[SOLVED] ntoskrnl.exe/ntkrnlmp.exe - - - BSOD - SYSTEM_SERVICE_EXCEPTION ?

[ibby4lyf6]

Hi folks, I hope you're all doing well and in good health.

I recently encountered the ntkrnlmp.exe/ntoskrnl.exe SYSTEM_SERVICE_EXCEPTION BSOD with my PC a few days ago as I completed a few steps.

1. Updated drivers using Driver Talent Pro
2. Updated GPU drivers through GeForce Experience
3. Installed Windows Updates.

I am very sure the reason I am encountering this issue is due to some incompatible drivers that have been installed due to the third-party (Driver Talent Pro) software I've used.

So far I have completed multiple steps which I'll list below;

The first BSOD issue I was having was related to Kaspersky being installed so I removed this and things improved. After the removal of Kaspersky with kavremover, I updated some outdated drivers using Driver Talent Pro/Driver Booster from iObit software (this is where the problems begin) after installing the drivers through Driver Talent Pro and also updating to the latest NVIDIA GPU drivers (GTX 1070Ti) as well as the latest Windows updates I've had the (SYSTEM_SERVICE_EXCEPTION) BSOD relating to ntkrnlmp.exe.


This issue mainly occurs whenever I start a Steam game, so I assume it could be related to the anti-cheat system/my drivers, however since I updated my drivers and this issue persisted, I believe it is the drivers.


So far I've:

- Reinstalled Windows 10 with the Media Creation Tool (keep files and apps method)
- Updated BIOS to the latest version through ASUS website
- Intel Processor Diagnostics Tool - no issues, CPU passed everything
- Replaced CMOS battery
- Tested RAM slots to see if they were the cause by using only one slot/RAM stick at a time
- Re-seated RAM slots
- Reinstalled older/stable NVIDIA GPU Drivers using DDU Uninstaller method through safe mode
- Checked the Crash Dump files using WinDBG
- Was under the impression MSI Afterburner may have been causing the issue after reading a few posts on it, so I uninstalled that to no avail

The reason I suspect it is a driver issue is due to the error message I found at the end of the WinDBG MEMORY.DMP file being "ntkrnlmp.exe" and from what I've read online, this can be caused due to failing/corrupt drivers that essentially tell ntkrnlmp.exe to "crash".


I'm not sure what I'm doing or have done wrong, however, since I've been unable to fix anything myself I thought I'd just share it here and wait for some assistance.

If anyone could possibly assist I would be grateful as this is something I've not really encountered before.


I have zipped and shared the minidump files at this link for you to view and see what the cause may be.

https://drive.google.com/file/d/1y4wbT2TzZv9xhpFy2iZM4vzTw_mI4FSY/view?usp=drive_link​

********EDIT: 26/09/2023 SOLVED - BITDEFENDER ANTIVIRUS WAS INTERFERING WITH COD MW2 ANTICHEAT SOFTWARE AND CAUSING THE BSOD (BLOCKING NETWORKING FILES LIKE "HOSTS" EVEN AFTER IT WAS ADDED TO EXCLUSIONS).

SOLUTION: DELETE THIRD-PARTY ANTI-VIRUS SOFTWARE AND TEST.




PC SPECS:

Case: Lian-Li Der8auer PC-011
Operating System: Windows 10 Pro 10.0.19045 (Build 19045)
Motherboard: ASUS MAXIMUS VIII HERO - BIOS VERSION 3802
CPU: Intel i7-6700k @ 4.00Ghz (non overclocked)
RAM: Crucial Ballistix 2 x 8GB C16 DDR4 @ 3200mhz (no XMP profile enabled)
GPU: EVGA GeForce GTX 1070Ti FTW2 GAMING 8GB GDDR5
C Drive: Samsung 960 PRO 512GB SSD
OS: Windows 10 Pro

 

[gardenman]

Afterburner can overclock your GPU. Overclocks are often the source of BSODs. When you push hardware too far, you get BSODs. Dialing things back helps in most cases. Afterburner can be used for other non-overclocking reasons.

You've done a CPU test, and passed. Good.

