Question Numerous BSOD throughout my workday

[KD0631]

Thanks for taking the time to read and hopefully assist!

I counted I think 5 crashes just within an hour this morning and after that I stopped counting. 3 of those crashes happened without a blue screen - Screens just went black and rebooted. This is on my work build and it's been having BSOD issues for quite some time now. Probably 15+ crashes/8 hour day and it's likely raising my blood pressure, so I decided to hop on here and hope someone can find the answer.

The crashes happen completely randomly. I could be on chrome, in photoshop, in a game, even doing nothing at all not even moving the mouse.

Here is my build:
http://speccy.piriform.com/results/EPTzVQ7mnApaH6yrGb3pTuC
I normally have 2x16GB of RAM but I am currently only using 1x hoping to see an improvement which I've not seen.

Here is what I've tried so far (not in chronological order):
Reinstalled Windows
Made sure all Windows Updates are installed
Installed latest BIOS
Installed latest chipset from manufacture site
Physically went through every item on Device Manager and hit "Update Driver/Search Automatically"
Reseated everything
Installed new PSU (Microsoft Forums guy suggested this)
Tried a different GPU
Tried both sticks of RAM, tried only 1, swapped them around, tried different slots with both and only 1
Ran Windows Memory Diagnostics (found nothing)
Ran the sfc /scannow command as admin
Ran check disk
Ran DDU for GPU drivers and installed latest
Disabled Bluetooth drivers (to see if it was the culprit)
Disabled Audio drivers incase they were conflicting
Uninstalled Logitech software
I didn't have Malware Bytes until recently and don't use anything other than Windows Defender, so it's not an Antivirus
... I want to say I've done more but I can't think of what they were, it's been so long since I've been trying to figure this out now.

If anyone would like to try their hand at this, I'd be infinitely appreciative. Just let me know how I can assist and I'd be more than happy to do so. Thanks.

** Update before I even post this - As I'm currently looking at the Device Manager after I typed all this, it's got the yellow flag on the Processor and those were never present until now.

 

[KD0631]

If the glass side panel comes off take it off also.

Done. You think it's an overheating issue or? I don't recall ever seeing any alarming temps.

 

[Bob.B]

Done. You think it's an overheating issue or? I don't recall ever seeing any alarming temps.

Don't know just taking a WAG.

 

[KD0631]

Don't know just taking a WAG.

Didn't seem to have any effect.

So I downloaded WhoCrashed. I know some like it and some don't, but just so I could see things at a glance without having to know much about the codes, etc.

The most recent 5 crashes today (only in the last hour) all point to ntoskrnl.exe with various bugcheck codes and errors:

Bugcheck code: 0xA (0x78, 0xFF, 0x0, 0xFFFFF8057E470F5B)
Error: IRQL_NOT_LESS_OR_EQUAL

Bugcheck code: 0xBE (0xFFFFF8051D072200, 0xA00000002A001A1, 0xFFFFBD0083497DD0, 0xF)
Error: ATTEMPTED_WRITE_TO_READONLY_MEMORY this one shows up 3x

Bugcheck code: 0x3B (0xC0000005, 0xFFFFF80777464632, 0xFFFFFC055B459D50, 0x0)
Error: SYSTEM_SERVICE_EXCEPTION

 

[gardenman]

I ran the dump files through the debugger and got the following information: https://jsfiddle.net/80h47mtf/show This link is for anyone wanting to help. You do not have to view it. It is safe to "run the fiddle" as the page asks.

Spoiler: Dump File Results

File information:	030121-6343-01.dmp (Mar 1 2021 - 09:54:34)
Bugcheck:	IRQL_NOT_LESS_OR_EQUAL (A)
Probably caused by:	ntkrnlmp.exe (Process: System)
Uptime:	0 Day(s), 0 Hour(s), 01 Min(s), and 58 Sec(s)

File information:	030121-6234-01.dmp (Mar 1 2021 - 09:57:29)
Bugcheck:	APC_INDEX_MISMATCH (1)
Probably caused by:	ntkrnlmp.exe (Process: chrome.exe)
Uptime:	0 Day(s), 0 Hour(s), 02 Min(s), and 26 Sec(s)

