Help with BSOD errors every hour

Question

Hello Microsoft community,

I have been trying to fix a an issue on my machine for weeks, going through multiple forums, but no luck so far.

Details are below. I'm mostly trying to nail down the source of the issue (hardware, driver, BIOS, other?)

If anyone has ideas, please share.

I will update this if I find a resolution.

Symptoms:

• BSOD error almost exactly 1 hour after boot, every time I boot. Same behavior in Safe mode, if I don't log in, if I do nothing or if I use the computer. 1 hour after I boot the computer, it crashes.
• BSOD is unable to write a dump file (stays at 0%). I tried many things to try to get a dump or Minidump, tried all the different settings in Startup and Recovery, but can never get a dump to be created.
• BSOD message vary between: critical process died, unexpected store exception, KERNEL DATA INPAGE ERROR, SYSTEM SERVICE EXCEPTION. I cannot discern any patterns on why it shows one error over another.

System details:

• Windows 10 Pro 1909 x64
• Intel i7-2600 (8 cores)
• 16 GB RAM
• 60 GB SSD drive for OS
• 1 TB HDD for user documents
• 4 TB HDD for manual backups (no RAID)
• 2 x NVIDIA GeForce GT 520
• ASRock P67 Extreme4 motherboard

What I tried:

• Full windows re-install from completely formatted disk
• Full windows update to 1909
• Update all drivers, including graphics and drives
• Remove startup and scheduled tasks, including OneDrive
  • Disabled MicrosoftEdgeUpdateTaskMachineUA task (hourly task)
• Remove each 4GB RAM card one by one
• Remove each graphic card, one by one
• Checkdisk: no errors
• CrystalDisk: no errors and good disk health
• sfc/scannow multiple consecutive times with reboots in between, no errors
• System file check
• Automatic paging
• Making paging file size 24 - 36GB because I have 16GB RAM, currently sitting at 23.4 GB (weird thing is that Windows put it at default of 2.9 GB
• Update motherboard BIOS, but failed. This is the board: http://www.asrock.com/mb/Intel/P67%20Extreme4/#BIOS

The only thing I didn't try that I resent is to use another drive for the OS. I have 3 drives (SSD for OS, 1TB drive for documents and 4TB drive for manual backups, no RAID). Since chkdisk and CrystalDisk show no error or health issues, I don't think it's a drive issue, but I might be wrong.

Other hypothesis:

• Blown capacitor: visual inspection shows nothing wrong.

Any other ideas to try, please let me know.

Thank you!

Answer 1

Hi Christian, I am Rob, an independent and a 15 time and dual award MVP specializing in Windows troubleshooting and Bluescreen analysis. Please remember as independents we are not responsible for the development of Windows or the computer hardware and drivers. If you will work with me I will be here to help until the issue is resolved.

The work you have done, including Clean Installs, and experiencing several different BugCheck, all definitely point to a hardware problem. Please realize that I have worked on many many thousands of BSOD cases so my guesses are well based. So it sounds like you might need the help of a very good computer shop (one that competently does its own in-shop service - so many will just plug a computer in and let it sit for a while instead of actively testing it.)

Have you reseated everything? Including SSD/hard drives and cabling on both ends when possible? (Of course, remove all power first.)

Be sure the SSD and/or hybrid drivers have the latest firmware from their makers. If those drives get too hot or a high temp is held for a period of time they will cause BSOD with no DMP written.

Overall, to me, it sounds like a motherboard or SSD/hard drive (or cabling) issue though it can be any hardware.

If it does produce a DMP file I will be happy to analyze it though I bet it shows nothing on the software side, See how to upload DMP files or other data below.

You can try these tests though consumer software rarely points to specific hardware.

Please note that consumer-level troubleshooting software rarely specifies a particular piece of hardware so a lot of close observation is required.

PassMark Burnin Test - Free Trial - note the trial version will only run for 15 minutes and it really needs to be used for many hours. So if you use this you will need to faithfully and quickly restart it every 15 minutes.

