Issues since updating to Windows 8

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JayRich

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Hey Everyone,

I have been having some trouble ever since I updated to windows 8. I had Windows 7 Home Premium for roughly 2 years without any serious issues before upgrading to Windows 8 Pro. I upgraded to Windows 8 through the Microsoft Website (no clean install, just upgraded straight from W7). I started getting a bunch of restarts, freezes, BSoDs etc so I brought my computer in and they didn't see anything apparently wrong. For simplicity sake I decided to do a full reset within the Windows 8 PC settings and just start fresh. However, I am still getting errors/restarts.

Partial List of Errors:
IRQL_NOT_LESS_OR_EQUAL
DPC_WATCHDOG_VIOLATION
PAGE_FAULT_IN_NON_PAGED_Area.
SYSTEM_SERVICE_EXCEPTION (Win32k.sys)
CLOCK_WATCHDOG_VIOLATION
UNEXPECTED_KERNEL_MODE_TRAP
APC_INDEX_MISMATCH


Computer Specs:
-Windows 8 Pro 64 bit
-Crosshair IV Formula Asus Motherboard
-AMD Phenom II X6 1090T Processor 3.21 GHz
-Corsair 8GM (2x4GB) DD3 Ram
-Two AMD Radeon HD 6950s
-Coolit Systems Eco CPU Water Cooling System
-XFX 850W Black Edition Single Rail Semi Modular ATX 12V 70A 24PIN ATX PSU 80Plus Silver
-Western Digital Caviar Green 500GB HDD
not sure what else to add here.

I called back the place that ran a diagnostic on it and he mentioned that maybe I needed to update my BIOS? However the Asus website doesn't show any Windows 8 drivers for my mobo.

Although I am not a complete computer noob, my knowledge and lexicon of terminology isn't very large, so please bare with me and try to keep suggestions in layman's terms.Anyone have any idea as to what may be causing all these restarts? Feel free to ask me for any extra info.

Thanks.
 
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Soda-88

Soda-88

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There's your problem. Even though the option is available, it's absolutely not recommended to upgrade instead of doing a clean install. 9 out of 10 times you'll have issues similar to what you described and lose more time troubleshooting than if you made backups of your personal files, done clean install and reinstalled all the applications you're using.

And no, you don't need to update BIOS. It's a software and/or driver configuration issue, it can be any application or any driver causing it. For example, my friend did the same and his antivirus caused him to BSOD on every reboot.

Your best bet is entering safe mode and uninstalling all the drivers and applications that run on startup.
 
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Soda-88

Soda-88

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Theoretically, it should have been, but I can't say for sure since I've never done an upgrade.

Try wiping all the system information with Sysprep (C:\Windows\System32\Sysprep\sysprep.exe), select OOBE, generalize and restart options.
It'll bring you to out of the box (experience) screen where you'll create a new account (which you can later delete when you switch back to old account by logging off).
 
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JayRich

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Thanks for the reply. Can you break that down a little more? Where do I find ACHI in the bios and what does "Sata IDE to update" mean? Thanks, and sorry for the lack of knowledge.

Edit: I also got another error message just now: NTFS_FILE_SYSTEM.
 
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shanky887614

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ill be honest mate, ive had a lot of pain from fresh installs im not about to bloody start doing upgrades and getting more errors

(wierdly i had a lot less issues pulling hdd from core 2 duo rig after removing drivers etc and putting in sandy bridge rig, booted up fine and with a couple tweaks was working perfectly)
 
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JayRich

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Not to sound rude, but I haven't a bloody idea what you are talking about lol.
 
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johnbl

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-run whocrashed.exe or another program like it to look at your memory dump files and see if there is a common reason for the failures.

-you can also put your memory dump on the cloud somewhere and someone can point their debugger at it and take a quick look.
 
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JayRich

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Thanks John. I have downloaded whocrashed previously but usually cannot get make heads or tails of what it is telling me. As for putting my memory dump "on the cloud", care to elaborate on this? Or can I simply google how to do this? Thanks again.
 
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johnbl

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I just mean you can upload it to something like skydrive or dropbox and put it in a public folder so someone can look at it. lots of these services will let you have 5 GB space for free.

the files are generally be in c:\windows\minidump one file for each crash you have had.
just upload a few to the cloud and it is pretty easy to look at them.
 
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JayRich

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Okay, cool. I have dropbox so that is what I will do. Can I just post it here, or will I have to post it in a different sub-forum?
 
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JayRich

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I am currently running memtest86 to try and pin point the problem(s) with my memory sticks. I already ran a test with both of my sticks installed and came up with this:

http://img585.imageshack.us/img585/5931/20130211220934.jpg

I am now running a few tests to try and figure out which stick (or both) or slot(s) are bad.

I will work on getting a memory dump up as soon as my testing finishes.

Could all these errors stem from a bad memory stick? I doubt it given the variety of errors I have been getting. I just can't shake the thought that they are stemming from my computers response to Windows 8, given that they all appeared after I upgraded. However, maybe since I have reset I fixed all my initial errors and am now just getting restarts due to faulty memory stick(s).

Does anyone have any more ides or suggestions as to what my problems could be stemming from, or what I can do to try and figure that out?

Lastly, if only one of my 4gb sticks is bad, should I just replace that one. Or am I better off just replacing the both of them? Either option is fine by me.

Thanks again for all the help everyone!
 
