PC crashes during sfc /scannow

[Toasterfraker]

I'm running Vista Home Premium on a Toshiba Satellite A200.

A few weeks ago, I got three BSODs over 2 days. I have been using my computer for about 4 months without any problems; I haven't installed any hardware recently and since I hadn't unchecked the 'restart automatically' option in my settings, I wasn't able to jot everything down regarding the error messages; one had IRQL_NOT LESS OR EQUAL and another something about ntfs.sys

I ran a sfc /scannow and checkdisk just in case. Everything came out clean. About 3 weeks passed without any problem.

Just a few days ago, I got a new BSOD. This time I was able to note evrything down.

STOP: 0x0000007E (0xc000001D,0x804724E5,0x830779D0,0x830776cc)
acpi.sys
Adress 804724E5
Base at 80461000
Datestamp 4549adb7

I rebooted. Started running sfc /scannow. At about 20%, another BSOD
PFN_LIST_CORRUPT
STOP:0x0000004E (0x00000099,0x00054551,0x00000002,0x00007080)

Reboot in safe mode. Start running sfc /scannow. BSOD at about 50%
PFN_LIST_CORRUPT
STOP:0x0000004E (0x00000099,0x00041E7E,0x00000002,0x00004327D)

I haven't had time to do anything else. Yesterday my girlfriend tried to boot and the screen just froze on the desktop right after the welcome message.

I haven't tried anything yet. Tomorrow I'll try a system restore first to see if it helps any and then run the diagnostics and appz recommended by DonNagual in his Troubleshooting thread

I saw from work yesterday that there was a BIOS update for my computer on the Toshiba website but I can't download and install if I can't boot in anything but safe mode, can I? If I can download it at work and put it on a USB device or a CD, will I be able to install it in safe mode? I'm a little hesitant to flash the BIOS as it pretty much messed up my last PC so I'll probably try that if all else fails first.

I'm obviously not on my laptop right now and I want to run the whole enchilada before I post minidumps here but I was wondering if anyone had any idea if I should be checking for RAM trouble or HDD trouble first from what I posted here and the scannow trouble...

thanks for your replies.

 

[kimsland]

Vista Repair:
http://vistasupport.mvps.org/windows_vista_repair_options.htm

 

[Toasterfraker]

thanks Kimsland... I will give it a try tomorrow and let you know

 

[Toasterfraker]

Took me longer than I imagined... Didn't have much time on my hands and I honestly thought Memtest was going to give me an error... well, it didn't.

I restored/repaired my system. I ran all the diagnostics mentioned in Julio's post... memtest (10 passes, nothing), chkdsk (no problem found there)
I checked the CPU for overheating, reset the pagefile, updated my ATI driver, disinstalled my antivirus... did everything but update my BIOS because I'm only one version behind and I read that the latest version had caused problems so I'd like to avoid adding to it.

So I was wondering if any of you guys could take a look at a few of my minidumps. I haven't installed anything in the days prior to the first blue screen... so I don't see how it could be a faulty driver but if you can find anything that could help me, I'd appreciate it. I'd hate to give my laptop to the shop because of a software problem.


Thanks

 

[kimsland]

Inside the 7 MiniDumps: (note 5 is usually enough)

BugCheck C5, {262, 2, 0, 81ce7527}
Probably caused by : volsnap.sys
PROCESS_NAME: explorer.exe

BugCheck 50, {95f78290, 8, 95f78290, 0}
Probably caused by : ntkrpamp.exe
PROCESS_NAME: mmc.exe

BugCheck F7, {82e7eb2c, 825395, ff7dac6a, 0}
Probably caused by : Ntfs.sys
PROCESS_NAME: System

BugCheck 1000008E, {c000001d, 81df54cb, 9539b924, 0}
Probably caused by : memory_corruption
PROCESS_NAME: dwm.exe

BugCheck 50, {83028334, 8, 83028334, 0}
Probably caused by : ntkrpamp.exe
PROCESS_NAME: System

BugCheck 1000007E, {c000001d, 804724e5, 830779d0, 830776cc}
Probably caused by : memory_corruption
PROCESS_NAME: System

BugCheck A, {1b1f7bc4, 2, 1, 81c1181b}
Probably caused by : memory_corruption
PROCESS_NAME: audiodg.exe

Have you actually confirmed your drivers (Video; Audio) are fully updated?

 

[Toasterfraker]

mmm... I only updated the videocard and chipset drivers. I'll try to update all the drivers listed by Toshiba. Should I uninstall the drivers first? Run Drivercleaner maybe?

Currently running Windows Memory Diagnostic tool to get a second opinion on the RAM since everything keeps pointing that way even if Memtest didn't find anything.

I'll also try to reset the pagefile again... I'm not sure I did it right the first time (didn't defragment)

Reading around, I have found mentions of driver verifier... I'm not too sure how it works. Can you point me to a site that could help me configure and use it? DV for Dummies would be better as I'm not fully versed in techspeak

thanks for your help Kimsland

 

[Worthy]

in computer management (RC my computer>manage) goto 'event viewer' and see if you can find something that corrisponds to the time and date of a BSOD (under the application or system bits)
Sometimes it will tell you straight away what file is causing the problem (if any)
also, try safemode. If it stops at a different file other than MUP.sys, then thats probably a file thats causing issues.

 

[Toasterfraker]

I have checked the event viewer before and I have jotted down a few recurring error codes I need to check but they either occured on days without BSODs or several hours before one. There's nothing really significant in the hour before a BSOD... everything is running normally and then I get a message with something like "unexpected reboot" reporting the crash.

I am running in safe mode right now without crash for several hours but I have had series of crashes before while running in safe mode and also several days of normal behavior in normal mode... so I don't know if Memtest didn't find anything because there's nothing to find there or because for some reason, the RAM is on best behavior right now...

I'll go try and update these drivers I missed now.

Also I read something online about how Norton could cause this. It was installed on my PC when I bought it. Not trusting it from past experience, I uninstalled and ran the Norton removal tool... anything else I should check? I also had an evaluation version of Kaspersky on my PC that I uninstalled recently. any way to check it was uninstalled properly?

thanks