[jamestromb]

For the past few months I have been getting a BAD_POOL_HEADER tcpip.sys error and then my computer restarts. At times, the computer just freezes completely and i have to restart not sure what the issue is. This issue happens about 2-3 times per day depending on the usage.

 

Not sure if its relevant but my PC is custom built. 

 

Attached is my minidump files, hope someone can help me out its really annoying.

 

Thanks

Attached Files

•  Dump.zip   2.34MB   359 downloads

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   jamestromb,

 

Over a period of time there has been different causes of the crashes but the most recent ones are primarily caused by a problem with Chrome.

 

As a starting point try updating the drivers for your network device and uninstalling then reinstalling Chrome.

 

Next, download then run Speccy (free) and post the resultant url for us, details here,  this will provide us with information about your computer hardware + any software that you have installed that may explain the present issue/s. 

[phillpower2]

   jamestromb,

 

Over a period of time there has been different causes of the crashes but the most recent ones are primarily caused by a problem with Chrome.

 

As a starting point try updating the drivers for your network device and uninstalling then reinstalling Chrome.

 

Next, download then run Speccy (free) and post the resultant url for us, details here,  this will provide us with information about your computer hardware + any software that you have installed that may explain the present issue/s. 

[jamestromb]

   jamestromb,

 

Over a period of time there has been different causes of the crashes but the most recent ones are primarily caused by a problem with Chrome.

 

As a starting point try updating the drivers for your network device and uninstalling then reinstalling Chrome.

 

Next, download then run Speccy (free) and post the resultant url for us, details here,  this will provide us with information about your computer hardware + any software that you have installed that may explain the present issue/s. 

 

 

I went ahead and did as you said and here is the link to the speccy. http://speccy.pirifo...rv254WWOavjq3ZE

[phillpower2]

Some items to address in your Speccy log but can I first ask if there have been any BSOD since you have done the above two suggestions.

[jamestromb]

Some items to address in your Speccy log but can I first ask if there have been any BSOD since you have done the above two suggestions.

 

Well I had a BSOD (BAD_POOL_HEADER) today and it also froze twice last night and I had to do a hard reset. 

Edited by jamestromb, 15 July 2015 - 05:19 PM.

[phillpower2]

Can you upload the latest dump file for us.

 

The issues that I noted in Speccy + the required actions detailed below;

 

Windows and Windows Defender have not been updated for some three months.

An outdated OS puts you at risk of malware attack on its own but also having out of date AV protection is inviting trouble, fully update both as a matter of urgency. 

 

You have 2 Xs 4GB sticks of Ram which are running in single channel mode when they should be running in dual channel mode.

Can you tell us what memory slots on the MB you have your Ram populating, it should either be slots A1 and B1 or A2 and B2, for best performance it should be slot A1 which is the slot nearest to the processor and B1 which is the third memory slot away from the processor.

 

Your memory is the 1.5 V type but the memory controller is reading as being 1.848 V.

Are you or have you ever overclocked the computer, if you are stop. We need to check the output of the PSU, see below;

 

Download Speedfan and install it.  Once it's installed, run the program and post here the information it shows.  The information I want you to post is the stuff that is circled in the example picture I have attached.

If you are running on a vista machine, please go to where you installed the program and run the program as administrator.

 

 (this is a screenshot from a vista machine)

 

Download then run HWMonitor and post a screenshot so that we have a comparison to the Speedfan results, details from here

 

To capture and post a screenshot;

 

Click on the ALT key + PRT SCR key..its on the top row..right hand side..now click on start...all programs...accessories...paint....left click in the white area ...press CTRL + V...click on file...click on save...save it to your desktop...name it something related to the screen your capturing... BE SURE TO SAVE IT AS A .JPG ...otherwise it may be to big to upload... then after typing in any response you have... click on browse...desktop...find the screenshot..select it and click on the upload button...then on the lower left...after it says upload successful...click on add reply like you normally would.

 

Screenshot instructions are provided to assist those that may read this topic but are not yet aware of the “how to”.

 

The C: partition on the SSD where Windows resides is getting low on available free storage space at 30%. 

This is only an advisory, do not let the amount of free storage space get any lower than 25% else you risk data corruption and in a worst case scenario failure of the device, I use and recommend having a 128GB minimum SSD for Windows 8.1 Pro on its own.

