[trosco]

Hello,

I've had some recent problems with random blue screens, and start-up freezes (got to desktop, but cursor remained with the "thinking" icon and nothing responded). Initially there were only the start-up freezes, which started about 2-3 weeks ago. They've gotten so often that i had to manually shut down the computer 3-4 times before it would start. My desktop at the time was pretty unorganized, and i hadn't performed a scan or defrag in months, so I thought it was time. Re-organized my whole computer, freed about 200gbs of space (including about 50 from the desktop), defrag, scanned, ATF-cleaned it and it was working pretty well, at least for a few days. After that I started getting the start-up freezes again, so I got rid of all the start-up services which I didn't use, and opened the case and dusted the components (careful not to touch anything, vacuumed from 1cm above). Again, 2-3 days it worked, but yesterday it started freezing again. Also, 2 days ago I got a Blue screen, didn't read what it was about, but the second time I got it, there was a mentioning of "atikmdag.sys" file, which I'm not sure what is about. Yesterday I had about 5 bsods, and now it crashed 5 times in the last 30 minutes, either blaming the "atikmdag.sys" file or this other report:

Problem signature:
Problem Event Name: BlueScreen
OS Version: 6.1.7600.2.0.0.256.1
Locale ID: 1033

Additional information about the problem:
BCCode: 50
BCP1: FFFFF8A00C9F6000
BCP2: 0000000000000000
BCP3: FFFFF80003545079
BCP4: 0000000000000000
OS Version: 6_1_7600
Service Pack: 0_0
Product: 256_1

Files that help describe the problem:
C:\Windows\Minidump\070112-15038-01.dmp
C:\Users\Admin\AppData\Local\Temp\WER-24320-0.sysdata.xml

Read our privacy statement online:
http://go.microsoft....88&clcid=0x0409

If the online privacy statement is not available, please read our privacy statement offline:
C:\Windows\system32\en-US\erofflps.txt

I didn't keep the "atikmdag.sys" bsod report, but I can upload the minidump if necessary.

Also, unrelated to this (I think - it's been going on for the last year or so), sometimes the pc fails to get to the welcoming screen on start-up, just freezes in a black screen and nothing happens. I've had a lot of problems with my old graphics card (just wasn't compatible with my system, lots of freezes and lost files), so I exchanged it about a year ago with a Sapphire Radeon HD6800. This one didn't make my life [bleep] like the old one did, but it started giving me these black screen freezes, which happen once every 2-3 days or so.

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have you tried updating the driver for your video card...
how about CCC...(Catalyst Control Center)
how may watts does your PSU put out......
your video card requires a Minimum of a 500 Watt power supply....
you should have at least 600 W PSU and it should be 80+ certified

[happyrock]

have you tried updating the driver for your video card...
how about CCC...(Catalyst Control Center)
how may watts does your PSU put out......
your video card requires a Minimum of a 500 Watt power supply....
you should have at least 600 W PSU and it should be 80+ certified

[trosco]

Thank you for your reply!
Yes, as a matter of fact, just yesterday I have updated my graphics driver to the lastest version from the site. But, there still may be something to do, as there were several drivers for my video card (I got the one which said Sapphire Radeon Hd6850 gddr5 pcie 1gb, but there were some which had some chineese characters, and also one which had an additional "Vapor-x" in the title". As far as I can see, there's no VaporX written on my video card, should I give that a try though?"
What should I try to modify in the CCC?
When I bought my video card, I checked with a pc technician, and he said it was compatible. How can I verify my wattage? I've opened the case and there's nothing written on it.

[happyrock]

so I exchanged it about a year ago with a Sapphire Radeon HD6800. This one didn't make my life [bleep] like the old one did, but it started giving me these black screen freezes, which happen once every 2-3 days or so.

this tells me that card is the source of your issues...was it a new card and if so do you still have the driver cd that came with it...
you can also try first uninstalling CCC then reinstall it

what video card was in the computer when you bought it

usually the wattage is written on the side of the power supply

what is the make and model # of your computer...with that info I may be able to find out the wattage of the PSU

[trosco]

I've reached the point where I can only use my computer in safe mode, as it crashes after 2-3 minutes. I've remembered I have the specs for my pc in my e-mail. Here they are:
Intel Core i5 750
Mainboard
Intel P55, s.1156, QPI 4.8GT/S, 2xGbLAN, 7xSATA 2, 1xPATA, 2xPCI-E(x16), 1xPCI-E(x4), 2xPCI-E(x1), 2xPCI, RAID 0,1,5,10, 4xDDR3 DC 1333, ATX, sound 8 ch, 13xUSB 2.0, 2x1394a
Processor
Intel Core i5 i5-750 2.66GHz, 2.5GT/s, s.1156, 8MB, 45nm
Memory
4GB DDR3 1333MHz heatsink
Video
NVIDIA Graphics PLUS, GeForce GTS250 PCI-E, 1GB, 256bit, GDDR3
FDD
no FDD
HDD
500GB SATA 7200rpm 16MB Seagate / WD
Case
ATX Antec + 500W Fortron / Sirtec
Keyboard
Logitech
Mouse
Logitech
Optical
DVDRW NEC SATA 16x
Sound
on board

The nvidia video card was exchanged because it caused random freezes and lags all the time, I even started a topic here, but the problem couldn't be solved (we reached the point where we could only blame the compatibility).
The blue screens say "page fault in non paged area" more often now. Also some black screens have occured (2/5 restarts).
I'll reinstall the video drivers using the original cd right now.
Is there any risk with closing the computer using the on/off button (when it freezes there's nothing to do)?

