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Help Needed, PC keeps Crashing (dwm.exe stops working and hardware error 141)

Anonymous
2024-01-06T03:16:49+00:00

Ok, so this past month I've been struggling with RANDOM pc crashes after my pc was fine for 3.5+ years after being built now its finally having issues. I'm getting "DWM.exe stopped working" and Windows Hardware Errors (Code: 141)---(this is what comes up in reliability monitor) . Mainly crashes when playing any game or in the main menu even, but will also sometimes crash when not (rarely though). What happens each crash is my monitor goes entirely black and fans go full blast so I have to power off PC and back on again.

PC Specs:

Processor: I9-9900k CPU @ 3.6 GHZ (NEVER overclocked)

RAM: G.Skill Trident Z Royal 32GB 4 x 8GB DDR4 3600MHz (NEVER overclocked)

Windows 11 (Had Windows 10 and it still had the same crashes)

GPU: EVGA Geforce RTX 2080TI Black Edition 11GB GDDR6 (NEVER overclocked)

Motherboard: ASUS ROG Maximus XI Hero (Wi-fi) Z390 Gaming LGA 1151

PSU: EVGA SuperNOVA 850W G5, 80 PLUS Gold

I've literally been googling fixes for hours and hours and for weeks and nothing has worked. This forum is my last resort and I'm hoping someone can help. Below is all of the things I've tried so far:

  1. Reset PC to factory settings and didn't keep any files
  2. Reseated GPU and installed a GPU bracket to stop sagging as I heard sagging can cause these crashes and worse (Did this most recently and I thought it fixed it but after 4 days of being fine it crashed again)
  3. Ran SFC scan and DISM
  4. Updated all drivers including updating BIOS
  5. Installed older GPU drivers as well as the newest driver, both didn't work... also tried uninstalling all
    GPU drivers with DDU and installing newest driver
  6. Ran virus scans, everything checked out ok every time (all I do is play games or go on twitch/fb nothing else
  7. Used safe mode and disabled all startup apps that weren't microsoft related ( I couldn't get it to crash doing this as I couldn't play any games and I didn't have the patience to wait for it to crash)
  8. Ran programs to stress test GPU - it never crashed when stressed for over 5 minutes
  9. Checked for windows updates (I always install the latest updates)
  10. Fresh windows install
  11. Ran Disk Checks
  12. Checked Memory with Windows Memory Diagnostic tool
  13. Ran clean boot - never had any crashes but then again I can't play games in clean boot to get it to crash...also doubt its a program causing the crashes because I've done a reset PC to factory and downloaded all the essential programs I use all over again which is mainly (battle.net, origin, steam, epic games launcher, razer synapse, evga precision, nzxt cam, and thats about it--nothing else besides games) and it still crashes and I've always had these same programs since Day 1 of my pc being built and never had issues before with said programs.
  14. Probably missing some other things I've done but this is most of what I tried, and did all the above several times

Is my GPU or motherboard taking a **** maybe after only being 3.5 years old (I never had a GPU anti sag bracket until now so maybe it sagging all this time has caused this? Idk) ? This is really the only conclusion I can come to but I never get any artifacts and my GPU temps never exceeds 82 degrees (mainly stays around 78-79 degrees when gaming)...

Any help is appreciated!!...I'm so sick and tired of this happening and I'm all out of ideas and nothing online is working for me

Windows for home | Windows 11 | Performance and system failures

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  1. Lester Bernard Reyes 79,530 Reputation points Independent Advisor
    2024-01-06T16:52:18+00:00

    Hi, thank you so much for replying, as per checking and analyzing the event logs you have, there are multiple Nvidia errors on the PC, in addition, there are also system files that are corrupted, for us to sort out the issue, kindly follow the steps below:

    We need to run a Clean installation of the Nvidia driver, this is different from doing DDU or updating the driver as this will remove all entries and replace them with compatible ones, kindly follow the steps from the link below:

    https://nvidia.custhelp.com/app/answers/detail/...

    Note: This is a non-Microsoft website. The page appears to be providing accurate, safe information. Watch out for ads on the site that may advertise products frequently classified as a PUP (Potentially Unwanted Products). Thoroughly research any product advertised on the site before you decide to download and install it.

    Additional note: If the issue persists, and since you have reinstalled Windows, I suggest removing the GPU and placing it into another PCIe port available, however, if all fails, I suggest contacting a local technician to physically check the device for any hardware-related issues.

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  1. Anonymous
    2024-01-06T04:50:04+00:00

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  2. Lester Bernard Reyes 79,530 Reputation points Independent Advisor
    2024-01-06T04:35:20+00:00

    Hi, thanks for that information, and yes, since there are no Minidump files, we need to check the System logs of the PC, to do this kindly follow the steps from this link:

    https://www.yourwindowsguide.com/2017/12/how-to...

    Note: This is a non-Microsoft website. The page appears to be providing accurate, safe information. Watch out for ads on the site that may advertise products frequently classified as a PUP (Potentially Unwanted Products). Thoroughly research any product advertised on the site before you decide to download and install it.

    Then please upload it by following the steps from the link.

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  3. Anonymous
    2024-01-06T04:29:06+00:00

    Hello, there is no "Minidump" under C:\Windows\ on my PC. Do you want windows logs from my event viewer like Application or System?

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  4. Lester Bernard Reyes 79,530 Reputation points Independent Advisor
    2024-01-06T04:10:48+00:00

    Hi Nick, thanks for reaching out. My name is Bernard a Windows fan like you. I'll be happy to help you out today.

    I understand the issue you have, there is nothing to worry I am here to help, this might be caused by hardware in particular to GPU or motherboard, in addition, we need to further analyze what is causing the issue, can you please check if you have minidump files on the PC so that we can further examine what is the root cause of the issue?

    Press Windows key + E (To open File Explorer)

    Click "This PC" > then follow the file path:

    C:\Windows\Minidump

    Copy the Minidump files and save them to another location like Desktop or Documents.

    Then please upload it to Cloud storage like OneDrive or any cloud storage you are using and please share the shareable link here.

    To upload and share the link using One Drive:

    Go to this link: https://onedrive.live.com/ then upload the file.

    Then provide the shareable link by following the steps from this link: https://support.microsoft.com/en-us/office/shar...

    Let me know how it goes and I hope that helps.

    Bernard

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