Windows 10: BSODs leading to clean Windows install - still crashing, potential SSD failure? I'm lost

Hello, I've seen a couple of threads on here that share similarities to mine so I am hoping somebody will be able to help.


I have a Xiaomi Mi Notebook Pro -

Intel i7-8550U @ 1.80GHz 2001 Mhz 4 cores

16 GB DDR4

Nvidia GTX 1050 Max-Q 4GB

came with a 256GB SSD which I wiped and moved to the spare port and I installed my own 500GB SSD https://www.amazon.co.uk/Crucial-MX500-CT500MX500SSD4-2280SS-Internal/dp/B077SQ8J1V which I then installed a clean Windows 10 install on from USB.


The laptop has worked perfectly for a couple of months now, I undervolted it using these settings https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Tl6ldWRbOTk and left it on them since. I use the laptop for video editing Adobe suite, mostly internet work but also a couple of games GTAIV to be specific.


It has never crashed on me and both the SSDs worked fine, the 500GB holding Windows and the 256GB original SSD being used for some editing projects and such.


However, the laptop suddenly blue screened, just saying CRITICAL_PROCESS_DIED without any further info and then would boot back into Windows 10 before happening again. It started happening too frequently so I did the recommended removal of software one by one to narrow it down. Malwarebytes seemed to be causing issues if I clicked the system tray icon it would crash so I removed it and it seemed to be fixed. The next day Firefox was causing it so I disabled hardware acceleration and then seemed to work.


It then continued to happen while I was doing mundane tasks like copying, opening the file explorer... the blue screens usually say CRITICAL_PROCESS_DIED but I had one that said UNEXPECTED_STORE_EXCEPTION which then led to a Windows Boot Manager screen saying 'Windows has encountered a problem communicating with a device connected to your computer... Status: 0xc00000e9 Info: An unexpected I/0 error has occured'


I don't have any external devices connected at this point. It did managed to boot back into Windows but with the constant crashing I thought I was doing more trouble than worth and the next day I took it to a tech shop to check if the SSD was loose or something. It wasn't of course, it was in there just fine.


I got another boot screen saying 'No bootable device - insert boot disk and press any key' and after rebooting it would boot into Windows 10 again. I ran sfc /scannow from the Troubleshooting menu/command prompt which said:


Windows Resource Protection found corrupt files and successfully repaired them ... The system file repair changes will take effect after the next reboot.


And then I couldn't get into Windows. It would take me to the login screen, I'd login fingerprint/pin/password and it would accept it, say Hello, the screen would go black and then it would display the lock screen again. I couldn't get into Windows. Safe mode let me in after that, so I copied over any remaining files I hadn't backed up and prepared to reinstall Windows 10 thinking it was now just a corrupted install. After a bunch of crashes I managed to make another bootable Windows 10, rebooted from USB and noticed that my BIOS said my boot was set to Legacy so I switched it to UEFI after reading this was better overall, and continued wiping the 500GB SSD and reinstalling a clean Windows on it. I also had noticed that the Boot loader settings were in a partition on the 256GB SSD, likely from the original Chinese version that came with the laptop, so I removed that and after Windows had installed the boot loader settings were indeed on the 500GB SSD along with the new Windows 10 install itself.


So - in a clean install of Windows 10 I started updating it, it was installing updates fine and then BOOM, another BSOD. I researched the optional update that I had done and found that KB4535996 is causing crashes for others and since it's optional I left it. I reinstalled clean Windows again just so there was no history of crashing and started doing updates again, all going smoothly... until another CRITICAL_PROCESS_DIED. At this point I don't know what to do so I reboot a couple of times and I get the Xiaomi BIOS dialogue box thing saying 'Default boot device missing or boot failed'. After restarting it finds Windows 10 again and it's fine but it got me thinking that maybe all the crashes have somehow damaged the SSD.


Looking at reviews on the Amazon page for the 500GB SSD I bought, it seems others have reported bsod's and many have said the drive runs HOT, like 90 degrees hot. Maybe this was the problem all along but before I reinstall Windows and start doing this all again, I wondered if anybody might have any further info that might help figure this problem out? The only registry edits I made were for a theme UX theme patcher but Windows still crashed without any of this.


I'm not using the laptop at the moment but when it's on I can ocassionally see the toolbar flashing or the desktop icons flashing, as if I've hit refresh. It seems a little slower than usual too.


I always keep Windows up to date along with my apps, and all my devices in device manager were up to date. As I said everything had worked just fine for a couple of months. If anybody can suggest what to do next that would be great!


Here is a copy of the log file it produced when I ran the sfc /scannow but from within Windows, before I reinstalled a clean one: https://1drv.ms/u/s!AtFjLjN4xazQ61czi_dJg_p2k4sA?e=OwH39L

:)

 

Clean Install Workaround for Vista

You may remember this news story on techPowerUp! a couple of days ago relating to the lack of clean installs when using the Upgrade Editions of Vista, which required an old OS to be installed. However, Paul Thurrott has managed to find a workaround for this issue, which ironically lets users do a clean install Vista without any previous version of Windows, albeit a little tedious. Here are the steps:

• Boot from the Windows Vista Upgrade DVD as normal
• When prompted for a product code, leave this blank
• Select the version of Vista you have purchased and let Vista install
• When you boot to your desktop for the first time, run the Vista setup from Windows
• This time enter your product key
• When asked whether you want to do an Upgrade of Custom install, select custom and choose a clean install
• Windows will now install for a second time and you should be able to activate it

Remember, these steps are only advised for use in order to achieve a clean install of Vista, it is only legal to use the upgrade editions if you have previously purchased the appropriate version of Windows.

Source: DailyTech

 

Change out to SSD and a Clean install

If I disconnect the HDD how do I bot up ? ... it would have no OS ?

Can you outline a few of the steps ...

I install SSD make sure its empty and can be seen by OS - no problem there.

If I pull SATA lead plug on HDD while OS is running won't it crash ?

 

Getting all kinds of BSOD while installing Windows 10 on an empty SSD

I was receiving a BSOD every 1-4 weeks (while working on Windows 10), wasn't able to figure out the cause of it. Tested RAM, SSD, all were good and I didn't pay too much attention.

Yesterday I've received another BSOD, didn't mind it, PC restarted and I saw a Windows message of "Automatic repair", which then resulted into "Repairing disk errors. This might take over an hour to complete.". Left it there for another 10 or so hours - it
was still running. Shut down the PC, took out the SSD (Samsung EVO 850, bought 6 months ago), backed up all the data, cleaned it, formatted and now trying to install windows on an empty SSD. Using a USB. These are the BSODs that I'm currently receiving when
trying to launch a Windows installation (by the way, same BSODs were appearing earlier "when everything was fine"):

• IRQL NOT LESS OR EQUAL
• SYSTEM SERVICE EXCEPTION
• KERNEL SECURITY CHECK FAILURE
• NTFS FILE SYSTEM
• MULTIPLE IRP COMPLETE REQUESTS
• BAD POOL HEADER

Already tried:

• reformatting the SSD
• reformatting the USB and flashing Windows installation to it
• tried using another USB
• switching RAM sticks (in total there are 4 of them, 8 GB each)
• BIOS default

PC parts:

• Motherboard: Asus B350-PLUS
• CPU: AMD Ryzen 1700
• RAM: G.Skill Flare X DDR4-2400 (4x8GB)
• SSD: Samsung 850 EVO (500 GB)

Any help will be greatly appreciated.