File information:	030121-6125-01.dmp (Mar 1 2021 - 10:10:33)
Bugcheck:	IRQL_NOT_LESS_OR_EQUAL (A)
Probably caused by:	ntkrnlmp.exe (Process: System)
Uptime:	0 Day(s), 0 Hour(s), 01 Min(s), and 12 Sec(s)

File information:	030121-5875-01.dmp (Mar 1 2021 - 09:58:30)
Bugcheck:	IRQL_NOT_LESS_OR_EQUAL (A)
Probably caused by:	ntkrnlmp.exe (Process: System)
Uptime:	0 Day(s), 0 Hour(s), 00 Min(s), and 34 Sec(s)

File information:	030121-5484-01.dmp (Mar 1 2021 - 10:08:53)
Bugcheck:	KMODE_EXCEPTION_NOT_HANDLED (1E)
Probably caused by:	memory_corruption (Process: System)
Uptime:	0 Day(s), 0 Hour(s), 08 Min(s), and 39 Sec(s)

This information can be used by others to help you. Someone else will post with more information. Please wait for additional answers. Good luck.

 

[Colif]

they all appear to be happening after PC is moved out of sleep? I see a change in idle states, then it tries to get a file off the page file and crashes, this could simply be a driver looking in the wrong place. Its just not showing its name (which is typical).

if the 1tb HP ssd is the boot drive, try running crystaldiskinfo on it and look at its SMART score.
if the 3tn Seagate is (I have my doubts) then run https://www.seagate.com/au/en/support/downloads/seatools/seatools-win-master/

 

[KD0631]

they all appear to be happening after PC is moved out of sleep? I see a change in idle states, then it tries to get a file off the page file and crashes, this could simply be a driver looking in the wrong place. Its just not showing its name (which is typical).

if the 1tb HP ssd is the boot drive, try running crystaldiskinfo on it and look at its SMART score.
if the 3tn Seagate is (I have my doubts) then run https://www.seagate.com/au/en/support/downloads/seatools/seatools-win-master/

I assumed you meant the "Good 100%" part because I didn't see anything else that might have been what you're looking for, but when in doubt...

Also, they don't all happen when coming out of sleep. It's mostly when I'm in the middle of doing something, actively using the mouse or keyboard in photoshop, chrome, etc. Unless this thing thinks it's going idle after .3s of no activity, then that part confuses me. The only time this PC is idle is if I log out and step away from my office.

 

[Colif]

In errors 1, 3 are almost identical, both the CPU changed its power state just before a driver called a location on storage that was likely the wrong one.

having only 1 stick of ram doesn't seem to make any difference so you might as well have both in.

Suddenly realises you have my cpu, ram and Motherboard … I was wondering why I had an empty box full of fans. Well, they almost same, my CPU has XT on end. and my drive combo though same sizes, are different makes. And my Focus is a PX 750, and your Windows version is only 2004, not 20H2

SO GPU is a GTX 1060

So how would I troubleshoot my own PC? Wonder if what drivers are different? I could get you to run driver view and do a comparison.
I know I don't have a wacom tablet
How about this, I show you what I have loaded and apart from a few like Samsung NVME drivers, Icue & Bitdefender, it should look very similar to the ones on your pc since I know I already showed you Driverview.

You might have newer than I do, I don't update drivers unless I have to.

see if you can spot any differences.

 

[KD0631]

In errors 1, 3 are almost identical, both the CPU changed its power state just before a driver called a location on storage that was likely the wrong one.

having only 1 stick of ram doesn't seem to make any difference so you might as well have both in.

Suddenly realises you have my cpu, ram and Motherboard … I was wondering why I had an empty box full of fans. Well, they almost same, my CPU has XT on end. and my drive combo though same sizes, are different makes. And my Focus is a PX 750, and your Windows version is only 2004, not 20H2

SO GPU is a GTX 1060

So how would I troubleshoot my own PC? Wonder if what drivers are different? I could get you to run driver view and do a comparison.
I know I don't have a wacom tablet
How about this, I show you what I have loaded and apart from a few like Samsung NVME drivers, Icue & Bitdefender, it should look very similar to the ones on your pc since I know I already showed you Driverview.

You might have newer than I do, I don't update drivers unless I have to.

see if you can spot any differences.

