Windows 10: My Norton AV tells me: "dm_log_collector.exe is not safe and has been

Yes, that is correct about the directory. %SystemRoot% is C:/Windows, so look and make sure you have a folder named Minidump in C:/Windows. You are telling the computer to put the dump file in C:/Windows/Minidump, so we want to make sure there is a folder there named Minidump. If you do not have one, create a folder there named Minidump. If you don't understand or have questions, just ask.

 

Thanks essenbe,
I will make the folder. I thought there was an error if Windows didn't have/or make one.
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To get back on track:
1. My issue is that a "WDF_violation" is preventing me to reach the screen to roll back to a previous Restore Point when I can't perform a normal boot; thus must got through Shift-Restart, etc.
2. I get the BSOD at this point: Shift-Restart -> Troubleshoot -> Advanced Options -> BSOD
3. After I add the Minidump folder, should I go through that routine again then re-run the DMLog procedure for you to help Identify what's causing the WDF_violation?

Thank you for your continued support!
Best,
/jdU

 

Hello essenbe,
I moved forward and added the folder: C:\Windows\Minidump

and ran the Shift-Restart procedure.
Correction:
2. I get the BSOD at this point: Shift-Restart -> Troubleshoot -> Advanced Options -> Restore -> BSOD

Unfortunately there is no file in the Minidump folder.

What do you suggest?

Thanks,
/jdU

 

JDU, the WDF is the Windows Driver Foundation which in many cases means there is a bad driver somewhere in your system. That bad driver may very well also be the reason you have problems booting. Hopefully the dump files if we can get a few will give us some indication of which driver that is. If it doesn't there are a couple of other things we can do to try to find out.

 

The next BSOD you get, can you take a picture with your cell phone or something? Please upload it here. The same procedure as uploading your dump files only it is a picture. Don't worry about the quality, I just want to be able to read it.

 

2 things I would like to try. Have you always had an Nvidia card in your machine since your last clean install?

Also, I would like you to uninstall Norton and use the Norton Removal Tool after uninstalling it the normal way. Use Windows Defender until we can get this sorted out.

 

Also, please download the most current driver for your Nvidia card from Drivers | GeForce . Look and see if you have a folder named C:/Nvidia. If you do, inside it will be a display drivers folder. Inside that will be all of the drivers you have installed. They will be folders with the driver numbers. Like a folder named 362.00. Delete all of those folders but do not delete the display drivers folder. If you don't have a C:/Nvidia, don't worry about it. Uninstall all of the Nvidia graphics drivers you see such as the Nvidia HDMI driver, Nvidia GeForce Experience, virtual audio and such. Just be sure to uninstall the Nvidia Graphics driver last. It will ask for a reboot, go ahead and reboot. Upon reaching the desktop again install the new drivers you downloaded, but do not use the express install, use custom install. Make sure the 'Clean Install' box is checked. Uncheck everything except the Graphics Driver and the PhysX driver. Install nothing else. Then install with only those 2 selected.

 

The Nvidia Card came with the computer 4 years ago. I had an issue with getting the driver to update automatically. My IT Guy corrected that by downloading the new driver manually and updated it. Now is Ver. 10.18.13.5382
Before upgrading to Win 10 I added a new SSD as my primary and changed 8GB to 16GB RAM.
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Norton won't give me any problems running the diagnostic .exe; I've just added that file to Norton's Exclusion List.
Or are you suggesting removing Norton for another reason?
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I had trouble adding the photo file; might be a size issue. I'll reduced its size and add it here.
Oops, I made it 20" wide and filename say 10"; my bad.
Thanks
/jdU

 

Re: "Also, please download the most current driver for your Nvidia card from Drivers | GeForce . Look and see if you have a folder named C:/Nvidia."
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I'm needed elsewhere; I'll want to follow your instructions carefully. Let's continue tomorrow.
Please take a look at my Nvidia folders & files. The attached shows only about half the files in the driver folder.
Please comment on what extension I should be deleting, etc.
Thanks very much
/jdU

 

I've never seen a Desktop with Optimus. Is this an AIO? Forget the display driver for right now.

I would like you to completely remove Norton for our testing. Some computers run Norton OK, But there are numerous computers that Norton creates all kinds of problems.

The screenshot you showed is not a BSOD per say. It isn't even attempting to write a dump file, it is something else.

