Question Memory error appears briefly at shutdown

[MrWeatherby]

I'm currently running the 2042 update of Windows 10 Home Edition.
Intel(R) Core(TM) i5-10600K CPU @ 4.10GHz 4.10 GHz
MSI MAG z490 Tomahawk motherboard
16GB Ripjaw DDR4 RAM
using a Samsung SSD
GTX980 GPU

I built a new PC back in March with all new parts, except for my GPU and RAM which was taken from an old system. The RAM is about 4 years old at this point. About two months ago I started experiencing an error box which pops up occasionally while shutting down the computer. It appears so briefly that I haven't been able to catch what it says before the system shuts down. I finally decided to dig around in Event Viewer and was able to pull up what I believe is the error:

Application popup: RuntimeBroker.exe - Application Error : The instruction at 0x00007FFDAD6C584E referenced memory at 0xFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFF. The memory could not be read.
Event ID: 26

I've already tried looking into this but haven't really been able to pull up anything that conclusively points to this being benign or not. My worry is something could be up with my system's memory, but I ran the built in scan and the RAM came back fine. I didn't do memtest, couldn't get it to work, but I'm a layman and I'd like to avoid mucking around in BIOS if possible. I did run sfscan and it caught some corrupt files which it was able to fix. Checked the health of the SSD too and that also came back looking just fine.

Anyone more knowledgeable about this stuff able to help clear up what the issue might be? Do i really have anything to worry about with this?

 

[Colif]

right click start button

choose powershell (admin)

type SFC /scannow and press enter

once its completed, copy/paste this command into same window:

Repair-WindowsImage -Online -RestoreHealth and press enter

SFC fixes system files, second command cleans image files, re run SFC after this 2nd command, if it failed to fix all files the first time, and restart PC

 

[MrWeatherby]

right click start button

choose powershell (admin)

type SFC /scannow and press enter

once its completed, copy/paste this command into same window:

Repair-WindowsImage -Online -RestoreHealth and press enter

SFC fixes system files, second command cleans image files, re run SFC after this 2nd command, if it failed to fix all files the first time, and restart PC

SFC /scannow previously picked up errors. I completed the scan before posting and had it repair the errors. In powerhsell (admin) it came back clean. I ran the copy/paste and that said everything is healthy and a restart is not required.

 

[Colif]

Now I see you ran sfc. doh

does it give any more info about error in event viewer? might perhaps give us name of what runtime broker was running

I didn't do memtest, couldn't get it to work, but I'm a layman and I'd like to avoid mucking around in BIOS if possible.

shouldn't need bios to run memtest
if its the booting off usb part, you can do that from windows
put USB into PC

1. go to settings/update & security/recovery
2. under advanced startup, click restart now button
3. this restarts PC in a blue menu
4. choose Use a device
5. pick USB from list, windows will restart and boot usb

when you restart PC after running memtest it will boot into windows as normal

How To - How to Test your RAM

How to Test Your RAM Before testing your RAM, you need to know what type of firmware is on your PC. Either BIOS which is usually on pre-2012 PCs or UEFI which is usually on newer PCs. You can find this information in your motherboard manual. Or, run msinfo32.exe and look for BIOS Mode...

forums.tomshardware.com

i think link says it but run Memtest on each of your ram sticks, one stick at a time, up to 4 passes. Only error count you want is 0, any higher could be cause of the errors. Remove/replace ram sticks with errors.

 

[MrWeatherby]

Now I see you ran sfc. doh

does it give any more info about error in event viewer? might perhaps give is name of what runtime broker was running


shouldn't need bios to run memtest
if its the booting off usb part, you can do that from windows
put USB into PC

1. go to settings/update & security/recovery
2. under advanced startup, click restart now button
3. this restarts PC in a blue menu
4. choose Use a device
5. pick USB from list, windows will restart and boot usb

when you restart PC after running memtest it will boot into windows as normal

How To - How to Test your RAM

How to Test Your RAM Before testing your RAM, you need to know what type of firmware is on your PC. Either BIOS which is usually on pre-2012 PCs or UEFI which is usually on newer PCs. You can find this information in your motherboard manual. Or, run msinfo32.exe and look for BIOS Mode...

forums.tomshardware.com

i think link says it but run Memtest on each of your ram sticks, one stick at a time, up to 4 passes. Only error count you want is 0, any higher could be cause of the errors. Remove/replace ram sticks with errors.

When I tried to use memtest86 I just changed the boot priority to boot from the USB. It then booted from the USB but just went to a black screen and sat there, so I gave up on it.

https://imgur.com/NPKkmjR

View: https://i.imgur.com/NPKkmjR.png


Here's an image of the full event viewer entry, not sure if I can go deeper than that or if anything here is helpful.

