If you really want to help, please read this through very carefully, that's the only way you'd be able to help.

 

This might not be the right forum to ask, however I'm getting desperate in fixing my computer related issues. I'm like 70% sure it's a hardware problem, but I don't want to exclude software problem (like a driver issue).

 

What you need to know first is I've been having crashing issues for almost a year now, which started back on my Vista 32 bit, and now still continues on a fresh Win 7 64 bit. What I've had here is, whenever I uploaded to YT or downloaded something large my computer froze. This means screen and sound as well (almost like a BSoD, but without the blue screen itself). Sometimes I had these crashes when I watched a movie or played a game as well.

 

Things since then escalated a lot:

What I have since like a week now is a computer that crashes like 3 times a day like I mentioned above, I also get BSoDs now (however these are quite rare), and what I have most of the time is "windows kernel mode driver stopped responding and has successfully recovered" problem where the screen freezes for 7 seconds, it goes black, and then you get that message in windows. What I also have are really weird graphical bugs (only in GTA so far), and random game crashes in every single game I have. In one of the game I even have a logger that says why the game crashes, and it said it was because of the d3d11.dll.

 

Motherboard:

My motherboard is quite old now (about 4 years old), so it's possible that it's failing, however if it was that I'm guessing that the whole computer wouldn't even start. So it's most likely not that.

 

Harddrive:

It's quite old, but it's definately not capable of causing such weird anomalies.

 

Video Driver:

Now these crashes started on a very normal day. I haven't installed any new drivers, or DLed anything or updated anything (other then something I might not know of, like a Windows Update). At first I thought it was the video driver, so I reinstalled it over and over again without any results. I even tried removing nvidia 3d vision, since people said that can cause crashes similar to mine, I also tried using an older driver version from the DVD or from Window's offical site (that windows downloads itself). Since I even removed the driver components from the computer myself, and then reinstalled the video driver, I've ruled out that it's causing the crashes.

 

RAM:

We tested the computer without one of the RAMs, and when we did take out one specific one, the crashing stopped. I tested my computer for max. an hour and it didn't have any freezes. After that I put back the RAM and I was able to play for like a day, but then the crashing started again. There's a chance that this fucker might be the one responsible for my crashes, but that wouldn't really explain the graphical bug (imo). Also when I check in windows I have 8 GBs of RAM (I got two 4 GB DDR3 RAMs), so they should be working fine. I haven't run a memtest yet, and I really don't wish to, since it takes like 12 hours and leaving my computer on.

So once again, this MAY be a failing part.

 

Video Card:

I've just received a new video card, so I'll take out the old one and put the new one in and see if it stops the crashing. I'll get back to you on that. And it's highly likely that it's the video card that's failing, but we'll see that soon.

 

Virus:

Tested my computer with multiple anti-viruses and none of them found any viruses or possible viruses on my computer, so I'm ruling out these as well. (AVG, Malware Bytes Anti Rootkit, Malware Bytes Anti malware, Microsoft Security Essentials)

 

Edited June 18, 201411 yr by Sgt.Kanyo

Just to be sure, you should run a virus scan in safe-mode, as some can't be removed or even identified unless in safe-mode.  I had to run JRT for some maleware that just would not delete unless I used the JRT and ran the virus scans in safe mode (none of my other virus scanners even found it...avast, malwarebytes).

 

Although sounds like a hardware problem, possibly bad ram, like you mentioned.

 

Just a thought.

 

DrDetroit

The kernel mode stuff is caused by drivers and windows not updating simultaneously and thus causing issues. It will usually appear quite frequently for a while, then a bit less adn back to a lot, depending on updates from windows or nvidia and as far as I know there isn't really a way to solve it, except using an older version of the drivers. got no idea about the other BSoD issues.

Honestly, it sounds like an overheating or failing video card.

Have you checked temperatures while the issues occur? Might be self protection because of fan failure/overheating.

 

Also try monitoring other components, e.g. HDD read/write, CPU voltage, core speed etc. and check what happens when freezing.

