Computer takes 12 tries to boot up, plus random reboots.

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SMWesley

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Sep 17, 2013
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When turning on my computer it typically takes about a dozen tries before it boots properly. It will just turn on and the screen will remain black. I can even hear the fan idle, which says to me the computer is doing nothing and not booting. I'll hard-restart it over and over until eventually I get the proper loading screen and usually it makes it through a full boot up. Once the computer is on it is typically 100% fine for hours. I do have occasional random restarts that are caused by any number of random activities, but usually if that is going to happen it is within the first ten minutes of booting. After that it seems I'm in the clear. Any ideas?


i7-4790 CPU @ 3.60GHz, 16gb RAM, Windows 8 x64bit

Below is a link to my dxdiag log:

https://docs.google.com/document/d/1lE1pm60eA2vpQPq2kdqV9x_5jMOYe4y6hvLyp-3rJZE/edit?usp=sharing
 
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Do you get bios flash screen at all? can you access bios or it just goes to blank screen. Is there any hdd activity?

i would try this: http://www.redmondpie.com/how-to-fix-windows-8-mbr-master-boot-record/

have you updated drivers/bios for motherboard?
 
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Hi Colif. Thanks for the response. First I tried to update the drivers for my motherboard, so I found the model number using command prompt and ended up on the Dell site, as they own Alienware. I went and downloaded their automatic updater which found that I had two updates I needed to install. One was a graphics card driver and one was for BIOS. So I downloaded those and rebooted my machine. It booted up and my desktop was blank. After much confusion I finally managed to fix the display settings, as for whatever reason it defaulted to thinking I was running dual monitors. Think this has anything to do with my boot issues?

Secondly, I've been looking everywhere for my Windows 8 boot CD to be able to go through the redmondpie.com link you provided, but have yet to find it. But, in the meantime, something of note that seems to be a possibly big indication as to where the problem is occurred:

The computer booted up after many tries, and I had Spotify open playing music and then as I was opening Chrome the computer froze on a kernel error and the screen went black as usual. The odd thing is that the music continued to play through Spotify, which says to me that maybe the computer was still running fine, it is just the display that was having issue via the Video card? Here is the exact wording on the error:

Display driver stopped responding and has recovered: Display driver NVIDIA Windows Kernel Mode Driver, Version 372.54 stopped responding and has successfully recovered.

Note that I had this same error a month prior with Version 331.85 and gleefully updated my video drivers in hopes that it would fix the issue, which apparently it did not.

Being a pragmatic human, I am thinking there may be a correlation between the kernel error and the fact that sometimes programs seem to keep running and the computer is still powered with all of the lights on (including the keyboard lights). Maybe when the error occurs, it throws everything onto the "second monitor" after it comes out of the error? Just a guess, as honestly this is all Greek to me. Also that doesn't seem to help with the issue of sometimes the computer just literally freezes or hard reboots itself without warning. But who knows, maybe all of this is related? Any suggestions?

Thank you in advance for your time and help. Much appreciated! If ever you have questions about high-end watches, beach volleyball, or video editing in Adobe Premiere, I'd be more than happy to help, as those are three categories I am well-versed in :)
 
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You can download Win 8.1 from Here and use the tool to make a USB or DVD

As for the errors, can you download and run who crashed: http://www.resplendence.com/whocrashed
it will look at errors and give us a summary

Copy/paste that in here.

Looking at the drivers for video on the dell site, I wonder which one it updated. The newest Nvidia on there is from 2013, I hope it was the Intel igpu drivers as they at least from this year. You should get the latest version of geforce experience and get the drivers from Nvidia. http://www.geforce.com/geforce-experience
 
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Thanks again Colif! Here is the error report from WhoCrashed:

System Information (local)
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Computer name: WESLEY
Windows version: Windows 8.1 , 6.3, build: 9600
Windows dir: C:\WINDOWS
Hardware: Alienware X51 R2, Alienware, 0PGRP5
CPU: GenuineIntel Intel(R) Core(TM) i7-4790 CPU @ 3.60GHz Intel586, level: 6
8 logical processors, active mask: 255
RAM: 17090613248 bytes total




--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Crash Dump Analysis
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Crash dump directory: C:\WINDOWS\Minidump

Crash dumps are enabled on your computer.

