Computer Randomly Dead Locks + Blue Screen

[Codelyoko373]

This has been happening for awhile now where my computer will (What seems) randomly lock up completely, Won't let me move the mouse, keyboard won't work, the computer completely dead locks and then after a bit, it will blue screen and restart, and I don't actually know why. There seems to be no way to actually recreate the error since as I mentioned, it's random and sometimes it can lock up right after a lock up or sometimes it won't lock up for an entire day, though this is only whenever I'm doing something it will lock up such as if I open a youtube video or am simply browsing through facebook, if I leave my computer idle then it seems to never lock up. So far it's seemed to lock up the post on loading a new youtube video, I'll open a tab, search the youtube video and when the video is loading, the computer will lock up.

Originally I thought it was the Hard Drive or windows itself because of these Blue Screen errors logs I got:

https://prnt.sc/i0ypa8
https://prnt.sc/i0ypv5

though I never really error checked my drive, I instead just brought a new one as I was going to anyway and reinstalled Windows 8.1 on it. The lock ups didn't actually happen for about 2 days after that till yesterday where they started to happen again.

Because of this, I next assumed it was the RAM but after running 2 different error checks on it (MemTest and Windows Memory Diagnostic), they returned zero errors (I left Memtest running for about 4 hours with it getting up to 4 passes).

So at this point I'm not even sure what's causing it. I would look at the error logs to check but strangely ever since I installed my new hard drive, the blue screens won't report on errors and the blue screen itself seems to freak out, looking like this:
https://filestore.community.support.microsoft.com/api/images/338293c6-f4ef-4005-87ff-339e26e437da
My only guess now would be the GPU but that's not even 1 year old so I'm not sure. Does anyone know what the problem may be or what else I should test as I'm running out of ideas.

Also it's not cause of overheating, the temps seem perfectly normal when it locks up.

 

[mazboy]

Unfortunately, you cannot rule out the "fixes" that Intel and others have been shooting out over the last weeks. And today, Intel announced that, ummm...maybe the fix was worse than the original problem. At this point it appears that the only fix is to restore the system to where it was before the problem started. For most people that is going to involve an OS reinstall, and then avoiding updates until a real fix is found.

https://www.pcworld.com/article/3248975/components-processors/spectre-cpu-patches-reboots-intel.html
https://www.pcper.com/news/General-Tech/Intel-hoping-find-way-kill-disease-slightly-more-quickly-patient

 

[Codelyoko373]

Unfortunately, you cannot rule out the "fixes" that Intel and others have been shooting out over the last weeks. And today, Intel announced that, ummm...maybe the fix was worse than the original problem. At this point it appears that the only fix is to restore the system to where it was before the problem started. For most people that is going to involve an OS reinstall, and then avoiding updates until a real fix is found.

https://www.pcworld.com/article/3248975/components-processors/spectre-cpu-patches-reboots-intel.html
https://www.pcper.com/news/General-Tech/Intel-hoping-find-way-kill-disease-slightly-more-quickly-patient

Are you saying this problem is due bad updates then? I'm pretty sure all of this actually started again after I installed a windows 8.1 update if this is what you're referring too? though I don't have any hardware from intel.

 

[mazboy]

I understood that the problem recurred several days after you reinstalled the OS. So, to be clear, you had the problem, you reinstalled the OS, and then several days later the problems began again?

 

[Codelyoko373]

I understood that the problem recurred several days after you reinstalled the OS. So, to be clear, you had the problem, you reinstalled the OS, and then several days later the problems began again?

Yes, exactly that. When i installed the OS on my new Hard Drive (I got a new hard drive thinking it would fix the problem), everything seemed fine for about 2 days, then on the third day it suddenly started to lock up again though looking through the error logs, I've noticed this happened a couple of hours after quite a big update it seems for Windows 8.1.

I actually just looked through my update history to find this:
https://image.prntscr.com/image/xQ6cveleQ0miVqEwPkkRxA.png
It seems the first time I updated windows since I reinstalled it was on the 21st, the day my computer started to lock up again.

 

[Paul NZ]

Looks like incdrec.sys is screwing up. Looks like this belongs to Nero

It may not be compatible, if it's causing probs. Or it maybe corrupt

 

[mazboy]

Yeah, you've been Spectre'd. I've been recommending to all my friends/customers/strangers/enemies that they do a clean install of the OS, followed by their programs and data, then immediately doing an image backup. Do this: control panel->System and Security->File History->System Image Backup [found at the bottom left of the window]->Create a System Image->

You will need an external HDD to do this. I use Western Digital 1TB or 4TB (depending on the size of my drives. See here: https://www.amazon.com/Black-Passport-Portable-External-Drive/dp/B01LQQH86A/ref=sr_1_4?s=pc&ie=UTF8&qid=1516674199&sr=1-4&keywords=external+hdd). You should note that even if your computer has multiple drives, you can do an image of them all at the same time.

Once you have that image, you can go on your merry way. If the computer starts acting up again, simply restore the image and you will be back to a known good copy of your OS. Remember that any new data you create needs to be saved after you make the original image.

BTW, at this point I would not install any BIOS updates unless you have a factory built computer (Dell, Asus, Lenovo, etc) either. This is one of the few times I recommend sitting back and waiting, because at this point the left hand doesn't know what the right hand is doing.

