Unique BSOD problem on Windows 7

[Method36]

I am getting a blue screen with several vertical lines where text should be. The only thing that has been preventing these from restarting my computer is doing everything really slowly, such as one tab open at a time, no videos. The hardest thing about the problem is that I can unpack rar or zip files or download anything otherwise it will crash. I'm not quite sure how to read event viewer but I think I know how to post my dmp files. I think that not being up to date may be the problem though, because I'm not quite sure where to find the right downloads (free).

 

[Mark56]

Your system is not up to date but that is not the cause of this problem, all updates come from Microsoft completely free. Go into Control Panel and open Windows Update and click on Check for Updates, wait for it to check and select to install the important updates. Also click on Change settings, select Install Updates Automatically in the box next to the shield and tick all the boxes below it . Your PC will then keep itself up to date automatically.

My first thoughts on this fault is your memory. If you have more than one memory stick remove all but one and see if the problem persists. Then swap the sticks around so you test them all individually, you may find that just one of the sticks is causing the problem.

There is also a chance you have a Malware infection. Download this free scanner: http://www.malwarebytes.org/products/malwarebytes_free

Install and update it then run a full system scan. If you cannot do this without the system crashing you will need to remove the hard drive and use a USB adapter to connect it to another PC and then download the scanner onto that PC to run the scan on the drive.

Please state your PC's make and model.

 

[Method36]

Well the first thing I did was swapped the positions of the memory sticks. (thought that was what you asked me to do, misunderstood)

Afterwards I downloaded the malwarebytes with safe mode with internet and then installed it with normal safe mode. (It seemed internet was causing the problem) The program revealed and removed one file... But I still got a blue screen.

Lastly, I took out of the memory sticks and it seems to have worked. I cannot induce a blue screen. (several of my default options were changed and its running slower because of the ram loss but I don't care about that right now.)

Is there anything else? Anyway to fix the memory stick? And if not, what do I do with it?

I posted my system info as a jpg as well.

 

[Method36]

I take that back... I had another Blue Screen crash. This one was how they started out as, more random then having to do with memory usage. I'm going to get off and give my computer a break, thank you and I hope for your ongoing help!

 

[Mark56]

Unfortunately running on just one stick won't work too well (having just seen your specs) as a diagnosis because windows 7 requires a minimum of 1Gb of RAM. Upgrading to 2GB would help speed some things up. Put the other stick back in and see how it goes. Malwarebytes found something so that may be the end of the problem. If not follow this guide to test the memory and then we can move on to other tests. How long have you been running Windows 7 on this system?

http://www.memtest.org/

You need to scroll down the page until you see the three blue screenshots. Just below is the list of downloads for Memtest86+ V4.20. Click on Download - Pre-Compiled Bootable ISO (.zip)and save to your desktop, When the download is complete right click the file and select Extract Here and burn the image to a CD. In windows 7 right click the extracted file, select Open With, then select Windows Disc Image Burning Tool then follow the prompts. For all other versions of windows (if you do not have an ISO burner) download this free software. http://www.isoimageburner.com/

Boot the PC into the Bios setup and set the CD/DVD drive to 1st in the boot sequence. Insert the disk in the drive then reboot and the disc will load into dos. Leave the test to run through at least 8 cycles.

The memtest will not be 100% accurate but should easily detect any major faults.

 

[Method36]

I've only had windows 7 for two months. Also, when malwarebytes removed the file, nothing improved. I think I forgot to state that.

But after reseating the memory stick it appears to be working slightly better.. I can watch videos and download a few things, but I still cant unpack large files or run installers outside of safe mode.

Also, I don't have a spare CD blank, do you think that daemon tools might work? My friend showed it to me to run a call of duty iso on a disk that I lost.

UPDATE: MY very kind neighbor gave me a spare blank. After burning it and booting it I ran MemTest though 8 passes. It took 3 hours and 44 minutes. It came back with no errors.

 

[Mark56]

OK, as there was some improvement when you reseated the memory take the sticks out again and clean the contacts with a soft pencil eraser (up and down not from end to end). Then blow out the ram slots with a can of compressed air and push the sticks in and out a few times. This will ensure any oxydisation in the slots is cleaned off. Now test the system again.

If there is still no improvement see if you can borrow a couple of known good RAM sticks to test your system. Even though Memtest found no faults it can miss minor glitches in the memory so this will prove that the problem is associated with your memory, or not.

You should also check in the Bios that the memory voltage is set correctly.

Are you using 3rd party software to unpack .rar and .zip files or 7-zip?

 

[Method36]

I use WinRAR, but that's just because I'm too lazy to go out and download 7z.

I was only using that as an example of the things i can do and can't. Although it varies.. Sometimes I wont even be able to open a browser, sometimes i can have warcraft 3 and a browser open for an hour. (Don't even know if that info helps or not xD)

Anyway I'll try reseating them a couple times, I brushed them both off with an eraser tip the first time I took them out.

 

[Mark56]

OK,lt seems anything that uses a good chunk of memory crashes the system. See how it goes with reseating the sticks, as there was an improvement after reseating before that did suggest to me you had some bad contacts.

After you have done this, if things have not improved any further click on Start and then right click on Computer ans select Properties from the drop down menu. In the window that opens check to see if it recognising all of the RAM with both sticks fitted.

 

[Method36]

It SEEMS to be working okay now. I don't want to jinx myself and say it's fixed but it's working! As another question, where can I download updates for my drivers without downloading one of those driver detectors. Because the blue screens I seen were all out of the ordinary..

 

[Mark56]

I won't hold my breathe but its looking good, hopefully it was just bad connections on the RAM.

If you go to the PC's manufacturer's support site you can look up all the drivers for your system.