Recent BlueScreens at random times - Windows 7 x64

Ethew · Jun 16, 2014

I made a thread a few weeks back detailing my BlueScreens. Since that I have been getting way less BSOD's than before. But there's been 2 in the past 2 weeks. (Much better than before)

Here are my specs (unchanged from before):

· OS: Windows 764-bit Home Premium
· The original installed OS was the above.
· It's an OEM refurbished PC bought at a local electronics store. I bought it in 2011.
· Age of system (hardware): 2010/2011?
· I have not re-installed the OS.

· AMD Phenom II X4 840T
· EVGA GTX 280 OC (but downclocked to reference speeds/values). I believe it's this one: https://www.evga.com/products/pdf/01G-P3-1282-AR.pdf
· MotherBoard: N-Alvorix-RS880-uATX
· Corsair 600W (because of the graphics card requirements)

· System Manufacturer: HP
· HP Pavilion p6774y Desktop

I have uploaded the folder that was specified. I minimized the BSOD's I was having before. But this time, I am wondering if it's Avast that is causing it. When I have the time, I will test the RAM to see if that is the root cause.

Jared · Jun 16, 2014

Code:

BugCheck 50, {73882a46, 8, 73882a46, 8}

This bugcheck indicates a page fault occurred in non paged memory which isn't allowed to happen, more specifically invalid system memory was referenced (73882a46) by an instruction at the following address 73882a46.
Notice how it's the same address?
Typically caused by a bad IP (Instruction Pointer).

Code:

FAILURE_BUCKET_ID:  X64_0x50_BAD_IP_nt!_??_::FNODOBFM::_string_+45955

Yep, there it is, I am unsure why the second parameter is 8, this from what I can see is undocumented, given that a memory read operation is indicated with a 0 and a write operation is indicated with a 1 I don't know what 8 means.

This doesn't look good so far.

Given that this is a minidump I cannot analyse the Page Table Entries as they aren't recorded.

Code:

0: kd> r
rax=0000000000000000 rbx=0000000000000000 rcx=0000000000000050
rdx=0000000073882a46 rsi=0000000000000000 rdi=ffffffffffffffff
rip=fffff80003cc9bc0 rsp=fffff880066dbab8 rbp=fffff880066dbb40
 r8=0000000000000008  r9=fffff880066dbc20 r10=fffff6800039c410
r11=fffff880066dbc20 r12=fffffa800949ab50 r13=0000000073882a46
r14=fffffa80091663f8 r15=0000058000000000
iopl=0         nv up ei ng nz ac po cy
cs=0010  ss=0000  ds=002b  es=002b  fs=0053  gs=002b             efl=00000297
nt!KeBugCheckEx:

fffff800`03cc9bc0 48894c2408      mov     qword ptr [rsp+8],rcx ss:fffff880`066dbac0=0000000000000050

rip dereferenced rsp which then results in a memory write to fffff880`066dbac0

With all this said so far I suggest running Memtest86 for at least 8 passes.

Which one should I download?

You have two options to choose from, you can either download the ISO version then burn it do a CD and boot it from there.
The other option is downloading the auto installer for USB sticks, you then boot from that USB stick.
Be warned though, it will format your USB then install the files needed to make it bootable so any files left over will be wiped off.

Download it here:

Memtest86+ - Advanced Memory Diagnostic Tool

So how does it work?

It works by writing a series of test patterns to most memory addresses over 9 tests, it then reads the data back to compare it for errors.

The default pass does 9 different tests varying in access patterns and test data. A tenth pass is optional from the menu which writes all the memory in zeroes then sleeps for 90 minutes and compares it to see if any address have changed, this takes 3 hours per pass each time.

My memtest86 isn't booting! What should I do?

This can be caused by a number of different reasons, common ones include your BIOS not setting using the correct settings, you might want to change your boot priority order.
Other causes include your motherboard not supporting bootable USB sticks in which case you'll need to use a CD (or floppy drive).

Any other issues you might want to look here:

FAQ : please read before posting

Ethew · Jun 16, 2014

I believe it could be my antivirus again, but I'm not sure. There is an upcoming update to Avast that is going to fix bugs and make it more stable (https://forum.avast.com/index.php?topic=150784.0).

Jared · Jun 16, 2014

I forgot, I did noticed you have Comodo and avast installed, it's unwise to use more than one real time anti virus.

I recommend removing Avast as that has caused a lot of problems.

You might want to remove Comodo as well then replace them both with Microsoft Security Essentials for testing purposes.

Microsoft Security Essentials - Microsoft Windows

Ethew · Jun 16, 2014

I have the Comodo Firewall only, not their antivirus.

Jared · Jun 16, 2014

Avast still causes a lot of problems so you should remove it and replace it with MSE as a test.

Patrick · Jun 16, 2014

Hi,

I'd like to go ahead and chime in and say that avast! is certainly causing conflicts with COMODO.

Regards,

Patrick

Ethew · Jun 16, 2014

I improved compatibility based on something I read in another help forum. Hopefully this helps. I'm also waiting for that upcoming stability update.

