Windows 10: Random BSOD's while using computer driving me nuts.

Hello and thank you for taking the time to read my post!

Please see attached the Minidumps that were collected after running dm_log_collector.exe
Computer specs I expect should be visible in my profile. In case I missed some crucial information, let me know and I'll share.

Also, in case I need to do a full wipe & re-install of my PC, no problem. I've got enough External Hard Drives to back up any data I need to back-up. I just want to make sure that if I do so, no malware stays behind or that it's a hardware issue and all was for nothing.

Files & Installed Programs:

Talent Driver
I was trying to find out if some of the drivers might be the issue. I later realized that this was probably not a good program to have installed (it's got mixed reviews I found). Not sure if it is causing additional issues. It did manage to find out some of my drivers were out of date, which I then updated via the Device Manager. This didn't seemingly change the behaviour of my computer, though I think I did start experiencing different BSOD's afterwards. Previously it was just the BLUE_WATCHDOG_TIMEOUT, but it could as well be completely unrelated.

Worth noting: It says the drivers of my Audio "High Definition Audio Device" needs to be repaired. But when I try to update it via the Device Manager, Windows says it's got the latest driver. It also mentions that my NVIDIA drivers can be updated and same here, when trying to update via the Device Manager, Windows will tell me I have the latest drivers installed.

Java
Recently uninstalled this as I read it has a lot of security holes. Not sure which version I had, but anyway only used it to play "Go" with the KGS client: KGS Go Server
I can play Go using other clients, so didn't want to keep a potential security problem around.

Malware Bytes
trying to find malware, only PUPS were found so far.

Otherwise the computer is mainly filled with games, movies & music, including an installation of Battlenet, Steam, Overwolf, TeamSpeak and OBS.

Not much else aside from things like 7zip, VLC mediaplayer, etc.

Background Story:
Since the creation of this computer, I've been experiencing BSOD's. A friend of mine created the computer for me (while I was still living in the Netherlands) with components we searched and bought online. After installing Windows 8 with a two Hard Drives 1TB RAID set-up (at the time) the computer seemed to be doing swell, until we started encountering our first BSOD's. I don't remember all of them, but the most frequent one was CLOCK_WATCHDOG_TIMEOUT. The BSOD's typically happened when we were gaming, but not solely.

At the time we thought it might be the RAID set-up, so we re-installed windows with a regular set-up, but the problems persisted. We continued using the system and from time to time days went by without a problem and then sometimes we had multiple BSOD's in a row. We sort of gave up and used the system anyhow, as most of the times it was working fine.

A while back I moved to the Czech Republic and I took the computer with me. The BSOD's persisted and at some point the computer seemed to have crashed completely. It didn't boot anymore and I left it for dead. I was planning on visiting some shop to get it fixed, but life happened and I never got around to it.

A year or so later I invited over a (reasonably) tech-savy friend to take a look at the PC, hoping he could pinpoint where the problem was. Miraculously the PC booted without a problem and everything seemed fine. Then after an hour or so we got a BSOD, CLOCK_WATCHDOG_TIMEOUT. We took off one of the Hard Drives to see if it might be causing the problem, so at the moment I'm just using one of my 1TB Hard Drives. The problems persisted however and we weren't able to find out any problems with the set-up.

Recently I was asked if I wanted to update to Windows 10, I gladly accepted in the hopes that maybe the problems would go away by using a newer OS. This was sadly not the case. So here I am now trying my luck on this forum to see if someone will be able to make sense of things.

Thank you very much for reading all of this and any input you can share will be greatly appreciated!

:)

 

N96 driving me nuts...

As for your message icon read /discussions/board/message?board.id=topfaq&thread.id=44



As for the restarting handset im guessing its firmware ver. 11? if so get on to you network and get at least 12 out of them if not 20.

 

N96 driving me nuts...

I think I have to try that...

 

Hi MrZNF.

There are various different bugchecks, but when stop 0x101 is present there, it claims the attention.
0x101, i.e. CLOCK_WATCHDOG_TIMEOUT is a hardware related issue. And here we see a hardware incompatibility.

