Question PC bluescreens and sometimes crashes without BSOD

[VitusB]

Hello.

For the past few months i've experienced a number of crashes and BSOD happening daily.
Most of the BSOD have the driver ntoskrnl.exe as the cause, which i've heard could be because of a hardware problem.
I've tried almost everything people have suggested, but nothing has helped.
Some things I've tried:

• Clean install
• MemTest86 (and tried another set of RAM)
• Installing another graphics card
• Stress tested CPU
• sfc /scannow
• Reinstalled graphics card drivers

If anyone have any ideas of how to solve it please let me know.

Some minidumps (I've attached a minidump from a driver verifier I just ran): https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/1gyb6GCE4dMGL_-ytXLeVucALeFgPLO5d?usp=sharing
Speccy: http://speccy.piriform.com/results/zlRGXMB1KWFtidMWtp1dO4Z

 

[gardenman]

I ran the dump files through the debugger and got the following information: https://jsfiddle.net/hqtyd97b/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

File information:	102620-11734-01.dmp (Oct 26 2020 - 06:16:55)
Bugcheck:	KMODE_EXCEPTION_NOT_HANDLED (1E)
Probably caused by:	memory_corruption (Process: vgc.exe)
Uptime:	0 Day(s), 0 Hour(s), 17 Min(s), and 23 Sec(s)

File information:	102520-6046-01.dmp (Oct 25 2020 - 13:30:33)
Bugcheck:	IRQL_NOT_LESS_OR_EQUAL (A)
Probably caused by:	memory_corruption (Process: Spotify.exe)
Uptime:	0 Day(s), 5 Hour(s), 57 Min(s), and 18 Sec(s)

File information:	102420-6015-01.dmp (Oct 23 2020 - 18:53:15)
Bugcheck:	IRQL_GT_ZERO_AT_SYSTEM_SERVICE (4A)
Probably caused by:	memory_corruption (Process: steamwebhelper.exe)
Uptime:	0 Day(s), 0 Hour(s), 40 Min(s), and 21 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]

just to be different, vgc.exe was victim of one bsod, not cause

can you run this on hdd - https://www.seagate.com/au/en/support/downloads/seatools/seatools-win-master/
this on ssd - https://www.samsung.com/semiconductor/minisite/ssd/download/tools/ (magician includes smart tests)

just curious if corruption might be from storage.

 

[VitusB]

just to be different, vgc.exe was victim of one bsod, not cause

can you run this on hdd - https://www.seagate.com/au/en/support/downloads/seatools/seatools-win-master/
this on ssd - https://www.samsung.com/semiconductor/minisite/ssd/download/tools/ (magician includes smart tests)

just curious if corruption might be from storage.

For some reason, I only just now saw your response.
Which test should i choose for the Seagate software? (Fix all, long?)
Also I think my SSD is too old to be tested with the Samsung software (check image: https://drive.google.com/file/d/1rRvYVWKfco5I-3wsqazFvqLUGHZxYjPA/view?usp=sharing)

 

[Colif]

If it was 6 months ago I could look on the seagate software but this pc has a WD drive instead.

When you launch the "Short Drive Self Test" (DST) most drives will run a thorough diagnostic routine that is built into the hard drive's firmware. DST is completely data safe.

The "Short Drive Self Test" is adequate for most situations. The “Short Generic” test is similar and tests various areas of the drive. If you need a more comprehensive test then consider running the “Long Generic”, which reads each sector on the drive.

The long tests will take time to complete. Because the long tests read every sector on the drive, the amount of time required will depend on the speed and capacity of the disk drive. The apparent lack of activity often gives the impression that the drive or software has stopped responding.

The “Fix All” tests provide the ability to fix problem LBA’s (bad sectors). There are two options with the “Fix All” tests, “Fast” and “Long”. Be sure that you have all of your data backed up before running any of the “Fix All” tests. When SeaTools reallocates these problem sectors the actual data in a particular sector is unreadable and already lost. Unless the drive is full of data, it is quite possible for the problem sector to be empty of data, anyway.

“Fix All Fast” uses the drive's activity logs to identify suspicious sectors which may or may not be bad. SeaTools goes to each one in the list and if it really is bad the program will try to reallocate that one sector. If successful SeaTools moves on to the next if not successful then the test fails. On average the time is less than 5 minutes.

“Fix All Long” does a sequential scan of the media and discovers any problem sectors and attempts to reallocate them along the way. The time is very long and may take several hours (about 3 hrs per TB).