[jamestromb]

To acknowledge your points

 

- I went and made all of the updates

 

- I also placed the memory in the correct slots

 

- Never overclocked my system

 

Note* - Even after doing the above, my PC still freezes occasionally and sometimes I do still get the BSOD

 

Attached is 1 screenshot of SpeedFan and 2 of HWMonitor, as well as my lastest crash

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Attached Files

•  Dump - 2.zip   2.36MB   357 downloads

[phillpower2]

Note* - Even after doing the above, my PC still freezes occasionally and sometimes I do still get the BSOD

 

 

Is this only happening when you are connected to the internet?

 

Chrome is related to both of your latest crashes so the cause points towards your internet be it hardware or software related.

 

For testing purposes, uninstall Chrome and use IE to see if it still crashes.

 

If the computer still crashes, create a new restore point and then do the following;

 

Uninstall TorGuard** and NetBalancer and then the following two devices in Device Manager Windows Adapter V9 and Viscosity Virtual Adapter V9.1

**TorGuard loads on boot and so it is possible for it to cause problems as soon as Windows has booted.

 

Test the computer.

[jamestromb]

I appreciate it the help, I haven't had time to make the most recent changes so as soon as I can i'll make them and we can proceed. But I really do appreciate the time you guys are taking to help.

[phillpower2]

To help avoid any confusion as to whose and what guidance you are following please address my reply #8 and then post back with an update for us.

[jamestromb]

 

 

Note* - Even after doing the above, my PC still freezes occasionally and sometimes I do still get the BSOD

 

 

Is this only happening when you are connected to the internet?

 

Chrome is related to both of your latest crashes so the cause points towards your internet be it hardware or software related.

 

For testing purposes, uninstall Chrome and use IE to see if it still crashes.

 

If the computer still crashes, create a new restore point and then do the following;

 

Uninstall TorGuard** and NetBalancer and then the following two devices in Device Manager Windows Adapter V9 and Viscosity Virtual Adapter V9.1

**TorGuard loads on boot and so it is possible for it to cause problems as soon as Windows has booted.

 

Test the computer.

 

 

 

I Tried the above and the problem persisted so I went and tried the other user's suggestion below.

 

Start the Command Prompt by typing cmd.exe into Start Menu or Search Charm (Windows 8, 8.1) right click cmd.exe and select Run as administrator.

Within Command Prompt type Chkdsk C:  /r command, press Enter key to schedule next time system reboot C: partition error checking.

Error checking with /r parameter can take long as 30 minutes or more.

Within Command Prompt type Sfc   /Scannow  command,  press Enter key to repair corrupted Windows OS system files.

With your next post write down the output result of this command after its finnish.

 

 

Configure Driver Verifier to find out which driver is causing the Blue Screen Of Death (BSOD), the current BSOD memory dump files shows Windows system drivers as the cause of the BSOD which is not always correct.
Driver Verifier monitors Windows kernel-mode drivers, graphics drivers, and even 3rd party drivers to detect illegal function calls or actions that might corrupt the system. Driver Verifier can subject the Windows drivers to a variety of stresses and tests to find improper behavior. 
Essentially, if there's a 3rd party driver believed to be causing the issues at hand, enabling Driver Verifier will help us see which specific driver is causing the problem.

Before enabling Driver Verifier, I recommend to create a System Restore Point:

For Windows XP click “Start Menu --> All Programs --> Accessories --> System Tools”, and then click System Restore.

For Windows Vista  type rstrui.exe into Start Menu to create a restore point.
For Windows 7, 8 and 8.1 type create into Start Menu or Search charm and select "Create a Restore Point" 
 

If  you don't have a Windows Installation DVD then create a  Windows System Repair Disc:

Create a Windows Vista System Repair Disc

The Service Pack 1 must be install to create a Windows System Repair Disc from Windows Vista.
Program that creates a Windows System Repair Disc can be started from "Start Menu --> All Programs --> Maintenance --> Create a Recovery Disc". Follow the instructions to create a Windows System Repair Disk you will need either a blank CD or DVD.

Create a Windows 7 System Repair Disc

Open the "Backup and Restore" by clicking the "Start Menu --> Control Panel --> System and Maintenance --> Backup and Restore" and In the left pane, click “Create a system repair disc”. You will need a blank CD or DVD and then just follow the instructions to create a Windows Repair Disk.

