Windows 7 is being a *bleep*

[pizzaholic]

So, I built my brother's computer over a year ago and he recently started having problems with BSOD's when trying to login to windows. Several viruses, spyware and headaches later I was still plagued by BSOD so I decided to reinstall the OS. I hooked up his HDD to my system, formatted it and reinstalled Win7 Ultimate x64 (same OS previously installed). Then instead of giving me a BSOD, it just automatically restarted when loading windows. I took it in to Tiger Direct for a diagnostic and they said there were no hardware problems except the DVD/RW was bad, and the technician was able to load into windows. Anyways, here is the hardware in his system:

Motherboard: XFX 750i SLI 775 DDR2

CPU: Intel Core 2 Duo E7500

PSU: Apevia 1100W Warlock Power

Memory: Corsair XMS2 2048MB DDR2

Video Card: BFG GeForce GTS 250 1GB GDDR3

HDD: Seagate Barracuda 7200 500GB

After getting it back from Tiger Direct, this is how it went down:

Start Windows -> automatically restarted (exactly like it did BEFORE I took it in.)
Startup Repair -> BSOD: PAGE_FAULT_IN_NOPAGED_AREA (restarted)
Startup Repair -> System Restore -> automatically restarted
Startup Repair (from disk) -> startrep.exe- application error. instruction at 0x774c4123 referenced memory at 0x00100080. The memory could not be read. (restarted)
Reinstall OS (Win7 ult x64) -> copying windows files: OK -> expanding windows files: BSOD at 99%: APX_INDEX_MISMATCH (restarted)
Replaced the DVD/RW with one from my system
Reinstall OS (Win7 ult x64) -> everything was OK, system restarted
Start Windows -> Setup is updating registry settings, setup is started services, setup is completing installation....BSOD: SYSTEM_SERVICE_EXCEPTION -> auto restart
Start Windows Normally -> setup is starting services... error box: Windows installation cannot proceed. to install windows, click OK to restart the computer and restart installation. (clicked OK)
Reinstall OS (Win7 ult x64) -> copying windows files: OK... expanding windows files: BSOD at 68% "A thread tried to release a resource it did not own." (restarted)
Walked away before I punched the computer in the motherboard.....

I don't know how much more info I can give, but any help would be appreciated.

 

[thently]

Well seems like allot of memory errors you try diffrent ram or just 1 stick at a time?

Thent

 

[buzznut]

Man thats gotta be frustrating. I too am interested in the ram config. It could be a ram issue, or it could be the hard drive giving up the ghost.

Follow the troubleshooting sticky and ensure all the cables are fully inserted and any add on cards as well. Things definiately could have shifted during all this.

Here's the sticky:
http://www.tomshardware.com/forum/261145-31-perform-steps-posting-post-boot-video-problems

 

[pizzaholic]

The ram is a single stick. Loaded into slot 1 atm. Previously the build gave me a lot of BSOD's while playing games, and I ultimately solved it by manually setting the memory timings. Running Memtest86 now.... The setup hasn't changed since it was working, I dunno what happened. All cords and cables are tight. before I formatted it on my machine, I was able to log into windows and work a little before it BS'd on me, now It won't even get past the windows loading screen. Should have mentioned, when he started getting the BS's I opened the case up the CPU fan was unplugged for some reason. Plugged it back in but nothing changed, and he used the PC for a full day with fan unplugged with no problems. That is why I took it in for a diagnostic, but apparently all the hardware except the DVD was fine.

 

[vh1atomicpunk]

Dude, problem is that you re-installed the OS on your system (if I'm reading this right), not his.

It's very difficult to migrate a Windows installation from one machine to another, mostly due to driver issues (as in drivers installed for use on your machine will load when he attempts to boot the installation on his machine instead of the drivers needed by his machine.)

You need to do the work on his machine, then check the results.

Best hardware diagnostics to use IMO:

Spinrite 6.0 - Absolutely will find HDD issues, and fix them if possible. Best hard disk diagnostic and repair utility I've ever seen. Available here: http://www.grc.com/sr/spinrite.htm

Memtest 86+ - Best memory diagnostics tool available outside of using a dedicated RAM testing machine. Available here: http://www.memtest.org/

Once you've used these and identified any HDD or RAM issues (checking one stick at a time for RAM is definitely the best way) and installed Win7, do not install any other software for except Prime95, available here: http://www.mersenne.org/freesoft/

Run Prime95 for at least 4hrs. once installed. This program will stress the RAM and CPU. If the CPU is overheating and you were simply unaware, this will expose the issue. As a matter of fact, the issue may simply be a dirty PC! (Read lint in the CPU cooler, dirty insides of PSU, cat hair, etc.)

If you are able to go through all this AND THEN the BSOD's persist without finding a cause, it's the Motherboard in his PC.

Hope this helps. Feel free to hit me with any questions at vh1atomicpunk@yahoo.com

 

[vh1atomicpunk]

Oh, completely spaced it - Any possibility that you could post he STOP errors or messages that appear in the BSOD's? That can really help narrow down the issue as well.

