[tetley]

I am trying to help a friend who is experiencing BSOD's a few times a day on her work computer. Keep in mind, I do not have her computer directly in front of me and have to rely on her to relay any findings to me. She does now have the BlueScreenViewer program installed, and this is the latest report:

Dump File : Mini111309-01.dmp
Crash Time : 11/13/2009 8:39:53 AM
Bug Check String : BAD_POOL_HEADER
Bug Check Code : 0x00000019
Parameter 1 : 0x00000020
Parameter 2 : 0x827c55b8
Parameter 3 : 0x827c5de0
Parameter 4 : 0x0b050006
Caused By Driver : fltmgr.sys
Caused By Address : fltmgr.sys+17c00
File Description : Microsoft Filesystem Filter Manager
Product Name : Microsoft® Windows® Operating System
Company : Microsoft Corporation
File Version : 5.1.2600.5512 (xpsp.080413-2111)
Processor : 32-bit
Computer Name :
Full Path : C:\WINDOWS\minidump\Mini111309-01.dmp


I had her computer recently in trying to help with some issues she was having including these random BSOD's that would shut down her computer and reboot...hence the reason I took the initiative and installed this BlueScreenViewer on her system..in case it happened again. Her computer is up-to-date with all MS fixes, hardware drivers, etc. Her temp files, cache files etc were cleaned up using Ccleaner. She has no viruses, adaware, malaware on her system that was detected. Could this be caused by a corrupted driver or perhaps faulty memory? I appreciate any assistance you provide. Thanks.

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first try system restore...
nojoy...
try running chkdsk /r

[happyrock]

first try system restore...
nojoy...
try running chkdsk /r

[tetley]

In all honesty, I do not want to recommend a system restore to her. I dont have much faith in it nor do I know exactly how long these BSOD's have been occuring for and/or whether she has any good system restore points available.
Is there any risk to running the chkdsk /r command and what exactly will this do?

[happyrock]

In all honesty, I do not want to recommend a system restore to her. I dont have much faith in it

it can fix small issues and I would not recommend it if it could hurt anything...

or whether she has any good system restore points available

that is the downside for system restore...if one restore point is bad...they all are bad (unusable)...
of course, there are no changes done to your system when they are bad

Is there any risk to running the chkdsk /r command and what exactly will this do

CHKDSK can be run from the Windows Shell, the Windows Command Prompt or the Windows Recovery Console. One option for CHKDSK is the use of the Command-line/R switch, which allows the program to repair damage it finds on the hard drive.

Conducting a CHKDSK can take some time, especially if using the /R parameter

[tetley]

I've asked to get ahold of her computer this weekend so I can work on this including some of the suggestions presented here. I had told her how to do the chkdsk command entered here but she reported back it didnt work so assume she did it incorrectly.

Anyhow, she had another BSOD in the meantime and reported the following:

Dump File : Mini111609-01.dmp
Crash Time : 11/16/2009 7:35:32 AM
Bug Check String : BAD_POOL_HEADER
Bug Check Code : 0x00000019
Parameter 1 : 0x00000020
Parameter 2 : 0x828b37b8
Parameter 3 : 0x828b3fe8
Parameter 4 : 0x0b060033
Caused By Driver : ntoskrnl.exe
Caused By Address : ntoskrnl.exe+6067a
File Description : NT Kernel & System
Product Name : Microsoft® Windows® Operating System
Company : Microsoft Corporation
File Version : 5.1.2600.5857 (xpsp_sp3_gdr.090804-1435)
Processor : 32-bit
Computer Name :
Full Path : C:\WINDOWS\minidump\Mini111609-01.dmp


As you can see, its another bad_pool_header error although with a different file this time. Any suggestions would be appreciated.

[othersteve]

I am in agreement with happyrock's suggestions.

Windows seems to be having trouble reading from memory in general, which suggests some sort of I/O error... typically either related to the hard drive or RAM.

If you're really nervous about the whole thing, back up the critical data first. The only real risk with a chkdsk is it can theoretically accelerate the failure of a disk which is already going bad. You can always check the drive's SMART status with a freeware viewer program or attempt a memtest86+ first if you like (as faulty memory is definitely possible as well).

