel set.....
You can set the things right by either putting in another ditto same RAM stick into the board or then by pulling one out.

Thanks Alyoshka. That makes sense.
Two more questions though, if you don't mind.
1. What did you mean by the modules getting spoilt? By having 3 sticks, does that actually damage the RAM?
2. If the problem is actually a RAM issue, how does that explain the loss of some programs after the Blue Screen (and not being able to reinstall them) and other settings resetting every time I boot?

Thanks

 

[alyoshka]

1. "Modules getting spoilt", yup, sometimes, why? because the system act funny and we usually try to change settings esp. in the voltages and timings, to get things right..... which inturn puts stress on certain components of the RAM, some give way some stay fine.....
2. Well, I can't pin point and tell you for sure it's a RAM issue, but, it's the first place to start looking.... Loss of programs, residue files with restricted access or corrupt files which refuse to go, registry crap that stays on, until found and cleaned, these are somethings that happen....

A good way to start would be to get the RAM straightened out, then if the CMOS battery is older than a year , change it to a new one, redo the BIOS in the way you want it to be, try a very old but safe utility called RegClean to clear the registry of problems and residual entries, then try and install a few programs and see if they stay...

Or then, Rectify the RAM issue, change the CMOS battery, and then do a fresh clean install of everything after formatting the drive.

 

[pedrom90]

1. "Modules getting spoilt", yup, sometimes, why? because the system act funny and we usually try to change settings esp. in the voltages and timings, to get things right..... which inturn puts stress on certain components of the RAM, some give way some stay fine.....
2. Well, I can't pin point and tell you for sure it's a RAM issue, but, it's the first place to start looking.... Loss of programs, residue files with restricted access or corrupt files which refuse to go, registry crap that stays on, until found and cleaned, these are somethings that happen....

A good way to start would be to get the RAM straightened out, then if the CMOS battery is older than a year , change it to a new one, redo the BIOS in the way you want it to be, try a very old but safe utility called RegClean to clear the registry of problems and residual entries, then try and install a few programs and see if they stay...

Or then, Rectify the RAM issue, change the CMOS battery, and then do a fresh clean install of everything after formatting the drive.

Right. Thanks for the information. I assume I will know the sticks have gone bad if stability is still an issue? Might run MemTest just to check it out!

I also think this a good opportunity to do a fresh install of Windows. Hopefully all will be back to normal after.

Thanks for you time

 

[alyoshka]

You're welcome.

 

[pedrom90]

Just in case anyone was interested; cleaning the reg didn't help at all. Looks like a clean Windows install is needed!