[SOLVED] Unknown random shut downs. FIX: I performed a Windows REPAIR INSTALLATION.

GabrielRocket · Nov 3, 2021

Hello,

I have posted the problem before in this thread and some of the issues got solved, however, the main one still remains:
[SOLVED] - Windows 7, SFC fail, random shut downs.

I am not totally sure if I am creating this thread in the correct place, but it has SFC related problem and I don't know the root cause of the shut downs.

Since the beginning of September my laptop started to have random shut downs with no BSOD or any obvious errors. The most I could find was in the event viewer. Event 41 (Task category 63) - "The system has rebooted without cleanly shutting down first. This error could be caused if the system stopped responding, crashed, or lost power unexpectedly."

I thought that it could be related to a faulty power source, as my battery is no longer good, so I got a new battery as I needed it for a while anyway. However, on a new battery and without having laptop plugged to the socket, shut downs increased dramatically. So I keep it plugged all the time. This drops shut downs to around 1 in 24h. Sometimes it can be around 5 in 24h, sometimes 1 in 3 days. But they always happen. Most of the time it happens, when nothing intense is happening. Like watching videos, browsing, but hasn't happened during games yet or I just got lucky.

Heat doesn't seem to be a problem as well, because the laptop doesn't feel hot during shut downs and it doesn't necessary shut down, when it is hot (during games).

I scanned with malwarebytes for any viruses and nothing was found. Also updated all the drivers. Although, there I encountered a problem regarding graphics drivers. I have AMD Radeon HD 8730M and Intel HD 4000 together, but I cannot use AMD Radeon HD 8730M anywhere as I cannot select it. I read that I should have some sort of software, which would allow me to select which graphics card I use for which programs, but none have worked so far, which I've tried. Dell official drivers don't have any, which work and few, which I tried from AMD Radeon website drivers, either haven't located it, or temporary messed up the graphics (probably wrong software).

Also, I tried the "sfc /scannow", which showed me some errors, so I thought that maybe this one could also be related as they couldn't be resolved.

Any help would be greatly appreciated. Also, if possible, could anyone explain to me why those shut downs are happening as I am rather curious, because I have never experienced anything like this and so far I can't be certain that it's a hardware problem.

"Sfc /scannow" related problems and "Microsoft Security Client OOBE" seem to be solved now.

I am not entirely sure where I should look for the problem and how to locate/identify, so my only lead is event viewer, which doesn't really provide me much information as well.

Info I keep receiving from the Event viewer after the recent fixes:

Critical error: 22:15:51; "The system has rebooted without cleanly shutting down first. This error could be caused if the system stopped responding, crashed, or lost power unexpectedly." Event ID 41, Task Category 63 - always appears after shut down happens.

Warning: 22:15:59 "Realtek PCIe FE Family Controller is disconnected from network.", Source: RTL8167, Event ID 1. - some issue with network driver, I think? Internet connection is fine, so my guess is either I lose it during shut down or maybe somehow indirectly related, but I don't see how as I don't think anything changed for it recently as I haven't had this problem for a long time, while this warning was most likely popping up from before. Could be wrong, though.

Error: 22:16:14 "The previous system shutdown at 22:14:45 on ‎2021.‎11.‎02 was unexpected.", Event ID 6008.

Critical error: 05:11:57; "The system has rebooted without cleanly shutting down first. This error could be caused if the system stopped responding, crashed, or lost power unexpectedly." Event ID 41, Task Category 63.

Warning: 05:12:07 "Realtek PCIe FE Family Controller is disconnected from network.", Source: RTL8167, Event ID 1.

Error: 05:12:23 "The previous system shutdown at 05:10:27 on ‎2021.‎11.‎03 was unexpected.", Event ID 6008.

These three always go together now, although I don't know if they are causes or results of the issue.

I am running Windows 7 Ultimate SP1 (64 bit), Dell Inspiron 15R 5521.

Maxstar · Nov 5, 2021

Hi,

Do you have another power supply (AC Adapter) to test with this system? Event ID 41 may be caused by an interruption in the power supply.

andrewlen · Nov 5, 2021

Hi,

This points to hardware so I'd begin by putting the system under stress to see if you can force the error.

A tool I've used for a couple of decades is BurnInTest by PassMark. The trial (limited to running tests for a maximum of 15 minutes at a time) should be able to do the job for you, although I'd recommend running it twice for a total of 30 minutes immediately after the first 15 minutes completes so as not to allow too much time for components to cool between the two runs.

As for the power supply, that too is a possibility. Ideally, if you have a spare PSU laying around, throw that in to see if it helps, but if not, PSU testers are relatively inexpensive these days. A few examples from Amazon.

