[SOLVED] 'Critical Process Died' fresh windows Install

Feb 6, 2021
9
2
15
MSI B450
Ryzen 2600
RX 580

I've been getting BSoD for around 5 months, tried everything and eventually resorted to clean installing windows yesterday. Since had BSoD 'Critical Process Died' twice after around 4 hours of usage. Each time the PC wouldn't boot (unless powered off again) and the VGA error light was displayed, peripherals were receiving power. Previously the SSD couldn't be recognised after restarting from a BSoD and the system would need to be powered off and on for it to be recognised, however now the screen just stays black. The system has never failed to boot after hard restarting and will continue to work fine until the next BSoD occurs.

The BSoD are completely random;
Nothing is overclocked and temps are fine, fans all work;
I've stress tested the system multiple times and haven't received a BSoD while doing so;
Replaced SATA power/data and PCiE cables;
Re-seated ram
Ran hardware checks and everything has come back as healthy;
Flashed bios and updated drivers.
The system has never been able to collect minidumps.

Everything is pointing to a hardware issue, but I have no idea where to start, system runs perfect apart from these blue screens, and ran perfect 5 months ago. SSD is apparently healthy and I have no graphical errors pointing to a dying card. The system just seems to lose power now and again.
 
Solution
Hiya, thanks for the assistance.

I'll proceed to try all you have suggested. In the meantime I ran driver verifier, rebooted and instantly crashed. System then wouldn't reboot being as the GPU wasn't recognised. I physically reinstalled the GPU and then booted into a BSoD with the stop code 'Driver Verification Detection Violation'. After reading the now created dump file it points to one faulting module being vgk.sys (a driver for the game Valorant that is known to cause such issues as system crashing). I'm unaware if this is the root of my issues (?) At least I know my hardware drivers are not causing any issues.
Woo yes the issue with valorant is known but has never been to be in this depth there still a deeper issue and...
MSI B450
Ryzen 2600
RX 580

I've been getting BSoD for around 5 months, tried everything and eventually resorted to clean installing windows yesterday. Since had BSoD 'Critical Process Died' twice after around 4 hours of usage. Each time the PC wouldn't boot (unless powered off again) and the VGA error light was displayed, peripherals were receiving power. Previously the SSD couldn't be recognised after restarting from a BSoD and the system would need to be powered off and on for it to be recognised, however now the screen just stays black. The system has never failed to boot after hard restarting and will continue to work fine until the next BSoD occurs.

The BSoD are completely random;
Nothing is overclocked and temps are fine, fans all work;
I've stress tested the system multiple times and haven't received a BSoD while doing so;
Replaced SATA power/data and PCiE cables;
Re-seated ram
Ran hardware checks and everything has come back as healthy;
Flashed bios and updated drivers.
The system has never been able to collect minidumps.

Everything is pointing to a hardware issue, but I have no idea where to start, system runs perfect apart from these blue screens, and ran perfect 5 months ago. SSD is apparently healthy and I have no graphical errors pointing to a dying card. The system just seems to lose power now and again.
Have you ran memtest86?
 
Feb 6, 2021
9
2
15
Did you try one ram stick at a time

I haven't, but I can try.

I've since reset the CMOS and instead of the BSoD i'm now periodically getting freezes followed by a black screen and no signal. VGA error light shows on the mobo. Suppose my GPU is just dying. Powering off and on fixes this. No minidumps created, however my event viewer presents the occasion DCOM error/warnings (?)

I've switched display port cables and moved to a different port and awaiting the same issue. If that doesn't work ill try my secondary PCiE slot. Any other tips?
 
Last edited:
I haven't, but I can try.

I've since reset the CMOS and instead of the BSoD i'm now periodically getting freezes followed by a black screen and no signal. VGA error light shows on the mobo. Suppose my GPU is just dying. Powering off and on fixes this. No minidumps created, however my event viewer presents the occasion DCOM error/warnings (?)

I've switched display port cables and moved to a different port and awaiting the same issue. If that doesn't work ill try my secondary PCiE slot. Any other tips?
Sounds like mobo
 

Karadjgne

Titan
Ambassador
Hwmonitor isn't so reliable. Use HWInfo (sensors only). If you are getting bsods at @ the 4 hr mark then run that at 3½ hrs and log the results. It sounds an awful lot like VRM failure with overheating. Run Asus RealBench on a 5hr loop as that tests the entire system unlike most others.

The reason for variable bsod results is you are getting a failure in delivery and that failure hits whatever the cpu happens to try and work with at the time, if that makes sense. It's like having 100 light bulbs flashing in different random sequence and someone hits the stop button, you never get the same bulb twice, totally random results.

This could come back on the psu. An output pause or failure, if just for longer than a few milli-seconds, can be the root issue.
 
Feb 6, 2021
9
2
15
Hwmonitor isn't so reliable. Use HWInfo (sensors only). If you are getting bsods at @ the 4 hr mark then run that at 3½ hrs and log the results. It sounds an awful lot like VRM failure with overheating. Run Asus RealBench on a 5hr loop as that tests the entire system unlike most others.

The reason for variable bsod results is you are getting a failure in delivery and that failure hits whatever the cpu happens to try and work with at the time, if that makes sense. It's like having 100 light bulbs flashing in different random sequence and someone hits the stop button, you never get the same bulb twice, totally random results.

This could come back on the psu. An output pause or failure, if just for longer than a few milli-seconds, can be the root issue.