 

BTW, only because your system displays 8GB of RAM available doesn't mean the RAM is not damaged. It will also try to render using your GPU even if it was damaged... But if RAM was really the failing part I'd expect more BSODs and not just freezes. Still, could be the issue. The fact it remains unstable after reinstalling Windows speaks for a hardware failure though.

I had similar issues with my build a bit over two years ago. I had BSODs and driver-related issues (messages popping up saying the graphics driver stopped responding and could not recover, bla bla bla). It turned out both my brand new graphics card and one of the memory modules were at fault (very unlucky, indeed).

 

memtest could help, you could just leave your computer on while you sleep. Also, you should test it with only one stick of RAM for more than an hour, otherwise it may be misleading, and trust me, I've been through this.

Oh yes I forgot to mention, that I've been monitoring my computer with nvidia's system tool, used for checking temperatures, and I've been also checking it with another program called Speedfan, however like I said the GPU is the hottest with 85 °C (max is 92 °C / 100 °C according to other people), and I think when my CPU once got up to 80 °C, however that only happened once, and I think I might have moved the fan at that time. Now my CPU keeps getting max 70 °C, but it's usually at like 60 °C under load. So it's not overheating.

 

Another thing I forgot to mention is some people said these windows kernel driver errors could be related to the graphics card not getting enough juice from the power supply. According to asus' calculator I should need 650W PS and I only have a 550W, however it's been working almost without any faults (apart from the random crashes). Also since the new card I got is a beast, I'll probably have to get a better PS. The asus site recommends a 750W PS for the new card (it's still not in though).

 

Thanks for all the reply, and I believe I'm going to have the same issue as Sgt.Jackson did. Probably one of the RAMs is failing and the video card as well.

Did the graphical bugs appear on Windows Vista or did they appear after you've installed Windows 7?

 

When you upload a video and your computer crashes, did you do anything in the background?

I had a similiar problem once: I watched a video with the YouTube HTML5 player on Windows 8 and my computer crashed.

If I switched back to the standard player (Flash), nothing happened, as well as I used the HTML5 player under Windows 7.

 

If you want to check your RAM, you can use a tool which is included in Windows.

Just press Win + R and type "MdSched". It should open a window where you can restart the computer and start the memory diagnostic.

This might take some time depending on the amount of your RAM. You can do this overnight or when you don't need the computer.

 

And if you only have a 550W PSU and you need a 650W or 750W PSU, that might be another reason why your computer freezes and / or reboots or stops.

 

Would be nice if you tell us what was the problem if you solved it.

Edited June 19, 201411 yr by Erase

Yeah I'll definately let you guys know what the problem was once I fix the problem. Also the graphical bugs only started a week ago like I mentioned. On vista I only had the computer crashes. I've changed OS like 7 months ago. I haven't been doing anything when those crashes appeared, only uploading to YT or downloading a huge file or just watching a movie online. Sometimes those crashes even happened while watching a movie without using my internet. Back then we though it could be a wifi card failing, and it still might be, but tbh that's not a priority right now.

Hey Sgt.Kanyo, I don't know if this will be much help to you but anyway, does your computer get dusty frequently? I have had my computer run hot, upon opening it up there are thick layers of dust. In my situation a good clean up makes it run like new.

 

Your random shutdowns could be the computer trying to preserve itself.

 

Cheers.

Dust can only cause overheating issues, but like I said it's not an overheating problem. I kept checking the temperature and it was fine. Also I clean my computer like every 2 months or so, so there's not really a lot in there. Well not as much to cause any heat issues. Also I've cleaned it like 5 times this week, so pretty sure it's not that.

honestly, it's no doubt a hardware problem.. especially with you saying how old some of the stuff is. upgrade or replace parts every 2-3 years to make sure it doesn't malfunction.

 As of 2013 the problem seems to have receded, with the last major surge of complaints being reported in 2010. check the caps{compactors} on all card and boards bulging means they have gone bad reseat ram and all cards use duster to clean all slots befor u put cards and ram back give it a. Shake test if u shake computer does it freez or crash. Check power supply voltage outputs just a hardware starting point

what cap fail looks like

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Capacitor_plague

The capacitor plague was a problem with the higher than expected premature failure rate of aluminum electrolytic capacitorswith non-solid or liquid electrolyte of certain brands, especially from some Taiwanese manufacturers.^[1] The capacitors fail because of a special water based corrosion effect, due to a poorly formulated electrolyte.

