[SOLVED] Multiple games crash due to Ntdll.dll

[Zenheadshot]

This issue has been going on for about 2 years now, it started happening on Fallout4, it would randomly CTD while i was mid game, then it wouldnt let me back in at all. Now the issue has spread to games such as Skyrim, Skyrim SE, Far Cry 5, Deep Rock Galactic, etc.

PC Specs:

• Windows 7 SP1 | Updated 2/20/19
• GTX 1060 SSC 6GB | Updated 2/22/19
• Asus P9X79 Motherboard
• 2x 8GB Kingston RAM
• i7 4930k 3.2GHz (not overclocked)

just incase your curious about the exact brands/models of my parts here is my Pc Part Picker List

Spoiler: MsInfo Summary + Display Summary

MsInfo32:
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Summary:

OS Name Microsoft Windows 7 Home Premium
Version 6.1.7601 Service Pack 1 Build 7601
Other OS Description Not Available
OS Manufacturer Microsoft Corporation
System Name PC
System Manufacturer System manufacturer
System Model System Product Name
System Type x64-based PC
Processor Intel(R) Core(TM) i7-4930K CPU @ 3.40GHz, 3401 Mhz, 6 Core(s), 12 Logical Processor(s)
BIOS Version/Date American Megatrends Inc. 4608, 12/24/2013
SMBIOS Version 2.7
Windows Directory C:\Windows
System Directory C:\Windows\system32
Boot Device \Device\HarddiskVolume3
Locale United States
Hardware Abstraction Layer Version = "6.1.7601.24354"
Time Zone Eastern Daylight Time
Installed Physical Memory (RAM) 16.0 GB
Total Physical Memory 15.9 GB
Available Physical Memory 7.61 GB
Total Virtual Memory 31.9 GB
Available Virtual Memory 19.9 GB
Page File Space 15.9 GB
Page File C:\pagefile.sys

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Display:

Name NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1060 6GB
PNP Device ID PCI\VEN_10DE&DEV_1C03&SUBSYS_62673842&REV_A1\4&1955A1F&0&0010
Adapter Type GeForce GTX 1060 6GB, NVIDIA compatible
Adapter Description NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1060 6GB
Adapter RAM (1,048,576) bytes
Installed Drivers nvd3dumx.dll,nvwgf2umx.dll,nvwgf2umx.dll,nvd3dum,nvwgf2um,nvwgf2um
Driver Version 25.21.14.1917
INF File oem137.inf (Section135 section)
Color Planes Not Available
Color Table Entries 4294967296
Resolution 2560 x 1440 x 143 hertz
Bits/Pixel 32
Memory Address 0xFA000000-0xFAFFFFFF
Memory Address 0xC0000000-0xCFFFFFFF
Memory Address 0xD0000000-0xD1FFFFFF
I/O Port 0x0000E000-0x0000E07F
IRQ Channel IRQ 32
I/O Port 0x000003B0-0x000003BB
I/O Port 0x000003C0-0x000003DF
Memory Address 0xA0000-0xBFFFF
Driver c:\windows\system32\drivers\nvlddmkm.sys (25.21.14.1917, 19.48 MB (20,428,032 bytes), 2/24/2019 1:16 AM)

Things I have tried:

• Verified that the games are installed on my C drive | Still crashes
• Disabled antivirus/anti-spyware | Still crashes
• Set my 144hz monitor to 60hz | Still crashes
• Removed any external drives/usb devices | Still crashes
• Made sure my sound quality was 16 bit, 44100Hz (CD Quality) | Still crashes
• Verified integrity of game cache | Still crashes
• Tried turning off V-sync, threaded optimization, and tripple buffering off in my graphics settings | Still crashes
• Sfc /scannow | No errors
• Reinstalled the games | Still crashes
• Reinstalled steam | Still crashes
• Preformed a check disk | No errors
• Preformed a memtest 3 times | No errors
• Called microsoft, only to have them change my virtual memory..? | Still crashes (and changed it back)
• Preformed a clean boot | Still crashes
• Updated windows | Still crashes
• Updated graphics driver | Still crashes
• Reinstalled windows 7 (full wipe, only installed updates, graphics driver, and steam) | Still crashes
• Tried running the games in compatibility mode for W7 | Still crashes
• Tried running them all as an administrator | Still crashes
• Tried running Steam as an administrator | Still crashes
• Tried re-installing all of my C++ redist | Still crashes
• Tried playing offline | Still crashes
• Tried making a new user account to play on | Still crashes
• Ran a CPU stress test with Prime 95 for 6 hours | No problems, Max temp was 62C
• Ran a GPU stress test with FurMark for 4 hours | No problems, Max temp was 72C