Jared · Jun 16, 2014

We've already suggested removing Avast and Comodo firewall and replacing them with MSE for testing purposes.

Have you ran memtest86 yet?

What's this compatibility fix on another forum exactly?

Ethew · Jun 16, 2014

Oh, someone said to exclude specific files and folders from real-time scans of them. Such as exclude Comodo's files/folders in Avast and vise-versa. Maybe they're both conflicting somehow. If that fails and I receive another BlueScreen, I will run Memtest (I already burned the one by Passmark onto a CD) and try out Windows Security Essentials.

Patrick · Jun 16, 2014

If that fails and I receive another BlueScreen, I will run Memtest (I already burned the one by Passmark onto a CD) and try out Windows Security Essentials.

Again.......

Your RAM is likely not the issue, and it's possibly a conflict between avast! and COMODO. If the fix does not work that was advised to you, which it likely won't, uninstall both and replace with MSE.

You cannot have two firewalls going at the same time, it causes many conflicts as most/if not all modern day antivirus suites are allowed direct access (come and go, whenever they want) to the kernel because an antivirus installs interceptors of system events within the kernel code, which passes intercepted data to the antivirus engine for analysis. This is network packets, files, and other various critical data. You can now likely imagine how attempting to have two different pieces of software doing this at the same time is an issue.

Regards,

Patrick

Ethew · Jun 18, 2014

Update: It does seem to be the RAM. I used Memtest86 and it displayed many errors at select memory addresses and it didn't even start/finish the second pass. I saw it said 110 errors. I know what kind of RAM to get and how much my motherboard supports, so that's not an issue. It could be one or more RAM stick that could be the source (I'm not sure; I didn't take one out and test it). Screenshot attached.

Also, I am going to try using version 5 of Memtest86 which has a better looking interface and supports more options (test results, etc) and also has a feature to save the results to the disk.

Tekno Venus · Jun 18, 2014

From your screenshot you have run MemTest86 4.3.2. The non Plus version of Memtest is known to falsely report faulty RAM, so before you RMA it, download and run MemTest86+ from here: https://www.sysnative.com/forums/hardware-tutorials/3909-test-ram-with-memtest86.html

Stephen

Patrick · Jun 18, 2014

Definitely refer to Stephen's advice.

I should have elaborated more. I didn't mean it's 100% not your RAM, but more-so it's best to remove possible software complications first to be absolutely sure.

Regards,

Patrick

Ethew · Jun 18, 2014

Tekno Venus said:
From your screenshot you have run MemTest86 4.3.2. The non Plus version of Memtest is known to falsely report faulty RAM, so before you RMA it, download and run MemTest86+ from here: https://www.sysnative.com/forums/hardware-tutorials/3909-test-ram-with-memtest86.html

Stephen

Actually it says 4.3.7, not the previous version. I didn't download an old version.

Patrick · Jun 18, 2014

With that said, your RAM may be faulty. I would first be sure that there are no improper BIOS settings regarding your DRAM timings/voltages. For example, many systems aren't stable when their RAM profile is changed from Auto/Manual > XMP. XMP is not available on AMD, but it's just an example.

Check if there is a BIOS update as well to improve memory compatibility.

Regards,

Patrick

Tekno Venus · Jun 18, 2014

Ethew said:
Tekno Venus said:

From your screenshot you have run MemTest86 4.3.2. The non Plus version of Memtest is known to falsely report faulty RAM, so before you RMA it, download and run MemTest86+ from here: https://www.sysnative.com/forums/hardware-tutorials/3909-test-ram-with-memtest86.html

Stephen

Click to expand...

Actually it says 4.3.7, not the previous version. I didn't download an old version.

Ok, but my point still stands. That is MemTest86, not MemTest86+. The non plus version of MemTest is unreliable regardless of the version.

Please use the newer, MemTest86+ 5.01 from the link I gave you earlier. https://www.sysnative.com/forums/hardware-tutorials/3909-test-ram-with-memtest86.html

Whilst there is a MemTest86 5 on the PassMark site, it is still not the same as MemTest86+. MemTest86+ gives the most accurate results in my experience.

Stephen

Ethew · Jun 18, 2014

I'll give both Memtest's a try then. :) And you're probably right, Memtest86+ may produce more or less errors.

muhahaa · Jun 22, 2014

Jared said:
Yep, there it is, I am unsure why the second parameter is 8, this from what I can see is undocumented, given that a memory read operation is indicated with a 0 and a write operation is indicated with a 1 I don't know what 8 means.

8 is execution.

Jared · Jun 22, 2014

muhahaa said:
Jared said:

Yep, there it is, I am unsure why the second parameter is 8, this from what I can see is undocumented, given that a memory read operation is indicated with a 0 and a write operation is indicated with a 1 I don't know what 8 means.

Click to expand...

8 is execution.

Yeah I know

I had one of those moments and only paid attention to Windbg's description.

Thanks anyway.

Recent BlueScreens at random times - Windows 7 x64

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