Intermittent BSODs in Vista x64

[Ika]

Ever since I got my computer back in end of October (built back in September) I've been having some seemingly-random BSODs. From what I can gather from Vista' Reliability Monitor, it happens maybe once in anywhere between 3 days and a week. It just happened again a few minutes ago and I was in the middle of my CoD4 install, so I'm a little peeved.

I haven't been able to figure out what the cause of the crashes is, and I can't find any good information in any of the crash logs (and I don't know how to open .dmp crash dump files...).

When the last BSOD happened, I was installing CoD4 and browsing some guy's DC++ files; I do recall BSODs have happened before while browsing (and one occasion when I was on Facebook).

I didn't get a good look at the BSOD, but I did see MEMORY MANAGEMENT at the top of the BSOD. I'm not really sure what that means - is Vista at fault or is my memory at fault?

I haven't run Memtest, mostly because I don't really know how. I also cant find Vista's built-in memory tester...


The last Windows crash report had some info:

Problem signature:
Problem Event Name: BlueScreen
OS Version: 6.0.6000.2.0.0.768.3
Locale ID: 1033

Additional information about the problem:
BCCode: 1a
BCP1: 0000000000041287
BCP2: 0000000000000029
BCP3: 0000000000000000
BCP4: 0000000000000000
OS Version: 6_0_6000
Service Pack: 0_0
Product: 768_1

Files that help describe the problem:
C:\Windows\Minidump\Mini121207-01.dmp
C:\Windows\Temp\WER-73273-0.sysdata.xml
C:\Windows\Temp\WERB911.tmp.version.txt

Except that the files don't help describe the problem at all, really. This is what my C:\Windows\Temp\WERB911.tmp.version.txt file says:

Windows NT Version 6.0 Build: 6000
Product (0x3): Windows Vista (TM) Home Premium
Edition: HomePremium
BuildString: 6000.16575.amd64fre.vista_gdr.071009-1548
Flavor: Multiprocessor Free
Architecture: X64
LCID: 1033

I can't make much sense of that, except that the BuildString has amd64 in it, and I definitely don't have an AMD processor in my system. Not sure why that's there.

Thanks for the help.

My comp hardware is in my sig.

 

[robisbell]

where was it at that you got it back from, and why was it there?

1. go to http://housecall.trendmicro.com and have if scan all files and drives on your pc. post what it finds.

2. then go to http://ultimatebootcd.com and get the iso, burn it to a cd and reboot with said cd. then from the menu choose memtest86+ run that for 6 hours and post the results. then run stresscpu for 6 hours and post the results.

3. then go to http://www.cpuid.com/pcwizard.php and install PC Wizard and post the temp and voltage screenshot.

 

[Ika]

Originally posted by: robisbell
where was it at that you got it back from, and why was it there?

1. go to http://housecall.trendmicro.com and have if scan all files and drives on your pc. post what it finds.

2. then go to http://ultimatebootcd.com and get the iso, burn it to a cd and reboot with said cd. then from the menu choose memtest86+ run that for 6 hours and post the results. then run stresscpu for 6 hours and post the results.

3. then go to http://www.cpuid.com/pcwizard.php and install PC Wizard and post the temp and voltage screenshot.

When I left for college, I didn't bring my desktop with me. Over Fall Break my parents brought it over. That's what I meant.

1. I have AOL Active Virus Shield running at all times on my comp; the last full-scan I did was maybe a week or two ago. No threats. Windows Defender is also up. I'm pretty sure its not a spyware/virus problem.

2. Cool, I'm getting the ISO now.

3. I'm also pretty sure it's not a CPU problem, but to be honest, I've never ran Orthos for an extremely extended period of time. I think the longest I've done Orthos for is 4 hours or so. I'll probably run an Orthos blend overnight tonight. My CPU temps are fine; I'll post a screenshot of CPU-Z and Everest soon.
here it is I didn't want to install PC Wizard because CoreTemp, Speedfan, and RMClock all showed the same results as Everest. I've never seen my CPU core temp go higher than 48ºC here; while Orthos was running both cores were fluctuating between 45-48C. I do notice a super-high vdroop, though... I think I set my v-core to 1.4375 or so in my BIOS.

Now that I think about it, it could be a problem with my memory... I'm running 4-5-5-8 timings at DDR2-800 with 2.0vdimm. These are D9 modules, though, so I'm assuming they can perform that well. I've ran them at DDR2-1000 and they were fine.

The biggest problem with finding the source of the blue screens is that they don't show up often enough to figure out a pattern, and usually I won't have a camera on-hand to snap a pic of the actual blue screen.
EDIT2: CPU-Z shows my idle voltage to be either 1.408v or 1.392v.

 

[robisbell]

1. I have seen stuff get past both of those programs, I suggest you run housecall.

2. good, post the results when you can.

3. pc wizard is more up to date than those programs, and can read data from newer hardware better than the others. it even can fully benchmark your whole system, or individual components.

also, I would suggest you reseat the video card(s), ram, and all power and data cables in the case.

 

[dclive]

Originally posted by: Aflac
I haven't been able to figure out what the cause of the crashes is, and I can't find any good information in any of the crash logs (and I don't know how to open .dmp crash dump files...).

Check out my .sig, read the directions in the BSOD area, open up your dumps (open them all up - get a consensus) and do an !analyze -v on them in the debugger (follow the guide - it's all spelled out) and post the results, if the solution isn't apparent.