 

Electrical symptoms[edit]

As an electrolytic capacitor ages, its capacitance usually decreases and its equivalent series resistance (ESR) usually increases. The capacitance may abnormally degrade to as low as 4% of the original value, as opposed to an expected 50% capacity degradation over the normal life span of the component. When this happens, the capacitors no longer adequately serve their purpose of filtering the direct current voltages on the motherboard, and a result of this failure is an increase in the ripple voltage that the capacitor is supposed to filter out. This results in a system instability. Capacitors with high ESR and low capacitance can make power supplies malfunction, sometimes causing further circuit damage. In computers, CPU core voltage or other system voltages may fluctuate or go out of range, possibly with an increase in CPU temperature as the core voltage rises.

Edited June 19, 201411 yr by rss3781

Alright a little update. We installed the new video card, and also a new power supply that's capable of giving 750 W, which is actually more then the recommended PS for my current setup, and I still had a computer crash. We also updated the BIOS (from a 2012 update to another 2012 update, so I guess that didn't really do anything).

 

What's weird though is that the graphical issues and program fails I've explained stopped after like a week. I haven't done anything to the computer to make it stop; it's almost like it fixed itself.

 

What's next is installing other RAMs and see if the crashes will still occur. I'll report back if that fixed the problem. If not, I'm going to assume it's either the motherboard or the wifi card that's failing.

It may not be the issue, but my old PC kept getting BSoD screens due to an issue with the processor. Under load, such as playing games, downloading large files, and watching movies, the PC would shut itself down and give me the BSoD error. It never gave a specific error, but I tested each and every part in different computers I had lying around the house, and narrowed it down to the RAM and the Processor. I replaced the RAM with some new stuff but the issue still persisted. If you have other computers lying around your house, maybe try transplanting the hard drive, power supply and what ever else to the other computer, and testing it that way. 

it's almost like it fixed itself.

Don't you just love it when that happens, haha :P

 

 

Yeah, it looks like it's probably the RAM currently. Remove both the RAMs & fit in a brand new RAM.

If the PC crashes still occur, then, like CrawFord said, you might want to check into the CPU or motherboard randomly failing.

I don't think a Wi-Fi card failing would cause a PC crash, would it?

Well a friend of mine told me it could be the wifi driver, if it happens mostly when I DL stuff or upload. Like I said most of these crashes occur when I DL or upload to YT (always crashes when I upload to YT), so that's why we thought it could be that.

My CPU is a beast, it's an i7 2600, so I don't know, it shouldn't be at fault. It gets proper cooling too, so yeah, it's kind of weird. We'll see what changing the RAMs will do.

Switched out the RAMs, and the computer was working brilliantly for a day, I could even upload a very long video to YT without once crashing, but now it's back again. Tried to upload another video to youtube, it resulted in the computer crashing, and it also crashed a few times when watching an online video, so I guess it wasn't the RAMs. I'm going to try to install windows on the other HDD and see if that works.

did u check cpu voltage for spikes?  do u have a UPS? did u check the CAPS???  

Edited July 7, 201411 yr by rss3781

Well a friend of mine told me it could be the wifi driver, if it happens mostly when I DL stuff or upload. Like I said most of these crashes occur when I DL or upload to YT (always crashes when I upload to YT), so that's why we thought it could be that.

My CPU is a beast, it's an i7 2600, so I don't know, it shouldn't be at fault. It gets proper cooling too, so yeah, it's kind of weird. We'll see what changing the RAMs will do.

 

ahh. Yeah, probably could be then.

Continue with installing Windows on your other HDD. If that Windows crashes during downloads/uploads, then it might be your WiFi card.

Try attaching a LAN cable for internet access, if possible. Otherwise might want to look into a new WiFi card before testing out your CPU/Motherboard.

 

Also, now does it crash only when downloading/uploading stuff, or does it crash under intense load too?