I was just told by bethesda support to reinstall the dll by
typing cmd in the search box, and then right click Command prompt select Run as Administrator.
typing this in command prompt:
regsvr32.exe /u ntdll.dll and press Enter key (this will uninstall the file)
regsvr32.exe ntdll.dll and press Enter key (this will reinstall the file).

Only to be met with an error message both times saying: "The module "ntdll.dll" was loaded but the entre-point DllRegisterServer was not found. Make sure that "ntdll.dll" is a valid DLL or OCX file and then try again."

And being told that they can no longer help me.
I'm at my wits end here and any help would be greatly appreciated.

The common crash info:

Problem signature:
Problem Event Name: APPCRASH
Application Name: SkyrimSE.exe
Application Version: 1.0.0.0
Application Timestamp: 5bf46e45
Fault Module Name: ntdll.dll
Fault Module Version: 6.1.7601.23539
Fault Module Timestamp: 57c99b8f
Exception Code: c0000005
Exception Offset: 000000000006e44b
OS Version: 6.1.7601.2.1.0.768.3
Locale ID: 1033
Additional Information 1: dee1
Additional Information 2: dee15c2eadaf5e11ba5bfe03d39e43ab
Additional Information 3: 8278
Additional Information 4: 8278b7649fb02d5445a3079821a24466

 

[Darkbreeze]

Rosewill Glacier power supply is a terrible series. Poor quality. I'd start there. Rosewill has only EVER had two series that were worth using. Capstone M and some of the Quark series. The rest are bottom of the barrel garbage if they're being used with the demands of a gaming system.

I'd replace it. You've done everything else pretty much. For around 60 bucks, you may save yourself any further headaches on this issue and you will FOR SURE save your hardware from any further exposure to what is almost certainly undesirable levels of ripple, noise and poor voltage regulation. All of which can damage your hardware and in fact CAUSE a variety of instability and repetitive error situations.

Not to mention, that platform is a group regulated design, and with your Intel platform is almost certainly prone to crossloading issues and problems with the C6/C7 states anyhow.

Click the spoiler for model recommendations:

Spoiler

Let's start with the biggest misconception out there, which is that if a unit has high watts it will be ok or is good. No. Just, no.

There are plenty of 750-1000w units out there that I wouldn't trust to power a light bulb and might in fact be more dangerous due to their supposedly high capacity due to poor or non-existent protections inside the unit.

If the platform isn't good to begin with, how many watts or amps it says it can support is irrelevant.

Higher 80plus certification doesn't mean anything, UNLESS it's on an already known to be high quality PSU platform. For example, a Seasonic Prime platinum unit is going to be a better product than a Seasonic Prime Gold unit, because we already know the Prime platform is very good, and platinum efficiency along with it shows there are some improvements internally to account for the higher efficiency.

In a case like that, it might be worth it. It's likely the unit will create less heat, it will probably have better performance in regard to ripple, noise and voltage regulation. It might shave a few pennies, or dollars, off the electric bill over the course of a year.

Other than that, it is not going to perform any better than the same platform with Gold efficiency. On the other hand, just because a unit has Titanium 80plus ratings doesn't mean the unit is any good at all. For example, there are Raidmax units with Titanium efficiency and I wouldn't trust one of those to power a light bulb. There are a lot of units like this out there.

If the platform isn't good to begin with, whether or not it has an 80plus certification or not is irrelevant.

Whatever you do, don't EVER buy a power supply based on whether it has RGB or lighting, or looks like it might be a quality unit. Some of the biggest hunks of junk out there look just as good as a Seasonic Prime Ultra Titanium, but I assure you, they are not. So far as I've seen there are really no excellent units out there that have RGB built in. Maybe one or two models, but rest assured you'll be be paying for the lighting, not for the quality of the power supply.

