Please help analyze this blue screen!

  • Thread starter Thread starter Hank
  • Start date Start date
H

Hank

Business with SP1
Sony laptop, fast core2duo, 4GB
Defender+Avast!
Working beautifully for many months, and then a few
weeks ago this began happening:

Perhaps 2-3 times a week, and with no consistency of
circumstances, a blue screen will appear. It might
happen while working or when returning from hibernate.
There's a countdown as memory is stored, and then a
freeze. The only way to recover is to do a hard OFF (5
seconds on the power switch) and restart.

When it first happened, I had not installed or changed
anything, so I was comfortable doing a restore. It
happened again.

It's confusing because the stated cause is inconsistent.
I've checked to ensure that all drivers are updated and
nothing that's contraVistarian is installed.

What analytical steps can I undertake to discover what's
causing this, and then to help me make the necessary
changes?

Thanks!

Hank
 
Hi,

It could be faulty hardware or flakey memory, particularly so if the
circumstances are not consistent. You might try running the memory
diagnostic tool (just type it into the start/search line to start).

--
Best of Luck,

Rick Rogers, aka "Nutcase" - Microsoft MVP

Windows help - www.rickrogers.org
My thoughts http://rick-mvp.blogspot.com
 
Windows troubleshooting:
http://blogs.technet.com/markrussinovich/archive/2008/06/02/3065065.aspx

--
Carey Frisch
Microsoft MVP
Windows Desktop Experience -
Windows Vista Enthusiast

---------------------------------------------------------------

Business with SP1
Sony laptop, fast core2duo, 4GB
Defender+Avast!
Working beautifully for many months, and then a few
weeks ago this began happening:

Perhaps 2-3 times a week, and with no consistency of
circumstances, a blue screen will appear. It might
happen while working or when returning from hibernate.
There's a countdown as memory is stored, and then a
freeze. The only way to recover is to do a hard OFF (5
seconds on the power switch) and restart.

When it first happened, I had not installed or changed
anything, so I was comfortable doing a restore. It
happened again.

It's confusing because the stated cause is inconsistent.
I've checked to ensure that all drivers are updated and
nothing that's contraVistarian is installed.

What analytical steps can I undertake to discover what's
causing this, and then to help me make the necessary
changes?

Thanks!

Hank
 
Business with SP1
Sony laptop, fast core2duo, 4GB
Defender+Avast!
Working beautifully for many months, and then a few
weeks ago this began happening:

Perhaps 2-3 times a week, and with no consistency of
circumstances, a blue screen will appear. It might
happen while working or when returning from hibernate.
There's a countdown as memory is stored, and then a
freeze. The only way to recover is to do a hard OFF (5
seconds on the power switch) and restart.

When it first happened, I had not installed or changed
anything, so I was comfortable doing a restore. It
happened again.

It's confusing because the stated cause is inconsistent.
I've checked to ensure that all drivers are updated and
nothing that's contraVistarian is installed.

What analytical steps can I undertake to discover what's
causing this, and then to help me make the necessary
changes?

Thanks!

Hank
Click to expand...

What was the stop error?
 
What analytical steps can I undertake to discover what's
causing this, and then to help me make the necessary
changes?
Click to expand...

Random blue screens are caused by a bad driver corrupting system
memory, OR physically bad ram. Since you're sure it's not a bad driver -
you HAVE updated everything, right? - try removing one of the installed
dimms and if the problem continues remove the other one and install the first
in its place.

It could also be your cpu but that's pretty rare. Or heat, but that's
seldom a problem in a quality laptop. Ummm, the little exhaust fan IS running,
right? Anyway, heat problems typically cause reboots and/or shutdowns.
 
Rick said:
Hi,

It could be faulty hardware or flakey memory, particularly so if the
circumstances are not consistent. You might try running the memory
diagnostic tool (just type it into the start/search line to start).
Click to expand...

Good. Thanks. Apparently no problem there, which would
have been easy/cheap to fix.
 
Ringmaster said:
What was the stop error?
Click to expand...

That's been inconsistent, as mentioned, and apparently
that very inconsistency is something of a diagnostic clue.
But thanks.
 
the said:
Random blue screens are caused by a bad driver corrupting system
memory, OR physically bad ram. Since you're sure it's not a bad driver -
you HAVE updated everything, right? - try removing one of the installed
dimms and if the problem continues remove the other one and install the first
in its place.

It could also be your cpu but that's pretty rare. Or heat, but that's
seldom a problem in a quality laptop. Ummm, the little exhaust fan IS running,
right? Anyway, heat problems typically cause reboots and/or shutdowns.
Click to expand...

Fan spins away. Temps are fine, and I've recently
disassembled and cleaned the air path and heat exchangers.

Physical RAM checks ok.

Drivers are current but I'll recheck everything and
update if possible.

Thanks!
 
Hank said:
Drivers are current but I'll recheck everything and update if possible.

Thanks!
Click to expand...



Control Panel > Device Manager > one item at a time and
UPDATE DRIVER

That's a painful process. Is there a better way? Perhaps
somewhere in the bowels of Vista is a button that says
"CHECK DRIVERS FOR CURRENCY"

No?

Is such a utility available?

If any codewriters are listening, here's an opportunity!

Hank
 
Well, it happened once again. This time I made notes.


