USB devices (flash and hard drive) causing BSOD?

Question

USB devices (flash and hard drive) causing BSOD?

Anonymous

Please help; I am completely stumped as to why my flash drive (Verbatim 16 GB) and my external hard drive both seem to be causing Windows 7 to crash. At first, it only seemed to happen when I tried to save a Word file to the flash drive (so I thought it was an issue with that device) -- but when I tried to transfer files to my external hard drive, I got another BSOD. Oddly, I have no trouble opening and saving to a OneNote notebook file on the flash drive -- but I don't know what that means.

I have the following report information:

Problem signature:

Problem Event Name: BlueScreen

OS Version: 6.1.7600.2.0.0.256.48

Locale ID: 1033

Additional information about the problem:

BCCode: 1000008e

BCP1: C0000005

BCP2: 8841BD39

BCP3: B1CD1824

BCP4: 00000000

OS Version: 6_1_7600

Service Pack: 0_0

Product: 256_1

Files that help describe the problem:

C:\Windows\Minidump\020710-72914-01.dmp

C:\Users\Kelly\AppData\Local\Temp\WER-99310-0.sysdata.xml

Can anyone shed some light on this? Is there any other data you might need? I'm sorry to be so un-tech-savvy, but I'd really appreciate any help -- I just upgraded to Windows 7 and it makes me sad that it seems to have turned my beloved computer into an evil alien machine...

Locked Question. This question was migrated from the Microsoft Support Community. You can vote on whether it's helpful, but you can't add comments or replies or follow the question.

0 comments

Answer accepted by question author

0 additional answers

Answer 1

Hey AnnaBelle4,

What is the make and manufacturer of Motherboard?

Method1:

An approach to fix this issue is to determine whether the external hard drive or a USB device requires a driver to function properly. Some external devices need special drivers, apart from the normal USB port drivers, and some don’t.

Find your motherboard on your Manufacturer’s website and download any updates for the USB controller drivers. It will be found with the chipset/motherboard drivers.

In addition, check Device Manager to see whether some indication of a problem is disclosed there. If there is, you can use the below procedures in Device Manager to update the drivers. That is, Device Manager can search for updated drivers.

a. Click on Start, type Device Manager in the search box.

b. In Device Manager, look for the USB devices (Flash and Hard drive, and then double-click the device name and then double-click the device name.

c. Click the Driver tab, and then click Update Driver and follow the instructions.

d. Also look for any other hardware that may have a yellow exclamation (!). It is possible you could have an incorrect driver installed for the USB device.

You may access the below link that talks about ‘How to Update a driver for hardware that isn't working properly’:

http://windows.microsoft.com/en-us/windows-vista/Update-a-driver-for-hardware-that-isnt-working-properly

Method 2:

Step1:

If the issue still persists, I would suggest to check for the issue in ‘Safe Mode’.

Below are the steps which talks about how to get into ‘Safe Mode’:

How to boot your system into**Safe Mode**

1. Restart your computer if it is powered on. 2. Tap the F8 key after your computer initially powers on. 3. Once you see the Advanced Boot Options menu you can stop tapping. 4. Use the up/down arrow keys to highlight your selection. 5. Select Safe Mode and press Enter. 6. You should see drivers loading, and then please wait. 7. You should then be at the Welcome Screen. 8. Logon to your computer using an account with Administrator privileges.

Step2:

If the issue does not persist in ‘Safe Mode‘, then the issue could be caused by some third party services. You may have to put the computer in a Clean Boot State to check which service is causing the issue. Below are the steps to put the computer in a Clean Boot state.

To perform a Clean Boot on a computer that is running Windows 7:

1. Click Start, type msconfig in the Start Search box, and then press ENTER. If you are prompted for an administrator password or for a confirmation, type the password, or click Continue. 2. On the General tab, click Selective Startup. 3. Under Selective Startup, click to clear the Load Startup Items check box. 4. Click the Services tab, click to select the Hide All Microsoft Services check box, and then click Disable All. 5. Click OK. 6. When you are prompted, click Restart. 7. After the computer starts, check if the issue is fixed. If your issue is resolved after performing Clean Boot, then follow the steps mentioned in the following KB article to narrow down the exact source: http://support.microsoft.com/kb/929135 Also, see the section on how return your computer to a Normal startup mode by following the steps under “Reset the computer to start as usual”, after performing the clean boot troubleshooting.

Method3:

I suggest that you run CHKDSK on your external hard disk if you still come across the issue:

1. Click the Start button, type cmd in the Start Search box, right-click cmd.exe in the Programs list, and click Run as administrator. If you are prompted for an administrator password or confirmation, type your password, or click Continue.

2. At the command prompt, type Chkdsk /R X: (where X: is the Drive Letter for the volume you want to check your external hard disk), and then press ENTER.

3. Press Y when you are prompted to check the disk next time that the system restarts.

Close all applications, and then restart the computer.

Disclaimer: Performing this task could cause loss of data on your computer. It is recommended that you back up all the data and files prior to performing this.

I hope the above information helps you. Give a shot.

Regards,

Manasa P – Microsoft Support.