 

[Codelyoko373]

Yeah, you've been Spectre'd. I've been recommending to all my friends/customers/strangers/enemies that they do a clean install of the OS, followed by their programs and data, then immediately doing an image backup. Do this: control panel->System and Security->File History->System Image Backup [found at the bottom left of the window]->Create a System Image->

You will need an external HDD to do this. I use Western Digital 1TB or 4TB (depending on the size of my drives. See here: https://www.amazon.com/Black-Passport-Portable-External-Drive/dp/B01LQQH86A/ref=sr_1_4?s=pc&ie=UTF8&qid=1516674199&sr=1-4&keywords=external+hdd). You should note that even if your computer has multiple drives, you can do an image of them all at the same time.

Once you have that image, you can go on your merry way. If the computer starts acting up again, simply restore the image and you will be back to a known good copy of your OS. Remember that any new data you create needs to be saved after you make the original image.

BTW, at this point I would not install any BIOS updates unless you have a factory built computer (Dell, Asus, Lenovo, etc) either. This is one of the few times I recommend sitting back and waiting, because at this point the left hand doesn't know what the right hand is doing.

What do you mean by Spectre'd?

And what I was going to do tomorrow is System Restore as I'm able to restore to the point right after Windows reinstalled. I planned to Restore to that point and I'll see if the computer locks up again. If it doesn't then what exactly should I do since I can't just not update Windows?

 

[mazboy]

There have been reports that System Restore doesn't fix the problem. I never use system restore myself--I've found that most of the time doing a clean OS install works much better, and it works the first time. That doesn't mean that you shouldn't try it. If it works, do an image backup immediately. Again, that way you have a known copy of a working OS.

Read the articles I linked to above. Basically, Intel is saying that the updates (and there have been multiple) that it has been sending out are causing more trouble than the original problem (the problems are inherent in the architecture--the hardware--of basically all CPUs and GPU since about 1995). They are now advising you to not install the updates. Alas, they are automatic for many systems (many are being released by Microsoft directly as part of their regular updates). As you know, you cannot prevent your computer from updating short of disconnecting it from the internet, so that is why the image backup.

 

[Codelyoko373]

There have been reports that System Restore doesn't fix the problem. I never use system restore myself--I've found that most of the time doing a clean OS install works much better, and it works the first time. That doesn't mean that you shouldn't try it. If it works, do an image backup immediately. Again, that way you have a known copy of a working OS.

Read the articles I linked to above. Basically, Intel is saying that the updates (and there have been multiple) that it has been sending out are causing more trouble than the original problem (the problems are inherent in the architecture--the hardware--of basically all CPUs and GPU since about 1995). They are now advising you to not install the updates. Alas, they are automatic for many systems (many are being released by Microsoft directly as part of their regular updates). As you know, you cannot prevent your computer from updating short of disconnecting it from the internet, so that is why the image backup.

I guess all we have to do then is wait for them to fix the issue and release an update for it?

 

[mazboy]

Part of the problem is that there are so many vendors working on the problem from different directions. There seems to be no cooperation between Intel, AMD, Microsoft, and the various BIOS makers. And everyone was in a tizzy to get a fix out as fast as possible, without considering the consequences. So, yeah, basically we have to wait it out.

 

[Codelyoko373]

Part of the problem is that there are so many vendors working on the problem from different directions. There seems to be no cooperation between Intel, AMD, Microsoft, and the various BIOS makers. And everyone was in a tizzy to get a fix out as fast as possible, without considering the consequences. So, yeah, basically we have to wait it out.

Wonderful

Well I'll System Restore my computer later today and I'll report on if it locks up or not

 

[Codelyoko373]

Part of the problem is that there are so many vendors working on the problem from different directions. There seems to be no cooperation between Intel, AMD, Microsoft, and the various BIOS makers. And everyone was in a tizzy to get a fix out as fast as possible, without considering the consequences. So, yeah, basically we have to wait it out.

Just wondering though, if this is a big problem then why haven't I heard more about it on, for example this site with people having similar problems to mine?

 

[mazboy]

I can't answer that problem. It is all over the tech sites--it's really hard to miss--but the fact is that it is only a small, random selection of people having the problem. I think it is difficult to tract the source of the problem because no one has the same OS, set up the exact same way, as anyone else. Which is why Microsoft is using Win10 to force people into a relatively common installation.

The other problem is that it seems (although, maybe not...) to disproportionately hit older systems, and those reboots and crashes are being laid down to hardware or software problems due to old age/failure to upgrade or update/degradation of components/etc. And again, everybody and their kit brother is pushing out patches that haven't been thoroughly tested by themselves, no less against the other patches...

 

[Codelyoko373]

I can't answer that problem. It is all over the tech sites--it's really hard to miss--but the fact is that it is only a small, random selection of people having the problem. I think it is difficult to tract the source of the problem because no one has the same OS, set up the exact same way, as anyone else. Which is why Microsoft is using Win10 to force people into a relatively common installation.

The other problem is that it seems (although, maybe not...) to disproportionately hit older systems, and those reboots and crashes are being laid down to hardware or software problems due to old age/failure to upgrade or update/degradation of components/etc. And again, everybody and their kit brother is pushing out patches that haven't been thoroughly tested by themselves, no less against the other patches...

I see. Well since I System Restored, my computer hasn't locked up so I guess the Windows updates were the cause.