One of those approaches should reveal some sort of insight into the problem. One final thing to mention is that if you want to try testing the drive without running a full chkdsk /r, you can download the drive manufacturer's tools, burn to a boot CD, and run a diagnostic test from there. Typically they will detect a failure and stop at that point, preventing further damage. But if you ever hope to get things running again and it is indeed the drive that's to fault, a chkdsk /r is in your future. :)

~os

Edited by othersteve, 17 November 2009 - 10:31 PM.

[othersteve]

Sorry for the double post, but I almost forgot to mention that I ran into another interesting cause of this problem a few weeks back.

I see you are running Service Pack 3. It has been known to lead to this issue sporadically at time thanks to compatibility issues with certain hardware. After you rule out the possibility of a bad hard drive or memory, your next step might be to try and uninstall Service Pack 3. This could potentially solve the problem.

If (and only if) you have a problem uninstalling SP3 from within Windows, you can do so from the MS recovery console. Here's how:

1. Boot to recovery console (if not installed, you'll have to use your Windows XP CD).

2. Type cd $ntservicepackuninstall$\spuninst and press ENTER.

3. Type batch spuninst.txt and press ENTER. (You'll see some errors here; that's normal)

4. Type exit and press ENTER.

5. Reboot into Safe Mode. If the first reboot leads to a blank screen, reboot again.

6. If Windows Explorer (Explorer.exe) doesn't run and no icons/taskbar are available:
- press CTRL+ALT+DEL to start Task Manager
- click File > New Task (Run) > Type regedit and click OK
- Navigate to HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\System\CurrentControlSet\Services\RpcSs
- Right-click ObjectName in the details pane > Click Modify > type LocalSystem in the Value field > Click OK
- Reboot

Hope this helps.

~os

Edited by othersteve, 17 November 2009 - 11:09 PM.

[tetley]

Excellent. Thanks for the help, assistance and advice. I am hoping to get her computer for this weekend to do the steps you both indicated above. FYI, this is a work computer of hers and the lone IT person in her building is not being cooperative in even attempting to diagnose the issue. Basically she's being told "just live with it or get a brand new computer"....even tho they dont have any money in the budget for a new system. If it were her own personal system, I wouldnt even hesitate with the System Restore as suggested...even tho I never put much faith in System Restore functions. But since this system has been problematic for some time, it'd be difficult to say just how far back I'd have to restore it too. I've run memtest before on other systems so definitely will give that a shot first. I'll then decide whether to run the chkdsk/r or a Dell hard drive test that is more then likely on their website available for download to test the drive. If those both show no problems, then I'll give the SP3 uninstall a go. If none of these steps solve the issue, I guess she may either have to live with it or find some budget leeway to get a new computer. Thanks for all your help and will keep you updated on the progress.

[tetley]

Just to keep you updated on my progress (or lack thereof) with this system. Ran the memtest bootable cd and allowed to run for a number of hours...no errors detected so memory is fine. Ran a couple of different hard drive stress test programs and everything checked out ok...no imminent failure forseeable. Ran countless other hardware software checks and everything passed with flying colours. Uninstalled Service Pack 3 which was somewhat of a disaster because numerous programs were now non-functional because of it being uninstalled. Now I could no longer use IE or other programs and couldnt update Windows since Windows Update wouldnt function obviously. So had to download an offline SP3 network installer file to reinstall SP3 and that went fine. Now IE was working and therefore I went back and installed all remaining Windows fixes and updates. Now its just a matter of wait 'n see while she uses the computer for some time. I suggested to her that since the computer only seems to experience the BSOD randomly upon bootup, that she leave the computer on and running during the week while its been loaded and functioning properly. Since the BSOD occurs during an unsuccessful bootup, she might as well not shut down since she can be assured that the computer is functioning properly for the time being. When I had the computer at my house, during the first two bootups, I experienced two different BSOD's but third time was a charm and then I was able to begin running all the tests and so forth listed above and since then, never experienced a problem. I informed her that its quite possible that we'll never know what the culprit is and she may just have to live with it until her system is finally replaced when they have the budget to do so. I appreciate all the help and advice given to me so far by you here.