 

[Colif]

I can only see one reason for black screen booting memtest but it doesn't or shouldn't apply to your PC. It only applies to pc made before 2009 and I can tell that is unlikely.

I can't tell looking in your motherboard manual if you have Boot over ride, its a handy feature that lets you boot off USB without changing the boot order. Its normally on the boot tab or Save & exit screen. It probably does as older MSI boards do.

You should try the windows method of booting the USB, as it doesn't change the bios at all.

what does it show on the details tab of that page in event viewer?

 

[MrWeatherby]

I can only see one reason for black screen booting memtest but it doesn't or shouldn't apply to your PC. It only applies to pc made before 2009 and I can tell that is unlikely.

I can't tell looking in your motherboard manual if you have Boot over ride, its a handy feature that lets you boot off USB without changing the boot order. Its normally on the boot tab or Save & exit screen. It probably does as older MSI boards do.

You should try the windows method of booting the USB, as it doesn't change the bios at all.

what does it show on the details tab of that page in event viewer?

Running it through Windows won't cause me to potentially screw up my SSD, Windows install, or anything like that, right? I guess that's just what worries me at this point. The USB stick I'm using is also fairly old, idk if that makes a difference.

https://imgur.com/qLool1B

View: https://i.imgur.com/qLool1B.png


here's what you requested, removed the security and system name stuff because I don't know how sensitive that really is.

edit: Just tried booting the USB as instructed and still no luck. Just sits on a black screen. Monitor gets a signal but it just does nothing. I downloaded and followed the instructions correctly so my best guess is the USB stick itself is just screwy.

 

[Colif]

its not running in windows.
You are using windows to boot the USB.
Once PC boots USB it isn't touching windows at all, its running memtest on the ram.
SSD not included

okay, that doesn't help a lot. worth a try.

 

[MrWeatherby]

its not running in windows.
You are using windows to boot the USB.
Once PC boots USB it isn't touching windows at all, its running memtest on the ram.
SSD not included

okay, that doesn't help a lot. worth a try.

Gotcha. I edited the post to say so, but running through those steps still does not get memtest to boot. I think maybe something is up with the USB stick, it's a fairly old one. I really ought to just get a new one. I'm guessing RAM is a concern?

And that's a bummer, I really was hoping Event viewer might shed some light on this.

 

[Colif]

Much of the time application errors are just the fault of the software but then this is windows crashing, and sfc doesn't find any problems (which is fairly normal).

try this
search for command prompt
on the app result, right click and choose more..., run as admin
in command prompt type
chkdsk c: /f
and press enter
2 paragraphs may pop up, Press Y to agree to run at restart
restart PC and let chkdsk run.

it just checks the windows files on ssd. Shouldn't take long.

it could be the USB, I bought 3 new ones earlier in year as I was sick of using usb 2 drives. One is 256gb and its tfr rate is almost as fast as my old ssd was. But you don't need that, I just wanted one to store music on.

I wonder if this make any difference, might tell us if its a start program causing the problem (yes, they can effect shutdown)

Try a clean boot and see if it changes anything - make sure to read instructions and make sure NOT to disable any microsoft services or windows won't load right - https://support.microsoft.com/en-au/help/929135/how-to-perform-a-clean-boot-in-windows

if clean boot fixes it, it shows its likely a startup program. You should, over a number of startups. restart the programs you stopped to isolate the one that is to blame.

 

[MrWeatherby]

Much of the time application errors are just the fault of the software but then this is windows crashing, and sfc doesn't find any problems (which is fairly normal).

try this
search for command prompt
on the app result, right click and choose more..., run as admin
in command prompt type
chkdsk c: /f
and press enter
2 paragraphs may pop up, Press Y to agree to run at restart
restart PC and let chkdsk run.

it just checks the windows files on ssd. Shouldn't take long.

it could be the USB, I bought 3 new ones earlier in year as I was sick of using usb 2 drives. One is 256gb and its tfr rate is almost as fast as my old ssd was. But you don't need that, I just wanted one to store music on.

Well, to clarify sfc did find problems. When the error popped up last I went into Event Viewer and found the posted error. After that (and before I made the topic) I ran SFC and it found errors, which it then repaired. When I followed that step again in Powershell after instructed, it did not find any errors, likely because they were fixed.

I'll run chkdsk in the meantime.

 

[Colif]

have you seen the error since running sfc?

 

[MrWeatherby]

have you seen the error since running sfc?