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johnbl

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looks like you have a single bad bit on one of your RAM sticks
your test tried to write a 0xA which is 1010 but
when the test read the data it just wrote it got back 0x2 which is 0010

looks like it dropped 1 bit (that one bit of the memory cell is broken)

you will get issues depending on what is placed in that memory. if something placed a zero in that bit it would work, if it place a 1 it would be read back as a 0.
if it was a critical memory structure used and checked by the kernel you would get a bugcheck.

- just replace the one stick and re run the test. (don't break the stick thinking it was useless, I have done that and later found out it was the motherboard electronics that screwed up)

windows 8 does more checking of internal memory structures in order to fight off virus attacks. The same checks will find this type of corruption. windows 7 does not do this and would ignore the error. Same with your file system and hard drives, windows 8 does a lot more checking and repair of your drives before they die on you.
 
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JayRich

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Thanks again for your continued help John. So I originally ran the test with both sticks and got the error message pictured. I took one of my sticks out and ran memtest again for 3 passes and found no errors. I am not running it with the other ram stick but in the same slot. Does this sound like correct procedure?

Also, thanks for that bit of info concerning Windows 8. That could definitely be it then. My computer may have always had issues but Windows 7 was just ignoring them. Now that I have Windows 8, I am getting constant BSoDs due to these errors.

So I guess for the time being, I will work on doing a few more memory tests and then I will work on getting that memory dump. Anything else you think I should do?

Thanks.
 
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johnbl

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I looked at the dump. it looked like another OS data structure that was messed up. if this was the using the bad memory it would be consistent with a bad bit on your RAM.
I did note some things to check:
- you had a phenom II X6 1090T processor and the voltage was reported to be 1.5 V
This may or may not be correctly reported but you might want to check it in the BIOS.
(The value seems high)

-your BIOS told the OS that it only had two banks of RAM and that both sticks were 4gb corsair CMX8GX3M2A1333C9. but they were in bank 2 and bank 3.
(rather than interleaved in bank 0 and 2 or bank 1 and 3) you might want to confirm
that this is the way you intend to have it setup. It looked like banks 0 and 1 were empty.
-your BIOS version is pretty old version 1102 from 8/24/2010 and I think there have been several updates (6 or so) not to say I say any real reason to update.

I would also check your voltage to your memory slots, just to make sure they are in the correct range (1.5v - 1.65 volt at 9-9-9-24 and I assume a 1T command channel)
sometimes you have to bump up the voltage when you use 4 slots of RAM.

I hope this memory dump is one with the bad memory in your machine, if it is not then I can look at it a bit more.

- overall all the different bugchecks you got would occur with the bad bit on your RAM.
in a effort to fight viruses and hacking windows will load drivers into different segments of memory on each boot. if you have a bad chip a different driver will be corrupted each time you boot. This results in a different bugcheck (or failure to bugcheck depending on which driver gets loaded on the bad spot)
 
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JayRich

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- I took a picture of what I believe is a list of my bios voltage settings. Sorry if this isn't what you are talking about. Otherwise, see anything irregular?

http://img7.imageshack.us/img7/373/20130213105832.jpg

- My memory slots go red-black-red-black (left to right) and their is printing on the mobo beside the slots reading: DIMM_A1, DIMM_A2, DIMM_B1, DIMM_B2. My cards are in to the two black slots. Is this fine?

- Yeah, updating my Bios was one of the first things someone mentioned to me, but I don't see any Bios updates available for Windows 8 for my mobo? Should I download the most recent Windows 7 bios settings or what?

- Would this have been included in my picture? If not I can get the voltages. I was instructed to download a program the other day to check all my voltages, temps, fans, etc.

- Don't know what you mean by whether this is the memory dump with the bad memory. I have never touched that file (MEMORY.dmp) before. So I don't know exactly how it works, but I assume it would include all my errors? I never loaded Windows without having both slots in. I may have made it to the login screen once but then restarted to get back into memtest.

- Let me know if you need anything else! Thanks AGAIN for all the help!
 
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johnbl

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- i am not sure on the memory slots, I just dumped the memory config from the bios. I would look in the manual and make sure which slots should be paired first. (memory dump indicated slots 2 and 3 were populated)

- the BIOS updates will not depend on the OS version. BIOS is machine code that is run before control is handed over to a operating system. BIOS talks to the hardware then transfers control to the OS. it is not really used after that.

- oh, I just thought you may have pulled the bad RAM and then hit another bugcheck.

-sometimes you have to up the memory voltage if you are using 4 sticks. Should not be a issue with 2 sticks.

- if i remember correctly, your cpu voltage was high (as reported in the memory dump), you might want to check the setting.
 
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JayRich

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- I checked the manual and I believe my current configuration is okay.

- Would it be possible to link me to OS updates then? I just want to make sure I get the right and most up-to-date drivers.

- At the time of that memory dump, I had both sticks in. However, I am now running WIndows on only one of the sticks and am still having restarts and BSoDs.

- I can re-download a program to check my voltages/temps and take a screen shot if that may help?

- Same as above?
 
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johnbl

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-The memory tester showed a single bit corruption, it can be anywhere in the hardware. CPU, cache memory, RAM. BIOS bugs, bugs in the electronics. best to hope it is in the RAM because that is easy to replace. Check to see if the memory tester will pass on the one stick of RAM. if it fails on both sticks you might try another bank of RAM. BIOS updates can fix timing issues, sometimes updated chipset drivers in the OS can work around know bugs in the chipset hardware.

-you should just go to your OEM and look under the current drivers for windows 7 and get the BIOS updates. The updates generally are for new processors, and minor fixes but who knows (often memory timing fixes).

-you might want to check with AMD to see if they have a CPU tester like intel has for their CPU.

 
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