The latest windows 10 update (Improved stability and reliability?)

[iamgenius]

I'm posting this thread because I'm wandering if anybody noticed any improved stability of windows 10 after installing the latest update and/or the previous one. Before the update, I was getting all types of BSOD's you can think of like every 2 or 3 days. They can be triggered by doing normal windows activities like switching users for example. Sometimes it happens when a program fails to run properly but most of the time it will just BSOD on me without a specific reason. The error codes were different each time so I couldn't really link it to something. I have never had these kinds of problems with windows 7 or 8. It also wasn't this bad when I first started this windows installation. It got worse as of lately. Happily though, the BSOD's are gone now, and the only change I did to the machine was installing the latest update when it triggered itself. I forgot when I did the update but it was like maybe 3 weeks ago ( It had to do with certain vulnerabilities if I remember correctly). The pc has been on since then. I didn't put all my effort into solving the issue before but I was looking for solutions here and there.

Did anybody notice something like this? Microsoft must have fixed something with their latest updates of windows 10, or at least that's how I feel. Anyway, I'm happier now.

 

[extide]

A properly functioning machine shouldn't bluescreen every 2-3 days -- there was definitely something else going on. Could have been a messed up driver or something -- but usually when you're seeing bluescreens that much I would say you have some bad hardware -- but since the issue went away perhaps there was a messed up driver or something that got updated.

 

[UsandThem]

A properly functioning machine shouldn't bluescreen every 2-3 days -- there was definitely something else going on. Could have been a messed up driver or something -- but usually when you're seeing bluescreens that much I would say you have some bad hardware -- but since the issue went away perhaps there was a messed up driver or something that got updated.

Exactly.

When you ere experiencing crashes like that, you should download a utility like this to see what is causing the problems: https://www.nirsoft.net/utils/blue_screen_view.html

 

[VirtualLarry]

I'll tell my buddy that had multiple BSODs within the span of a week. I told him to stop going to certain sites, he hasn't reported any BSODs since, but maybe a Windows Update cured it too.

 

[Kaido]

I would start out by running a memory test, just to rule out a hardware issue & to be on the safe side in case you run into more problems in the future.. Just burn this to a USB key, boot up to it, and let it run overnight:

https://www.memtest.org/download/5.01/memtest86+-5.01.usb.installer.zip

If that passes, then download a trial of HD Tune to see if there are any boot drive errors:

https://www.hdtune.com/files/hdtunepro_575_trial.exe

If that passes, then I would do a CPU stress-test using Prime95 & let it run for a few hours to get your system nice & hot to see if ther are any stability errors:

http://www.mersenne.org/ftp_root/gimps/p95v298b6.win64.zip

Finally, I would do a GPU stress test using Furmark, just let it run at max for a few hours:

FurMark download | Geeks3D

FurMark download

www.geeks3d.com

If your CPU & GPU stability, memory, and hard drive tests all check out, then it's probably software-related. If you're open to the idea, then I would back everything up & do a full wipe using the built-in Windows 10 reset tools (including a disk erase - takes awhile) to have a 100% clean Win10 install with the latest 1909 release.

There are variety of ways problems like that can happen, however - bad drivers, malware, corrupt Windows installation, etc. I like to run the above suite of tests & do a full Windows wipe at least once a year on my own machines just to keep everything chugging along smoothly!

 

[VirtualLarry]

I was going to suggest to my buddy, to do the Memtest bootable USB thing (thanks for the link!), and then loan/give him another SSD, and install a fresh copy of the newest version of Win10 (1909), and have him run that install for a week, and see if he gets any BSODs. (Which would indicate hardware issues, or possibly driver issues with newest GPU drivers.)

But if he doesn't get any issues, it's either a defect in Win10 that was fixed with an Update, or it's some sort of software issue with his install (Which was migrated from like an original Win7 pre-SP1 installation, through the years.)

 

[iamgenius]

That's a neat little software. I downloaded it and ran it. Here is what I got:

You can take a look at the date of the crashes. The frequency of the crashes went down after January 5th. That's when I probably updated my windows. There was a crash on January 14th. I have never had a crash since Jan 14th it seems. I was little off with my estimate in the first OP.

So, what does the screenshot tell you? I'm no expert in windows. I can see that ntoskrnl.exe is common and the crash address is almost always 1c1220.

I'm overclocked, so it is worth it to check out my hardware. Will do that sometime. Hopefully the problem is really fixed.

 

[you2]

Probably not related but whenever i try to update the latest version of windows 10 reboot fails so it rolls back and is rock stable. Something in the latest update (probably a driver - but my machine is not fancy - just a haswell refresh (z97) with 1070 graphic card. Hum might be the realtek audio or ethernet; anyway ms sucks. There isn't enough diagnostic to know why boot fails so i guess i won't update for a while.

 

[mikeymikec]

That's a neat little software. I downloaded it and ran it. Here is what I got:

You can take a look at the date of the crashes. The frequency of the crashes went down after January 5th. That's when I probably updated my windows. There was a crash on January 14th. I have never had a crash since Jan 14th it seems. I was little off with my estimate in the first OP.