No, but it was shortly before starting the thread so it hasn't been that long. The error box hasn't popped up consistently in the last two months either. I shut down the PC before work each day, so once per day at least. I'd say 3 times a week I'm seeing the error.

 

[Colif]

okay, try chkdsk and try running a clean boot. All it does is stops the programs from running with windows at startup, they still on your PC. Easy enough to start again.

Windows 10 doesn't shutdown when you turn it off. It uses a hybrid hibernation mode and puts all your start up programs, drivers and a few system files into either ram or a file on ssd, so when it restarts its actually just waking up.

I tell you this to explain how start up programs can effect shutdown and why running a clean boot might show us if any of them are cause for the errors.

 

[MrWeatherby]

okay, try chkdsk and try running a clean boot. All it does is stops the programs from running with windows at startup, they still on your PC. Easy enough to start again.

Windows 10 doesn't shutdown when you turn it off. It uses a hybrid hibernation mode and puts all your start up programs, drivers and a few system files into either ram or a file on ssd, so when it restarts its actually just waking up.

I tell you this to explain how start up programs can effect shutdown and why running a clean boot might show us if any of them are cause for the errors.

I see. So the clean boot will basically give me a fresh start by disabling all that start up stuff and reboot into an environment that should be free of any conflicts those could be causing?

Just gave it a shot. I'll do the chkdsk a bit later. While looking through what I had on startup for apps and services, I did see some things I should probably just leave off anyway, so this is a good excuse to do that when i'm enabling things again.

 

[Colif]

it just leaves windows to load. Some programs might still load, Anti virus programs don't load using that method as it would be too easy to stop them then.

Cleaning up start up is always a good idea

 

[MrWeatherby]

it just leaves windows to load. Some programs might still load, Anti virus programs don't load using that method as it would be too easy to stop them then.

Cleaning up start up is always a good idea

I think all I really need enabled from this list anyway is intel related stuff and nvidia control LS. The rest is just stuff related to like, GOG or Origin, and Adobe related services which I don't need running. That's not including windows related services but of course the processes as i followed it naturally doesn't have you disable those and lord knows I'd rather not mess with them lol.

Well, fingers crossed this all takes care of it. Repaired errors, shut down superfluous services and apps and gave windows a good clean boot... Part of me still wants to cave and just get new RAM though. The newer ones have LEDs on them, they're purdy. I want them. I also don't want to blow a 100 bucks right now lol.

I guess I'll report back if I notice the error again, but like I said, it sometimes goes a while without popping up so I personally wouldn't be ok with saying it's resolved until I get about a week out without it happening again.

 

[Colif]

lighting doesn't make the ram any better but as I have rgb ram I cannot argue.

no rush, take as long as you need. I won't be sitting here waiting for your reply

 

[DriftMine14]

I think all I really need enabled from this list anyway is intel related stuff and nvidia control LS. The rest is just stuff related to like, GOG or Origin, and Adobe related services which I don't need running. That's not including windows related services but of course the processes as i followed it naturally doesn't have you disable those and lord knows I'd rather not mess with them lol.

Well, fingers crossed this all takes care of it. Repaired errors, shut down superfluous services and apps and gave windows a good clean boot... Part of me still wants to cave and just get new RAM though. The newer ones have LEDs on them, they're purdy. I want them. I also don't want to blow a 100 bucks right now lol.

I guess I'll report back if I notice the error again, but like I said, it sometimes goes a while without popping up so I personally wouldn't be ok with saying it's resolved until I get about a week out without it happening again.

I have the same problem i noticed when i have clean windows it works fine every time I shutdown but when i have dragon center installed along with razer synapse and origin i will sometimes get an error at shutdown about once or twice a week and yesterday since it has been like a month or two without dragon center installed and my pc has not done that error at all i figured lets try it and i got the error when i shutdown afterwards. Please let me know how/ if you fixed it i have ran overnight memtests like 5 times with no errors coming back same with memory diagnostic. I dont believe it is a hardware issue.

 

[MrWeatherby]

I have the same problem i noticed when i have clean windows it works fine every time I shutdown but when i have dragon center installed along with razer synapse and origin i will sometimes get an error at shutdown about once or twice a week and yesterday since it has been like a month or two without dragon center installed and my pc has not done that error at all i figured lets try it and i got the error when i shutdown afterwards. Please let me know how/ if you fixed it i have ran overnight memtests like 5 times with no errors coming back same with memory diagnostic. I dont believe it is a hardware issue.

Going into Powershell as an admin and running SFC /scannow seemed to resolve it. After following the steps outlined in this thread, the error message stopped appearing and the computer began to operate like normal.