OK, first post here, hopefully someone here can help. Here is my story. I am a software developer and all around PC guy (so no need to dumb down anything for me initially, I'll ask for clarification if I need any). I got a new laptop for work back in September. Everything worked fine until the start of December and then I started getting random bluescreens. When I say random, I mean there appears to be no consistency as to when it happens or error message displayed. The problem has gotten progressively worse since then (up to 10+ BSOD on some days). I've gone through everything I can think of and I'm back to where I started so its time to ask for help.
While I'm waiting on the BSOD analysis tools to run, here is a brief breakdown of my setup and troubleshooting steps thus far:
Win7 x64
Dell Lattitude e6440 laptop (intel HD 4600 and AMD Radeon HD 8690M graphics)
i7 processor (4610M @ 3Ghz)
8GB RAM
500GB Hybrid SSD.
(this is a windows software dev machine)
Dell Docking station.
Microsoft 4000 ergonomic KB
Standard Dell wired mouse
Logitech Communicate STX webcam
standard speakers plugged into headphone jack (non-USB)
2 x HP Pavillion 23xi monitors (connected with DVI via docking station).
When this started, I ran through and updated all drivers for all devices via the dell website. I also ran all windows updates (from Microsoft...not just the ones the sysadmin has approved).
Work then gave me a new loaner laptop to use while troubleshooting loaded with only minimal software to get by until the problem was fixed. Problem was that within 2 days of using the loaner (latitude e5410) on the same docking station setup, it started getting BSOD as well. This made me decide that the problem was with something I have plugged into the machine and not the machine itself (unless both machines happened to have the same problem). At this point, I stopped using the loaner and just started focusing on my main machine
Since then, I have systematically started removing hardware and continued to experience BSOD until I was down to just running my external monitors (since I removed the docking station, one now connected via VGA and the other connected via HDMI). Under this setup, the HDMI monitor would occasionally (every 30min or so) blink off and then back on. I still experienced BSOD using this setup. Next, I removed the HDMI monitor and the BSOD went away. I ran 3 days stable in this setup. After that point, I started plugging everything back in one at a time until I was back to everything except the HDMI monitor attached and it was still stable.
From that point:
I swapped monitors (still stable)
Plugged in a single monitor via HDMI instead of VGA (still stable although the blinking on /off increased frequency to ~every 2min (weird).
Swapped HDMI cable (same issue...but stable)
plugged in a single monitor via DVI (stable)
plugged in both monitors via DVI (back to original configuration)....stable for 5+ days.
Oh, and I forgot to mention that I've was running prime95 on torture mode from the point of being down to a single VGA monitor to current (that's why it shows up as 100% CPU in the system gathering info being collected as I type). I also have been running speedfan to monitor temps and they seem stable.
I told our helpdesk to close the ticket and murphy's law decided to show its face. 3hrs later, BSOD again.
So, I'm stumped, our helpdesk is stumped. Its time for me to ask the internet gods for help.
Please, Please, oh internet gods, I submit to your mighty wisdom. Help me see the light.
TIA
While I'm waiting on the BSOD analysis tools to run, here is a brief breakdown of my setup and troubleshooting steps thus far:
Win7 x64
Dell Lattitude e6440 laptop (intel HD 4600 and AMD Radeon HD 8690M graphics)
i7 processor (4610M @ 3Ghz)
8GB RAM
500GB Hybrid SSD.
(this is a windows software dev machine)
Dell Docking station.
Microsoft 4000 ergonomic KB
Standard Dell wired mouse
Logitech Communicate STX webcam
standard speakers plugged into headphone jack (non-USB)
2 x HP Pavillion 23xi monitors (connected with DVI via docking station).
When this started, I ran through and updated all drivers for all devices via the dell website. I also ran all windows updates (from Microsoft...not just the ones the sysadmin has approved).
Work then gave me a new loaner laptop to use while troubleshooting loaded with only minimal software to get by until the problem was fixed. Problem was that within 2 days of using the loaner (latitude e5410) on the same docking station setup, it started getting BSOD as well. This made me decide that the problem was with something I have plugged into the machine and not the machine itself (unless both machines happened to have the same problem). At this point, I stopped using the loaner and just started focusing on my main machine
Since then, I have systematically started removing hardware and continued to experience BSOD until I was down to just running my external monitors (since I removed the docking station, one now connected via VGA and the other connected via HDMI). Under this setup, the HDMI monitor would occasionally (every 30min or so) blink off and then back on. I still experienced BSOD using this setup. Next, I removed the HDMI monitor and the BSOD went away. I ran 3 days stable in this setup. After that point, I started plugging everything back in one at a time until I was back to everything except the HDMI monitor attached and it was still stable.
From that point:
I swapped monitors (still stable)
Plugged in a single monitor via HDMI instead of VGA (still stable although the blinking on /off increased frequency to ~every 2min (weird).
Swapped HDMI cable (same issue...but stable)
plugged in a single monitor via DVI (stable)
plugged in both monitors via DVI (back to original configuration)....stable for 5+ days.
Oh, and I forgot to mention that I've was running prime95 on torture mode from the point of being down to a single VGA monitor to current (that's why it shows up as 100% CPU in the system gathering info being collected as I type). I also have been running speedfan to monitor temps and they seem stable.
I told our helpdesk to close the ticket and murphy's law decided to show its face. 3hrs later, BSOD again.
So, I'm stumped, our helpdesk is stumped. Its time for me to ask the internet gods for help.
Please, Please, oh internet gods, I submit to your mighty wisdom. Help me see the light.
TIA