I don't have the AMD Ryzen Master Service Driver and you do.
I don't have the GIGA-BYTE NonPnP Driver but we both have the same mobo... should i have this?
My Intel Network Adapter Diagnostic Driver is 1.3.2.17 and yours is 1.4.0.12
I don't have the NVIDIA PPC Function Driver and you do.

Those are about the only differences I see considering similar or same parts.

 

[Colif]

You don't need Ryzen master, I just use it to look at actual CPU speed as Task Manager always thinks my cpu running at 4ghz when its not even close. HWINFO does same thing with regard to speeds, it knows what I am actually doing
NonPNP driver is just RGB. So if you don't use it, you don't need it. think its part of RGB Fusion

I get my intel driver from them - https://www.intel.com.au/content/www/au/en/support/intel-driver-support-assistant.html

NVIDIA PPC Function Driver - I have a 2070Super so it could be something they have the 1060 doesn't. NVIDIA USB Type-C PPC Service ahh, not sure what this does. I don't have a type C connector on card... as far as I can see
could be a left over from the chip the 2070S is based on, the 2080 had a USB port.. it doesn't matter

other differences are bios version, I am not on the latest.

 

[KD0631]

You don't need Ryzen master, I just use it to look at actual CPU speed as Task Manager always thinks my cpu running at 4ghz when its not even close. HWINFO does same thing with regard to speeds, it knows what I am actually doing
NonPNP driver is just RGB. So if you don't use it, you don't need it. think its part of RGB Fusion

I get my intel driver from them - https://www.intel.com.au/content/www/au/en/support/intel-driver-support-assistant.html

NVIDIA PPC Function Driver - I have a 2070Super so it could be something they have the 1060 doesn't. NVIDIA USB Type-C PPC Service ahh, not sure what this does. I don't have a type C connector on card... as far as I can see
could be a left over from the chip the 2070S is based on, the 2080 had a USB port.. it doesn't matter

other differences are bios version, I am not on the latest.

Hmm.. I know I've ran that Intel updater recently and everything was up-to-date. At this point, I'm leaning towards another fresh install - It's been a while now. Maybe the previous files were corrupted or something. And I know I've done a couple registry tweaks posted by people like you that know what they're talking about, so maybe a fresh slate would be in my best interest. I really don't want to start replacing hardware 1 by 1 if it's not completely necessary. You're definitely more knowledgeable on this topic than I am - What do you recommend?

Edit: I was running CCleaner and using its registry cleaner previously, which I've since read it's not wise to use that on Windows 10, so I can see that possibly causing me issues as well.

 

[Colif]

i don't post registry tweaks, nor do i use ccleaner. Windows isn't that messy, I just leave it alone.

You aren't on latest version of win 10, download the Windows 10 media creation tool and use it to make a win 10 installer on USB. It will have the latest version (for 2 more months at least, 21h1 should be in April) so that you don't have to download as much afterwards.
clean install might help, I think your problem is just software.

Win 10 releases a new version every 6 months, and they replace your current versions so in essence you almost get a fresh install every 6 months already, it just doesn't flush drivers. Clean install will force it to get new everything.

copy anything on C onto your hdd and maybe unplug hdd from power before clean installing, win 10 likes to share and could put boot partition on the hdd if it has any free unpartitioned space.
boot from installer
follow this guide: https://forums.tomshardware.com/faq/how-to-do-a-clean-installation-of-windows-10.3170366/

take your time, don't rush. make sure to copy everything you want to save off c before starting. I swapped from my last PC to this one by doing that, write down anything you want to reinstall, make sure to have passwords etc. I didn't lose anything

 

[KD0631]

i don't post registry tweaks, nor do i use ccleaner. Windows isn't that messy, I just leave it alone.

You aren't on latest version of win 10, download the Windows 10 media creation tool and use it to make a win 10 installer on USB. It will have the latest version (for 2 more months at least, 21h1 should be in April) so that you don't have to download as much afterwards.
clean install might help, I think your problem is just software.