Your RAM is running at a speed lower than that the motherboard supports.
Code: Speed 667MHz[/quote] and the motherboard vendor says .... Attachment 72895Please check if your RAM can run at any of those supported speed, and adjust it accordingly. If it cannot, replace the RAM with a compatible one.

Let us know the result.

 

Dear Arc,

Thank very much for your help!

What you are saying sounds like a serious problem! I tried searching up how to change these settings, but I want to make sure I'm doing the right thing, before I make things worse (I'm not experienced with changing bios settings).

I found in my BIOS that the "DRAM Frequency is set to "Auto" and it shows "DDR3-1333". So this seems to be one of the supported settings, but according to the minidump it is set to 667MHz, do I understand that correctly? Is it possible the Auto functionality is not properly functioning and might decide to switch the Frequency at a given point, so I should set it to something Manually? I have all the options available that my Motherboard supports, could you advise what would be best to try first?

Please see below screenshots of my BIOS:

CPU Configuration (top): http://i66.tinypic.com/30wvwp0.jpg
After scrolling down I found the DRAM Frequency (currently set to Auto - DDR3 1333): http://i65.tinypic.com/2zzj3vp.jpg
I also looked at DRAM Timing Control (it is set to Auto, but if I select Manual it shows me the following, not sure if it's helpful): http://i63.tinypic.com/j5kzs0.jpg
DRAM Timing Control Numbers Close-up: http://i64.tinypic.com/2w4e4c3.jpg

Thank you for your guidance! Please let me know in case I should provide any further details.

 

Everything is OK. 667x2=1333. I dont know why it reads at the base speed. In most of the dumps it shows the applicable speed.

As the next step, plan to update the BIOS to Version 2.00 form here: ASRock > 970 Pro3
Code: BiosVersion = P1.60 BiosReleaseDate = 10/12/2012[/quote] Asking for it because a BIOS bug may cause stop 0x101 BSODs.



Warning BIOS updates are risky. An improper/partial update will brick the motherboard. Before doing anything, please read it carefully: ASRock - BIOS Upgrade Instruction

If you think that you can do it, you have previous experience with BIOS update etc, do it. Otherwise ask a technician to do it for you.

 

Thank you for sharing your expertise! I've been reading up a lot about BIOS. I'm looking into if I can do it myself or not and it looks rather straightforward (follow the steps, don't screw up and have a back-up plan in case of failure). So I might decide to try and take the risk. Worst case scenario: I'll need to buy a new motherboard (or reprogram/replace the BIOS chip).

Before doing so however, are there any tests I could do to find out if a BIOS-bug is really the cause of all my problems? (i.e. doing a metaphorical blood test to provide further evidence.) Everything I'm reading online seems to suggest to not upgrade your BIOS unless you don't have any other option and are absolutely sure it's necessary, as even if you do everything correctly, things might go wrong and your motherboard could get "bricked".

Anyhow, one of the things I can (and will) do, is to find out more information about the current version of my motherboard's BIOS and what has been fixed in the BIOS updates over the years. Possibly something will point to what I'm currently experiencing, which will be at least one indicator that the update should fix my problems.

Some of the webpages I've read:
http://www.pecos-softwareworks.com/t...our_bios.shtml
http://www.techrepublic.com/blog/10-...ing-your-bios/

I also read that typically BSOD's shouldn't damage your hardware, which I wasn't even sure about, so I'm a little relieved to know that at least.

FYI:
I'm probably not going to have time to do a BIOS update for a while, as I have plans upcoming weekend and am typically busy throughout the week. I'll definitely be reading up more about my BIOS and motherboard and am actually getting a little excited by all of this. It's like a big puzzle waiting to be solved! Anyhow, I'll keep you updated on my findings and any progress made.

And many thanks for your time!

 

We cannot test the motherboard or BIOS, mate.

And, stop 0x101 does not contain any information about the BSOD other than the bugcheck code. The most precise description you will get here: STOP 0x101: CLOCK_WATCHDOG_TIMEOUT troubleshtg - Windows 7 Help Forums