On Thu 9/15/2016 6:25:04 PM GMT your computer crashed
crash dump file: C:\WINDOWS\Minidump\091516-20218-01.dmp
This was probably caused by the following module: ntoskrnl.exe (nt+0x14E3A0)
Bugcheck code: 0xFC (0xFFFFE0003D697D78, 0x800000011DE009E3, 0xFFFFD00033024920, 0x4)
Error: ATTEMPTED_EXECUTE_OF_NOEXECUTE_MEMORY
file path: C:\WINDOWS\system32\ntoskrnl.exe
product: Microsoft® Windows® Operating System
company: Microsoft Corporation
description: NT Kernel & System
Bug check description: This indicates that an attempt was made to execute non-executable memory.
This might be a case of memory corruption. More often memory corruption happens because of software errors in buggy drivers, not because of faulty RAM modules. There is a possibility this problem was caused by a virus or other malware.
The crash took place in the Windows kernel. Possibly this problem is caused by another driver that cannot be identified at this time.



On Thu 9/15/2016 6:25:04 PM GMT your computer crashed
crash dump file: C:\WINDOWS\memory.dmp
This was probably caused by the following module: nvlddmkm.sys (nvlddmkm+0x862CFE)
Bugcheck code: 0xFC (0xFFFFE0003D697D78, 0x800000011DE009E3, 0xFFFFD00033024920, 0x4)
Error: ATTEMPTED_EXECUTE_OF_NOEXECUTE_MEMORY
file path: C:\WINDOWS\system32\drivers\nvlddmkm.sys
product: NVIDIA Windows Kernel Mode Driver, Version 372.54
company: NVIDIA Corporation
description: NVIDIA Windows Kernel Mode Driver, Version 372.54
Bug check description: This indicates that an attempt was made to execute non-executable memory.
This might be a case of memory corruption. More often memory corruption happens because of software errors in buggy drivers, not because of faulty RAM modules. There is a possibility this problem was caused by a virus or other malware.
A third party driver was identified as the probable root cause of this system error. It is suggested you look for an update for the following driver: nvlddmkm.sys (NVIDIA Windows Kernel Mode Driver, Version 372.54 , NVIDIA Corporation).
Google query: NVIDIA Corporation ATTEMPTED_EXECUTE_OF_NOEXECUTE_MEMORY



On Wed 9/14/2016 7:28:55 PM GMT your computer crashed
crash dump file: C:\WINDOWS\Minidump\091416-25015-01.dmp
This was probably caused by the following module: nvlddmkm.sys (0xFFFFF8012A402452)
Bugcheck code: 0xD1 (0x3F8, 0x9, 0x0, 0xFFFFF8012A402452)
Error: DRIVER_IRQL_NOT_LESS_OR_EQUAL
file path: C:\WINDOWS\system32\drivers\nvlddmkm.sys
product: NVIDIA Windows Kernel Mode Driver, Version 372.54
company: NVIDIA Corporation
description: NVIDIA Windows Kernel Mode Driver, Version 372.54
Bug check description: This indicates that a kernel-mode driver attempted to access pageable memory at a process IRQL that was too high.
This appears to be a typical software driver bug and is not likely to be caused by a hardware problem.
A third party driver was identified as the probable root cause of this system error. It is suggested you look for an update for the following driver: nvlddmkm.sys (NVIDIA Windows Kernel Mode Driver, Version 372.54 , NVIDIA Corporation).
Google query: NVIDIA Corporation DRIVER_IRQL_NOT_LESS_OR_EQUAL



On Wed 9/14/2016 7:22:55 PM GMT your computer crashed
crash dump file: C:\WINDOWS\Minidump\091416-24906-01.dmp
This was probably caused by the following module: Unknown ()
Bugcheck code: 0x0 (0x0, 0x0, 0x0, 0x0)
Error: CUSTOM_ERROR
A third party driver was identified as the probable root cause of this system error.
Google query: CUSTOM_ERROR



