Win 8.1 PC froze at desktop and has boot issues.

[bball1523]

Today I ran into a problem with my PC randomly. It freezes on the desktop and has boot issues such as taking a long time to boot to desktop. One time during the windows logo loading screen, sometime after that it went to a blue screen that flashed really quickly and disappeared before I could take a picture of it with my phone. I did see that it said "bad system...", though I missed the rest of the error message title and error code if there was on.

My specs are listed in my signature. I had a similar issue back in March 2015 and found out it was my video card. The blue screen error messages were different though and I don't remember seeing the same error message I saw today. I replaced the videocard and the problem was solved, though I think there was at least one blue scteen error message that appeared, but it didn't persist.

Anyways, I tried system restore and it didn't solve the problem. The problem just started happening. I briefly checked some of my components inside the case and didn't see any blown up or leaking parts there is dust that maybe I should clean.

Does anyone know what the issue could be?

Thanks

 

[Ketchup]

Look inside the C: Windows folder and see if there is a folder called minidumps. There probably will be since you are seeing blue screens. Then download a program called Whocrashed, and it will give you at least an idea if what the memory dumps are pointing too.

 

[bball1523]

Look inside the C: Windows folder and see if there is a folder called minidumps. There probably will be since you are seeing blue screens. Then download a program called Whocrashed, and it will give you at least an idea if what the memory dumps are pointing too.

Thanks, I haven't done that yet, but I did run in to another blue screen and it said "critical process died". Do you or anyone know what this means for my pc?

Btw, I haven't been able to get into safe mode yet as it keep sending me to a blue screen and then restarting and sending me back to the automatic repair screen where I can choose to refresh, etc.

 

[mikeymikec]

IIRC you can get into safe mode by booting off the Windows CD, repair installation, advanced options, safe mode somewhere in there.

 

[Ketchup]

Thanks, I haven't done that yet, but I did run in to another blue screen and it said "critical process died". Do you or anyone know what this means for my pc?

Btw, I haven't been able to get into safe mode yet as it keep sending me to a blue screen and then restarting and sending me back to the automatic repair screen where I can choose to refresh, etc.

There probably was a message below "critical process died" that gave you more detail about what the process was.

As for safe mode, mikeymikec has an excellent suggestion. But if you can't get into the computer, and you have the resources, connect the hard drive from the problem computer to another Windows PC and copy the Windows/minidump folder to the working PC. Then you will be able to use Whocrashed to view the messages.

 

[bball1523]

There probably was a message below "critical process died" that gave you more detail about what the process was.

As for safe mode, mikeymikec has an excellent suggestion. But if you can't get into the computer, and you have the resources, connect the hard drive from the problem computer to another Windows PC and copy the Windows/minidump folder to the working PC. Then you will be able to use Whocrashed to view the messages.

I copied and pasted the minidump file from the desktop pc to my laptop. I ran the whocrashed program and it showed a minidump crash log for a crash back on 4/10/15.

Here is the log:

On Fri 4/10/2015 7:52:48 AM GMT your computer crashed
crash dump file: C:\Windows\Minidump\041015-50859-01.dmp
This was probably caused by the following module: echo1394.sys (echo1394+0x1ECA)
Bugcheck code: 0x133 (0x0, 0x501, 0x500, 0x0)
Error: DPC_WATCHDOG_VIOLATION
Bug check description: The DPC watchdog detected a prolonged run time at an IRQL of DISPATCH_LEVEL or above.
This appears to be a typical software driver bug and is not likely to be caused by a hardware problem. This problem might be caused by a thermal issue.
A third party driver was identified as the probable root cause of this system error. It is suggested you look for an update for the following driver: echo1394.sys .
Google query: echo1394.sys DPC_WATCHDOG_VIOLATION

I don't recall having this crash since around that time. The crash I've had recently doesn't say DPC Watchdog Violation. The above crash in the log sounds like it could be related to my audiocard which is a firewire connected device. Do you think that caused the crash? If that's the case then how come it didn't crash like this over the past several months since the last crash around April?

Anyways, I tried booting to safe mode off my windows 8 dvd, but it didn't give me any option for it. It gave me option to do system restore, system image recovery, automatic repair, and command prompt.

 

[Ketchup]

I know the dates don't quite line up, but it looks like a blue screen error you might have seen with your old video card. If you aren't getting new minidump files, that points more towards a critical component, such as memory. Which makes sense since you are having the problem in safe mode to. Might want to try Memtest off a bootable CD, or Windows memory diagnostics.

 

[Puffnstuff]

I second running memtest because if a module has gone bad it will give you fits until you discover it. If it passes the test then boot off the windows dvd and try running the repair utility. If it still won't boot I would try running the hd manufacturers drive test to make sure that your drive hasn't failed. Systematically approach this problem until you discover the root cause. It is also possible that your registry has become corrupt and if so you will need to perform a clean install. If that is the case then I would suggest that you just clean install 10 using your 8.1 key.

 

[bball1523]

I tried MemTest86 and it didn't find anything.

I was able to connect my hd to a laptop using a transfer cable and I successfully transferred files from the hd ti mt laptop. Does this mean the hd isn't the issue?

I tried some automatic repair off the win 8 upgrade dvd I have and it didn't fix the issue.

 

[Ketchup]

A couple ways to go here. One is to run one memory stick at a time and put it into a situation in which you know it will crash. Another wayf to go, since you have everything backed up, would be to wipe the drive and do a fresh install of Windows.. See if the problems come back.

 

[bball1523]

A couple ways to go here. One is to run one memory stick at a time and put it into a situation in which you know it will crash. Another wayf to go, since you have everything backed up, would be to wipe the drive and do a fresh install of Windows.. See if the problems come back.

I tried running with one ram stick at a time and I still got the same issue. I also tried briefly clearing some dust out with an air duster and I still got the same problem. I'm going to reformat now.

 

[bball1523]

I tried to reformat and it told me "Unable to reset your pc. A required drive partition is missing"

I upgraded from win xp to win 8 pro and then from I updated to win 8.1 I remember resetting my pc back in April of this year and it worked unless I did something else to reset it. Does anyone know what the issue is?

 

[Ketchup]

Get your key for Windows 8, then put the ISO on a DVD (if you have a dvd burner), or a flash drive (if the computer can boot from a flash drive). When you boot from one of these, you can delete your partitions and the installer will create the correct ones.

You can find the media creation tool here:
http://windows.microsoft.com/en-us/windows-8/create-reset-refresh-media

 

[bball1523]

Get your key for Windows 8, then put the ISO on a DVD (if you have a dvd burner), or a flash drive (if the computer can boot from a flash drive). When you boot from one of these, you can delete your partitions and the installer will create the correct ones.

You can find the media creation tool here:
http://windows.microsoft.com/en-us/windows-8/create-reset-refresh-media

Hey thanks. I was give a website by someone else on doing a clean install and it worked. It was basically the same thing you said. I loaded up the dvd I have with win 8 pro upgrade and I let it go to its install mode while booting up the pc. I deleted the partition there and it successfully installed win 8 pro onto it. The PC seems to be working now. I wonder what the issue was.

Thanks everyone for your help!