Create a Windows 8, 8.1 System Repair Disc

Open the Search charm by dragging your mouse to the top or bottom right corners of the screen or press WinKey + Q keys and type Recover into Search charm and click Create a recovery drive to create USB recovery drive which will include WinRE and optionally Windows OS factory recover image.
You will need empty USB Flash Drive or blank CD or DVD if you click “Create a system repair disk with a CD or DVD” option on the Connect USB flash drive screen.

 

 

How to enable Driver Verifier:
Type "verifier" without the quotes into Start Menu.

Select the following options:

1. Select - "Create custom settings (for code developers)"

2. Select - "Select individual settings from a full list"

3. Select everything except for  "Force Pending I/O  Requests" and "Low Resource Simulation" and click "Next" button. 

4. Select "Select driver names from a list" and click "Next" button. 

5. Click on the "Provider" column. This will sort all of the drivers by the provider.                            

6. Check every box that is not provided by Microsoft / Microsoft Corporation.

7. Click on Finish.                                                                          

8. Restart your computer.  

 

 

Important information regarding Driver Verifier:
Perhaps the most important which I will now clarify as this has been misunderstood often, enabling Driver Verifier by itself is not a solution, but instead a diagnostic utility. It will tell us if a driver is causing your issues, but again it will not outright solve your issues. 
If Driver Verifier finds a violation, the system will BSOD. To expand on this a bit more for the interested, specifically what Driver Verifier actually does is it looks for any driver making illegal function calls, causing memory leaks, etc. When and/if this happens, system corruption occurs if allowed to continue. When Driver Verifier is enabled per my instructions above, it is monitoring all 3rd party drivers (as we have it set that way) and when it catches a driver attempting to do this, it will quickly flag that driver as being a troublemaker, and bring down the system safely before any corruption can occur.
Verifier will consume a lot of CPU and may slow down the PC considerably.

You may also experience additional crashes.

Reboot the system and wait for it to crash to the BSOD. Continue to use your system normally, and if you know what causes the crash, do that repeatedly. The objective here is to get the system to crash because Driver Verifier is stressing the drivers out.  If it doesn't crash for you, then let it run for at least 24 hours of continuous operation.

Reboot into Windows (after the BSOD crash) and locate the memory dump file.  If present, turn off Driver Verifier by going back in and selecting "Delete existing settings" on the first page.  Then, zip up the memory dump file(s) and upload them with your next post.  If no dump files were generated, post back for further suggestions.

After enabling Driver Verifier and restarting the system, depending on the culprit, if for example the driver is on start-up, you may not be able to get back into normal Windows because Driver Verifier will detect it in violation almost straight away, and force a BSOD.

If this happens, do not panic, do the following:
For Windows XP, Vista and 7 OS’s boot into Safe Mode by repeatedly tapping the F8 key during boot-up.

Note that Safe Mode for Windows 8/8.1 is a bit different, and you may need to try different methods: http://www.howtogeek...8-the-easy-way/
 

Once in Safe Mode type "cmd.exe" without the quotes into Start Menu or Search charm.
 

To turn off Driver Verifier, type in cmd "verifier /reset" without the quotes.

Restart and boot into normal Windows.

If your OS became corrupt or you cannot boot into Windows after disabling verifier via Safe Mode: 
Boot into Safe Mode.

Once in Safe Mode type rstrui.exe without the quotes into Start Menu.

For Windows XP click “Start Menu --> All Programs --> Accessories --> System Tools”, and then click System Restore.

Choose the restore point you created earlier.
If you can't get into Safe Mode, try using System Restore from your Windows Setup DVD to set the system back to the previous restore point that you created.

 

How long should I keep Driver Verifier enabled for?
I recommend keeping it enabled for at least 24 hours. If you don't BSOD by then, disable Driver Verifier. I will usually say whether or not I'd like for you to keep it enabled any longer.

My system BSOD with Driver Verifier enabled, where can I find the crash dumps?
If you have the system set to generate Small Memory Dumps, they will be located in C:\Windows\Minidump directory.

If you have the system set to generate Kernel Memory Dumps, it will be located in C:\Windows and labeled as MEMORY.DMP file.

 

 

I tried this method and the system threw a BSOD right on startup and was able to pinpoint the application "Networx" as the culprit. I have since upgraded to Win 10 with a clean install and haven't had an issue since. I appreciate the assistance from both users. Thanks again guys.

[phillpower2]

You are most welcome and thank you for the follow up