How to debug a Windows 7 64 bit BSOD?

[ozzman24]

Why I'm here is I guess I'm just going to have to analyze the crash dumps but that's unfamiliar to be. What's the best way to go about it?

My Story...
I've recently upgraded my PC with Windows 7 64 bit and 8GB Kingston HyperX PC8500 (KHX8500D2T1K2/4G kit, times

2 of course). This memory is programmed with a JDEC standard to that of PC6400 5-5-5-18 @ 1.8V according to

Kingston and CPUZ. Of course I bought it to run at 1066MHz 5-5-5-15 @ 2.2 - 2.3V so I manually configured the BIOS

for 1066MHz and 5-5-5-15 at 2.3V (after my first BSOD). Had 5 in about two weeks and had the RAM since Dec 16. All

the other BIOS settings are auto, which is fine with me. My PSU voltages are within tolerance according to HWMonitor,

even under a load. Temps are acceptable under load <50C.

The Windows memory checker included on the install disc, short pass, said it was okay and so did Memtest86+ v4.10

but only on a pass or two. I figured if there were serious errors, they'd show up immediately. P95 small and large FFT's

show no errors but the blended (lots of RAM tested), two workers failed immediately before I quit the program.

HOWEVER, I'm running another "blended" P95 and no errors yet. Okay before I could finish this thread I had a P95

worker fail in a blended test and temps are still <50C, system and CPU. P95 says, FATAL ERROR rounding was .5,

expected less than .4 if that means anything to you.

My rig:
W7 64 bit
Core 2 Q9300
ASUS P5Q
8GB Kingston HyperX PC8500
600W OCZ PSU
Nvidia GTS250

 

[ace700]

Can you post the errors on here from p95 and what tests you were doing?

 

[JasonAkkerman]

2.3v for DDR2 seems really high.

I'm not entirely sure, as I went straight from DDR to DDR3. I would look up max safe voltage for your memory.

 

[ozzman24]

Can you post the errors on here from p95 and what tests you were doing?

[Sun Jan 02 20:26:51 2011]
FATAL ERROR: Rounding was 0.5, expected less than 0.4
Hardware failure detected, consult stress.txt file.

Where's the stress.txt file? I couldn't find it and even a search of my PC didn't find it.

I used p95 (small and large FFT's as well as the blended tests). p95 workers fail using the blended test. I've also used Memtest86+ v4.10 and the Memory test program on the Windows 7 install disc. Both short passes and completed with no errors. I should run longer memory tests but in my opinion the memory is fine and has something to do with the FSB, if you ask me.

 

[ozzman24]

2.3v for DDR2 seems really high.

I'm not entirely sure, as I went straight from DDR to DDR3. I would look up max safe voltage for your memory.

That's what the data sheet says. Straight from Kingston. I linked to it in my original post.

 

[WR2]

Hardware failure detected, consult stress.txt file.

If you haven't installed Prime95 into your system you might not have the stress.txt file available to you.
It's not a 'result of the test' type file. It's a generic 'what to do if you have a problem' type guide.
If you download the P95 zip file and expand it you'll find the stress.txt file there.

part of the stress.txt file here:

" STRESS TESTING YOUR COMPUTER

BACKGROUND
----------

Today's computers are not perfect. Even brand new systems from major
manufacturers can have hidden flaws. If any of several key components such
as CPU, memory, cooling, etc. are not up to spec, it can lead to incorrect
calculations and/or unexplained system crashes.

Overclocking is the practice of increasing the speed of the CPU and/or
memory to make a machine faster at little cost. Typically, overclocking
involves pushing a machine past its limits and then backing off just a
little bit.

For these reasons, both non-overclockers and overclockers need programs
that test the stability of their computers. This is done by running
programs that put a heavy load on the computer. Though not originally
designed for this purpose, this program is one of a few programs that
are excellent at stress testing a computer.


RESOURCES
---------

This program is a good stress test for the CPU, memory, L1 and L2 caches,
CPU cooling, and case cooling. The torture test runs continuously, comparing
your computer's results to results that are known to be correct. Any
mismatch and you've got a problem! Note that the torture test sometimes
reads from and writes to disk but cannot be considered a stress test for
hard drives.

You'll need other programs to stress video cards, PCI bus, disk access,
networking and other important components. In addition, this is only one
of several good programs that are freely available. Some people report
finding problems only when running two or more stress test programs
concurrently. You may need to raise prime95's priority when running two
stress test programs so that each gets about 50% of the CPU time.

Forums are a great place to learn about available stability test programs
and to get advice on what to do when a problem is found.

The currently popular stability test programs are (sorry, I don't have
web addresses for these):
Prime95 (this program's torture test)
3DMark2001
CPU Stability test
Sisoft sandra
Quake and other games
Folding@Home
Seti@home
Genome@home

Several useful websites for help (look for overclocking community or forum):
http://www.overclockers.com
http://www.arstechnica.com
http://www.hardocp.com
http://www.anandtech.com
http://www.tomshardware.com
http://www.sharkyextreme.com
Also try the alt.comp.hardware.overclocking Usenet newsgroup.

Utility programs you may find useful (I'm sure there are others - look around):
Motherboard monitor from http://mbm.livewiredev.com
Memtest86 from http://www.memtest86.com
Cpuburn by redelm: http://pages.sbcglobal.net/redelm/
TaskInfo2002 from http://www.iarsn.com/

 

[ozzman24]

Can you post the errors on here from p95 and what tests you were doing?

2.3v for DDR2 seems really high.

I'm not entirely sure, as I went straight from DDR to DDR3. I would look up max safe voltage for your memory.

