SOLVED multiple BSOD over last few days

[matthewr]

the one that just occured said BAD_POOL_HEADER

i was listening to music on spotify, downloading an update for SWTOR, and surfing the web on chrome.

i recently built this computer a month and half ago.

i've tried updating all of my drivers, but perhaps i missed something.

here are the files in my minidump folder

http://www.mediafire.com/?vzr820z7i6ta00l
http://www.mediafire.com/?cco9cn282nh7itf
http://www.mediafire.com/?ay7ukzvh29whohw
http://www.mediafire.com/?ss5cf1xk34ydid4
http://www.mediafire.com/?63941r86xr0w174

hopefully someone can help

 

[Shintaro]

No real indication in those mini dumps.
Are you overclocking?
Please start with testing your RAM.
https://www.w7forums.com/memtest86-memory-testing-t9067.html

It will help if you include your hardware configuration.

 

[matthewr]

I ran memtest86 for more than 12 hours. I know it recorded over 4 million errors, but I thought it'd store the results somewhere so I didn't write everything down. I'm not overclocking anything. Windows 7 64-Bit Home Premium Edition (bought from newegg for pc builders) Intel i5-2500K 3.3GHz GeForce GTX 560 Ti 8GB Ram After the memtest, my computer loaded into Windows Repair, but it ran into errors like: "The instruction at 0xfabd2b54 referenced memory at 0x00000000. The memory could not be read." and then had to quit.

 

[Shintaro]

If the Computer is still under warranty take it back, if not then, what you will need to do now is find which RAM stick is faulty.
So you will need to leave a single RAM stick in the computer and re-run the memtest.
Then do the same for each RAM stick that you have.

There is no point trying to start windows with faulty RAM.

 

[matthewr]

the computer runs fine, minus the few times I had a BSOD last week. I play other games, surf the net, etc without any hiccups.

i'll try pulling out one stick of memory and testing again.

what should i look for in the test?

p.s. i've updated my pc specs.

 

[Shintaro]

Mate, if you had 4 Million errors, then you are looking for the RAM stick that has all the faults, you shouldn't have any faults on RAM.

So it sounds like you have 2 x 4Gb. So that will make it fairly quick. Just out of interest, what brand of RAM do you have?

 

[matthewr]

G.SKILL DDR3-1600 PC3-12800 (hopefully that helps)

how can i tell if the stick has problems? if any errors come up? if more than X errors come up?

 

[Shintaro]

I wanted to know the RAM brand because I wanted to know if this was a trend with G.SKILL RAM.

Yes, if any errors, it's faulty!

 

[matthewr]

how many passes do i need to do?

 

[Shintaro]

Something else, if you find the faulty stick of RAM, you will need to move to another slot on the motherboard to ensure that it is not the motherboard RAM slot that is faulty. Typically a single stick of RAM can only be placed in either slot 1 or slot 2.

 

[Shintaro]

Sorry, let it do at least 10 without fault.

 

[matthewr]

so, lets see if I get this right.

take out 1 stick, test it. If I see any errors, take out the stick, put in the other one (same slot) and test it. If I see any errors, put it in another slot and test it again. If I see any errors, swap it with the first stick in the 2nd slot and test it.

Pretty much, try all the combinations and see if any combination results in 0 errors. That will tell me if a ram stick is messed up or if a ram slot on the motherboard is messed up.

Did I get it right?

 

[Shintaro]

You've got it.

But using Slot 1 and Slot 2 on your motherboard depends upon the motherboard. By that I mean, some motherboards can have a single stick of RAM in Slot 1 or Slot 2. BUT some motherboards can only have a single stick of RAM in Slot 1.

I know this is involved, but it is really the only way to test the RAM completely.

 

[matthewr]

so, last night, i pulled out one stick of ram and tested it other. it went for 10+ sweeps with no errors whatsoever.

this morning, I pulled the good stick out, put the bad stick in the same slot the good stick was in, ran the test, and instantly pulled up errors.

I guess that is enough evidence that the bad stick is the culprit?

i also got a BSOD last night, reason why I tested right afterwards.

I'm going to try to reproduce the BSOD. I think it has to do with Spotify, as that program has been open both times it has BSOD.

and I plan on buying a new stick of ram to replace the one that seems full of errors.

 

[Shintaro]

You've done it! Congrates!

Just make sure the new RAM is the same size (Gb) and the same speed. Otherwise you will be introducing more faults.

If that solves it, can you mark the thread as "Solved".

 

[matthewr]

I can listen to spotify and surf the net, so I can't get the BSOD to happen again (so far...)

I think (hope) the problem is solved.

Thank you for your help!