Win 10 releases a new version every 6 months, and they replace your current versions so in essence you almost get a fresh install every 6 months already, it just doesn't flush drivers. Clean install will force it to get new everything.

copy anything on C onto your hdd and maybe unplug hdd from power before clean installing, win 10 likes to share and could put boot partition on the hdd if it has any free unpartitioned space.
boot from installer
follow this guide: https://forums.tomshardware.com/faq/how-to-do-a-clean-installation-of-windows-10.3170366/

take your time, don't rush. make sure to copy everything you want to save off c before starting. I swapped from my last PC to this one by doing that, write down anything you want to reinstall, make sure to have passwords etc. I didn't lose anything

I think this is definitely the best route at this moment. I'm going to work on this now. Is it okay to keep this thread unsolved for now until I get everything back up and running and see if any crashes persist?

 

[Colif]

you can keep it open as long as you like

 

[KD0631]

you can keep it open as long as you like

Awesome. In the meantime, Colif, gardenman, Bob... thank you for your time thus far in assisting me. People like you are the true heroes of the PC world.

Also, I probably should've opted for the quick format on this 29gb thumb drive I'll post back when I have something to update! Huge thanks again

 

[Colif]

Not that it matters but what CPU cooler are you using and what case? its about only thing I don't know.

I need to get a faster big USB. I have a 64gb USB but its USB 2. And its full.

Maybe I should look at that.

 

[KD0631]

Not that it matters but what CPU cooler are you using and what case? its about only thing I don't know.

I need to get a faster big USB. I have a 64gb USB but its USB 2. And its full.

Maybe I should look at that.

Fractal Design Meshify C ATX and stock cooler, which I read was more than enough for this CPU w/o overclocking and I've never overclocked this rig.

 

[Colif]

so one difference is the cooler but my case is literally your case but with a few more inches between front mesh and the GPU

Fractal Design Meshify S2 (need to clean glass again)

You have good taste lol

 

[KD0631]

so one difference is the cooler but my case is literally your case but with a few more inches between front mesh and the GPU

Fractal Design Meshify S2 (need to clean glass again)

You have good taste lol

I thought you guys were only supposed to have bigger spiders and things that can kill you in your sleep it is hard to keep that glass clean, isn't it! I keep a pack of alcohol wipes in my office since covid - those work nice on it.

 

[Colif]

I haven't properly cleaned glass since i removed the sticky inner layer, so it needs a good wash with water. Its on inside or I would wipe it off now.

I can see a dot of dust on glass now so i will probably clean it in next few days or make rgb darker so I can't see it. Its like my screen, I only clean the dust off if I can actually see it while using it. The camera sees it better than I can.

All our big spiders are up in the top area of country where all the tourists normally gather. Most of our dangerous animals are off the coast waiting for anyone silly enough to swim in the water. I hardly see any wild things. How did this become a discussion about wildlife

edit: took glass off, gave it a wipe. less dust now but i see finger prints. always fun getting glass back on without those. 4am not good time to clean glass.

 

[KD0631]

I haven't properly cleaned glass since i removed the sticky inner layer, so it needs a good wash with water. Its on inside or I would wipe it off now.

I can see a dot of dust on glass now so i will probably clean it in next few days or make rgb darker so I can't see it. Its like my screen, I only clean the dust off if I can actually see it while using it. The camera sees it better than I can.

All our big spiders are up in the top area of country where all the tourists normally gather. Most of our dangerous animals are off the coast waiting for anyone silly enough to swim in the water. I hardly see any wild things. How did this become a discussion about wildlife

lol... I'm not sure, but I'll be sure to stay away from the top of your country. And the water.

Giving your tower a proper cleaning makes you feel good! It can be a pain, but it's worth it in the end. Even if you're the only one that looks and appreciates it.

The Windows Media drive is almost done. Think I'll take this time to prep my tower and make sure everything is snug before I reinstall. Hopefully you'll be hearing good news from my end soon.

 

[Colif]

it looks better now but i can tell i need to clean it more as it looks dusty in screen shots near the CPU and around the light on the gpu. its all on the glass, I don't think I have found any dust in actual case. I guess it does have to go through my filters + a radiator before it gets to my fans. So I might need to clean those.
I wish I had the front filter design that the fractal Meshify 2's have, a door would be so much easier than taking front of this one. I haven't tried that hard tbh, I can clean filter through the front. Top gets dustier than front but thats another story.

The biggest dust blob was on outside, just i had to check both sides as it didn't want to come off. think outside glass is also a bit sticky

I probably won't be here that much longer.