If you haven't installed Prime95 into your system you might not have the stress.txt file available to you.
It's not a 'result of the test' type file. It's a generic 'what to do if you have a problem' type guide.
If you download the P95 zip file and expand it you'll find the stress.txt file there.

part of the stress.txt file here:

" STRESS TESTING YOUR COMPUTER

BACKGROUND
----------

Today's computers are not perfect. Even brand new systems from major
manufacturers can have hidden flaws. If any of several key components such
as CPU, memory, cooling, etc. are not up to spec, it can lead to incorrect
calculations and/or unexplained system crashes.

Overclocking is the practice of increasing the speed of the CPU and/or
memory to make a machine faster at little cost. Typically, overclocking
involves pushing a machine past its limits and then backing off just a
little bit.

For these reasons, both non-overclockers and overclockers need programs
that test the stability of their computers. This is done by running
programs that put a heavy load on the computer. Though not originally
designed for this purpose, this program is one of a few programs that
are excellent at stress testing a computer.


RESOURCES
---------

This program is a good stress test for the CPU, memory, L1 and L2 caches,
CPU cooling, and case cooling. The torture test runs continuously, comparing
your computer's results to results that are known to be correct. Any
mismatch and you've got a problem! Note that the torture test sometimes
reads from and writes to disk but cannot be considered a stress test for
hard drives.

You'll need other programs to stress video cards, PCI bus, disk access,
networking and other important components. In addition, this is only one
of several good programs that are freely available. Some people report
finding problems only when running two or more stress test programs
concurrently. You may need to raise prime95's priority when running two
stress test programs so that each gets about 50% of the CPU time.

Forums are a great place to learn about available stability test programs
and to get advice on what to do when a problem is found.

The currently popular stability test programs are (sorry, I don't have
web addresses for these):
Prime95 (this program's torture test)
3DMark2001
CPU Stability test
Sisoft sandra
Quake and other games
Folding@Home
Seti@home
Genome@home

Several useful websites for help (look for overclocking community or forum):
http://www.overclockers.com
http://www.arstechnica.com
http://www.hardocp.com
http://www.anandtech.com
http://www.tomshardware.com
http://www.sharkyextreme.com
Also try the alt.comp.hardware.overclocking Usenet newsgroup.

Utility programs you may find useful (I'm sure there are others - look around):
Motherboard monitor from http://mbm.livewiredev.com
Memtest86 from http://www.memtest86.com
Cpuburn by redelm: http://pages.sbcglobal.net/redelm/
TaskInfo2002 from http://www.iarsn.com/

Well... Another MemTest86+ v4.10 pass,1 pass only, the same as when I got the modules on day one showing 16 errors. I guess I'm eating my words about how I thought it was just a FSB voltage problem. I put too much faith into what I thought was a "quality" RAM. Did I make a good choice going with HyperX?

 

[ozzman24]

I may have worded that a little funny. 1 pass on day one, Dec 16th 2010, show no errors and now less than a month later today, Jan 4 2011, 16 errors on 1 pass.

 

[verbalizer]

something is going on...

 

[Snipergod87]

Try loading your RAM to its default settings and let Mem test do several passes (not 1 or 2). If you still get errors than one of your sticks of RAM is bad. Pull out all but one stick and keep on testing until you find the bad one and return it. Usually RAM doesnt fail within the first month but it has been known to happen.

 

[ozzman24]

Try loading your RAM to its default settings and let Mem test do several passes (not 1 or 2). If you still get errors than one of your sticks of RAM is bad. Pull out all but one stick and keep on testing until you find the bad one and return it. Usually RAM doesnt fail within the first month but it has been known to happen.

"Snipergod87" I've been doing that for the last 2 hours, as I post now, and I can't believe what happening. My HyperX is rated 1066 5-5-5-15 @ 2.2-3V and my P5Q supports DDR2 up to 1200MHz is going without faults and AT the defaults AT the same length test (still not just 1 or 2 passes) but still no errors. What's happening? This leads me to believe a voltage incompatibility somewhere. The only BIOS settings I've adjusted were for the RAM and they were to the rated. Everything thing else is left default (cause my boards "rated" system speeds are good enough for me)

I wonder what the results of OC'ing the system FSB to 1600 and then ramping up the RAM to the "advertised" 1066 5-5-5-15 @ 2.2-3 would do? I don't need that much power from my system but if that's what it takes then I'd supercharge my mediocre machine.

Everyone's input is much appreciated. Thanks

 

[ozzman24]

something is going on...

What would that be?

 

[verbalizer]

maybe the fact that C2Q's do not like anything faster than DDR2 800MHz...
and C2Q with DDR3 is a ridiculous move and that technology move never should have been done.

 

[WR2]

How many errors do you get running with just 4GB of RAM?
With just 2GB or RAM?

 

[palladin9479]

Try setting everything in BIOS back to auto regardless of what any website says your RAM is rated at, let the system read the settings from memory itself. Now run the memory test continuously overnight just to be sure. After this you should use the system as normal for a few days and see if any more glitch's happen. If they do then you know to start removing memory sticks, if the glitch's don't reappear then your running your timings too aggressively.

 

[ozzman24]

I'm not ignoring you guys but classes started back last week and I been in the books hard, trying to get ahead so I slack on my "off" days. Thanks for all the input and I will definitely be around.

 

[ozzman24]

Easiest way to debug a BSOD

Download this.

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

Its called Bluescreen view. Run it then select the crash dumps. The files in red caused the BSOD. Simple

Exactly what I was looking for. I seen a file in red and I'll research that further. Thanks to everyone else who contributed to the thread. I still need to check this stupid memory though!

The Ozz

 

[ozzman24]

Best answer selected by ozzman24.

 

[verbalizer]

good-luck.