Later edit: i've managed to reinstall the old CCC and drivers from the cd, and it's been 10 minutes now without a crash. I'll be keep in watch for a few hours now. But there still are the atikmdag.sys bsods (unless they were also related) and those annoying black screen freezes.

Edited by trosco, 02 July 2012 - 03:59 AM.

[happyrock]

The ATI CATALYST CONTROL PANEL SOFTWARE is causing the atikmdag.sys bsod...
try uninstalling CCC completely...reboot and see how things go for a few days

[trosco]

Thanks for your help, It's been working fine for about 5 hrs now (I also uninstalled CCC). I'll keep an eye out for any future problems, but hopefully they're all gone. Thank you!
About the black screens that happen sometimes, is there any risk with closing the pc from the on/off button? It's not a bad problem, but I want to be sure there isn't any risk about it, when I force-close the pc.
I also got another pc with graphics problems, should I create a new topic?

[trosco]

Well it worked fine, but now I've gotten 2 "page fault in non paged area" bsods in the last 10 minutes, so I'm back to working in safe mode now.

Edited by trosco, 02 July 2012 - 12:17 PM.

[happyrock]

About the black screens that happen sometimes, is there any risk with closing the pc from the on/off button? It's not a bad problem, but I want to be sure there isn't any risk about it, when I force-close the pc.

that should be a last resort option...best is try the reset button first and force the shutdown only if reset fails...then you need to run chkdsk /r after forcing the shutdown

[happyrock]

does it ever crash while in safe mode...
exactly what are you doing when it crashes...

[trosco]

No, it works fine in safe mode with networking.
When it crashes it appears to be random, I couldn't find a repeatable pattern. For eg. sometimes it crashes while only winamp is open (I am working at my desk), yesterday it crashed 2 times while trying to uninstall CCC, two times while having Adobe Acrobat, winamp, a few websites open in Firefox (Facebook, email and I was uploading something on a fast transfer site) and some pictures in windows picture viewer.
These days I've been studying, so I haven't been using my pc very much, just pictures, pdfs and websites.
Should I try to uninstall anything that was recently installed? (I wasn't running them when crashes occured).

[happyrock]

it works fine in safe mode with networking.

this is a sign its a 3rd party driver causing the problem...

so lets try this...
download and install WhoCrashed from here..
This program checks for any drivers which may have been causing your computer to crash....

click on it...then run...then next...put a tick in accept...then next..put a tick in the don't create a start menu folder..then next...put a tick in create a desktop icon..then install.. then make sure there is a tick in launch whocrashed...then finish...then click Analyze ...

if you get a message
This software requires the right version of Windows Debugging Tools for your type of computer. Because this is not normally installed and is not redistributable, we suggest you select the download option from below. Then the right package will be downloaded to a temporary folder and the required files will be extracted from the package automatically. You only need to do this once
click on download then try running it again

WhoCrashed will create report...you have to scroll down to see it
Copy and paste it into your next reply..

[trosco]

Here is the report:


--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
System Information (local)
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

computer name: ADMIN-PC
windows version: Windows 7 , 6.1, build: 7600
windows dir: C:\Windows
CPU: GenuineIntel Intel® Core™ i5 CPU 750 @ 2.67GHz Intel586, level: 6
4 logical processors, active mask: 15
RAM: 4285652992 total
VM: 2147352576, free: 2000392192



--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Crash Dump Analysis
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Crash dump directory: C:\Windows\Minidump

Crash dumps are enabled on your computer.


On Tue 7/3/2012 11:38:05 AM GMT your computer crashed
crash dump file: C:\Windows\Minidump\070312-18283-01.dmp
This was probably caused by the following module: ntoskrnl.exe (nt+0x71F00)
Bugcheck code: 0x50 (0xFFFFF8A00C166000, 0x0, 0xFFFFF8000354B079, 0x0)
Error: PAGE_FAULT_IN_NONPAGED_AREA
file path: C:\Windows\system32\ntoskrnl.exe
product: Microsoft® Windows® Operating System
company: Microsoft Corporation
description: NT Kernel & System
Bug check description: This indicates that invalid system memory has been referenced.
This appears to be a typical software driver bug and is not likely to be caused by a hardware problem.
The crash took place in the Windows kernel. Possibly this problem is caused by another driver which cannot be identified