Let me know if you would like a walkthrough on configuring BiT should you decide to try it.

Regards, Andrew

GabrielRocket · Nov 6, 2021

Unfortunately, I don't have a spare AC adapter, just one old battery (can stay up to 30 minutes without doing any work) and one new battery. However, if AC adapter is faulty, then shouldn't the battery be able to take over? Or just work fine without the AC adapter at least?

I tried to check how laptop performs without the AC adapter. In safe mode on battery only it managed to stay for a few hours without any issues. In normal mode it shuts down within 10 minutes or less. So it does look like on a new battery the problem drastically increases (without the AC adapter).

I definitely fear that there could be some bigger hardware issue and am willing to try to put the system under stress. So yes, I want to try to use the BiT and probably would need help configuring it.

Maxstar · Nov 6, 2021

Take the battery out of the laptop, how does the laptop works with just the AC adapter?

andrewlen · Nov 6, 2021

Apologies GabrielRocket, I assumed this to be a desktop PC, not a laptop. That being the case, ignore the suggestion about the PSU. I should have read your previous thread, so that's on me.

You can still use BurnInTest to stress the hardware and see what (if anything) faults.

Download the trial, install and run it, then configure it as shown in the short video demonstration I just created for you below.

https://filedn.com/lRckkYRfDkN7ybm1tRj3R6b/BurnInTest-Configure-Standard-First-Run.mp4

Don't concern yourself with the advanced preferences and options at this point. They're really only needed if we need to zero in on a faulting component.

Allow the test to run a full 15 minutes and if you get a "Passed" result on all of them, run the same test again for another 15 minutes.

I've used this tool for many years to check Desktops and Laptops alike - if an internal hardware fault has developed in any of the components tested, it will show it up.

If you get a FAILED result on any of the components on the first run, don't bother with a second run and report back here with details of which component faulted.

Hope that's helpful.

Regards, Andrew

GabrielRocket · Nov 7, 2021

Maxstar said:
Take the battery out of the laptop, how does the laptop works with just the AC adapter?

Took it out and so far had no shut downs (about 24h, but might just be lucky so far - will keep an eye).

Also did 15 minute test twice in a row. All passed just fine, except for one test. The "2D Graphics Test" failed immediately both times with error description: "No operations during test period". Also got windows pop up error:

Problem signature:
Problem Event Name: BEX64
Application Name: GPURAMTest64.exe
Application Version: 0.0.0.0
Application Timestamp: 614936c8
Fault Module Name: StackHash_1dc2
Fault Module Version: 0.0.0.0
Fault Module Timestamp: 00000000
Exception Offset: 0000000000000000
Exception Code: c0000005
Exception Data: 0000000000000008
OS Version: 6.1.7601.2.1.0.256.1
Locale ID: 2057
Additional Information 1: 1dc2
Additional Information 2: 1dc22fb1de37d348f27e54dbb5278e7d
Additional Information 3: cbc5
Additional Information 4: cbc5ec6970b2af35927ad67117ca57e2

Read our privacy statement online:
Windows 7 Privacy Statement

If the online privacy statement is not available, please read our privacy statement offline:
C:\Windows\system32\en-US\erofflps.txt

Attached the log as well, if it helps anything.

I have a completely separate side issue with dual graphics card as my Radeon HD 8730 M graphics card for some reason cannot be read/used despite having installed drivers (maybe wrong drivers or need some specific software to set it up, which I can't find), but the shut down issue started months before I looked into this, so I don't think that it should be related.

Maxstar · Nov 8, 2021

If the laptop continues to work well without a battery. You can test the old battery with the AC adapter, to see if the problem with the shut downs returns. Perhaps there is a problem with the 'new' battery?

The drivers for the Radeon HD 8730 M can be found here:
Direct link: https://dl.dell.com/FOLDER01210273M/1/Video_Driver_VHY54_WN_9.0.12.1_A03.EXE
Driver page: Ondersteuning voor Inspiron 15R 5521 | Drivers en downloads | Dell Nederland

andrewlen · Nov 8, 2021

GabrielRocket said:
Took it out and so far had no shut downs (about 24h, but might just be lucky so far - will keep an eye).

Also did 15 minute test twice in a row. All passed just fine, except for one test. The "2D Graphics Test" failed immediately both times with error description: "No operations during test period".

Curious. First I've heard of a 2D test error when running BIT. I wouldn't be surprised if it failed on the 3D test, but to fail on the 2D test is unusual. My guess is that's some sort of incompatibility BurnInTest has with your graphics card/driver on a Windows 7 install. I wouldn't be concerned with that error.

