Constant Blue Screen freezing with Critical Process Died, even after resetting PC completely

Question

I have been getting blue screens of death that often tell me "Critical Process Died" and I am not finding any solutions as to what is causing this.  Once I even got error 0xc000021a.  This would seem to always happen at random times but within a few minutes of starting to play on my HTC Vive wireless unit.  It just made the headset pointless to even use and its been collecting dust for a year now because of it.  And not I started playing Cities Skylines and again, it starts to happen several minutes once I am into a game, but also at random times.

So after giving up trying to fix this error, I just restored my computer from scratch to start clean, and its doing it again with those same games.  My only thought is maybe it has something to do with it using the Nvidia graphics card for all the 3D usage?  Thats the only thing I can figure out that they would have in common.  And yes, all my Windows and graphics drivers are up to date, even after restoring my PC.

I learned about the Event Viewer last night and I seem to get "The hasplms service failed to start due to the following error: The system cannot find the file specified." and "The program AcrobatNotificationClient.exe version 0.0.0.0 stopped interacting with Windows and was closed" when I get these blue screens.  Any other thoughts of what might be causing this?   I have been pulling my hair out for over a year from this!

Homebuilt PC

Windows 10 Pro

i7-9700k 3.60GHz

32GB ram

Nvidia GeForce GTX 1060 6GB

Answer 1

So as I said before, I ran that first part and I was able to play longer but eventually blue screened on me again. The majority of the time this happens, the only message I get is "Critical Process Died" with no codes to go by. Do these steps also cover this error? Rarely do I get a message other than this, its just a small handful that gives me an 0x type error code

Answer 2

Well follow the guidelines and we may be able to identify the issue though not always. Often you would need known good parts to swap in and out or the help of the makers or of a real computer shop (one that does its own in-shop service).

Here to help,

Rob

Answer 3

Thanks, you have me a lot to work with!  So far I tried the first one where I turn off most of the startup processes.  I tried playing cities skylines again and I was able to play for much longer this time, but eventually it BSoD on me again.  Will try the next step next chance I get.

Also if it's possibly a hardware problem, is there any way to know which component it is?

Answer 4

More troubleshooting methods:

This utility makes it easy to see which versions are loaded :

Run DriverView - set VIEW to Hide Microsoft drivers - update those without

Dump in their names (and update BIOS and chipset drivers).

DriverView - Free - utility displays the list of all device drivers currently loaded on your system. For each driver in the list, additional useful information is displayed: load address of the driver, description, version, product name, company that created the driver, and more.

http://www.nirsoft.net/utils/driverview.html

For Drivers check System Maker as fallbacks and Device Maker's which are the most current. Right Click the Start Button - Device Manager - Display Adapter -

write down the make and complete model of your video adapter - double click

• Driver's tab - write down the version info. Now click UPdate Driver (this may not

do anything as MS is far behind certifying drivers) - then Right Click - Uninstall -

REBOOT this will refresh the driver stack.

Repeat that for Network - Network Card (NIC), Wifi, Sound, Mouse, and Keyboard

if 3rd party with their own software and drivers and any other major device drivers

you have.

Now go to System Maker's site (Dell, HP, Toshiba as examples) (as rollback) and

then Device Maker's site (Realtek, Intel, Nvidia, ATI as examples) and get their latest versions. (Look for BIOS, Chipset, and software updates at System Maker's

site while there.)

Download - SAVE - go to where you put them - Right Click - RUN AD ADMIN -

REBOOT after each installation.

Always check in Device Manager - Drivers tab to be sure the version you are installing actually shows up. This is because some drivers rollback before the

latest is installed (sound drivers particularly do this) so install a driver - reboot

• check to be sure it is installed and repeat as needed.

Repeat at Device Makers - BTW at Device Makers DO NOT RUN THEIR SCANNER

• check manually by model.

Manually look at manufacturer's sites for drivers - and Device Maker's sites.

http://pcsupport.about.com/od/driverssupport/ht...

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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. <-- best method

www.memtest.org

MemTestX86 - Test RAM With

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

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After doing ALL the updates you can, and if the issue continues, then run

Driver Verifier.

Driver Verifier can help find some BSOD issues :

Using Driver Verifier to identify issues with Windows drivers for advanced users

http://support.microsoft.com/kb/244617

How To Troubleshoot Driver Problems in Windows Vista or 7. (8/8.1 and 10

are essentially the same).

http://www.winvistaclub.com/t79.html

Using Driver Verifier

https://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/window...

WINKEY + X - RUN - type in -> verifier /reset hit enter to disable

If Driver Verifier creates a minidump upload it and post the link here so we can

analyze it.

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

Running PassMark Burnin Test (Free Trial), 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...

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/

Here to help,

Rob

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Standard Disclaimer: Those may be non-Microsoft websites. The pages appear 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.

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

Answer 5

Hi Lark, I am Rob, an Independent Advisor not affiliated with Microsoft and a 15 time and dual award Microsoft 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.

Both of the Stop Codes you are seeing can be caused by a hardware problem though there are some software possibilities.

0xC000021A – Fix for Windows XP, Vista, 7, 8, 8.1, 10 <-- Please review and follow this guide. Use Safe Mode as required if possible.

https://neosmart.net/wiki/0xc000021a/

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AFTER above and if you need the methods below you may need to repeat the above.

Be sure to check with the system maker's support, their online documentation, and drivers, and ask in their forums about any known issues - the unit should still be under full warranty. As OEM the system maker is responsible for the proper operation of both the hardware and Windows.

Remove ALL power then reseat the cards, memory, and cables (on both ends when possible).

How To Reseat Expansion Cards

http://pcsupport.about.com/od/fixtheproblem/ss/...

How to Reseat a Desktop Memory Module

http://pcsupport.about.com/od/fixtheproblem/ss/...

How to Reseat Internal Data and Power Cables

http://pcsupport.about.com/od/fixtheproblem/ss/...

Reseating your RAM, Video Card, and Hard Drive

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DLxNPBQBfT8

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Troubleshoot blue screen errors <-- read this link

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

Keep in mind that the odds are hardware is involved and you can't fix hardware with software.

We can analyze the minidumps 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.

Adding files to your OneDrive

http://windows.microsoft.com/en-us/windows-8/ge...

Upload photos and files

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

One-Drive - Share files and folders and change permissions

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

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

Use OneDrive to upload collected files

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

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BCCode: EF 0x0000000EF <-- read this link

https://tinyurl.com/uacwe5n

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More troubleshooting methods in the next message.

Here to help,

Rob

---

Standard Disclaimer: Those may be non-Microsoft websites. The pages appear 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.

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