Your opinion on Windows 7

[Tanlic]

Hi guys,

I'm new to the forum and joined in an effort to find out why I am getting constant BSOD's.

Seems I'm not alone :0)

The answer to this problem is run mtst, replace your ram, update your drivers etc. all things I certainly didn't have to do when running windows XP.

As a matter of interest I ran 2 searches on google "Windows xp" BSOD and "Windows 7" BSOD and XP found 1.9 million atricles and W7 found an amazing 1.65 million.

I'm not a quitter and I'm trying to stick with it but it's already cost me 2 trips across town, new ram, new fan, 4 attempts at reinstalling and even with minimum software on board it still crashes.

I reinstalled again yesterday and went on line to try playing one of these simple 10mb driving games and got a BSOD fltmgr.sys then I had another one today playing a game I installed ntkrnlpa.exe. I've alrady posted mini dumps on here alongside dozens of others so this isn't a cry for help.

I'd just like your opinions Back to XP? or stick with it?

 

[Leeky]

Its a tough call really, and any comments you get any going to be based on personal opinions and probably of no help to you.

Me personally, I much prefer W7 to XP. I was a die-hard fan of XP but managed to get hold of a beta release of W7 prior to launch, and it shocked me how much things had come along - I mean I'd never have considered installing Windows and having most of my hardware drivers sorted for me at the point of install. Its certainly not something you get with XP, unless you use nLite of course.

I'm also a big Linux fan, so I'm always running that as well. If I'm not gaming I'm using Linux. We have W7 on every computer in our house now, and from my perspective its much more manageable and stable than XP.

I can't say I've really had any problems with W7 at all to be honest; Maybe I'm lucky, but we run it on a range of hardware, new and older, and it seems fine with it all.

At the end of the day XP will stop being supported in a couple of years time, but you still have plenty of time to use XP, so if its causing that many problems maybe you'd be wise to move back until such time as you need to use a newer OS. I'm not really sure why W7 is causing you so many problems to be honest.

 

[Archean]

@Tanlic

Can you post minidumps so we can have a look at them? It can help identify the real issue.

By the way Microsoft Windows file system filter manager (fltmgr.sys), it may means there was some error during 'writing' process on your HDD. Check all the cables are connected correctly, also check your HDD with its manufacturer's diagnostic utility.

 

[Tanlic]

Wish I was you Leeky ) I can only assume that something is seriously amiss with my system.

I posted my minidumps before reinstalling here Archean: https://www.techspot.com/vb/topic152611.html

I've attached the 2 latest ones to this post.

Now it gets worse. I was playing a game (Sniper) which came to a sudden halt and I got a BSOD accompanied by aloud noise. I've had 2 further BSOD and my computer wouldn't restart on either occasion until I took my RAM sticks out and put them back in gain.

Futhermore I am now getting no minidumps.

Cheers

 

[Archean]

Alright I will have a look at these, and will add comments to this same post as soon as I can. However, on your previous thread I noticed a PFN List Corrupt Error, that is a strong indicator that either the RAM is plainly bad, or it being on an Asus board is not properly configured somehow, in the meanwhile, please ensure that RAM's settings in BIOS match those on RAM's packaging/manufacturer's page. Regards

Edit:
The first crash cited UAC File Virtualization Filter Driver or luafv.sys as the process causing it.

The second dump came up with 'memory corruption' issue again, and I couldn't get pfn either. Importantly, both the errors were 0x8E, which generally means there are issues with RAM (i.e. hardware failure). But, as I said earlier you being on an Asus board I wouldn't rule out some issues with the BIOS settings of RAM i.e. timings/voltage etc.

 

[mike1959]

Windows 7 crashing

Using Win 7 home premium here, it was an upgrade on Vista 32bit. SO FAR no trouble at all, my pc is a Dell 5150, 3,2GHZ p4, 3GB DDR 2, ATI X1650. Very ordinary.
Your problems sound like faulty ram, or a few failing sectors on the C drive.
If the ram has faults you would normally get past the bios screen, then see a STOP error. Windows would not load at all.
Win7 includes most of the drivers for the devices most people use, you only need to install drivers for things such as scanners, printers, and very new graphic cards.
The free program 'drivereasy' finds most drivers for you.
But without knowing any more, it sounds like a hardware problem to me.