You've removed 3rd party antivirus which is often the source of BSODs. Good.

I would run memtest, at least 4 passes. Here's my tutorial on how to do it: https://forums.tomshardware.com/threads/how-to-test-your-ram.3691373/

Maybe @ubuysa will see this and look at the dump files.

Since you've already ran the 3rd party update app, and it "updated your drivers", it's hard to tell what the fix will be, or if it's actually a driver issue. Maybe running DDU to remove some of the drivers and reinstalling them from the manufacturers site would help. DDU is download along with your latest GPU driver. Then you boot into safe mode and run DDU to remove the old GPU drivers. Unplug internet so Windows Update won't download new drivers. Boot back into normal mode. Install latest drivers that you pre-downloaded. Reconnect to net.

But personally, I would probably do a full wipe and reinstall of Windows due to the driver update app. If the issue is hardware, this won't help. If the issue is the drivers, this MAY help. Sometimes the same buggy drivers are reinstalled, in which a reinstall wouldn't help.

You might want to wait and see if anyone reads the dumps and can pinpoint the issue to be a driver one. Then maybe a fix to a single driver could help. If not, maybe do the full wipe and reinstall of Windows. But like I said, if the issue is hardware, or a bad driver is reinstalled, even that wont help. So pinpointing the issue is needed.

 

[ibby4lyf6]

Afterburner can overclock your GPU. Overclocks are often the source of BSODs. When you push hardware too far, you get BSODs. Dialing things back helps in most cases. Afterburner can be used for other non-overclocking reasons.

You've done a CPU test, and passed. Good.

You've removed 3rd party antivirus which is often the source of BSODs. Good.

I would run memtest, at least 4 passes. Here's my tutorial on how to do it: https://forums.tomshardware.com/threads/how-to-test-your-ram.3691373/

Maybe @ubuysa will see this and look at the dump files.

Since you've already ran the 3rd party update app, and it "updated your drivers", it's hard to tell what the fix will be, or if it's actually a driver issue. Maybe running DDU to remove some of the drivers and reinstalling them from the manufacturers site would help. DDU is download along with your latest GPU driver. Then you boot into safe mode and run DDU to remove the old GPU drivers. Unplug internet so Windows Update won't download new drivers. Boot back into normal mode. Install latest drivers that you pre-downloaded. Reconnect to net.

But personally, I would probably do a full wipe and reinstall of Windows due to the driver update app. If the issue is hardware, this won't help. If the issue is the drivers, this MAY help. Sometimes the same buggy drivers are reinstalled, in which a reinstall wouldn't help.

You might want to wait and see if anyone reads the dumps and can pinpoint the issue to be a driver one. Then maybe a fix to a single driver could help. If not, maybe do the full wipe and reinstall of Windows. But like I said, if the issue is hardware, or a bad driver is reinstalled, even that wont help. So pinpointing the issue is needed.

Firstly I would like to thank you greatly for your reply and the time you've taken to assess the situation.

I ran MemTest86+ and had 6 straight passes over a period of 4 hours today, no errors were detected, and no issues with the RAM were found.

With regards to the drivers and using DDU to do uninstalls of the drivers, that was ideally my next port of call had I not learned that BitDefender was causing these issues.

I DID HOWEVER figure out the solution to the BSOD, it was all to do with BitDefender! BitDefender was somehow interfering with my Steam game and preventing the game Anti-Cheat from performing its duties and interacting with the game, this, in turn, resulted in inadvertently triggering a BSOD. I uninstalled BITDEFENDER, and VOILA everything was back to normal, the game launched perfectly.

I saw that BitDefender was blocking things linked to networking and "hosts" in the anti-cheat, thus preventing it from performing its duties and resulting in the BSODs I was experiencing.

I am quite baffled as to how, even after I added the game/its constituents to the exclusions file for BitDefender it managed to cause such huge issues for me.


For now, things seem to be BSOD-free, hopefully, it stays that way over the next few days during which I will test and report my findings.


I appreciate your response and attention to the matter, I was going crazy trying to understand why I was BSODing otherwise haha.