I don't know what country you reside in, and I know that sometimes it's hard to come by good units in some regions, but when possible, when it comes time to get that PSU, I'd stick to the following if you can.

Seasonic. Seasonic isn't just a brand, they are a PSU manufacturer, unlike many of the PSU brands you see they make their own power supply platforms AND a great many of the very good PSU models out there from other brands like Antec, Corsair and older XFX are made by Seasonic.

Just about anything made by Seasonic is good quality for the most part. There are really no bad Seasonic units and only a very few that are even somewhat mediocre. They do make a few less-good quality OEM style units, but mostly those are not going to be units you come across at most vendors, and they are still not bad. Also, the S12II and M12II 520 and 620w units are older, group regulated models. At one time they were among the best units you could buy. Now, they are outdated and not as good as almost any other Seasonic models. They are however still better than a LOT of newer designs by other manufacturers.

The Seasonic 520w and 620w S12II/M12II units CAN be used on newer Intel platforms, if you turn off C6/C7 in the bios, but I'd really recommend a newer platform whenever possible. Prices are usually pretty good on those though, so sometimes it's worth accepting the lack of DC-DC on the internal platform. Higher capacity versions of the High current gamer are not based on that platform, so they are fine. Those being the 750w and higher versions.

Most common currently, in order of preference, would be the Seasonic Focus series, then Focus plus, then Prime, then Prime ultra. It's worth mentioning that there are generally Gold, Platinum and Titanium versions within each, or most, of those series, but that does not necessarily mean that a Focus plus Platinum is necessarily better than a Prime Gold. It only means that it scored better in the 80plus efficiency testing, not that the platform is better.

Again, don't let yourself get tangled up in the idea that a higher 80plus rating specifically means that it is a better unit than another one with a lower rating, unless you know that it is a good platform from the start. All these Focus and Prime units are pretty good so you can somewhat focus on the 80plus rating when deciding which of them to choose.

Super Flower Super Flower is another PSU manufacturer. They also make most of the good units sold by EVGA like the G2, G3, P2 and T2 models.

Super Flower doesn't have a very broad availability for the units with their own brand name on them, and are not available in a lot of countries but for those where there is availability you want to look at the Leadex and Leadex II models. The Golden green platform is fairly decent too but is getting rather long in the tooth as a platform AND I've seen some reviews indicating a few shortcomings on units based on this platform.

Even so, it's a great deal better than a lot of other platforms out there so you could certainly do worse than a Golden green model. Units based on the Leadex and Leadex II platforms are much better though.

Corsair. The CX and CXm units are ok as a budget option, but I do not recommend pairing them with gaming cards. The newer 2017 models of CX and CXm are better than the older ones, but still not what we'd call terrific, so if it specifically says 2017 model, or it has a capacity other than an even 100, like 550w, 650w, 750w, etc., then it's likely at least better than those older ones. Aside from that, any of the TX, RMx, RMi, HX, HXi, AX or AXi units are good. Those are listed from best to worst, with the best being the AX and AXi units.

Antec. The True power classic units are made by Seasonic, and are very good, but are not modular. The High current gamer 520w and 620w, or any other PSU you see on the market that is 520w or 620w, are also made by Seasonic, based on the S12II and M12II platform for modern versions, and are pretty good units but again they are an older platform that is group regulated so if you go with a Haswell or newer Intel configuration you will want to avoid those because they do not support the C6/C7 Intel low power states.

The Antec High current gamer 750w and 850w units are very good and are not the older design, which came in 520w and 620w capacities and were good for back then but again, are an aging Seasonic platform that is not the best choice most of the time these days. Occasionally, these older units MIGHT be the best unit available and you could do worse than one of them, but a newer DC-DC platform is desirable when possible if it doesn't mean sacrificing quality elsewhere in the platform. There are however older and newer HCG models, so exact model number will likely be a factor if choosing one of these however both the older models and the newer models are good.