On Wed 9/14/2016 7:18:24 PM GMT your computer crashed
crash dump file: C:\WINDOWS\Minidump\091416-21312-01.dmp
This was probably caused by the following module: nvlddmkm.sys (nvlddmkm+0x862CFE)
Bugcheck code: 0x1000007E (0xFFFFFFFFC0000005, 0x0, 0xFFFFD00032825878, 0xFFFFD00032825080)
Error: SYSTEM_THREAD_EXCEPTION_NOT_HANDLED_M
file path: C:\WINDOWS\system32\drivers\nvlddmkm.sys
product: NVIDIA Windows Kernel Mode Driver, Version 372.54
company: NVIDIA Corporation
description: NVIDIA Windows Kernel Mode Driver, Version 372.54
Bug check description: This indicates that a system thread generated an exception which the error handler did not catch.
This appears to be a typical software driver bug and is not likely to be caused by a hardware problem.
A third party driver was identified as the probable root cause of this system error. It is suggested you look for an update for the following driver: nvlddmkm.sys (NVIDIA Windows Kernel Mode Driver, Version 372.54 , NVIDIA Corporation).
Google query: NVIDIA Corporation SYSTEM_THREAD_EXCEPTION_NOT_HANDLED_M



On Tue 9/13/2016 5:49:53 PM GMT your computer crashed
crash dump file: C:\WINDOWS\Minidump\091316-24203-01.dmp
This was probably caused by the following module: nvlddmkm.sys (0xFFFFF8008501C452)
Bugcheck code: 0xD1 (0x3F8, 0x9, 0x0, 0xFFFFF8008501C452)
Error: DRIVER_IRQL_NOT_LESS_OR_EQUAL
file path: C:\WINDOWS\system32\drivers\nvlddmkm.sys
product: NVIDIA Windows Kernel Mode Driver, Version 372.54
company: NVIDIA Corporation
description: NVIDIA Windows Kernel Mode Driver, Version 372.54
Bug check description: This indicates that a kernel-mode driver attempted to access pageable memory at a process IRQL that was too high.
This appears to be a typical software driver bug and is not likely to be caused by a hardware problem.
A third party driver was identified as the probable root cause of this system error. It is suggested you look for an update for the following driver: nvlddmkm.sys (NVIDIA Windows Kernel Mode Driver, Version 372.54 , NVIDIA Corporation).
Google query: NVIDIA Corporation DRIVER_IRQL_NOT_LESS_OR_EQUAL



On Tue 9/13/2016 5:48:01 PM GMT your computer crashed
crash dump file: C:\WINDOWS\Minidump\091316-19421-01.dmp
This was probably caused by the following module: nvlddmkm.sys (nvlddmkm+0xD4E8F)
Bugcheck code: 0xFC (0xFFFFE0018BA8B398, 0x800000000169BB63, 0xFFFFD00033585920, 0x2)
Error: ATTEMPTED_EXECUTE_OF_NOEXECUTE_MEMORY
file path: C:\WINDOWS\system32\drivers\nvlddmkm.sys
product: NVIDIA Windows Kernel Mode Driver, Version 372.54
company: NVIDIA Corporation
description: NVIDIA Windows Kernel Mode Driver, Version 372.54
Bug check description: This indicates that an attempt was made to execute non-executable memory.
This might be a case of memory corruption. More often memory corruption happens because of software errors in buggy drivers, not because of faulty RAM modules. There is a possibility this problem was caused by a virus or other malware.
A third party driver was identified as the probable root cause of this system error. It is suggested you look for an update for the following driver: nvlddmkm.sys (NVIDIA Windows Kernel Mode Driver, Version 372.54 , NVIDIA Corporation).
Google query: NVIDIA Corporation ATTEMPTED_EXECUTE_OF_NOEXECUTE_MEMORY



On Mon 9/12/2016 6:12:05 PM GMT your computer crashed
crash dump file: C:\WINDOWS\Minidump\091216-21234-01.dmp
This was probably caused by the following module: nvlddmkm.sys (nvlddmkm+0x862CFE)
Bugcheck code: 0x1000007E (0xFFFFFFFFC0000005, 0x0, 0xFFFFD001810C6878, 0xFFFFD001810C6080)
Error: SYSTEM_THREAD_EXCEPTION_NOT_HANDLED_M
file path: C:\WINDOWS\system32\drivers\nvlddmkm.sys
product: NVIDIA Windows Kernel Mode Driver, Version 372.54
company: NVIDIA Corporation
description: NVIDIA Windows Kernel Mode Driver, Version 372.54
Bug check description: This indicates that a system thread generated an exception which the error handler did not catch.
This appears to be a typical software driver bug and is not likely to be caused by a hardware problem.
A third party driver was identified as the probable root cause of this system error. It is suggested you look for an update for the following driver: nvlddmkm.sys (NVIDIA Windows Kernel Mode Driver, Version 372.54 , NVIDIA Corporation).
Google query: NVIDIA Corporation SYSTEM_THREAD_EXCEPTION_NOT_HANDLED_M



