Windows 10: INVALID_PROCESS_ATTACH_ATTEMPT BSOD constantly happening

When I play some games on my PC, I keep getting this BSOD every now and then. I've also re-installled Windows twice, the first time I got artifacting on my PC which stopped after reinstalling artifacting could probably be because of the overclock. The second time, I continued to get BSODS regardless then another reinstall and i got this error again. I tried checking the minidump in BlueScreenView and It doesnt tell me anything that I understand

:)

 

BSOD constantly happening

Hi Ayuel ,



Welcome to the Microsoft Community Forum.

I hope you're doing well today.

I truly understand that you are having an issue on BSOD that constantly happening.

In regards to your concern , kindly follow the steps below that could possibly fix the issue.

Method 1:

Temporarily disable anti virus.

Turn off Defender antivirus protection in Windows Security (microsoft.com)

Method 2: Use Blue Screen Troubleshooter

• In Windows 10, go to ‘Settings>Updates & Security>Troubleshoot’
  
• Click ‘Blue Screen’ and then click ‘Run the troubleshooter’
  

Method 3: Run SFC Scan

System File Check (SFC) is an inbuilt Windows utility that scans system files for any damage or error. The SFC utility fixes damaged or corrupt system files by replacing them with the one stored in the cached copy location.

• Press ‘Windows+S’ and type cmd
  
• Right-click on Command Prompt and choose ‘Run as administrator’
  
• Gran admin access and then type following command
  sfc /scannow
  
• Press ‘Enter’
  
• Wait for the scan to finish and then restart the system
  

We look forward to your response. If you have other clarifications about this matter, you can get back to us by replying to this post.



Sincerely,

Fatima

Microsoft Community

 

CLOCK_WATCHDOG_TIMEOUT (BSOD) happening on Windows 10 constantly

I built this computer back in 2015 and it's been as powerful as it has been frustrating to maintain and constantly troubleshoot. I'm using it as a gaming PC, and lately it has started freezing then crashing to a BSOD with a "CLOCK_WATCHDOG_TIMEOUT". Anecdotally, it seems to happen after it has gone to sleep and then woken back up. However, restarting does not bypass this issue.

I can't specifically recreate it other than just playing a videogame for 15-20 minutes. It's not limited to a single game, either. When it freezes, I'll hold down the power button and restart the computer. Often it'll crash again on startup, but then load to the desktop after that (and then eventually freeze again).

Some more (possibly red-herring clues):

• A few years ago I used OBS to record my gameplay and it would cause a freeze like this- however, at the time I had always restarted it not knowing it would eventually trip to a BSOD, so I can't say for sure it was a CLOCK_WATCHDOG_TIMEOUT. But it looked exactly the same as what's happening now.
  
• I stopped using OBS, but Nvidia GeForce has since introduced a feature that records gameplay. Even though I've disabled it, I have a hunch in the back of my mind that it could be the culprit.
  

If I just let Windows sit at the desktop (or do normal computer-related things), this problem will never happen- it appears to only be when gaming.

What I've done to troubleshoot this (this is the part where I complain about how awful Windows is):

• I've tried booting into Safe Mode, but apparently all the USB ports on my computer don't work on the screen where it asks what number I want (in order to finish booting into Safe Mode). My wired keyboard is completely unrecognized on this screen.
  
• I ran "sfc /scannow" and it found corrupted files, but could not fix, so I tried DISM but it could not find the source files... So a tutorial said to configure it in the Local Group Policy Editor, but apparently my computer doesn't have that...? (May be a non-issue- see below)*
  
• I just finished completely reformatting and reinstalling Windows 10 and I thought that solved the problem because the computer lasted for hours afterwords. However, after coming back to it (after it had gone to sleep) it froze and crashed just like before (15ish minutes into gaming).
  
• *I've since ran another "sfc /scannow" after re-installing Windows and this time it says it did not find any integrity violations.
  

Since I've reformatted, I'm certain my drivers are all up-to-date, but I'm open to other suggestions there. I really don't want to install third-party tools all willy-nilly unless it's absolutely necessary.

Any idea how to narrow this issue down? My complete guesses are that it's either Nvidia's software or something to do with Windows 10 sleep. If it's hardware, what parts are typical culprits?

I'll try to answer any follow-up questions as best as possible. My primary computer is a Mac, so admittedly I'm not very intuitive (or patient) with Windows. I'm trying to enjoy gaming as a stress-reliever, but instead it only spikes my stress levels.

Here are the specs of this PC:

• Intel Core i7-4790K
  
• Gigabyte GA-Z97X-UD7 TH Motherboard
  
• Crucial Ballistix Sport 16GB RAM (2x8GB)
  
• Samsung 850 EVO SSD (x2)
  
• 3TB HDD
  
• Gigabyte GeForce GTX 970
  
• Corsair Carbide 500R Case
  
• Corsair 760 Power Supply
  

Edit: To add to it, I got a SYSTEM_SERVICE_EXCEPTION the last time it froze/crashed to BSOD.

Edit 2: I re-flashed the BIOS, but the error still happens. I also tried disabling broadcasting in Steam just for good measure. Still no luck. I'll keep updating this as I try other things in case it could possibly help anyone else sometime.

 

Windows 11 BSOD Constantly (Only recently) SYSTEM_SERVICE_EXCEPTION

Hello, thanks again for the assistance before. It's been two days since removing the suggested software and I haven't seen any of the constant BSOD I had before. It seems that the issue was indeed caused by this software alone and is no longer constantly happening. Thank you for your help. It seems this issue is resolved for now.