 

[KD0631]

So I just got an APC INDEX MISMATCH bsod while in the middle of setting up Windows from a fresh install. And I just got another as I was typing this, DPC WATCHDOG VIOLATION.

The windows media creation went through without a hitch and so did the actual install process, until I got to the part where I was signing into my Microsoft account for the first time, after the keyboard layout process.

Edit 1: Kernel mode trap and irql errors now. Haven't been able to finish installing windows yet. Unplugged ethernet cable and trying to finish over wifi and also disconnected 2nd monitor. HDD has been unplugged through the whole process.

Edit 2: Now system thread exception not handled

 

[KD0631]

So I just got an APC INDEX MISMATCH bsod while in the middle of setting up Windows from a fresh install. And I just got another as I was typing this, DPC WATCHDOG VIOLATION.

The windows media creation went through without a hitch and so did the actual install process, until I got to the part where I was signing into my Microsoft account for the first time, after the keyboard layout process.

Edit 1: Kernel mode trap and irql errors now. Haven't been able to finish installing windows yet. Unplugged ethernet cable and trying to finish over wifi and also disconnected 2nd monitor. HDD has been unplugged through the whole process.

Edit 2: Now system thread exception not handled

Finally got to finish installing windows, but it did bsod before I even saw the login screen. Fortunately after rebooting, it did let me into the desktop. I'm currently working on windows updates. Will update if I encounter more crashes. But do those crashes that occured during the fresh install point to anything?

 

[Colif]

So I just got an APC INDEX MISMATCH bsod while in the middle of setting up Windows from a fresh install. And I just got another as I was typing this, DPC WATCHDOG VIOLATION.

The windows media creation went through without a hitch and so did the actual install process, until I got to the part where I was signing into my Microsoft account for the first time, after the keyboard layout process.

crashes during install process aren't good sign.
In the first half of the install process, windows installer runs in a ram disc and copies the installer onto a partition on the NVME just before it does its first restart
After the reset, its running off the nvme so it means it doesn't have problems with running in ram, its once it starts running off the nvme it starts to encounter problems.

it could also be the lan connection/drivers in installer but I haven't seen anyone else get that. I only mention that as it crashed once you reached the logon screen.

An install that has multiple BSOD just getting finished isn't going to be much good to you.

What is on 3tb hdd? can you put win 10 on it instead just to see if you get same errors. or do you have another drive you can use instead so as to not delete anything off 3tb? its just a test to see if errors are caused by drive or if it doesn't matter what drive you use

Some times it helps to not be attached to internet (that would likely also mean removing antennae off back of MB) while installing so windows doesn't grab updates or insist on you using a MIcrosoft logon as username, if the problem is the lan chip on board that might let you install win 10 without BSOD.

 

[KD0631]

crashes during install process aren't good sign.
In the first half of the install process, windows installer runs in a ram disc and copies the installer onto a partition on the NVME just before it does its first restart
After the reset, its running off the nvme so it means it doesn't have problems with running in ram, its once it starts running off the nvme it starts to encounter problems.

it could also be the lan connection/drivers in installer but I haven't seen anyone else get that. I only mention that as it crashed once you reached the logon screen.

An install that has multiple BSOD just getting finished isn't going to be much good to you.

What is on 3tb hdd? can you put win 10 on it instead just to see if you get same errors. or do you have another drive you can use instead so as to not delete anything off 3tb? its just a test to see if errors are caused by drive or if it doesn't matter what drive you use

Some times it helps to not be attached to internet (that would likely also mean removing antennae off back of MB) while installing so windows doesn't grab updates or insist on you using a MIcrosoft logon as username, if the problem is the lan chip on board that might let you install win 10 without BSOD.

Yeah I brought a couple old drives from home to test today. First one I'm going to test it on is a 120GB Kingston HyperX. I'm able to open it and see the old files still on it, but I'd like to test it to make sure it's still working as it should. I'm unsure as to why I stopped using it some time ago. What's the best method to test this?

Also, I was thinking it could've been a LAN issue as well, that's why I unplugged the ethernet cable and tested on wifi. I removed the antennae like the first day of using this new build since I was going to be hardwired to the internet. But the crashing still occurred after doing this.