I have a completely separate side issue with dual graphics card as my Radeon HD 8730 M graphics card for some reason cannot be read/used despite having installed drivers (maybe wrong drivers or need some specific software to set it up, which I can't find), but the shut down issue started months before I looked into this, so I don't think that it should be related.

I agree, most likely not related, however, if you want to try it again at some point, you can also try the Drivers available for it at the following link if the Dell ones aren't working for you.

https://www.amd.com/en/support/prev...d-8000m-series/amd-radeon-hd-8730m-series-gpu

Hope that's helpful.

Regards, Andrew

Maxstar · Nov 8, 2021

andrewlen said:
Curious. First I've heard of a 2D test error when running BIT. I wouldn't be surprised if it failed on the 3D test, but to fail on the 2D test is unusual.

@GabrielRocket - Does the error occur if you're just running the 2D test by itself in BurnInTest?

GabrielRocket · Nov 8, 2021

The laptop still keeps shutting down randomly even without any battery, so I don't really see any difference in this regard.

The drivers suggested in both answers are the ones, which I tried, but I will try them again freshly. Maybe something went wrong during the process... The one from the Dell worked and it updated in device manager, but I couldn't "use" it? Like, for example while playing a game, there was no difference, because it still kept using Intel HD Graphics 4000. I can't remember well with the one from AMD website, but something went wrong. Like screen was blinking nonstop or something similar. I will try again anyway.

That's what I thought about the 2D test. Something not compatible probably instead of being an actual issue, which is why I just ran it two times.

Maxstar said:
@GabrielRocket - Does the error occur if you're just running the 2D test by itself in BurnInTest?

Trying to run only that test alone gives exactly the same error immediately.

I wonder how to reproduce this shut down issue... I don't know why, but out of all those random times, when it happens, it never happened during "Safe mode" or during games. Sometimes I just turn on laptop and within 10 minutes I get a shut down, but if instead I start the game, then very likely I have a few hours without a shut down. Due to the random nature of shut downs I would have said that I just got lucky, but it's about two months of this and never happened even once.

andrewlen · Nov 9, 2021

Just had a thought. Are you certain it's shutting down and not hibernating by chance? You may be hitting a hotkey at times without realising it.

I'd suggest turning Hibernation off completely and see if that cures it for you.

From an Administrator command prompt, run the following command, exactly as shown including the spaces. Copy and paste if need be:

powercfg.exe /hibernate off

Might be worth a shot.

GabrielRocket · Nov 10, 2021

I am pretty sure that it's not hibernating (thought so myself a while ago, so turned off hibernation). However, just in case, I ran that command anyway. After that I still had shut downs. After a shut down, Windows loads the screen "Windows Error Recovery". "Windows did not shut down successfully...". Then can select if I want to boot in safe modes or normally.

Maxstar · Nov 10, 2021

Another thing you can try is to run the built-in hardware diagnostics tool. Inspiron 15R 5521 --- Laptop shuts down randomly

Follow the steps below to run hardware diagnostics.

Restart the computer.

Keep tapping the F12 key on the Dell Logo Screen.

From the One time boot menu select Diagnostics and Press Enter.

It runs a test on all the hardware components.

If it test fails please capture the error code and let me know the error code, I would tell you the next course of action.

GabrielRocket · Nov 11, 2021

Tried to run hardware diagnostics as you suggested. However, everything passed there without any errors or failures.

Maxstar · Nov 11, 2021

Perform a clean boot to check how the laptop works in a minimal boot state.

Open the startmenu and type msconfig.exe, and then press Enter
On the General tab, select Selective startup, and then deselect Load startup items.
On the Services tab, select Hide all Microsoft services, and then select Disable all.
Select OK, and restart the laptop.

GabrielRocket · Nov 12, 2021

I did the above as well, but it still continues to happen.

Also, it actually does happen during the games after some time, if I am not active there (left on overnight), but not sure, if it happens during active play. Probably yes, just never encountered, yet.

andrewlen · Nov 12, 2021

The only thing left that I can think of to suggest is a non-destructive reinstall of Windows 7.

There's a walkthrough here you could follow if you wanted to give it a try: (Reprint): Win7’s no-reformat, nondestructive reinstall - Langa.com

Note that although it's a non-destructive reinstall of Windows 7, I'd still advise doing a full backup image of your existing installation using something like Macrium Reflect Free or similar. Better safe than sorry.

GabrielRocket · Nov 13, 2021

I will give this a try. Hopefully, whatever has been causing it will be fixed.

GabrielRocket · Nov 16, 2021

I did it and so far it has been 2 days without any shut downs. So maybe it is sorted.

[SOLVED] Unknown random shut downs. FIX: I performed a Windows REPAIR INSTALLATION.

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