How to use SeaTools for Windows | Seagate Deutschland

Tutorial for the use of SeaTools for Windows, explaining the most common features:

www.seagate.com

ssd is 840 pro?
it used to work with Magician but that was 6 years ago. How old is this ssd? maybe its reaching its replacement age if its 6 years old?

problem with most ssd testers is they just rate the speed, not the health.
HD Sentinal trial might let you run scans on the drive. I used to have that on my last PC - https://www.hdsentinel.com/hard_disk_sentinel_trial.php

 

[VitusB]

If it was 6 months ago I could look on the seagate software but this pc has a WD drive instead.

How to use SeaTools for Windows | Seagate Deutschland

Tutorial for the use of SeaTools for Windows, explaining the most common features:

www.seagate.com

ssd is 840 pro?
it used to work with Magician but that was 6 years ago. How old is this ssd? maybe its reaching its replacement age if its 6 years old?

problem with most ssd testers is they just rate the speed, not the health.
HD Sentinal trial might let you run scans on the drive. I used to have that on my last PC - https://www.hdsentinel.com/hard_disk_sentinel_trial.php

I ran the "Short Drive Self Test" and it detected no errors.

The SSD is quite old and honestly I haven't really given it a thought that it could be the cause of the crashes.
I tested it with the HD sentinel software and it's health is only on 62%, where as my HDD is on 100% health, so the SSD might be the cause of the crashes? : https://drive.google.com/file/d/1cBw8ApJitaF8li-8i5eUC16iGAz3WZSW/view?usp=sharing
Should I try installing windows on my HDD and completely remove the SSD to see if it the cause?

 

[Colif]

Should I try installing windows on my HDD and completely remove the SSD to see if it the cause?

worth a try.

Sounds like you need a new ssd. 6 years is pretty good for any boot drive, much longer than any of my hdd managed it in the last 10 years. Better to retire it while it still works.

what does it say in the green section? any warnings there?

we can hope its source anyway, its main reason you don't get a lot of dumps. If ssd crashes it can't record the info

 

[VitusB]

worth a try.

Sounds like you need a new ssd. 6 years is pretty good for any boot drive, much longer than any of my hdd managed it in the last 10 years. Better to retire it while it still works.

what does it say in the green section? any warnings there?

we can hope its source anyway, its main reason you don't get a lot of dumps. If ssd crashes it can't record the info

In the green section it says that sometimes it's unable to write to the SSD.

I've now taken out my SSD and HDD, and instead put in a SSD that my dad lend me. I will get back to you if I crash again.

 

[Colif]

In the green section it says that sometimes it's unable to write to the SSD.

that sounds like a good reason to replace it.

 

[VitusB]

Ok so...it crashed again...
However I checked with HD sentinal, and it only scored a 72% health. Could it be that this SSD maybe isn't that good either? The green says something that is close to what it said about the other SSD
https://drive.google.com/file/d/1NiMkJ3VHQ80rdqao33LppU6z3kdrJDsg/view?usp=sharing
Should I try to delete everything on my HDD and install Windoes on that? (My HDD got 100%)
Minidump file: https://drive.google.com/file/d/1jOGJxdIck0KDKqLT86mGmrkGGhDrqKq5/view?usp=sharing

 

[gardenman]

I ran the dump file through the debugger and got the following information: https://jsfiddle.net/v4eL0rpk/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.

File information:	102720-14515-01.dmp (Oct 27 2020 - 16:36:48)
Bugcheck:	INTERRUPT_EXCEPTION_NOT_HANDLED (3D)
Driver warnings:	*** WARNING: Unable to verify timestamp for amdkmdag.sys
Probably caused by:	memory_corruption (Process: System)
Uptime:	0 Day(s), 1 Hour(s), 28 Min(s), and 59 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.

 

[VitusB]

Ok so...it crashed again...
However I checked with HD sentinal, and it only scored a 72% health. Could it be that this SSD maybe isn't that good either? The green says something that is close to what it said about the other SSD
https://drive.google.com/file/d/1NiMkJ3VHQ80rdqao33LppU6z3kdrJDsg/view?usp=sharing
Should I try to delete everything on my HDD and install Windoes on that? (My HDD got 100%)
Minidump file: https://drive.google.com/file/d/1jOGJxdIck0KDKqLT86mGmrkGGhDrqKq5/view?usp=sharing

I decided to wait, and not change to HDD yet, but stay on this SSD.
I ran SFC and the other command, and it found some corrupt files that it fixed. I'll be waiting for a crash for now.

 

[Colif]

How many ssd do you have? I thought you were were putting it on the hdd next. 72% isn't much better than your last one.

well, the last BSOD was caused by the GPU drivers. Or at least thats what its blaming

We wrapped around to where we started, back to gpu drivers again. On a new install. At least its consistent and maybe a sign it not the storage drives unless its stored in a bad place on both of them. I have my doubts.