 

[Tanlic]

Alright I will have a look at these, and will add comments to this same post as soon as I can. However, on your previous thread I noticed a PFN List Corrupt Error, that is a strong indicator that either the RAM is plainly bad, or it being on an Asus board is not properly configured somehow, in the meanwhile, please ensure that RAM's settings in BIOS match those on RAM's packaging/manufacturer's page. Regards

Edit:
The first crash cited UAC File Virtualization Filter Driver or luafv.sys as the process causing it.

The second dump came up with 'memory corruption' issue again, and I couldn't get pfn either. Importantly, both the errors were 0x8E, which generally means there are issues with RAM (i.e. hardware failure). But, as I said earlier you being on an Asus board I wouldn't rule out some issues with the BIOS settings of RAM i.e. timings/voltage etc.

I doubt if it's the RAM irself as it's brand new> I have replaced it twice under guarantee surely all te RAM in the world aint that bad?

MY board is Asutek PQ-E but for some reason known only to Asus I've got a friggin American Metratrends BIOS.

i thought, being anumpty, flashing would be a good idea but then I find you need a floppy.

Doesn't it occur to these people that the floppy was last seen heading down the nile on the Arc.?

Do I sound p!ssed off? LOLOLOLOL

OK back to serious business: Surely can't be the RAM I replaced twice already. Do you have you any idea what my settings in my BIOS should be? and/or is there anything I can change withi the BIOS that might help?

PS any chance you could fly to Thailand and sort this out??

 

[Archean]

I have replaced it twice under guarantee surely all te RAM in the world aint that bad?

Coupled with the fact its an Asustek board, is why I said that I wouldn't rule this being the settings issue, beside Asus is plainly stupid when it comes to automatically configuring RAM, saying that from countless similar threads I have ran in to. Anyway, what is make/model/specs of the RAM you have? It would be best if you could provide with a link containing the information.

 

[Tanlic]

Here's the link

http://www.ginger6.co.uk/geil-ddr2-cl50-dual-channel-brush-aluminium-retail-p-29277.html

in the meantime, now I have abit more time, I'll try and find the tool you suggested to check my HDD

 

[Tanlic]

Hi again,

my hard drive is a western digital. I got their d- tool but for some reason it came up with "Drive not Found" my boot sequence starts with "A" a floppy that doesn't exist so I don't know if that has something to do with it.

I searched the internet and found DTIsurface scanner which ran to 38% with no reprt of any bad sectors. Then my computer turned itself off. No minidump and nothing aparanet in event viewer either.

I've managed to find a copy of Spinrite and made an ISO cd. That found my hard drive ok but to run a full diagnostic and repair it indicates 66 hours!!! That's longer than Rip Van Winkle slept LOL

Will turn it back on overnight and see what it comes up with.

 

[Archean]

Ok the following are settings which should be matched in the BIOS:

CAS Latency 5-5-5-15
Voltage : 1.8v - 2.2v

You may have to fiddle around with voltage a bit, because may be RAM is starved of power, hence it is causing all these issues.

 

[dividebyzero]

I doubt if it's the RAM irself as it's brand new

Not that unlikely a scenario I'm afraid

I have replaced it twice under guarantee surely all te RAM in the world aint that bad?

If you are replacing like with like I'd look at a different brand

MY board is Asutek PQ-E but for some reason known only to Asus I've got a friggin American Metratrends BIOS.