PassMark - BurninTest - Free Trial

https://www.passmark.com/products/burnintest/

Running OCCT for Home Use (Free) and the Stress Tests may help indicate a cause.

OCCT - Free for Home use

https://www.ocbase.com/

Running Stress Tests might help indicate a cause - use ALL of these.

PC Stress Test free software for Windows 10

https://www.thewindowsclub.com/pc-stress-test-f...

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Besides swapping the modules, have you actually used memtest86 to test the RAM?

Memory tests do not catch all errors such as mismatched memory (possible even for sticks that appear to be identical) and when faster memory is placed in the system behind slower memory. So it is best to also swap sticks in and out to check for those even if all memory tests fail to show a problem.

To test RAM check here - let it run 4+ hours or so - over-night is best. <-- best method

www.memtest.org

MemTestX86 - Test RAM With

http://www.tenforums.com/tutorials/14201-memtes...

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Check in Event Viewer for possible references.

Using Event Viewer to Troubleshoot Problems

https://www.howtogeek.com/school/using-windows-...

FullEventLogView - Free is a simple tool for Windows 10/8/7/Vista that displays in a table the details of all events from the event logs of Windows, including the event description. It allows you to view the events of your local computer, events of a remote computer on your network, and events stored in .evtx files. It also allows you to export the events list to text/CSV/tab-delimited/html/xml file from the GUI and from the command-line.

http://nirsoft.net/utils/full_event_log_view.html

TIP: Options - Advanced Options - allows you to see a time frame instead of the whole file - set it to a bit before and after the time of the EVENT.

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Note: The paging size does not need to be large to cache on the already fast drive containing the OS and especially when there is a lot of memory. In such a case the OS files can be found as fast by the usual methods as it would find them accessing a cache on the same fast drive Best to let Windows handle it as it is an entirely different case as compared to when there is a disk type hard drive.

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Troubleshoot blue screen errors <-- read this link

http://windows.microsoft.com/en-us/windows-10/t...

Look in C:\Windows for memory.dmp and in C:\Windows\minidump for xxxxxxxxx.dmp files.

We can analyze the DMP files if you make them available from the OneDrive or other file sharing sites (such as MediaFire). If you have problems uploading the minidumps copy them to the Desktop or the Documents folder and upload them from there.

One-Drive - Share files and folders and change permissions

http://windows.microsoft.com/en-us/onedrive/sha...

Upload photos and files

http://windows.microsoft.com/en-us/onedrive/add...

Zip or RAR the files then upload them - the Memory.DMP individually and/or minidumps up to the last 5 all together.

Zip or upload the contents of C:\Windows\minidump

Use OneDrive to upload collected files

https://support.microsoft.com/en-us/office/uplo...

Here to help,

Rob

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Please let us know the results and if you need further assistance. Feedback definitely helps us help all.

Answer 2

I would do this in order to eliminate a number of potential causes:

1. Copy your documents from to the1 TByte disk to your backup medium.
2. Perform a few spot checks to ensure the files are readable.
3. Remove all disks except the 1 TByte disk.
4. Install Win10 onto it. You won't need a product key.

http://windows.microsoft.com/en-us/windows-10/media-creation-tool-install 5. Run this bare-bones installation for a few hours. If it works then you can eliminate all hardware issues.

Answer 3

Did you run memtest86 4+ hours or overnight? Shorter is just too inconclusive. Though I do agree the issue is not likely to be memory-related.

Try using a box or floor fan blowing into the case onto the CPU and GPU areas to see if that causes any behavior changes. The idea is to increase airflow in order to maximize heat dissipation as a test.

Here to help,

Rob

Answer 4

Hi Rob,

Thanks for the complete and swift response!

Couple comments after reading your response:

• I have ran a memtest but nothing was found
• I have checked Event Viewer after a crash multiple times and have not found anything there.
• I'll put back paging file size at Automatic

I'm going to try running the OS on another drive and report back.

Thanks!

Answer 5

Thank you for the switch response!

Will give it a shot. It was my next step, but it's a good amount of work. I'll let you know the results.