So, what does the screenshot tell you? I'm no expert in windows. I can see that ntoskrnl.exe is common and the crash address is almost always 1c1220.

I'm overclocked, so it is worth it to check out my hardware. Will do that sometime. Hopefully the problem is really fixed.

+1 suggestions of memtest86. My bet is the OC or the RAM. I'd probably lose the OC then test the RAM, maybe run for a few weeks without the OC, see how that goes.

 

[Steltek]

Do you have your machine set up in Advanced Windows Settings to write a kernel dump when it crashes? If so, the free version of Whocrashed may give you additional information.

 

[you2]

Well the system has to rollback to boot so the running kernel will not match what is in the dump...

Do you have your machine set up in Advanced Windows Settings to write a kernel dump when it crashes? If so, the free version of Whocrashed may give you additional information.

 

[Steltek]

Well the system has to rollback to boot so the running kernel will not match what is in the dump...

Sorry, I was referring to the OP's issue. As you state, Whocrashed would not be of any assistance for your situation.

If you have a spare hard drive, you might try to do a clean install to see if it will work. Win10 sometimes has a nasty habit of retaining existing prior version Windows drivers during an upgrade, including drivers that end up not being compatible. I had this happen when trying to upgrade my brother's old Surface Pro 3 to Win10 - it failed and rolled back multiple times before I eventually manually searched and found an update for the driver at issue.

 

[mikeymikec]

If you have a spare hard drive, you might try to do a clean install to see if it will work.

I've emphasised this because a lot of people have a tendency to try and do a Windows reinstall when they're having a stability problem, which when it's caused by hardware is just causing themselves unnecessary pain and wasted time. At least with a spare drive it's not such a big deal.

Also, the OP mentioned 25 reactivations of Office, so something tells me that he's a bit reinstall-happy already which may cause him problems with the Windows licence.

Windows stability issues (such as plentiful BSODs) should be investigated by ruling out hardware issues before doing reinstalls.

 

[VirtualLarry]

Windows stability issues (such as plentiful BSODs) should be investigated by ruling out hardware issues before doing reinstalls.

I'm curious as to your methodolgy here. I was/am of the opinion, that one of the fastest ways to determine if the issues are hardware or software, IS to do a secondary fresh install of Windows to a new drive, and see if the problem occurs there as well. IF so, it's likely to be a hardware problem, or at least, a problem in one or more of the latest Windows drivers for their hardware.

Of course, before doing that, one can do a memory test (bootable is best), a HDD SMART and surface-scan test, and a PSU stress-test (Prime95 + Furmark, or OCCTSU TEST).

If all of those pass OK, but BSODs are still happening, and the Windows installation is older, or a few upgrades in age, then I would then recommend a fresh installation of Windows, and / or even Linux, to see if something is flaking out in hardware.

 

[mikeymikec]

I'm curious as to your methodolgy here. I was/am of the opinion, that one of the fastest ways to determine if the issues are hardware or software, IS to do a secondary fresh install of Windows to a new drive, and see if the problem occurs there as well. IF so, it's likely to be a hardware problem, or at least, a problem in one or more of the latest Windows drivers for their hardware.

Of course, before doing that, one can do a memory test (bootable is best), a HDD SMART and surface-scan test, and a PSU stress-test (Prime95 + Furmark, or OCCTSU TEST).

If all of those pass OK, but BSODs are still happening, and the Windows installation is older, or a few upgrades in age, then I would then recommend a fresh installation of Windows, and / or even Linux, to see if something is flaking out in hardware.

I did say "at least with a spare drive it's not such a big deal". My main point however was with regard to people (most people?) who don't have a spare drive and nuke their completely fine Windows install along with all their settings and application installs and potentially put themselves into a worse situation whereby their old install worked better than the new one which was borked because of the hardware problem (for example, there's enough discussion threads on the Internet whereby people complain that Windows won't install, and the whole situation started because of a hardware stability issue and the user has been side-tracked into investigating a symptom of the original problem and thinking it's something new). A problem IMO is that many people still perceive Windows to be the way it was in the 95/98/Me era when a stiff breeze could blow it over, rather than any Windows NT based version (anything later than WinMe basically); chances are any stability issues occurring are not the fault of Windows.

Given how Win10 is also quite an enthusiastic bunny with auto-installing drivers, as soon as a less wary user connects their fresh install to the Internet (to, for example, download the known-good driver from whatever website because they didn't think of doing that in advance), they could walk into the very problem you're suggesting it could be.

My advice is mainly for the less experienced user trying to investigate their stability problems. My rule of thumb (much like what you've just said) is to go for the least destructive routes first.

 

[you2]

Actually my problem with the update has hit the rags; which sez 10's of million people are having the same issue - but ms has not yet acknowledge it....

 

[VirtualLarry]

Actually my problem with the update has not hit the rags; which sez 10's of million people are having the same issue - but ms has not yet acknowledge it....

Or... it's not quite as wide-spread as you "estimate".

 

[you2]

Well I added a word best left out. It has hit the rags. 10's of million is not as wide-spread as everyone but it is at least more than just myself

Or... it's not quite as wide-spread as you "estimate".