Windows 10: CRITICAL_PROCESS_DIED Error

My Dell XPS 15 9550 laptop was just sitting there and all of a sudden the desktop background turned black, although the desktop icons and taskbar were still visible. A few seconds later, the system crashed giving me a BSOD message of "CRITICAL_PROCESS_DIED". It attempted to send MS a report, but after about 5 minutes, the percent counter was still at zero so I assumed it had frozen solid. No dumps were created and nothing showed up in the Event logs. If you review the Event logs, you will notice a consistent error concerning "IntelCpHDCPSvc.exe" crashing. This occurs each time I boot my system and appeared to have no other effect on it. This error has been happening ever since I installed an update to the Intel HD Graphics 530 driver about 5 days ago. A couple of hours before the crash I installed an update to my Realtek High Definition Audio driver. Any help would be appreciated. I have attached the appropriate "Collector Tool" files.

JohnD

:)

 

BSOD

You're welcome.

The error you received was a
CRITICAL_PROCESS_DIED (ef) stop error which typically may be with the hard disk controller but the system information showed the controller was a Windows built-in controller which would unlikely cause the error.

Another possible cause of the CRITICAL_PROCESS_DIED (ef) stop error is the hard disk itself and that appears to have been the issue.

 

Computer reboots with: The computer has rebooted from a bugcheck. The bugcheck was: 0x000000ef

The dmp file showed a CRITICAL_PROCESS_DIED (ef) stop error (BSOD).

The Release Notes for the Intel storage driver lists a resolved issue being a CRITICAL_PROCESS_DIED (ef) BSOD.

The S3/S4 would be related to sleep if you notice the error tends to occur more going into or out of sleep.

I believe the new driver would be very beneficial but as a general precaution you could create a System Restore Point beforehand.

 

You could try a system restore back to a point before you made the driver changes and see if it makes a difference.

Otherwise, as you have no dump files from these recent crashes you have to try running with certain features and services disabled and see if it makes a difference. For example you can remove things like your ESET antivirus and instead rely on Windows Defender for a while to see if it makes a difference.

The clean boot process can be a good start for troubleshooting: https://www.tenforums.com/tutorials/4...conflicts.html

 

You could also try rolling back the Intel and Realtek drivers to their previous level via Device Manager.

 

I also have a Dell XPS 15 9550. Everything you described I am experiencing the exact same problem.

I was able to finally capture the crash dump info by attaching a USB stick and pointing the crash dump location to the USB drive. It completed the crash dump and didn't get stuck on 0 percent. When I analyzed it using Windbg, I found that the critical process that was dying was PRSvc.exe. This file is the program for Dell Product Registration. I am not sure why this would be a critical process but I uninstalled Dell Product Registration from the installed programs. I am hoping this resolves the issue. I don't think the IntelCpHDCPSvc.exe error in the event log is related but I also get this error in the event log. I had assumed at first that this might be it.

 

I have not received that error again since my initial post. I disabled the IntelCpHDCPSvc service so I do not receive that error any more. I have disabled a number of Dell's software (including the Product Registration) as at times they gave me problems. I had uninstalled one driver with which I had issues and Dell Update attempted to reinstall it. So I killed Dell Update. I check the Dell Support site for my computer to see if any applicable updates are available so I don't really need that piece of software. Another one I want to get rid of, if I can find what program it is associated with, is the pop-up that says something like Dell Support Assist Agent is available to help. At times when it pops up, it temporarily blanks out my screen. I have disabled some PC Doctor related tasks to see it that will help.

JohnD