[gwtwins]

I just recently bought a new gaming PC with Windows 7 Home Premium 64 bit. It has an Intel i7 950 (4 x 3.06Gzh) processor, 6GB of Corsair DDR3 1600 RAM, Nvidia GTX 460 1GB video card, Sound Blaster Audigy X-Fi Extreme Audio sound card and dual DVD drives. All updates are installed and I recently updated the Nvidia drivers. My problem is that sometimes the computer will just freeze up for no reason. Then when I try to reboot I get to the log on page, log in and it freezes there. After several tries the PC will eventually boot back to Windows. I suspect there is a driver issue of some sort going on??? Does anybody know of a good free utility that will look at all of my drivers and let me know of there are any conflicts??

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Download WhoCrashed from the link in my signature below
This program checks for any drivers which may have been causing your computer to crash....

Click on the file you just downloaded and run it.

Put a tick in Accept then click on Next
Put a tick in the Don't create a start menu folder then click Next
Put a tick in Create a Desktop Icon then click on Install and make sure there is a tick in Launch Whocrashed before clicking Finish
Click Analyze
It will want to download the Debugger and install it Say Yes
WhoCrashed will create report but you have to scroll down to see it
Copy and paste it into your next reply







Download Autoruns from the link in my signature below:

1: Extract the Autoruns Zip file contents to a folder.
2: Double-click the "Autoruns.exe".
3: Click on the "Everything" tab
4: Remove any entries that mention "File Not Found" by right-clicking the entry and select Delete.
5: Go to File then to Export As or Save in some versions.
6: Save AutoRuns.txt file to known location like your Desktop.
7: Attach to your next reply.

[rshaffer61]

Download WhoCrashed from the link in my signature below
This program checks for any drivers which may have been causing your computer to crash....

Click on the file you just downloaded and run it.

Put a tick in Accept then click on Next
Put a tick in the Don't create a start menu folder then click Next
Put a tick in Create a Desktop Icon then click on Install and make sure there is a tick in Launch Whocrashed before clicking Finish
Click Analyze
It will want to download the Debugger and install it Say Yes
WhoCrashed will create report but you have to scroll down to see it
Copy and paste it into your next reply







Download Autoruns from the link in my signature below:

1: Extract the Autoruns Zip file contents to a folder.
2: Double-click the "Autoruns.exe".
3: Click on the "Everything" tab
4: Remove any entries that mention "File Not Found" by right-clicking the entry and select Delete.
5: Go to File then to Export As or Save in some versions.
6: Save AutoRuns.txt file to known location like your Desktop.
7: Attach to your next reply.

[gwtwins]

Thanks rshaffer61... This really has been maddening on a brand new machine!! Here is the WhoCrashed report:

Analysis
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Crash dump directory: C:\Windows\Minidump

Crash dumps are enabled on your computer.


On Tue 11/2/2010 12:26:54 AM your computer crashed
This was likely caused by the following module: nvlddmkm.sys
Bugcheck code: 0x117 (0xFFFFFA8008B8B010, 0xFFFFF8800494CE64, 0x0, 0x0)
Error: VIDEO_TDR_TIMEOUT_DETECTED
Dump file: C:\Windows\Minidump\110210-26878-01.dmp
file path: C:\Windows\system32\drivers\nvlddmkm.sys
product: NVIDIA Windows Kernel Mode Driver, Version 260.99
company: NVIDIA Corporation
description: NVIDIA Windows Kernel Mode Driver, Version 260.99




--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Conclusion
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

1 crash dumps have been found and analyzed. Note that it's not always possible to state with certainty whether a reported driver is really responsible for crashing your system or that the root cause is in another module. Nonetheless it's suggested you look for updates for the products that these drivers belong to and regularly visit Windows update or enable automatic updates for Windows. In case a piece of malfunctioning hardware is causing trouble, a search with Google on the bug check errors together with the model name and brand of your computer may help you investigate this further.

Attached is the autoruns file. Thanks for taking a look!

Attached Files

•  AutoRuns.txt   39.54KB   124 downloads

[rshaffer61]

You are correct the Nvidia driver is having problems. Have you looked for any updated driver from the one you installed from the disk with the GPU?
Autoruns look good so no problem there.
Below I am including the possible reasons for this error that I found.

The following actions might prevent an error like this from happening again:

1. Download and install updates and device drivers for your computer from Windows Update.
2. Scan your computer for computer viruses.
3. Check your hard disk for errors.

[gwtwins]

That driver is an update over what was on the disk that came with the GPU. I guess a freeze up doesn't constitute a crash?? The machine just froze up on me yesterday and I had to reboot. It took me 2 boots to get back into windows. The first time the machine locked up right after I typed in my log in password and hit enter.

The PC manufacturer had me do the windows memory test and sometimes it works and sometimes it doesn't. Meaning that as long as I have all 3 sticks of memory in it will run but not always. I had a freeze up the last time I tried to run it. When I take all the memory out and try to run one stick at a time none of the sticks would complete and the machine would lock up on each one. As soon as I put them all back in it ran and said there was no problems with the RAM. I still suspect a driver issue of some sort, along with a possible GPU driver issue. The manufacturer wants me to swap out the video card with a a different one and see if that is the issue but I'm reluctant to do that. All I have available is Geforce 7600 256MB card which probably won't preform all that well anyway. My current card is a GTX 460 1 GB.