 

Hi essenbe,
I'm not sure about "Optimus". I see (you saw) a folder in the Nvidia directory for "Display.Optimus". It has only 3 files in it. I happy to provide any other details on the Nvidia Card and/or GeForce program/software/drivers.
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AIO (All In One?) No, it is a full HP Desktop Tower
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I dug into my email 4 years ago Feb 2012 and came up with the configuration / shipping documentation attached. It describes exactly what I have now with the exception of the new SSD primary: 250 GB and it still has both 1.0 TB Hard Drives & I boosted the RAM to 16 GB.
See attached.
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Norton has always worked well on this computer and in the past when I did have some issues, it was quite a lot of work for Norton Support to uninstall it and reinstall it.
Since it appears to be working perfectly right now, I hesitate to uninstall it.
But if you have reason to believe Norton is causing the issues, let's talk about it.
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So that wasn't a BSOD? Does that screen have a name?

Thanks very much,
/jdU

 

That screen probably does have a name, I'm just not sure what it is called. I have seen it a few times myself. I have had numerous dealings with Norton. It basically takes over the computer. Just like the DM Log file. It decides what you can load and what you can't. All it takes is it to allow proper permissions or access to one or two files for your computer not to boot. We have also had problems with it during upgrades. Norton really doesn't like them and some fail and some are just messed up because of it. I am not going to try to tell you that is what your problem is. I can't say that. But, understand. From my perspective, I am supposed to find out what is making your computer to BSOD or have errors. The first approach is always to remove anything that is known to cause problems. At least that is my approach. You can decide. It's your computer. I only make suggestions.

Tell you what. Right click on the start flag and select Command Prompt (Admin) in the window that opens copy/paste this
Dism /Online /Cleanup-Image /RestoreHealth give it time to work. It will give you a successful or failed message. If it gives you a failed message, tell me what the message is.

 

Did your computer come with a Graphics card? I don't see one listed in the attachment you provided. I also don't see the power supply listed.

 

OK, here's what I got:

Quote"
Microsoft Windows [Version 10.0.10586]
(c) 2015 Microsoft Corporation. All rights reserved.

C:\WINDOWS\system32>Dism /Online /Cleanup-Image /RestoreHealth

Deployment Image Servicing and Management tool
Version: 10.0.10586.0

Image Version: 10.0.10586.0

[==========================100.0%==========================]
The restore operation completed successfully.
The operation completed successfully.

C:\WINDOWS\system32>
"Quote
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Video Card is listed:
3GB DDR3 NVIDIA GeForce GT 545 [DVI, HDMI, VGA]

Am surprised the Power supply isn't listed as it was an option (er...I think):
600 Watt
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Thanks for working with me.
What's next?
/jdU

P.S.: When I had my IT Guy handle the SSD installation (Samsung) using the transfer software we agreed to remove the old System Restore Partition since I'll never want to go back to original factory state. I asked him to leave all the files on the original Hard Drive (now D:\) in case there might be something I needed later. He tried to remove the Restore partition on the original drive after the transfer and somehow everything on the disk got deleted. He copied the "C:" data from the SSD to the Hard Drive (D:\) and decided not to touch the 100 MB partition on the SSD. It sits there in red annoying me, but what's 100 MB?
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I'm pretty sure it (100 MB) was totally empty at that time. Now it has 3 "old-date" files and a "Boot" folder dated the same as the date Win 10 Upgrade was done. It included data on different languages all old dates and these 3 files with the date of the upgrade:
BCD{5b531b54-08c9-11e6-8a8e-e840f20c8749}.TM.blf
BCD{5b531b54-08c9-11e6-8a8e-e840f20c8749}.TMContainer00000000000000000001.regtrans-ms
BCD{5b531b54-08c9-11e6-8a8e-e840f20c8749}.TMContainer00000000000000000002.regtrans-ms

Some Google time told me some computers have Win 10 creating 3 partitions ..., so, since otherwise this machine is working very well, I just accept it as what? Just, "Oh, well ... *Huh"

Macrium shows this best so see the capture attached.
Maybe you'll find it interesting.
FYI: I renamed that partition to "Data (Q\)" as it is an alpha character "out of my sight".

 

JDU, I'll respond in the morning. But did the Graphics card come with the computer or was it bought later?