Please Help with BSODs

[jokerzy]

Hi, lately my system has been getting many BSODs. It's very frustrating, especially when everything was fine all the while. (I hope I get to make myself clear, cause English is not my first language. In case you need more info, please do ask)

I have lost track of the total number of occurrences. Prior to this issue, which was last week, my laptop was left in sleep mode (as it usually was). I wanted to use my laptop that day, so when I opened the lid, the system was supposed to wake up from sleep. Unfortunately, it didn't, and I figured out somehow the power supply must have been interrupted earlier.

I hit the power button to turn on my system (resume Windows), and once logged in, my laptop couldn't connect to the internet. I restarted the system and since then, I have been getting those dreaded BSODs.

I suspect something must be wrong with my wireless driver (I think), cause I have got many NETw4v32 errors (I found this under Event Viewer)

Some recent changes to the system (in case it helps):
Installed 2GB RAM (last month)
Bought and used Logitech Wireless Mouse and Keyboard

I have done some research, and come to know that reading dmp files might help me pinpoint the root cause of the issue. I am sure the process of installing the debugging tools from Microsoft takes up a lot of time, plus, I am not a computer geek.

Would anyone be kind enough to lend a helping hand? Any help is greatly appreciated. Here I attached the 3 most recent dump files.

 

[Archean]

hello,

I've gone through all three dumps, and one of them clearly cited nvlddmkm.sys (part of nVidia driver), I suggest you uninstall current version of nVidia drivers from your computer. Then download driver sweeper from tech spot's download section, run it and delete any remnants it finds of nVidia's driver. Then go to nVidia site and download latest WHQL drivers for your system.

I hope this helps, in case you need further assistance please do let us know. Regards

 

[jokerzy]

hello,

I've gone through all three dumps, and one of them clearly cited nvlddmkm.sys (part of nVidia driver), I suggest you uninstall current version of nVidia drivers from your computer. Then download driver sweeper from tech spot's download section, run it and delete any remnants it finds of nVidia's driver. Then go to nVidia site and download latest WHQL drivers for your system.

I hope this helps, in case you need further assistance please do let us know. Regards

Hello, thanks for your reply.

May I clarify a few things first?
1) Am I doing the correct thing here? To uninstall the nVidia driver, I need to go to Device Manager, select the nVidia device under Display Adapters, then click uninstall.
2) Instead of uninstalling the driver, can I just update it?
3) One stupid question: When I get those BSODs, the screen always says "A problem has been detected and Windows has been shut down to prevent damage to your computer". Does this mean that the damage has yet to be inflicted on my system? What are the chances of any system failing permanently after getting BSODs? (Sorry but this issue is making me restless, I just want to confirm)

Apologies if my messages are unclear, and thanks for the help!

 

[Archean]

1. No, you need to go to Programs, and then choose to uninstall nVidia display drivers.
2. No, that would not solve the problem.
3. BSODs only tells you about the problems OS is facing, it can either be an software issue, or some hardware component starting to fail which is causing this issue.

Can you please give me make/model number / complete specs of your notebook? Please keep in mind that 8xxx / 9xxx series nVidia graphics on notebook had some issues; but I am not sure whether this can be true in your case until I have the requested information.

 

[jokerzy]

Hi, here's the info.

Dell Inspiron 1520
Intel(R) Core 2 Duo T7100 @ 1.80 GHz
Windows Vista Home Premium (32 bit)
3 GB RAM
nVidia Graphic Card: GeForce 8600M GT

By the way, I got the BSODs again. I checked and there was no dump file created. Actually, I hope to be able to submit more dump files (most recent ones) so that we can be very sure the culprit is the nVidia driver.

Kindly inform me if I missed out anything. I will proceed with the uninstallation process once you give the go-ahead. Thanks.

Edit: By the way, I have checked Window's 'Problem Reports and Solutions', it says "NVIDIA Graphics Driver has stopped working properly".

Update: I have uninstalled the nVidia driver and installed Driver Sweeper. The Home page has these: NVIDIA - Chipset, NVIDIA - Display and NVIDIA - PhysX, but I am not sure how to proceed to remove the remnants of the driver.

 

[Archean]

I'll advise you to uninstall all (display and physx are graphic card related); and proceed as I advised in previous posts.

Now the bad news, you do have one of those 8xxx series GPUs which are notorious for such failures; in case driver re-installation doesn't solve anything, it is highly likely that your graphic card may be having hardware issues.

 

[jokerzy]

Hello, thanks very much Archean. I did what you said here, and yes I don't get BSODs anymore (I restarted my laptop a few times to confirm).

I can say the culprit is the graphic card's driver and it's not a hardware issue.

Now, can I buy you a drink?

 

[Archean]

Glad to hear that, lets hope it is fixed; and for the drink keep it in a cooler, may be I can use it on some hot summer's day .