There seems to be a few drivers listed that I think might be conflicting. Any idea what the Realtek HD Audio Manager (Realtek High Definition Audio) is or does and if I have a sound card do I need it? I also noticed 4 instances of the Nvidia High Definition Audio along with Realtek High Definition Audio and Sound Blaster X-fi Xtreme Audio listed under Sound, Video and Game Controllers.

My wife and I have virtually the exact same machines, both brand new. The motherboards, processors and RAM are the same. The only differences are she has a Sound Blaster Audigy sound card and an ATI Radeon 5770 1GB video card. She does not have the Realtek HD Audio Manager installed on hers. Could all of the HD audio devices be causing some sort of conflict?

[rshaffer61]

Well before i dive into the drivers we need to check the other aforementioned hardware to make sure it is working.
Let's start with the memory. Since you state you used the Windows memory doagnostics i take it you ran it while in windows correct?
Let's try a dos based memtester.

If you have more than one RAM module installed, try starting computer with one RAM stick at a time.

NOTE Keep in mind, the manual check listed above is always superior to the software check, listed below. DO NOT proceed with memtest, if you can go with option A

B. If you have only one RAM stick installed...
...run memtest...

1. Download - Pre-Compiled Bootable ISO (.zip)
2. Unzip downloaded memtest86+-2.11.iso.zip file.
3. Inside, you'll find memtest86+-2.11.iso file.
4. Download, and install ImgBurn: http://www.imgburn.com/
5. Insert blank CD into your CD drive.
6. Open ImgBurn, and click on Write image file to disc
7. Click on Browse for a file... icon:



8. Locate memtest86+-2.11.iso file, and click Open button.
9. Click on ImgBurn green arrow to start burning bootable memtest86 CD:



10. Once the CD is created, boot from it, and memtest will automatically start to run. You may have to change the boot sequence in your BIOS to make it work right.

To change Boot Sequence in your BIOS

Reboot the system and at the first post screen (where it is counting up memory) start tapping the DEL button
This will enter you into the Bios\Cmos area.
Find the Advanced area and click Enter
Look for Boot Sequence or Boot Options and highlight that click Enter
Now highlight the first drive and follow the directions on the bottom of the screen on how to modify it and change it to CDrom.
Change the second drive to the C or Main Drive
Once that is done then click F10 to Save and Exit
You will prompted to enter Y to verify Save and Exit. Click Y and the system will now reboot with the new settings.


The running program will look something like this depending on the size and number of ram modules installed:




It's recommended to run 5-6 passes. Each pass contains very same 8 tests.

This will show the progress of the test. It can take a while. Be patient, or leave it running overnight.



The following image is the test results area:



The most important item here is the “errors” line. If you see ANY errors, even one, most likely, you have bad RAM.

[gwtwins]

I ran the memory test that comes with Win 7. It restarts the computer and runs from what appears to be a DOS type environment. The screen is blue, red and yellow. I will do the physical test once I get home from work and report back after that.

[rshaffer61]

OK thanks. Just want to make sure it runs at least 6 passes on each stick. Be ready for lots of patience as it will take a long time to complete.

[gwtwins]

I did the physical memory test. I took out all 3 sticks and then put one in at a time. The machine booted to windows successfully all 3 times, each with a different stick. Then I put them all back in and it booted right up? This is really hair pulling!! What do you recommend next?

[rshaffer61]

The other option as strange as it sounds is to rollback the driver for the video card and see if that stops the problem.

Also lets check the hd and see if it is right.
Go to

Start and then to Run
Type in Chkdsk /r Note the space between k and /
Click Enter ...It will probably ask if you want to do this on the next reboot...click Y
If the window doesn't shutdown on its own then reboot the system manually. On reboot the system will start the chkdsk operation
This one will take longer then chkdsk /f

Note... there are 5 stages...
It may appear to hang at a certain percent for a hour or more or even back up and go over the same area...this is normal...
DO NOT SHUT YOUR COMPUTER DOWN WHILE CHKDSK IS RUNNING OR YOU CAN HAVE SEVERE PROBLEMS
This can take several hours to complete.
When completed it will boot the system back into windows.

Let me know if this fixes the problem

[gwtwins]

I did some research on my own before posting here. I did the chkdsk /r a couple of days ago. Do you want me to run it again? Also should I uninstall all of the old Nvidia drivers and components first then install the older versions? I downloaded the whole set from the Nvidia website.

[rshaffer61]

In device manager right click on the video driver and tell it to rollback. It should go back to the original driver.

[gwtwins]

OK...rolled back. The monitor screen flickered and went black for a few seconds, windows beeped at me to let me know something was changing and then Device Manager stopped responding. I manually closed it down after a few minutes. When I reopened it it said it had rolled the driver back to the earlier version. Play wait and see now?

[rshaffer61]

Play wait and see now?

Yep now we see if the new driver was causing the issue. Sometimes newer drivers are not really the best available.

[gwtwins]

OK...I'll see what I can do to stress the system and see how it responds.I'll let you know.

Next I'll have to poke around and find out why the game Crisis just suddenly stopped working! Maybe that was driver related too??? I posted something in the games forum but nobody has replied so far.

Edited by gwtwins, 16 November 2010 - 09:29 AM.