Regular crashing on Windows 7 Pro

[PatD]

I have an end-user whose machine has been starting to constantly crash over the course of a month or two. She shipped it to me as I was troubleshooting remotely, and now I can't get it to crash. Been up for three days with no issues. Previously she (sometimes) couldn't get through a day. I started with hardware and ran all of the Dell extended tests I could find. Then I ran Microsoft's extended RAM test, which ran for hours. No tests failed. Also ran a stress test on the CPU, disk and RAM which ran for 5 hours and no errors or blue screens.

So now I'm thinking software. I'm close to just rebuilding the machine, but don't want to ship it out and find we're still having issues. Would PREFER to find the answer before it leaves my hands.

Running the driver verifier now. Will post results when done. I have posted the Sysnative file collection here.

Questions below -

· OS - Windows 10, 8.1, 8, 7, Vista - Windows 7 Pro SP1
· x86 (32-bit) or x64 ? - x64
· What was original installed OS on system? - Windows 7 Pro - BELIEVE this is the original Dell OEM image
· Is the OS an OEM version (came pre-installed on system) or full retail version (YOU purchased it from retailer)? - BELIEVE this is the original Dell OEM image
· Age of system (hardware) - Purchased 6/2016
· Age of OS installation - have you re-installed the OS? Not yet

· CPU - Intel i7-6600U 2.60GHz
· Video Card - Intel HD Graphics 520
· MotherBoard - (if NOT a laptop) Laptop
· Power Supply - brand & wattage (if laptop, skip this one) Laptop

· System Manufacturer - Dell
· Exact model number (if laptop, check label on bottom) - Latitude E7470

· Laptop or Desktop? Laptop

 

[PatD]

Also, SSD life says the drive health is excellent. Health is 100%, work time is 28 days and has been powered on 1045 times. We also updated the firmware on the drive in the course of troubleshooting, as well as updating the BIOS and all other drivers we could find.

PassMark MemTest86 running now, will update once complete, then on to the driver verifier.

 

[philc43]

You may well have cured the problem by having done the BIOS and firmware updates but I expect they were done after your extensive testing so it is inconclusive.

I looked back at the previous BSOD crashes (the last one was dated 12 Jan 2018) and they were mainly F4 bugchecks.

[COLOR=#1e1e1e]CRITICAL_OBJECT_TERMINATION (f4)[/COLOR] A[COLOR=#1e1e1e] process or thread crucial to system operation has unexpectedly exited or been[/COLOR] [COLOR=#1e1e1e]terminated.[/COLOR] 
[COLOR=#1e1e1e]Several processes and threads are necessary for the operation of the[/COLOR] [COLOR=#1e1e1e]system; 
when they are terminated (for any reason), the system can no[/COLOR] [COLOR=#1e1e1e]longer function.[/COLOR]

No obvious driver problems were shown in the debugging.

 

[PatD]

Crashes continued after BIOS, firmware and driver updates. On pass #4 of 8 on PassMark MemTest86. No errors yet.

 

[philc43]

There are no BSOD crash events recorded since 12 Jan 2018. What type of failure are you currently getting?

 

[PatD]

User switched over to a loaner laptop on Jan 12 and shipped the laptop to me. She hasn't used it since.

 

[philc43]

Is there something different about the way you use the laptop compared to the end-user? Would operating temperatures be different, air circulation or vents impacted by the type of surface the laptop is used on? Are there some programs that were always running in the background for the end-user? Wireless vs wired networks? These are just a few thoughts but you can probably continue with other ideas to brainstorm why end-user crashed but you do not.

 

[PatD]

Unfortunately, the laptop is used remotely, so I don't know what the user's environment is. I'll try to get more details, but I would think they're not blocking vents and such as they're in a basic office working on a desk with the laptop. I'm not "using" the laptop like the end-user - it's not my laptop, so I'm not using it on a regular basis. I'm just trying to beat it up at this point. User is typically running a browser and Outlook. From there, they're frequently in Word, Excel and Acrobat. Not doing anything intense. I'll check on the network, good thought.

 

[philc43]

Just another thought - often laptops used in office environments are hooked up to external monitors - this can trigger differences too. Docking stations sometimes get used too.

 

[HyperHenry]

It might be what was making it crash was an external piece of hardware that wasn't shipped with the laptop. The Bug Codes did reference hardware so maybe an external HDD there or a network adapter?