No newer display drivers since September? October ones here - https://www.amd.com/en/support/grap...d-radeon-rx-5700-series/amd-radeon-rx-5700-xt

You should update windows 10 to 20H2 as the amd site says drivers work best with latest version. download the Windows 10 media creation tool and use it to make a win 10 installer on USB - even if you use it next time.

 

[VitusB]

How many ssd do you have? I thought you were were putting it on the hdd next. 72% isn't much better than your last one.

well, the last BSOD was caused by the GPU drivers. Or at least thats what its blaming

We wrapped around to where we started, back to gpu drivers again. On a new install. At least its consistent and maybe a sign it not the storage drives unless its stored in a bad place on both of them. I have my doubts.

No newer display drivers since September? October ones here - https://www.amd.com/en/support/grap...d-radeon-rx-5700-series/amd-radeon-rx-5700-xt

You should update windows 10 to 20H2 as the amd site says drivers work best with latest version. download the Windows 10 media creation tool and use it to make a win 10 installer on USB - even if you use it next time.

I have 2 SSD's, but both have a pretty low health rating.

There has been newer display drivers since September, but they're optional to install, and i thought the recommended drivers might be more stable.

I'll update Windows, and if it crashes I'll wipe my HDD and install Windows on that.

 

[Colif]

before you update windows, can you run this for me - https://www.sysnative.com/forums/pages/bsodcollectionapp/

it collects more than just BSOD info, it might help but it won't help after update as that wipes all the history

 

[VitusB]

before you update windows, can you run this for me - https://www.sysnative.com/forums/pages/bsodcollectionapp/

it collects more than just BSOD info, it might help but it won't help after update as that wipes all the history

Ok I'll do it when I get time

 

[VitusB]

Here's the Sysnative file: https://drive.google.com/file/d/1V9_f-bJ_wQkR0eVL-iWifCT_aC3a2llv/view?usp=sharing

Should I update Windows now?

BTW: My pc crashed about an hour ago with no BSOD

 

[Colif]

serves me right for thinking it would be in English

i thought you reinstalled win 10 on this drive, its got history back to 2019 on it?

windows update is broken on that install. its been trying to repair windows update ever since you put it back in pc.

I would clean install win 10 on that ssd instead of updating it. the update process might not work. it can't load windows store either.

 

[VitusB]

So just to be clear: I should clean install on this SSD (which has 72% health), instead of my HDD (which has 100% health)?

 

[Colif]

Well, you said you were going to update. and I thought you meant the ssd install. And since its getting windows update errors, i thought a clean would be a better idea.

But hdd is more reliable one to install onto. Less likely to cause errors.

 

[VitusB]

Ok, got it

 

[gardenman]

I'm not sure if this is needed or not, but here's the results for the last 2 dumps: https://jsfiddle.net/pk92ry03/show

File information:	102720-12390-01.dmp (Oct 27 2020 - 17:52:14)
Bugcheck:	DRIVER_IRQL_NOT_LESS_OR_EQUAL (D1)
Driver warnings:	*** WARNING: Unable to verify timestamp for amdkmdag.sys
Probably caused by:	memory_corruption (Process: chrome.exe)
Uptime:	0 Day(s), 1 Hour(s), 13 Min(s), and 53 Sec(s)

File information:	102720-12375-01.dmp (Oct 27 2020 - 18:02:42)
Bugcheck:	KMODE_EXCEPTION_NOT_HANDLED (1E)
Driver warnings:	*** WARNING: Unable to verify timestamp for vgk.sys
Probably caused by:	memory_corruption (Process: System)
Uptime:	0 Day(s), 0 Hour(s), 09 Min(s), and 05 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]

well, the install still exists but he is reinstalling on hdd.

At least the bsod is always the same 2 drivers.

 

[VitusB]

I've now installed Windows on my HDD, and completely removed both SSD's so now it's only the HDD that's connected.
I'll now wait, and hope it doesn't crash.

 

[VitusB]

Although it has only crashed once, here's the Sysnative file: https://drive.google.com/file/d/15trHKLMpoQsgyTZ8DrmFQb46MqZm5f9L/view?usp=sharing

 

[Colif]

once? i see 2 BSOD there.
but only 1 dump. would it stop that...
it crashed on 28th at 7.50pm, and then on 29th at 6.53am (times might be wrong)

prior to the 1st mystery BSOD, this was hanging - http://batcmd.com/windows/10/services/ncbservice/
it is associated with tcpip which is a windows file used for internet. I am thinking lan drivers
it would try to connect every 6 minutes and 2 minutes after its last attempt the BSOD happened
the 1st error looks odd - record of it might be in the memory.dmp file since it has to be somewhere for it be recorded in the Windows error reporting screen of sysinfo
I see Valorant already, that game must be so good for people to put up with possible BSOD to play it.

@gardenman dump in sysnative file.

I won't be here for a few hours now as its 6.30am and my brain needs a break