It's claimed to be a driver conflict, but the specific
driver is not identified. Codes provided are:

STOP: 0X000000C4 (0X000000E3, 0X0012F5B0, 0X00000000)

WDF01000.SYS - ADDRESS 806735ED BASE AT 8060F000,
DATESTAMP 47919015

Cryptic. Mysterious.


I found an online reference to WDF01000.sys as
driver-related, and a potential problem, but it's
runscanner.net, the credibility of which is unknown to
me, and I am reluctant to do anything without guidance.
 
Physical RAM checks ok.
Click to expand...

How are you checking it? I have zero confidence in any software
ram checker in terms of finding a subtle timing problem that only appears
under load or whatnot. IMHO 40 bucks is a cheap gamble: buy a known good piece
at newegg.com and see if it fixes your problem.
 
Well, it happened once again. This time I made notes.


It's claimed to be a driver conflict, but the specific
driver is not identified. Codes provided are:

STOP: 0X000000C4 (0X000000E3, 0X0012F5B0, 0X00000000)
Click to expand...

Hmmmm. Are you runnning Norton AV? There's a reported conflict
between MS driver verification (a system watchdog that monitors drivers
for error conditions) and Norton AV. Try uninstalling Norton...
 
the said:
Hmmmm. Are you runnning Norton AV? There's a reported conflict
between MS driver verification (a system watchdog that monitors drivers
for error conditions) and Norton AV. Try uninstalling Norton...
Click to expand...


Thank you.
No Norton (Avast! and Defender, as mentioned), and I
used MS' memory checker. I also removed/swapped memory
and the problem recurred, so it's probably not a
physical memory issue.

I also did sfc /scannow (thanks Silvy) and Mr. Gates
reported that something had been corrupted but was now
fixed - it has not done bluescreen since, but it's often
gone longer than this.

Hank
 
Then take hope from sfc's repair. It sounds like the good advice paid off
for you.
 
Blue screens again, or still...

It appears to be a DRIVER issue, discovered but not
identified on startup. I found nothing that will help me
determine which driver is at fault, and you know how
many there are.

There has not been a blue screen from SAFE MODE, so the
problem is not one of the primary drivers, nor is it
hardware.

CHKDISK and SFC found nothing. A restore did not stop
the problem. Avast!, Defender, and Spybot all insist
that this laptop is as immaculate as Obama's conscience
(but I'm searching for updates).

The most recent code is: 0x000000C0 (0x00000006,
0x00000103, 0x8E2448B8, 0x00000000)

Blue screen can occur on start or during operations.
When it happens, the only possible recovery is a forced
shutdown (5 sec on the power button) and restart), and
then it's probable there will be another blue screen on
startup.

HELP NEEDED:

1. How can the problematic driver be identified?

2. How can I get past the blue screen without doing a
forced shutdown?

Thanks,

Hank
 
Hank said:
Blue screens again, or still...

It appears to be a DRIVER issue, discovered but not identified on startup.
I found nothing that will help me determine which driver is at fault, and
you know how many there are.

There has not been a blue screen from SAFE MODE, so the problem is not one
of the primary drivers, nor is it hardware.

CHKDISK and SFC found nothing. A restore did not stop the problem. Avast!,
Defender, and Spybot all insist that this laptop is as immaculate as
Obama's conscience (but I'm searching for updates).

The most recent code is: 0x000000C0 (0x00000006, 0x00000103, 0x8E2448B8,
0x00000000)

Blue screen can occur on start or during operations. When it happens, the
only possible recovery is a forced shutdown (5 sec on the power button)
and restart), and then it's probable there will be another blue screen on
startup.

HELP NEEDED:

1. How can the problematic driver be identified?

2. How can I get past the blue screen without doing a forced shutdown?

Thanks,

Hank
Click to expand...


Have you tried the driver verifier? I have only used it once so I need to
let others comment on it use and appropriateness to your issue, but as I
recall it can do a number of things including identify unsigned drivers,
etc. although its main usefulness appears to be in driver development and
not as a general user diagnostic tool.

http://www.microsoft.com/whdc/DevTools/tools/vistaverifier.mspx
http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/ms792872.aspx
 
Colin said:
Have you tried the driver verifier? I have only used it once so I need
to let others comment on it use and appropriateness to your issue, but
as I recall it can do a number of things including identify unsigned
drivers, etc. although its main usefulness appears to be in driver
development and not as a general user diagnostic tool.

http://www.microsoft.com/whdc/DevTools/tools/vistaverifier.mspx
http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/ms792872.aspx
Click to expand...


Well! I thank you, Colin -- though my gratitude is
tempered by a bit of sarcasm.

Such tool suites as Verifier are accessible by commoners
like me but seem to be intended for developers - they
help with proactive conflict prevention during software
design. For people like me, they also provide myriad
ways and means by which problems might be defined,
characterized, and (finally) solved, all described and
tutored in typically Microsoft concise English. I'm in
my eighth decade and in good health, and *should* have
remaining time to meet this anticipated schedule:

PROBLEM #1
Collect appropriate MS documents/libraries -- 80 hours
Review MS libraries and select applicable -- 200 h
Study applicable documents -- 200 h
Compare findings to online (user) opinions -- 100 h
Converge on most suitable approaches -- 80 h
Develop understanding of each method -- 120 h
Select highest probability solution -- 10 h
Implement --- 30 m
Forget everything learned above --- 1 d

PROCEED TO PROBLEM #2

********************************
Alternatively, someone could write me a prescription
that solves this @%$%!! headache.

Hank
 
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