Hiya, thanks for the assistance.

I'll proceed to try all you have suggested. In the meantime I ran driver verifier, rebooted and instantly crashed. System then wouldn't reboot being as the GPU wasn't recognised. I physically reinstalled the GPU and then booted into a BSoD with the stop code 'Driver Verification Detection Violation'. After reading the now created dump file it points to one faulting module being vgk.sys (a driver for the game Valorant that is known to cause such issues as system crashing). I'm unaware if this is the root of my issues (?) At least I know my hardware drivers are not causing any issues.
 
Hiya, thanks for the assistance.

I'll proceed to try all you have suggested. In the meantime I ran driver verifier, rebooted and instantly crashed. System then wouldn't reboot being as the GPU wasn't recognised. I physically reinstalled the GPU and then booted into a BSoD with the stop code 'Driver Verification Detection Violation'. After reading the now created dump file it points to one faulting module being vgk.sys (a driver for the game Valorant that is known to cause such issues as system crashing). I'm unaware if this is the root of my issues (?) At least I know my hardware drivers are not causing any issues.
Woo yes the issue with valorant is known but has never been to be in this depth there still a deeper issue and you may have helped to lead to a test. Have you tried booting with a different gpu
 
Solution
Feb 6, 2021
9
2
15
Woo yes the issue with valorant is known but has never been to be in this depth there still a deeper issue and you may have helped to lead to a test. Have you tried booting with a different gpu
Unfortunately not, don't have access to another one. Trying to source one currently.

I've since uninstalled Riot Vanguard. Oddly I wasn't using it when the issues began, so maybe the BSoD aren't related (?). or its likely a hardware issue as youve suggested.
 
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Feb 6, 2021
9
2
15
After removing the problematic vks.sys driver I continued getting a bsod, followed by a black screen as always. I clean reinstalled windows a second time and left it running with only the windows drivers, and ran real bench for around 7 hours with no issues. I then downloaded the latest radeon drivers and recieved the same bsod and black screen after around 2 hours.

I uninstalled the display drivers and this time downloaded the oldest edition of AMD drivers available on their site. Received another bsod at around the 3 hr mark, with the stop code 'Memory Management' (never received that before) stuck on 0% and upon rebooting I had no display, powering off the system fixed this.

Ran memtest and windows memory diagnostics once again and no issues found. No dump files as always.

:(
 
After removing the problematic vks.sys driver I continued getting a bsod, followed by a black screen as always. I clean reinstalled windows a second time and left it running with only the windows drivers, and ran real bench for around 7 hours with no issues. I then downloaded the latest radeon drivers and recieved the same bsod and black screen after around 2 hours.

I uninstalled the display drivers and this time downloaded the oldest edition of AMD drivers available on their site. Received another bsod at around the 3 hr mark, with the stop code 'Memory Management' (never received that before) stuck on 0% and upon rebooting I had no display, powering off the system fixed this.

Ran memtest and windows memory diagnostics once again and no issues found. No dump files as always.

:(
Im waundering if it's not a system memory thing, everyone swears up and down that memory managent only has to do with ram. But i have had it stop after replacing sata drives to it's just a all round memory indicate from my stand pijnt if the gpu has a failing memory chip or hdd/ssd is extremely critical you can experenice this to in my opinion. I would try removing all sata drives and if any m.2 drives remove them start with the basics. Mobo cpu and cooler ram gpu and the boot drive try with just this if nothing add if it crashes i would say either the boot drive or gpu
 
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Feb 6, 2021
9
2
15
Im waundering if it's not a system memory thing, everyone swears up and down that memory managent only has to do with ram. But i have had it stop after replacing sata drives to it's just a all round memory indicate from my stand pijnt if the gpu has a failing memory chip or hdd/ssd is extremely critical you can experenice this to in my opinion. I would try removing all sata drives and if any m.2 drives remove them start with the basics. Mobo cpu and cooler ram gpu and the boot drive try with just this if nothing add if it crashes i would say either the boot drive or gpu

Thanks for getting back to me.

I ended up removing my HDD from my system and fingers crossed I think i've fixed it. I imagine the faulty drive was hanging up the sata controller and in turn hung my primary ssd, which would correspond with the 'critical process stopped' and no dump files being created. As mentioned I also had issues with my ssd not being recognised upon restart which would make sense, and how evidently powering off the system would clear the issue.

The HDD was a <Mod Edit> second hand one that I bought 2 years ago, and should of been the first thing I checked, however software checks came back all good. I'll soon get back on here if I have issues again, its been a stressful week haha. Thanks for being patient with me.
 
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Thanks for getting back to me.

I ended up removing my HDD from my system and fingers crossed I think i've fixed it. I imagine the faulty drive was hanging up the sata controller and in turn hung my primary ssd, which would correspond with the 'critical process stopped' and no dump files being created. As mentioned I also had issues with my ssd not being recognised upon restart which would make sense, and how evidently powering off the system would clear the issue.

The HDD was a <Mod Edit> second hand one that I bought 2 years ago, and should of been the first thing I checked, however software checks came back all good. I'll soon get back on here if I have issues again, its been a stressful week haha. Thanks for being patient with me.
Trust me i hate leaving people hanging when i'm at a lose on what to do but when it comes to things i've exericed i can try my hardest to go over everything i've done in the past to fix it.... Some times it is just a slow step by step processes
 
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