Antec Edge units are ok too, but reviews indicate that they have noisy fan profiles. I'd only choose this model if it is on sale or the aesthetics match up with your color scheme or design. Still a good power supply but maybe a little aggressive on the fan profile. This may have been cured on newer Edge models so reading professional tear down reviews is still the best idea.

Antec Earthwatts Gold units are very good also.

BeQuiet. BeQuiet does have a few decent models, BUT, you must be VERY selective about which of their models you put your trust in. From model to model their are huge differences in both quality and performance, even with the same series. If you cannot find a review for a BeQuiet unit on HardOCP, JonnyGuru or Tom's hardware that SPECIFICALLY says it is a very good unit, and does not have any significant issues in the "cons" category, I would avoid it. In fact, I'd probably avoid it anyhow unless there is a very great sale on one that has good reviews, because their units are generally more expensive than MUCH better units from Antec, Seasonic, EVGA and Corsair.

Super Flower. They are like Seasonic and they make power supplies for a variety of other companies, like EVGA. Super Flower units are usually pretty good. I'd stick to the Leadex, Leadex II and Golden Green models.

EVGA. They have BOTH good and not very good models.

Not very good are the W1, N1, B1, B3 (All models except the 650w model), BQ, BR, BT and G1 NEX models.

Good models are the B2, B3 650w, G2, G2L, G3, GQ, P2 and T2 models.

FSP. They used to be very mediocre, and are a PSU manufacturer like Seasonic and Super Flower, although not as well trusted based on historical performance. Currently the FSP Hydro G and Hydro X units are pretty good.

I would avoid Thermaltake and Cooler Master. They do have a few good units, but most of the models they sell are either poor or mediocre, and the ones they have that ARE good are usually way overpriced.

This is just ONE example of why I say that. Very new and modern CM unit. One of the worst scores ever seen on JonnyGuru for a well known brand name product. Doesn't look to be much better than a Raidmax unit. Sad.

Cooler Master Masterwatt Lite 600W review​

And most of the models I have linked to the reviews of at the following link are at least good, with most of them being fantastic.

Power supply discussion thread​

Certainly there ARE some good units out there that you won't see above among those I've listed, but they are few and far between, much as a hidden nugget of gold you find in a crevice among otherwise ordinary rocks and don't EVER assume a unit is good just because of the brand.

If you cannot find an IN DEPTH, REPUTABLE review on Tom's hardware, JonnyGuru, HardOCP, Hardware secrets (Old reviews by Gabe Torres), Kitguru (Only Aris reviews), TechPowerUP, SilentPC crew or a similar site that does much more than simply a review of the unboxing and basic tests that don't include reliable results for ripple, noise, voltage regulation and a complete teardown of the unit including identification of the internal platform, then the unit is a big fat question mark.

I recommend not trusting such units as companies generally always send out review samples of any unit they feel is going to get a good review, and don't send them out if they know they are going to get hammered by the reviewer. No review usually equals poor quality. Usually.

Other models that should never be trusted OR USED AT ALL, under any circumstances, include A-Top, AK Power, Alpine, Apevia, Apex (Supercase/Allied), Artic, Ace, Aerocool (There might be one model worth using, but I'd still avoid them.), Aspire (Turbocase), Atadc, Atrix, Broadway com corp, Chieftech, Circle, CIT, Coolmax, Deer, Diablotek, Dynapower, Dynex, Eagletech, Enlight, Eurotech, Evo labs, EZ cool, Feedtek, Foxconn, G7, HEC/Compucase Orion, HEDY, High power, iBall, iStar computer co., Jeantec, JPac, Just PC, Kolink, LC Power, Linkworld electronics, Logisys, Macron, MSI, NmediaPC, Norwood Micro (CompUSA), Okia, Powercool, Powmax, Pulsepower, Q-tec, Raidmax, RaveRocketfish, Segotep, SFC, Sharkoon, Shuttle, Skyhawk, Spire, Startech, Storm, Sumvision, Tesla, Trust, Ultra, Wintech, Winpower, Xilence (Until I see a reputable review of a model showing different), xTreme (Cyberpower), Youngbear and Zebronics.