I presume you mean P5Q-E. All Asus boards use American Megatrends BIOS (AMIBIOS)- BTW you can use the EZ Flash utility to flash from USB drive, although I'd recommend a one-thing-at-a-time approach when it comes to troubleshooting.
As for BIOS settings....
Boot into your BIOS. Select the second tab "A.I.Tweaker"
Set PCIE Frequency to 100 (if not already set)
Set DRAM Frequency to DDR2-800 (if not already set)
Set DRAM Command rate to 2T (if not already set)
Set DRAM Timing Control to Manual
Note the string of timings following "Pri.Information" on the next line-they should be the same as the settings you are about to input.
Set CAS# Frequency to 5 DRAM Clocks
Set RAS# to CAS# Delay to 5 DRAM Clocks
Set RAS# Precharge to 5 DRAM Clocks
Set RAS# Active time to 15 DRAM Clocks
leave the rest of the timings on Auto for now and move down the page until you get to..
DRAM Voltage ....type in 2.00 v
Hit F10 to save and exit.

Download Memtest86+ ( the pre-compiled bootable ISO option v4.10), and burn to either CD or a bootable USB flash drive.
Reboot your system and enter the BIOS to make your CD/DVD or USB drive your first boot drive
BOOT tab in BIOS-> Boot priority order -> CD or USB
F10 to save and exit
On reboot, Memtest will boot. Run at least 6-7 passes ( a pass incorporates 8 memory tests and will take 25-40min to run, so you're looking at a few hours here). I would also run tests 2 and 5 for a few additional passses (these two tests will be the most likely to find a RAM fault). Once the passes have run, escape and reboot. Reset your boot order back to harddrive, F10 again.
If the Memtest86+ finds no fault then there is a good chance that the RAM is error free, which would then mean that the RAM voltage is insufficent (assuming you are still experiencing problems). You can try upping the DRAM voltage in increments (2.05, 2.1, 2.15, 2.2v) to see if additional voltage will stabilise the problem. At 2.1-2.2v you may need to increase MCH (northbridge) voltage. I would cross that bridge if/when it is required as the MCH (memory controller hub) should provide enough voltage under the "Auto" setting

 

[Tanlic]

I changed what I could but there is no PCIE Frequency or DRAM command rate listed

There are two mentions of PEIE Sat voltage and PCIE Spread.

 

[Tanlic]

After making the changes I took it for a test drive.

I ran agame Sniper Ghost and after 5 mins it crashed with no minidump.

The computer wouldn't reboot initially...no beep. I removed the RAM replaced it then it board up.



I then ran CCleaner which found 3 minidumps one of which was 240,644 kb

Ran the game again crashed again went through the pull out the RAM and replace it again.

Windows opened as normal but when I clicked on the start menu it crashed again. Took ages to start but when it did I started in safe mode and it produced the attached minidump.

I'll check both hard drive and run Memtest86 and hope something shows up.

Thanks again

 

[Archean]

It is an 0x8E error citing win32k.sys (on OS component) the cause. However, 0x8E errors usually means there are issues with the hardware, mostly RAM.

 

[dividebyzero]

General rule of thumb. If there are suspected RAM problems the usual course of action is.
1. Set the RAM to it's default (as I outlined in post #12)
2. Test the RAM outside of an OS enviroment (Memtest) to eliminate as many other components as possible from the test regime.

Running OS apps with a potential RAM related problem is inviting data corruption.

 

[Tanlic]

I think the horse has bolted and it's too late for me to shut the gate.

Spinrite found an error at 5672 it could not fix and the system stopped

Got a whole lot of numbers:

EAX 3EC00000
EDX 00000000
ECX 3EC00000
EDX 000000FF

ESI00000000
ESI000000FF
EBI00000000
EB11000000
ESP00003FF6

DS 10F1
ES10F1
FS7049
GS6FE8
SS3480
F10246

Does this mean my hard drive is goosed or is there some other I can use to fix it?

 

[Archean]

Are you still able to boot / and use the system?

A single bad sector doesn't kill your hard disk, frankly I never kept a HDD once it has developed any bad sectors, but that is just me.

You can safely use your HDD because normally the OS is automatically re-allocating data to 'cleaner' sectors. However, I suggest you should make a backup of your data, just to be on the safer side.

 

[Tanlic]

Luckily I have a drive I keep all my important data on so it's not an issue.

I ran another check with HDD regenerator and it gave my hard drive a clean bill of health.