On Sun 9/11/2016 6:20:39 PM GMT your computer crashed
crash dump file: C:\WINDOWS\Minidump\091116-21828-01.dmp
This was probably caused by the following module: nvlddmkm.sys (nvlddmkm+0x862CFB)
Bugcheck code: 0x1000007E (0xFFFFFFFFC0000005, 0xFFFFF801CEEF8CFB, 0xFFFFD0003208C888, 0xFFFFD0003208C090)
Error: SYSTEM_THREAD_EXCEPTION_NOT_HANDLED_M
file path: C:\WINDOWS\system32\drivers\nvlddmkm.sys
product: NVIDIA Windows Kernel Mode Driver, Version 372.54
company: NVIDIA Corporation
description: NVIDIA Windows Kernel Mode Driver, Version 372.54
Bug check description: This indicates that a system thread generated an exception which the error handler did not catch.
This appears to be a typical software driver bug and is not likely to be caused by a hardware problem.
A third party driver was identified as the probable root cause of this system error. It is suggested you look for an update for the following driver: nvlddmkm.sys (NVIDIA Windows Kernel Mode Driver, Version 372.54 , NVIDIA Corporation).
Google query: NVIDIA Corporation SYSTEM_THREAD_EXCEPTION_NOT_HANDLED_M



On Sat 9/10/2016 7:22:21 PM GMT your computer crashed
crash dump file: C:\WINDOWS\Minidump\091016-16546-01.dmp
This was probably caused by the following module: Unknown ()
Bugcheck code: 0x0 (0x0, 0x0, 0x0, 0x0)
Error: CUSTOM_ERROR
A third party driver was identified as the probable root cause of this system error.
Google query: CUSTOM_ERROR





--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Conclusion
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

21 crash dumps have been found and analyzed. Only 10 are included in this report. A third party driver has been identified to be causing system crashes on your computer. It is strongly suggested that you check for updates for these drivers on their company websites. Click on the links below to search with Google for updates for these drivers:

nvlddmkm.sys (NVIDIA Windows Kernel Mode Driver, Version 372.54 , NVIDIA Corporation)

If no updates for these drivers are available, try searching with Google on the names of these drivers in combination with the errors that have been reported for these drivers. Include the brand and model name of your computer as well in the query. This often yields interesting results from discussions on the web by users who have been experiencing similar problems.


Read the topic general suggestions for troubleshooting system crashes for more information.

Note that it's not always possible to state with certainty whether a reported driver is responsible for crashing your system or that the root cause is in another module. Nonetheless it's suggested you look for updates for the products that these drivers belong to and regularly visit Windows update or enable automatic updates for Windows. In case a piece of malfunctioning hardware is causing trouble, a search with Google on the bug check errors together with the model name and brand of your computer may help you investigate this further.
 
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Okay I've used the DDU and installed the latest NVIDIA 372.70. I rebooted five times in a row and they were all clean boots so I agree with your suspicion that this was the issue. I believe this has fixed it. Thank you so much Colif; I really appreciate your help!
 
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Annnnnnnnnnnnnnnd it's crashing again. Same exact behavior except it seems to boot up with a higher percentage chance of success. What should I try next to fix this problem? (Also, how do I "unsolve" this thread?) The WhoCrashed log blames the same thing again and again:

On Wed 9/21/2016 12:55:09 AM GMT your computer crashed
crash dump file: C:\WINDOWS\Minidump\092016-25484-01.dmp
This was probably caused by the following module: nvlddmkm.sys (0xFFFFF8006779D9A6)
Bugcheck code: 0xD1 (0x3F8, 0x9, 0x0, 0xFFFFF8006779D9A6)
Error: DRIVER_IRQL_NOT_LESS_OR_EQUAL
file path: C:\WINDOWS\system32\drivers\nvlddmkm.sys
product: NVIDIA Windows Kernel Mode Driver, Version 372.70
company: NVIDIA Corporation
description: NVIDIA Windows Kernel Mode Driver, Version 372.70
Bug check description: This indicates that a kernel-mode driver attempted to access pageable memory at a process IRQL that was too high.
This appears to be a typical software driver bug and is not likely to be caused by a hardware problem.
A third party driver was identified as the probable root cause of this system error. It is suggested you look for an update for the following driver: nvlddmkm.sys (NVIDIA Windows Kernel Mode Driver, Version 372.70 , NVIDIA Corporation).
Google query: NVIDIA Corporation DRIVER_IRQL_NOT_LESS_OR_EQUAL
 
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I'm back again with the exact same issue. I am now running NVidia driver version 378.66. Oddly enough my computer had been fine for the past few months up until a couple of days ago. It kept rebooting every ~8 minutes with a BSOD error "🙁 Your PC ran into a problem and needs to restart. We're just collecting some error info, and then we'll restart for you. If you'd like to know more, you can search online later for the error: SYSTEM_SERVICE_EXCEPTION." After many different methods to attempt to fix this the only thing that ended up working was to revert to a prior save, which fixed that particular issue. The save was literally from a week ago.

And now my computer is having those same issues that I had last year where it will restart without warning or pattern and takes sometimes 10+ reboots before it actually starts properly. As with before, I really think this is a video card issue. Any ideas as to what to try now?
 
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Is PC still under warranty? I see it came with win 10 so its farily new,

Have you run who crashed? is it still blaming GPU?

don't suppose the motherboard has onboard graphics? If it did you could remove graphics card and see if you get same behaviour
 
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Yes the Who Crashed still blames the GPU. And I'm on Windows 8.1, not 10. It is a few years old and not under warranty. I suppose I could try the onboard graphics, but are there no other options you think before trying that?
 
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Alright I'll give the 355.98 a chance. If that doesn't work I guess my next shot is to remove the video card entirely and test the onboard. How can I tell if I have an onboard by the way?
 
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It looks like you have HDMI out on back of case, up near the USB slots.

alienware-x51-internal-1.jpg


So should be able to get a picture if you monitor has HDMI
 
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It appears I won't be able to use this older version with Adobe Premiere CC editing software (I'm a video editor). As soon as I opened it I got the error "Adobe Premiere Pro requires updated video card drivers for GPU accelerated rendering. Please download and install current drivers for your video card." Would I be able to do a selective install of the new version that would only update certain parts of it? Would that be a possible solution?
 
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Maybe, I know you can do custom installs of Nvidia drivers.

It seems strange the drivers aren't working with you card, I suspect the card itself might be the cause as drivers shouldn't be stopping PC from starting up, so you might need to buy a new one. I am not sure though so might want to get a 2nd opinion on that.
 
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Currently my budget is extremely extremely tight, so if I do need a new video card with no desire to upgrade my system, what do you think I should get?

Also for a partial install, here are my options, which should I check off?

3D Vision Controller Driver
3D Vision Driver
HD Audio Driver
NVIDIA GeForce Experience
PhysX System Software

And again, thank you so much for your help Colif; you are tremendously appreciated!
 
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it looks like you have no choice in partial as to actually getting the driver itself, its clearly assumed you want it and these things are just extras for the most part.

I don't know what card to suggest since you likely in a different region to me and pricing is going to be different. I also haven't looked myself recently as I too can't afford a replacement. To get something that beat what you had but isn't too expensive, i would get a GTX 960 if they still out there.
 
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I hate to keep asking questions, but is there any credence to the notion that it could be power supply issues? I do find it odd that when my computer mysteriously crashes it takes multiple tries to get it to boot up, but on a fresh day's powering on it almost always (like 95% at least) powers on the first time. I didn't mention that before because it hadn't really occurred to me. That does seem somewhat strange, though. Any thoughts on that and how I would be able to try and ascertain which of the video card and/or power supply may be the culprit here? Thank you so much again Colif!!!
 
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if you weren't poor, i would suggest taking PC to store and getting them to work it out. Start up problem could be power or the graphics card not answering at start up. Its hard to tell (from where I am) or without spare parts. You really need to be able to swap them out to figure out true cause.

Every crash points at graphics card, so its why i didn't mention power along the way.
 
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