And while you might think that these:

• Ran a CPU stress test with Prime 95 for 6 hours | No problems, Max temp was 62C
• Ran a GPU stress test with FurMark for 4 hours | No problems, Max temp was 72C

might mean that there is satisfactory power delivery, I assure you that I've seen plenty of systems with similar systems as yours that could pass those stress tests but continuously had problems in actual real world loads with actual games or demanding applications.

You might also consider ditching Windows 7 and moving to Windows 10. Going to have to before next January anyhow, might as well do it now while you can still do it for free. Once support ends, there'll be no more free upgrades for certain.

 

[Zenheadshot]

I appreciate the quick reply and the knowledge dump. I wasnt aware that a PSU could cause instability besides possibly shutting down or completely frying a specific component. Do you think this would be a suitable replacement PSU? Seasonic Focus Plus

Edit: I also wasnt aware the free upgrade was still available to go to Windows 10, is that ending in January?

 

[Darkbreeze]

Technically, it was supposed to have ended two years ago. But they never did. Now, it still works but they just don't advertise it. They WANT everybody on Windows 10 for their own reasons, mainly so they can only have to worry about supporting ONE operating system instead of two or three. But, they're not advertising that fact because a lot of people don't know and will simply purchase the license, which is money in their pocket. As of last month I upgraded two systems to Windows 10 from Windows 7, and it's fairly common knowledge around here that they never ended the program.

Come January when support for Windows 7 ends, being as there are FEW people still running Windows 8, I imagine they'll kill the free upgrade. AND, once you upgrade to Windows 10, if you attach your digital entitlement to a Microsoft account that is in your name, you'll never need to buy another Windows license anytime you upgrade your motherboard (Platform change) or build a new machine. It will follow you based on your digital entitlement regardless of whether the original license was an OEM version or retail one.

As for the power supply, yes, that is a pretty good unit so long as you don't have an ASUS Strix graphics card. Some Seasonic Focus and Focus plus units have issues when used with Strix cards. I don't know that they've ever worked that out or not, but since SSC likely means EVGA I think you'll be fine. Seasonic is very good.

 

[Zenheadshot]

Before I end up snagging that PSU then, i'm curious how it could be the PSU as the games dont even get to launch, they crash before anything even starts to draw more then average idle power... SkyrimSE flicks black for a split second before acting like i never tried to launch it.. 🤔 Far Cry5 seems to load at least a bit into the ram before crashing out, but as for the other games, yeah they crash as soon as i hit launch.

 

[xSaturnityx]

Download Ntdll.dll for Windows 10, 8.1, 8, 7, Vista and XP - 32 Bit and 64 Bit

Ntdll.dll download. The Ntdll.dll file is a dynamic link library for Windows 10, 8.1, 8, 7, Vista and XP (32 Bit and 64 Bit). You can fix The file Ntdll.dll is missing. and Ntdll.dll not found. errors by downloading and installing this file from our site.

www.dlldownloader.com

Get the DLL from there if it keeps saying it's missing the ntdll.dll file

 

[Darkbreeze]

It may not be, and then again it might. Even if it isn't, I'd highly recommend that, if you value the hardware you have, you protect it against damage by getting a good unit. Believe me when I say a perfectly good system with a bad quality PSU can turn into a seriously crippled system in a matter of weeks, much less years. Excessive ripple will seriously overheat the caps on your motherboard and cause instability or complete failure sooner or later.

That being said, as mentioned, it might well not be the exact source of your problem but it's going to be hard and possibly impossible to move forward without knowing for certain that you have clean, ample power delivery, knowing the kinds of problems those cheaper Rosewill units can and do cause. I've seen at least a hundred examples of JUST Rosewill PSUs causing similar symptoms.

Honestly, considering everything else you've done already I don't see how it is likely to be much of anything else aside from power delivery (Could be a motherboard issue. Motherboard definitely a factor in power delivery) or running hardware not designed to be run on Windows 7, which is a LOT of hardware. However even if the problem is your graphics card itself, or something else like your motherboard, you'd want a better power supply before you ever put those new parts in your machine anyhow.

Given your platform is somewhat older, it could be anything really. But its going to be harder than most diagnosis because you don't have basic problems like intermitten blue screens that are random or a failure to POST. Since you CAN pass Prime and Memtest runs, I'm inclined to think it's gaming specific which would indicate either power or drivers.