How's that for confusing :0) Just as well I've got plenty spare time on my hands.

I've now got a new culprit showing up on Who Crashed "PFN List corrupt" but it's still siting ntkrnlpa.exe the Bugcheck code: 0x4E (0x7, 0x7DF10, 0x7F010, 0x0) both times but not the same as the one before the latest two.

I'll run another HDD check before bedtime and see if spinrite finds the same faults as before. If it does I'll take it back under warranty and get a replacement "I hope"

 

[Archean]

PFN List Corruption always relates to RAM issues.

This indicates that the memory management Page File Number list is corrupted. Can be caused by corrupt physical RAM, or by drivers passing bad memory descriptor lists.

I think you should carefully follow dividedbyzero (aka DBZ)'s recommendations, because if the RAM is not bad then it is simply an configuration/compatibility issue.

@Leeky
Hey mate, hope you are doing well. Just to let you know, few minutes ago I received a call from BBC Radio to participate in a debate (which will be live program by the way) ........ hmmm I wonder why I accepted the offer, the discussion will be about ethical issues faced by various sports including behavior of sportsmen etc. will see how it goes.

@Leeky
Update:
It went well, hell I didn't knew Roony was having an affair as well, (if you call it that, I mean you wouldn't expect to pay 1000 bucks for visit to toilet ahm ..... ) I had to quickly think on my feet and come up with what its all about by doing a quick search on 'Bing' and finding the facts

So will this mean, its an end to Roonyfication of Britian? Or will he somehow shrug off this thing?

(Sorry Tan for this divergence from the topic for a moment)

 

[Leeky]

@Archean, I'm good thanks, yourself?

Personally, while its unacceptable behaviour, if indeed its as true as they say, it has nothing to do with his performance in an England shirt. Every player is a person, and whether I agree or not, they have the right to conduct their private life in private - As long as they perform to expectation they should be allowed to play for the country at the highest level.

Taking it to extreme, as a passionate fan of my country, I would rather one of our most gifted players played a game, even if he had, had an affair, than to lose such a player and instead play someone who is only has half the ability, just because he's been a good boy!

I haven't looked into it much, but the news was broken by the Daily Star, and the Sun's News of the World (sunday paper). They're about the two worst, most unbelievable newspapers in this country! They're perfect if you want nonsence on normal topical stories, they excel in the page 3 (The Sun papers daily pinup topless model) and the Daily Star isn't much better! Its all big pictures of semi naked female actors, musicians and models, as well as the occasional pointless story involving this affair and that affair. lol. I can't say I've purchased any of the 3 papers in years.

As long as Rooney performs (or starts to!) on the pitch I couldn't care less. His life is no different to thousands of others that no doubt do even worse - Assuming the comments are true.

Our England manager has already announced he's flying out with the squad anyway, and its a qualifier, so he'll be playing!

 

[Tanlic]

This may be a bit premature Archean but I was playing that Sniper Ghost game and it crashed but no BSOD. The reason for it crashing was an audio file which I followed up and came across some guy suggesting disabling the onboard sound driver.

I disbaled both the onboard and my creative driver and ran the game for about 30 minutes and no crash. I then enabled my Creative driver and ran the game for an hour and no crashes.

I'll give it plenty to do for the next 24 hours and keep my fingers crossed.

 

[Archean]

Hmm, that is a good point, I've read something similar on a thread few months ago involving creative driver, but I thought it may be an 'isolated' problem, not something which would affect other systems having creative sound solutions. Anyway, keep us updated. Thanks

@Leeky
Yup I agree about his personal issues being separate from his on-field performance.

 

[Tanlic]

No problem Archean. I just thought I'd say thanks again for all your efforts.

Unfortunately I started getting BSOD again but decided to have another crack at updating my BIOS. Seems I was using the wrong file duh!!

Anyway it's all done and dusted my event viewer is clean, my internet has taken off like a rocket and I can play virtually any game without crashing.

One happy chappy now! ;0)

 

[Archean]

Good work Tanlic, happy computing