 

[pizzaholic]

vh1atomicpunk thanks for all the info. I already took it completely apart and cleaned it out, and replaced the thermal compound where needed. Looked like a vacuum bag in there lol. ATM memtest86 is completing the 7th pass with no errors, tomorrow after work I'll reformat his HD with my machine, hook it back up to his and try to re-install the OS again. Hopefully it will take and I can finish the tests you suggested. If it blue screens again, i'll be sure to jot down the stop code and post it. Most of them except the most recent System_Service_Exception didn't have any tho...

 

[vh1atomicpunk]

Thanks. I'll keep an eye and provide help if possible.

 

[pizzaholic]

Thanks. I'll keep an eye and provide help if possible.

Started memtest86 a few hrs before I went to bed, and when I woke up it had run for 11 and 1/2 hours with 17 passes, 0 errors. Will format the HDD and reinstall the OS after work.

 

[pizzaholic]

So, about 15hrs later the Spinrite software finished with the HDD. The only thing it picked up was: ECC Corrected 69,292,739 Seek Errors 1,245,083 all corrected. Afterwards I tried installing the OS again, and the first time It gave me "a thread tried to release a resource it did not own" and the second time it gave me a Page_Fault_In_Nopaged_Area blue screen, with a 0x50 stop code.

 

[pizzaholic]

FINALLY! was able to load windows 7 onto the stupid HDD. I set username and password, then the date/time settings and when I clicked next it started to finalize then blue screened. Went thru it again and no problems yet. I didn't change anything, I just kept trying it over and over and over so I dunno what the frak was wrong. Going to run Prime95 now, will update in a few hours...

 

[Vukodlak]

Did you have the dvd/rw replaced?

It might be a one in a trillion long shot... but, (who knows?) maybe it copies a file or few wrong and cause windows to malfunction.

I had a defective CD drive once and could NEVER finish installing windows with it.

 

[Raiddinn]

BSODs are generally from either 1) Bad drivers, 2) Bad HD, or 3) Bad RAM. There are almost never BSODs that aren't related to those 3 things.

Ideally, it would be good if you could try to rule these things out in hardware.

Do you have any spare HDs laying around? Spare RAM? Potentially they can be borrowed from another system with similar specs. Could be from a friend or relative.

It doesn't sound like RAM is the problem, but it would be better to be able to try different RAM just to be 100% sure. Right now I will call the ram 1% likely to be the problem so feel free to not focus too much on that now.

I would try to update BIOS and other firmware if possible. You mentioned that you had the hard drive in YOUR system and you mentioned the drive had hard drives in the other system coming out of yours, but you didn't mention if the hard drive had problems while it was in yours.

You could also load the OS on it again in your pc and just use it for a while in your PC and see if anything changes.

If it works in your PC for a pretty good while, its more likely to be a good drive in general and the problem would be more likely that it was a bad BIOS on the owner's computer or something like that instead.

 

[pizzaholic]

Did you have the dvd/rw replaced?

It might be a one in a trillion long shot... but, (who knows?) maybe it copies a file or few wrong and cause windows to malfunction.

I had a defective CD drive once and could NEVER finish installing windows with it.

Yeah, I replaced the DVD drive with a DVD/CD RW.

 

[pizzaholic]

BSODs are generally from either 1) Bad drivers, 2) Bad HD, or 3) Bad RAM. There are almost never BSODs that aren't related to those 3 things.

Ideally, it would be good if you could try to rule these things out in hardware.

Do you have any spare HDs laying around? Spare RAM? Potentially they can be borrowed from another system with similar specs. Could be from a friend or relative.

.

Well I tested the RAM with memtest86 overnight and it passed 17 passes with no errors, I also ran spinrite as suggested by vh1atomicpunk and there were no major errors. Once I finally got win7 to load I tried Prime95 and it kept failing. The first time windows finished It blue screen'd when i was adjusting the date/time. Restarted and went through again with no problems. The sound started looping when I logged into windows later, and BS'd then a few random times while trying to do other stuff. I took it back to Tiger Direct to see if they can figure it out, my brother said he doesn't care if he has to pay more to get it fixed, plus I can now spend my spare time on the PS3 and whatnot lol. Thanks for everybody's help, hopefully Tiger can figure it out, I'll post again when I get it back.

 

[Raiddinn]

Where did you get the Windows CD you are installing from, btw? Was it made by Microsoft?

 

[pizzaholic]

Where did you get the Windows CD you are installing from, btw? Was it made by Microsoft?

sorry i took so long to reply, but yes I have a genuine cd, but my license is expired so I had to call to renew it. Anyways, the technician said the voltages on the motherboard were bad, and luckily it was still under warranty (by a few days phew!) so I am going to send it in tomorrow or tuesday and they will (hopefully) send a replacement. if not an equivilent board should be under 80 bucks anyways. Now that I know what is wrong for sure, it's much easier to get fixed. Thanks for all the support everyone, I wouldn't have gotten as far as I did without it.