Have you done a clean install of the GPU card driver WITH the DDU? Is your motherboard BIOS the latest one available?



Here are the first steps to take when trying to solve these kinds of hardware problems. If you have already tried these steps, all of them, exactly as outlined, we can move along to more advanced solutions.

If there are any you have NOT done, it would be advisable to do so if for no other reason than to be able to say you've already done it and eliminate that possibility.


First, make sure your motherboard has the MOST recent BIOS version installed. If it does not, then update. This solves a high number of issues even in cases where the release that is newer than yours makes no mention of improving graphics card or other hardware compatibility. They do not list every change they have made when they post a new BIOS release.

Second, go to the product page for your motherboard on the manufacturer website. Download and install the latest driver versions for the chipset, storage controllers, audio and network adapters. Do not skip installing a newer driver just because you think it is not relevant to the problem you are having. The drivers for one device can often affect ALL other devices and a questionable driver release can cause instability in the OS itself. They don't release new drivers just for fun. If there is a new driver release for a component, there is a good reason for it. The same goes for BIOS updates.

IF you have other hardware installed or attached to the system that are not a part of the systems covered by the motherboard drivers, then go to the support page for THAT component and check to see if there are newer drivers available for that as well. If there are, install them.

The last thing we want to look at, for now anyhow, is the graphics card drivers. Regardless of whether you "already installed the newest drivers" for your graphics card or not, it is OFTEN a good idea to do a CLEAN install of the graphics card drivers. Just installing over the old drivers OR trying to use what Nvidia and AMD consider a clean install is not good enough and does not usually give the same result as using the Display Driver Uninstaller utility. This has a very high success rate and is always worth a shot.

If you have had both Nvidia and AMD cards installed at any point on that operating system then you will want to run the DDU twice. Once for the old card drivers (ie, Nvidia or AMD) and again for the currently installed graphics card drivers (ie, AMD or Nvidia). So if you had an Nvidia card at some point in the past, run it first for Nvidia and then after that is complete, run it again for AMD if you currently have an AMD card installed.

Here are the full instructions on running the Display driver uninstaller and CLEAN installing new drivers.

Graphics card CLEAN install tutorial using the DDU


​

 

[Darkbreeze]

Download Ntdll.dll for Windows 10, 8.1, 8, 7, Vista and XP - 32 Bit and 64 Bit

Ntdll.dll download. The Ntdll.dll file is a dynamic link library for Windows 10, 8.1, 8, 7, Vista and XP (32 Bit and 64 Bit). You can fix The file Ntdll.dll is missing. and Ntdll.dll not found. errors by downloading and installing this file from our site.

www.dlldownloader.com

Get the DLL from there if it keeps saying it's missing the ntdll.dll file

This is definitely worth a shot too I guess. Generally though, after a clean install of Windows along with full installations of all the drivers from your motherboard product page and the latest Nvidia driver package, you'd have any driver file that was necessary already installed.

 

[Zenheadshot]

Could you please clarify what DDU stands for? And should i do this in the order you listed them in, or can i download/install the motherboard drivers before i attempt the bios update?

Edit: I see what DDU stands for now, its pretty late lmao

 

[Zenheadshot]

Strange, i seem to be getting an error when trying to start WinFlash to update my bios, and its saying "This program cant start because api-ms-win-eventing-classicprovider-l1-1-0.dll is missing from your computer. Try reinstalling the program to fix this problem"

So i attempted to reinstall the program and the issue persisted. Curious how this could be as i have all of the current C++ redist, and .NET frameworks available 🤔

 

[Darkbreeze]

Yeah, Display driver uninstaller. It's about the ONLY piece of driver related third party software in existence that I'd ever recommend, and we recommend it heavily, because it does a much better job at preparing for a clean install of any newer graphics driver than what Nvidia or AMD offer. It actually removes the ENTIRE driver framework including any registry entries or supporting files that are normally left alone by the OEM's "clean install" process. I've seen hundreds of instances where doing this alone, followed by a clean install of the latest driver package, has completely solved issues the OP had been struggling with for days.

 

[Darkbreeze]

I would not try to update from within Windows. For your board there should be a BIOS image available on the motherboard product page you can download and unpack to a USB drive, then go into the bios and start the BIOS update process and simply point it to the new firmware version. I'd recommend finding and watching any online tutorial you can find on updating the BIOS for your motherboard model OR for a similar motherboard model with the same chipset by the same manufacturer, before proceeding so you know exactly what to expect. It does not pay to simply guess when updating your BIOS or it could turn out undesirably bad. When done right, it should be safe and easy.

 

[Zenheadshot]

Completed the bios update and the motherboard driver updates, issue still seems to persist. Going onto the graphics drivers now.

Edit: Completed the graphics driver install by using DDU in safe mode, then letting it reboot normally before installing the graphics drivers (Installed only the graphics drivers not Geforce Expereince). Completed a reboot and attempted to launch Skyrim SE, and the game still crashes as soon as i press launch. , Far Cry 5 will start to load into the memory before crashing (watching processes in the task manager), Fallout 4 launched under all of my programs, got to the point to where it was about to show the bethesda logo, and by the time i clicked on it to bring it to the front (borderless windowed) it crashed and now it acts like Skyrim.

 

[Darkbreeze]

Out of curiosity, has this system EVER worked correctly for gaming since it was built OR since your current graphics card was installed? Either or both?

 

[Zenheadshot]

Yes, I can play a multitude of games, Ark, AC Origins, Nier Automata, and Subnautica, and MHW to name a few.

The original graphics card i had in the system was a GTX 950 and the games i listed in my original post (that were out at the time) didnt work when the 950 was installed either.

I bought the 1060 and installed it around the time Automata came out so i could run it on a higher setting. Automata came out on Feb 23rd of 2017, so probably ~2 days before it came out the card was installed.

No other changes to the system hardware wise since i first built it though.

 

[Darkbreeze]

Gonna bring in another veteran that might have some insights I lack.

 

[Rogue Leader]

Yes, I can play a multitude of games, Ark, AC Origins, Nier Automata, and Subnautica, and MHW to name a few.

The original graphics card i had in the system was a GTX 950 and the games i listed in my original post (that were out at the time) didnt work when the 950 was installed either.

I bought the 1060 and installed it around the time Automata came out so i could run it on a higher setting. Automata came out on Feb 23rd of 2017, so probably ~2 days before it came out the card was installed.

No other changes to the system hardware wise since i first built it though.

So just to be clear, you had the same issue with a different GPU, which means we can rule that out.

I do have a feeling this is otherwise hardware related, I don't think its the PSU either though. While I do agree with darkbreeze to replace it anyway, its not going to fix this problem.

So a couple things, can we test your memory modules? Download memtest86 and run it, let it go for 7 or so passes, its time consuming yes, but necessary. Assuming your memory passes, then I am thinking you have a motherboard issue.

Before blaming hardware though its worth installing Windows 10 and seeing how it goes. If it solved the problem I wouldn't be surprised.

Try memtest first, then install Windows 10, go from there, and let us know.

 

[Darkbreeze]

And don't "upgrade". That may just carry the problem right over to the new installation. Do a clean install. Or upgrade, and THEN do a clean install after you've attached the license to a Microsoft account that is attached to YOU.

Thanks for the pitch in RL.

For what it's worth, you might find these helpful and also necessary.

Can you still get a Windows 10 upgrade for free?

Microsoft kept giving away free upgrades to Windows 10 on old hardware for more than eight years. The upgrades officially ended in 2023, but I've seen scattered reports that it still works for some people. So, do you feel lucky?

www.zdnet.com

Then, or first, use this process, depending on if you prefer to upgrade first or clean install first. Click the spoiler for those instructions.

Spoiler

Windows 10 Clean install tutorial



How to associate your windows 10 license with a Microsoft account


Reactivating Windows 10 after a hardware change

Windows build 1607 (Or newer) and activation after a hardware change

 

[Zenheadshot]

I ran a memtest86 3 times, which it says in the OP and it came back fine. I'm looking now and noticing i forgot to put 86 after memtest.. apologies for that..

If i do a clean install off the bat, will i need to re-enter the windows key? and if so will the windows 7 key i currently have active still work?
It would be quite an inconvenience to have the pc go down as i also use it for work and i dont currently have the funds to purchase a new OEM key 😕

 

[Rogue Leader]

I ran a memtest86 3 times, which it says in the OP and it came back fine. I'm looking now and noticing i forgot to put 86 after memtest.. apologies for that..

If i do a clean install off the bat, will i need to re-enter the windows key? and if so will the windows 7 key i currently have active still work?
It would be quite an inconvenience to have the pc go down as i also use it for work and i dont currently have the funds to purchase a new OEM key 😕

Sorry I missed that, 3 is probably enough the issue should have shown itself.

SO you should be able to straight up do a clean install of Windows 10 and when it asks for your key enter your Windows 7 key and it will work. I have done that actually fairly recently. You can also do an in place upgrade, link it to a Microsoft account, and then reinstall, but either way that will work. WIndows 10 installs fast, its like an hour tops.

 

[Darkbreeze]

I have also done it, at least five or six times on different machines, even one that originally had only an OEM license, but, I have also seen OEM licenses not want to work until AFTER an upgrade to Windows 10, so I don't know that it works in every case or if that was only an early on type thing when the upgrade was still within the first year of being offered.

That is why I gave two options. If RL says it works, and has done it recently, then you can pretty much take that as gospel. I have also done it recently as I said, but those were retail Windows 7 and Windows 8.1 licenses. I don't know if he was referring to an OEM license going straight to Windows 10 clean install or not AND I don't know if you have an OEM or a retail license. Do you know?

 

[Rogue Leader]

I have also done it, at least five or six times on different machines, even one that originally had only an OEM license, but, I have also seen OEM licenses not want to work until AFTER an upgrade to Windows 10, so I don't know that it works in every case or if that was only an early on type thing when the upgrade was still within the first year of being offered.

That is why I gave two options. If RL says it works, and has done it recently, then you can pretty much take that as gospel. I have also done it recently as I said, but those were retail Windows 7 and Windows 8.1 licenses. I don't know if he was referring to an OEM license going straight to Windows 10 clean install or not AND I don't know if you have an OEM or a retail license. Do you know?

I did an in place upgrade to my friends Windows 8 laptop like 3 weeks ago, went on no problem. I did a fresh Win 7 License key install a few months ago. The license was OEM, and obviously the laptop was pre-installed, so it seems Microsoft has turned nothing off.

 

[Darkbreeze]

Should be no worries going straight to clean install then, and cutting out the unnecessary step of having to upgrade first. Thanks for that confirmation. I knew it worked still, I just didn't know if straight to clean install worked still for OEM licenses. Good thing to note.

 

[Zenheadshot]

Wellp, i have a few hours ahead of me between moving games to my storage HDD and downloading/burning the windows install to a CD and getting all of my saves/folders that i want to keep backed up. I want to take the time to say that i really appreciate all the help you guys are providing me, Ive been through 6 different forums and sat through 5 months of support tickets through Bethesda and Ubisoft and i'm glad to finally have some sort of avenue to pursue with actual explanations and reasonings behind them.

I do have a couple of questions though as i'm going through this. I currently have limited bandwidth and i noticed that windows 10 likes to do quite a bit of data collection and update queries. Ive also noticed it likes to basically google anything you type in the search bar which would be quite a nuisance. (one of the major reasons i havent upgraded in the past) Do you have any recommendations on how to disable that once i get to that point? 🤔

 

[Darkbreeze]

Yes, and once you get to that point we'd be glad to help you turn off all the useless crap and streamline things as much as possible including getting rid of that b!+©# Cortana as much as possible. LOL.

If you wish, you can even make Windows 10 look and act almost exactly like Windows 7 using Classic shell. Totally customize the desktop, start menu and shell to behave like any previous version of Windows all the way back to the classic windows interface used with 3.1, not that anybody would want to do that, but it can be done. A lot of people like having the modern driver support and other features of Windows 10 but the flyout menus and other behavior of XP. Can be done easily and uses very little resources to do it, if any extra. Mostly they are registry and system tweaks that the utility applies automatically from within the utility. I use it on all my systems to configure a custom hybrid type desktop and start menu.